Masquerade: PDQ Pirates

Entry Title: PDQ Pirates
Fandom: Pirates of the Caribbean
Convention: San Diego Comic-Con 2006
Awards: Best Presentation
Producer: Caitlin
Director: Rogue
Audio: Corli

Cast Members: Caitlin (Elizabeth), Rogue (Barbossa), Corli (Will), Kel (Norrington), Carolyn (Pirate), Cathleen (Pirate), Kim (Jack), and Radar (Pirate)

I got the idea for this skit right after Comic-Con 2005. Inspired by Star Wars in 30 Minutes, One-Man Star Wars, and Fellowship! The Musical, I decided I wanted to do a Pirates of the Caribbean skit where we'd retell the entire first movie in two and a half minutes. (It ended up being closer to three, when all was said and done.) Happily, my friends were ready to hop on board the crazy train with me! Corli put the entire soundtrack together, pulling clips from the movie, and Rogue directed all the stage action and combat. Since we were all scattered throughout the state of California, we met up for one rehearsal a month prior to the con at Kim's house, where we worked through all the staging. 

I love the way this skit turned out! The only hiccup was that we weren't able to get Corli's hat and cape on for her final scene as Will Turner, but there's live theater for you. We really enjoyed the audience response and we were all ecstatic about winning Best Presentation.

Photos at SDCC 2006
(thanks to Eurobeat King and Atomic99 for the pictures-- also, I don't know who the first two pics belong to)

Captain Barbossa

Character: Captain Hector Barbossa
From: Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
Made: 2006
Awards: Part of a skit that won Best Presentation (2006 San Diego Comic-Con Masquerade)

"So what now, Jack Sparrow? Are we to be two immortals locked in an epic battle until judgment day and the trumpets sound?" Among the many highlights of the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie was Geoffrey Rush's gleeful, scenery-chewing portrayal of Jack Sparrow's nemesis, Captain Hector Barbossa. I shrieked like a little girl when he showed up at the end of Dead Man's Chest, and if you ask me, he was the best damn thing about At World's End.

I made this costume for our 2006 Comic-Con Masquerade skit, PDQ Pirates, a retelling of the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie in 3 minutes. (Lots more pictures, plus video, are available on that page!)

When I was putting together our Masquerade skit, I asked my husband if he wanted to participate, and if so, who he wanted to be. At first, I was a little surprised that he picked Barbossa instead of Jack, but now I'm really glad he did! Researching and constructing the costume was challenging, but very satisfying and a lot of fun. Plus, Jack Sparrows are ubiquitous at cons these days, but there are hardly any Barbossas around, so he gets to be a little more unique. And he has a great time riffing with the Jacks he meets!

In October 2006 I was visiting Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World in Florida, and I discovered that they had the Barbossa costume on display at the end of the backlot tour ride! I took a ridiculous number of pictures of course, coming back several days in a row to study the costume further. I'm sure the staff thought I was absolutely crazy! I put all the pictures that my friend Kimmerie and I took into a Flickr set here. They're all high-res, but they're basically just straight from the camera, no adjustments or anything, and a lot of them aren't that good. Drat costumes that are entirely enclosed in glass!

San Diego Comic-Con 2006 Masquerade

Construction

Elizabeth's Island Shift

Character: Elizabeth Swann
Costume: Island shift
From: Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
Made: 2006
Awards: Part of a skit that won Best Presentation (2006 San Diego Comic-Con Masquerade)

I made this costume for our 2006 Comic-Con Masquerade skit, PDQ Pirates, a retelling of the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie in 3 minutes. (Lots more pictures, plus video, are available on that page!)

Elizabeth acquires this shift while on the Black Pearl and wears it under the plum dress, but I think it stands quite well on its own. In fact, Elizabeth is wearing only this shift during my favorite scene in the movie-- when she and Captain Jack get marooned on the desert island. ("But why is the rum gone???")

San Diego Comic-Con 2006 Masquerade and Photoshoot at the San Diego Maritime Museum
(thanks to Kel and Carolyn for the pics!)

Construction

Elizabeth's Plum Dress

Character: Elizabeth Swann
Costume: Plum dress
From: Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
Made: 2006
Awards: Part of a skit that won Best Presentation (2006 San Diego Comic-Con Masquerade)

I made this costume for our 2006 Comic-Con Masquerade skit, PDQ Pirates, a retelling of the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie in 3 minutes. (Lots more pictures, plus video, are available on that page!)

Elizabeth is given this dress (and the shift that goes under it) by Captain Barbossa while she's aboard the Black Pearl. This is my favorite of her actual dresses from the first movie-- the gold dress and the peach dress are both beautiful, but she doesn't get to be pirate-y while she's wearing them.

Costume-Con 26, 2008 (with Corli as Will)
(thanks to Corli and Bryan for the pics!)

Dragon*Con 2007, gussied up for Marie Antoinette night
(thanks to Lesa and Cassandra for the pics!)

San Diego Comic-Con 2006, Masquerade & Photoshoot
(thanks to Carolyn for the pics!)

Construction

Will Turner

Character: Will Turner
From: Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
Made: 2003

During my sixth viewing of the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, it occurred to me that my friend Dan would really make an excellent Will Turner-- he was tall, had the right build, and his hair was quite long as the result of a bet with a co-worker. One day in September 2003, while we were over at his house, I floated the idea of his dressing as Will for Halloween. He wasn't opposed, so I dove right in, and when I presented him with the costume in late October, he liked it so much he wore it home, and then wore it to work on Halloween!

This costume actually does double duty-- with the addition of different pants, and the removal of the stockings and shoes, it becomes a passable hobbit outfit.

Halloween 2003

Trying on the completed costume, October 2003

As a hobbit, headed to Trilogy Tuesday, December 2003
(socks and shoes because it was cold!)

Construction

Girl Hobbit

Character: Girl hobbit
From: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Made: 2003

This one was for my friend Debby! I'd already made her husband a Will Turner costume that doubled as a hobbit costume, so she was totally up for being a hobbit lady. Like me, she loves the color blue, so we used Rosie Cotton's party dress from Fellowship as a jumping-off point.

Release of Return of the King (Trilogy Tuesday), December 2003

Aragorn as Strider

Character: Aragorn
Costume: Strider
From: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Made: 2002, with many additions and improvements over the years

"He's one of them rangers..."

Ah yes, Aragorn, the manliest of manly men. After I decided to make Arwen's chase dress for myself, Rogue declared that he wanted to be Aragorn. Though I really liked Aragorn's Council of Elrond velvet outfit, he far preferred the grittier Strider costume. My involvement's been limited to the shirt and the Fellowship cloak; he came up with the rest himself. Oh, and I bought him his vambraces. But I didn't make them. That level of leatherworking is still a bit beyond me!

SoCal Renaissance Pleasure Faire, May 2010

King Richard's Faire, September 2003

Construction