“The real world has a level of subliminal detail that supports a cultural inheritance through graphic design that gives you the feeling that what you are looking at in the present is predated by a huge cultural influence that goes back hundreds, if not thousands of years.”
– – Richard Taylor, film designer and co-founder of Weta Workshop

I visited the Wallace Collection the other day to see the paintings – of which more anon, and wandered into the arms and armour section, where I saw this, among other things.

Honestly, would you wear this?

Insanely uncomfortable, especially in summer. Human are just weird. I mean how can it be worth conquering and pillaging if you have to do it wearing THAT?! Or this:

I can’t even imagine being an actor having to wear a fake one. I respect them all a lot more now. Think about it, every time you’ve seen one of those history films where they wear armour – even if more than a few of them are pure CGI, at least some of the actors are actually wearing replica armour. Bresson’s Lancelot du Lac for example.

Visiting the museum gave me a renewed appreciation for the costume designer’s job and the role of the armourer in a  film production. Here is a fantastic article about the armourer who worked on Lord of the Rings.

Sometime movie armour is rubbish – Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur armour was not only ahistorical but looked terrible as well. I won’t bother posting. But tradition isn’t everything. John Mollo’s updated armour in the Star Wars films is brilliant.

and this: