Thread: Help on Sam from Trick r Treat!

Tweet

Hey guys. I'm trying to narrow down my choices for this year. I feel I'm a bit late in really thinking about Halloween, as I usually start thinking about it on November 1st, heh.

Anyway, I'm 23 and a girl. But I'm thinking of being Sam (little killer guy) from the film Trick r Treat. However, I want to modify it. I want it to look more... not "sexy," but more feminine and contouring, but not so much that I look like all the Leg Avenue addicted women on Halloween. I still want it to be creepy-looking, though.

Before you go off on me about ruining Sam's simplicity, hear me out. Now I know that Sam's creepiness comes from a few factors, mainly: it's a "child," it's head is obscured by a creepy burlap wrap, and it's wearing a onesie pretty much. I mean, he's creepy because you can't see any of his body, but you know whatever it is will get you and you probably really DON'T want to know what's underneath. However, this isn't really practical for me.

One, I live in Texas. It is freaking hot for the majority of the year. And if you're around a lot of people even on Halloween, it gets very hot very fast. I don't really want to be in a full-length, thick onesie all night. I'm thinking about cutting the legs off at a jagged, roughed-up edge around knee-length or a bit above. Same for the arms of the suit. Maybe leave one long and one shorter? I am not sure.

Two, I want it to be practical and I want to be able to talk, eat, and not be sweltering. This is a problem since the creepiest bit of Sam is his mask. I have no idea how I could pull off something similar but not going all the way burlap-over-the-head. I'd love to, but again... I'm not trying to win a costume contest, just want to have fun and not feel restricted by my costume all night.

I'm brain storming here, but I would really appreciate any ideas you guys may have about how to modify this costume enough so I'm not uncomfy all night, but it still retains its inherent creepiness!

I'm in Houston, so I understand about the heat/humidity and costume choices.

That being said, I'm planning on making a Sam costume for my almost 6 foot tall husband this year.

As far as cutting off an outfit at the arms and legs...

Sam just looks like a human child. Under the costume, he's the embodiment of Halloween. So if you're going for realism, you could try finding a fabric that is light enough where you won't be sweating to death, or else go with the idea of shredding the sleeves and legs of the outfit and paint/camouflage your arms and legs to look "not human."

Since you're a girl, you could add a rope belt to the waist (like the rope securing the mask around the neck area) to give yourself a more feminine shape.

The mask? I don't know how to do it for sure yet, but my plan is to get a large round balloon (like a punch ball or small beach ball) and using that to make a light paper maché shell, and cover that with burlap. The paper maché can have ventilation holes added so that it will breathe under the burlap, and I'm going to make a flap in the burlap part over the face area (cut out a general circle area about the size of his face in the paper maché shell) so my hubby can flip it up and eat, drink and talk without having to remove the whole head. The flap will tuck into the neck rope area otherwise (or maybe velcro!). I'm going to get a loose weave burlap that he can see through (backed with some blackout cloth) so I won't have to have eye holes or anything.

Hope something here helps!

Good luck!

Originally Posted by Frankie's Girl

I'm in Houston, so I understand about the heat/humidity and costume choices.

That being said, I'm planning on making a Sam costume for my almost 6 foot tall husband this year.

As far as cutting off an outfit at the arms and legs...

Sam just looks like a human child. Under the costume, he's the embodiment of Halloween. So if you're going for realism, you could try finding a fabric that is light enough where you won't be sweating to death, or else go with the idea of shredding the sleeves and legs of the outfit and paint/camouflage your arms and legs to look "not human."

Since you're a girl, you could add a rope belt to the waist (like the rope securing the mask around the neck area) to give yourself a more feminine shape.

The mask? I don't know how to do it for sure yet, but my plan is to get a large round balloon (like a punch ball or small beach ball) and using that to make a light paper maché shell, and cover that with burlap. The paper maché can have ventilation holes added so that it will breathe under the burlap, and I'm going to make a flap in the burlap part over the face area (cut out a general circle area about the size of his face in the paper maché shell) so my hubby can flip it up and eat, drink and talk without having to remove the whole head. The flap will tuck into the neck rope area otherwise (or maybe velcro!). I'm going to get a loose weave burlap that he can see through (backed with some blackout cloth) so I won't have to have eye holes or anything.

Hope something here helps!

Good luck!

Thanks for the ideas! I was also thinking that about making my skin look "not human" if I decided to go with cropping the limbs of the costume.

As for the mask for your husband, that sounds good. I was just trying to think of a way to do a more feminine sort of take on it... but I'm not sure that exists, short of having just some kind of burlap-ish masquerade mask, I don't think so. And that kind of misses the point of Sam.

The only other thing I could think of, is to paint my face to somehow resemble the burlap and the mouth stitches and button eyes. It would be challenging at least!

Also, I'm in Houston as well. Do you go out to big parties for Halloween here? I've been to the Big Ass Halloween Bash once a couple years ago, but other than that I'm just with friends or something. Nowhere public. Do you go to big public events here?

Thanks again!

I like all the ideas you both have! I'm going to throw in some more to keep the juices flowing.

Here's a pic for the few people out there who don't know who Sam is.


Arms and Legs
I say keep one sleeve, and get rid of the other (could be sexy - though you aren't going for "sexy") and cut the legs short. You could paint the skin that's showing, but if you are going for more feminine, then maybe instead of painting it non-human...you can paint it as if it is an extension of the burlap gloves that he seems to be wearing in the picture. Same with the legs.

Body
Make sure the "onesie" has patches like sam's still does. Love the rope idea for around the waste too ! If you scrap the mask, maybe you can do the bottom part of the mask that sits on the shoulders and comes down the chest a bit. If you don't do the mask, and cut the onesie, my concern would be that you start looking like a scarecrow or something else.

Mask
Maybe you can paint the pumpkin face that is underneat the mask?? Maybe have the mask hanging off the back of your neck like a hoody. That way you can pull it on, but don't need it all the time because you have the pumpkin face underneath. Probably don't have to do the paint as creepy as his is. And it would look super cool to be able to pull it on every once in a while, but still be able to have the shorter onsie missing the sleeves. I think the burlap is key for the Sam effect, but that doesn't mean you have to wear it constantly (make sure to attach is like a hoody so you don't have to carry it around all over the place.

Candy
You got to have the half eaten candy. If you just want a prop, there was a guy who made it for the Sam prop that he created. You can probably find it if you do a search. Otherwise, I'm sure you can find that kind of lolli when October rolls around.

Good luck. Make sure to post pictures when you're done!!

Ok, so this is the scary pumpkin face underneath the burlap mask....for those who don't know.




This is pretty creepy and not feminine, BUT maybe you can do something more feminine (and I'm a guy...so I don't know the correct terms for makeup... so....yeah).

Pumpkin Makeup??
Maybe use a bergundy color - mascara? eye shadow? Something for around the eyes and do it the same relative shape. Maybe even add glitter if that floats your boat. Maybe paint the rest of your face orange, but don't put all the creepy textures for the raised brows. Or maybe don't pain the whole face but do - accents? Highlights? blush? - something with orange...but that highlights your other features, without having to paint the whole face. I think this less drastic makeup could work if you keep the burlap mask as a hoody.

---- I really love "Sam", so I'm just thinking about how I would envision it for my girlfriend if she wanted to be more feminine when doing it. Good luck.

Hope these ideas at least help with the brainstorming.

JahRah:


Those are great ideas! I'll keep them in mind and try to sketch some things out. I do like the hoodie mask idea. If this all comes together and I know what I want to do, I will definitely post pictures.

Thanks for the ideas, and any others are appreciated from everyone else!

EDIT: Just saw your second post as I posted. Yes, I was thinking the same thing with the makeup. Full cover face paint might take the effect away and seem too... I don't know.... over the top or clownish almost? Don't know what word I'm thinking of. But yeah, I was thinking just accenting features and giving off the illusion instead of being so literal with it.

Thanks!

So I'm making from scratch the burlap mask for Sam. I'm having some concerns though and wanted to see if any of you maybe had some input into ideas or solutions.

Here are some pictures of him to start out with.





I need to try to duplicate the mask's almost perfect roundness. I've seen some people try to do this with a paper mache helmet sort of thing they made and they put it over their heads. However, I don't want to do that. I don't want anything hard like that over my head all night.

I was kind of thinking maybe getting a mask like this:


And then using that as a not-so-hard base to glue the mask over. And I'd probably cut out Jack's eyes so I could see better.

And I don't want huge eye holes in the burlap since Sam's buttons need to be one of the main focuses. So I was thinking to be able to see, I could slice the burlap a bit length ways over where my eyes would be so I could see easier but not make it painfully obvious my eyes are lower than where Sam's button eyes should be.

Unless, any of you have some tricks up your sleeves.

In relation to how I shape the mask without using a hard base or how I should go about actually seeing where I'm walking throughout the night, I'd like to hear any of your suggestions or successes with this kind of thing. Thanks!

Keep in mind, I am not done finish reading everyone ideas.

You dont have to wear the mask at all.
black out your eyes, wear big a%% flase eye lashes, and X out your mouth to show XXXX for sewing in type of mouth.

Be sure to find a smilar type ones and convert it into one pc jumpsuit-short skirt type with ripping and sherred at the arms and legs. Surely Sam is fesity little thing isnt he? rope to tie around your waist and hang down. I think maybe like a small scarcrow type hat. I mean really small to wear on the side of your head, maybe with your hair in pig-tails.........

Hey Sossa,

I think the Jack Skellington base could be a good idea, though it could get pricey. Maybe a walmart plastic ball might work. It might be a little tougher... but not too tough. So you might not need anything else to strengthen it. And it's surely going to be cheaper.

But, I've never done what you are trying so....this is just a thought.

As for the seeing, that's going to be tricky. It's gonna be hard to create openings that are easy to see through but that aren't obvious to others. Hmm. There's nothing really on the outside of the mask that might hide the holes other than the buttons. And they are way too far apart. I would have said to cut half circles right under the buttons and look through those, but again, I think the buttons are too far apart.

That's what I did for an "Animal" costume. I saw perfectly the whole night but people didn't even notice my eye sockets. They thought I was just blind. They were baffled I was able to see. I have a pic in my albums if you want to see that mask.

Are you still doing this as a hoodie??

JahRah:

I think I may end up sewing part of the mask onto the back of my onesie, but as it stands I'm going to attempt to make a full replica of the mask.

I'll update you all a bit anyway. I've got someone who makes adult-sized onesies, and I've paid them to pretty much make the clothing part of the costume for me. It will be just like Sam's, no cut short arms or legs or anything. I really wanted to attempt it, but this person I found does a great job on them, so I figured I would have them do it right, since all the patterns I was finding weren't 100% what I wanted.

So the only thing I have to do is make the mask, the gloves, the sack, and the lollipop. I also may put makeup on underneath. Orange makeup and shadow it and all that to look like Sam's pumpkin head. Because I will be taking the mask off occasionally, and I think that'd look good (as long as the makeup doesn't melt from the heat!).

So JahRah, what do you mean a plastic ball? I'm not sure how I'd even begin to work with that.