Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1470587
Digital costumes are not encumbered by the constraints of the real world. The highly stylied nature of video games allows characters to have a wider variety of shapes and sies that are sometimes outrageous and unreal. This is no issue to the costume designers working on games. They do not have to cope with the same real-life hurdles that would exist trying to fit a -foot-tall mutant. The virtual actor also inhabits a simulated space and can be altered and manipulated. In addition, virtual fabric can act in unnatural waysstretching, owing, and dispersing light in order to create the desired e ect. Recently, video game adaptations have seen a renaissance. Like the comic book adaptations that preceded them, they were once seen as cheesy, unliked, unprofitable, and unremembered. For every modern success, there have been several past lackluster performers. We now know the superhero genre as the powerhouse it is, but video game films have not had as much traction. Though they still may not be grossing as much as their comic book equivalents, these intellectual properties are now being taken more seriously, drawing more attention to the talent that has gone into translating the characters from one form of media to another. Caspar Gray has been involved in the game industry as an agent and representative for developers, helping them find funding and assisting at a managerial level. "The use of costume designers is still in its infancy. t the moment only a few studios are using them, and they generally fall into the following categories: those that have large budgets, those that are looking to accurately recreate a specific time period, or those that are keen to create a character look that might be used for many games." He added, "Games that have a 'photorealistic' art style are most likely to use a costume designer." Grand Theft uto was among the first games that nailed life-like art direction. This is why Rockstar Games employed Lyn Paolo as costume designer and aesthetic consultant for the game's diverse clothing selection. She was in charge of both the creation of the character designs, and scanning garments from forms. "We scanned thousands of garments and accessories into the database so that Rockstar would have their own in-house costume department," she explains. "I was obviously involved in the scans for the main characters, but I was also involved in the overall evolution of the world." INTO THE By Isaac Martine Dr. Dre in Grand Theft uto On-line 49