Walk a Crooked Cowl

General goings on in the 1966 Batman World

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AndyFish
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Walk a Crooked Cowl

Post by AndyFish »

CROOKED COWL 1.jpg
Watched THE CONTAMINATED COWL and The Joker/Penguin team up which followed it this afternoon, and I was struck by the sloppiness of Batman's eyebrow markings. Pictures 1 and 2 from the left are from the same scene in Gordon's office, at first I thought it might just be the angle, but no as the episode goes on it's clear that Batman has a raised eyebrow thing going on. As the pair of episodes wind down, they've switched to a cowl with better eyebrows (although the crooked one does appear again after the pink cowl. I think Chuck identified which cowl was painted pink but I couldn't find the thread.

Then as we get to the Joker/Penguin team up the crooked markings are back. I know that many of the episodes where filmed in batches-- i.e. scenes in the Commissioner's office were often piggy backed so that explains the cowl changes, but I'd like to try and track down how many different markings there are on the cowl. Is this an indicator of multiple cowls or simply new paint jobs?

Stay tuned for more...
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Scott Sebring
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Re: Walk a Crooked Cowl

Post by Scott Sebring »

Mostly recovering since the cowls would turn purple. They wouldn't often create a new shell but would recover them and then get a new paint job.
The one you saw in those episodes isn't the one that got painted pink.
Here's the original cowl before it was painted pink:
Batman S02E23 - Marsha, Queen of Diamonds - 2457.jpg
Here are a couple of threads about that one:
viewtopic.php?p=64707#p64707
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5967

As for the sloppy eyebrows, they were all over the place from second season onward most of the time. The Hardeman cowl was particularly bad with bad paint job and wonky ear used in most of the third season.
Batman S03E17 - The Joke's on Catwoman - 3863.jpg
Batman S03E17 - The Joke's on Catwoman - 3870.jpg
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AndyFish
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Re: Walk a Crooked Cowl

Post by AndyFish »

Thanks for the intel and the refresher, Scott!
I've always known the repaints were sloppy but this one really shocks me with one eyebrow up much further than the other.
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Chuck Williams
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Re: Walk a Crooked Cowl

Post by Chuck Williams »

The entire process of making a cowl is a struggle because there is nothing symmetrical in the shapes but the pattern is.
The light bouncing off the fabric fights what is mathematically correct from a center point.
The nose and in fact the whole thing is wicked crooked so I can see how one brow can get painted higher than the other.
There is an episode showing Adam in close up in the cave and during the conversation ,the film negative got flipped in a reaction shot so it's a mirror image and the imbalance jumps out at you.
The cowl here looks like the person covered it and painted it with oven mits on!
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Chuck Williams
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Re: Walk a Crooked Cowl

Post by Chuck Williams »

Found that image showing the flipped negative.
The image on the right is Adam as filmed and the flopped is on the left.
It makes the asymmetrical bits jump out at you!
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Jim K, Bat fan
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Re: Walk a Crooked Cowl

Post by Jim K, Bat fan »

Chuck Williams wrote: Mon May 09, 2022 6:59 pm The cowl here looks like the person covered it and painted it with oven mits on!
Would that be the Mego Batman? :lol:
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AndyFish
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Re: Walk a Crooked Cowl

Post by AndyFish »

Good one, Jim--the same visual came to mind!

Chuck, the fabric pulling away from the shell-- is that caused by extensive wear/sweat would be an issue I would imagine, and the hot studio lights or would you be more inclined to suspect shoddy workmanship? How old is the oldest cowl I have from you? It's got to be at least 15 years and it looks as fresh as the day it arrived.
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Scott Sebring
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Re: Walk a Crooked Cowl

Post by Scott Sebring »

AndyFish wrote: Tue May 10, 2022 7:16 pm Good one, Jim--the same visual came to mind!

Chuck, the fabric pulling away from the shell-- is that caused by extensive wear/sweat would be an issue I would imagine, and the hot studio lights or would you be more inclined to suspect shoddy workmanship? How old is the oldest cowl I have from you? It's got to be at least 15 years and it looks as fresh as the day it arrived.
These things are like precious flowers. Fragile, beautiful and each one is unique.
The original fabric can lose its elasticity to spring back over time due to the natural rubber fibers. A combination of moisture and heat can wreak havoc on the fabric expanding out and not springing back. So a bad, hot, and sweaty day can damage the fabric and cause bubbling, pulling away, or looking like a prune in places. I've done my share of damage to some of my cowls during July. I now have their ultimate cowl from the original material and I also picked up the cosplay one with the modern materials to sweat in if I ever get back to suiting up in public again. My older cowls still look great color wise and in the areas where I didn't damage them with my sweat or extreme humidity. The cosplay cowls look amazing even when put side by side with the Ultimates but that's what happens when they are made by the masters. The show could have used people like Chuck and Lynne for consistency, care, and quality.
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AndyFish
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Re: Walk a Crooked Cowl

Post by AndyFish »

Once again, thanks Scott!
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Lou Szabo
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Re: Walk a Crooked Cowl

Post by Lou Szabo »

I can see this being a University course....Theatrical Forensics!
Some days you just can't get rid of a ... SHARK!
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Larry A.
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Re: Walk a Crooked Cowl

Post by Larry A. »

Lou Szabo wrote: Wed May 11, 2022 9:17 pm I can see this being a University course....Theatrical Forensics!
By golly, Lou, I think that You are right? I'm really surprised that Lynne and Chuck aren't teaching that up in Rhinelander. I'd LOVE to take that as a course!
Larry
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AndyFish
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Re: Walk a Crooked Cowl

Post by AndyFish »

Better yet, do it as an online course and all of us can take it!
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Chuck Williams
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Re: Walk a Crooked Cowl

Post by Chuck Williams »

We've talked about it!!

Yep, Scott was spot on.
The stretch thread of the original fabric is latex based and will only take so much heat and moisture before it begins to rot or deteriorate just the the waistband of your old gym shorts!
The modern fabric is spandex based and synthetic.
I need to make pot holding gloves now!
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Larry A.
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Re: Walk a Crooked Cowl

Post by Larry A. »

AndyFish wrote: Thu May 12, 2022 9:55 am Better yet, do it as an online course and all of us can take it!
I'm hitting the "I agree with Andy" button right now! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
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