<<(Anybody have any ideas how to prop a Hiver, preferably with player

inside?) >>

Well, anything reasonably affordable is going to look like a player in a

suit, because our all-too-human limbs just don't bend that way, but here is a

basic idea -(warning, this is just some nutty brainstorming - it might not

work, and it might look atrocious):

Get some sort of footstool that is on casters, or take the back off the

lowest rolling computer chair you can find and have the player lay over it

with their chest resting on the chair. The Hiver costume then is constructed

from large sheets of ensolite foam and coathanger-wire hoops. If you want to

get a little fancier, cover the ensolite with a flesh-colored spandex sheath

to hide the blue foam, glue, and duct tape. If you want to get really fancy,

slather liquid latex all over the spandex to make a nice "skin", and paint

with latex or cell vinyl paint. Have the player stick an arm or leg into

four of the limbs and use them to drag themselves around, rolling about on

the chair (this costume would probably only work well indoors). They'd have

to let the 'tail' limb drag, and keep the 'head' propped up in a 'striking

cobra' position using several lengths of 10ga wire or delrin rod (bendable

when hot, springy when cool), and keep the whole costume loose enough that

the player's arm could be pulled inside and switched to the 'head' to operate

the 'fingers' like a handpuppet. If you have two hivers, give them the most

affordable 2-way headset radios you can find and have them wave their

'fingers' to their heart's content while talking softly to each other via the

radio. As for the communicator boxes they use to speak to non-hivers, if you

want to get fancy, use a lavalier mike and a "Pignose" amplifier (yes, that's

the brand name) in the prop computer. A Pignose is self-contained, runs off

batteries (4 D-cells or something like that, I haven't used mine in ages and

can't remember), and smaller than a shoebox.

Run a search on "Fursuit" or "Fursuiting", there are a lot of folks that

are into the construction of elaborate anthropomorphic costumes, and there

are a number of good websites on construction techniques. A good FAQ used to

be at http://sr8.xoom.com/rsg0910/faq/ , but it may have changed.

Good luck, and be sure to send me some pictures of what you come up with,

and feel free to email me off-list if you want to talk in more detail;

special effects and makeup are hobbies of mine.

Rod Basler, COFIT.

And I added:

I really like the idea of the rolling chair! It's about the only way that I see you can almost turn an upright bilaterally symetrical biped into a squat, radially symetrical hexapod. However, a cleaner solution may be possible, and may make the "actor" inside more comfortable. Put the Hiver on a "hover-chair"! Use a pedastal type affair similar to the illo on pg 5 of AR3, just make the base thicker and taller to better conceal the human inside. Depending on how nuts you wanna' go (and I tend to wanna' 'Go Big or Go Home'), here's some other suggestions:

1.If you have access to one, use a powered wheelchair, scooter, or something hacked together so that the Hiver is easily self-propelled. The chair alone will work, but if the 'actor' has to self-propel for more than a minute or two at any given stint, he/she's gonna' get *real* tired real fast. Try it yourself with your office chair! Try to go forward for 50ft while hunched over and only allowing your legs to swing a foot and a half or so...Whatever it is, get it as low as possible so that the Hiver, if real, could easily straddle it to get on.

2.Put as big, powerful, and silent a fan as you can find in the 'blowhole' opening at the top of the Hiver body. This will help keep your Hiver comfortable :) A *tremendous* plus for the 'man in the rubber suit'. Consider adding a couple more as needed to keep the actor comfortable.

3.Give him/her a headset radio as suggested, but don't stop there. Give 'em a Camelbak so they can stay hydrated. Work a microphone(s) into the Hiver's harness or head so that they can hear. Work a small video camera into same so that they can see who they're interacting with. Our local huge electronics place, Fry's, currently has a sale on these little b&w video cameras for about $30 dollars. Hook the camera to a small LCD monitor or LCD tv that'll accept the input. If the camera is mounted in the head of the Hiver, by moving the head they'll be able to see what the Hiver is looking at much better than if you were using hidden slits in the costume.

4.Add extended armrests to the chair so that as the actor is leaning over to manipulate the arms or prime limb they can rest their arms that much easier as needed.

5.Make the mock computer screen of the Hiver's chest computer real! You could have that connected to a laptop and act as the translator to the Hiver's sign language ;)

6.I'm not sure if it's the same foam that Rod mentioned, but Roger Corman used a type of sheet foam for the skin of the 16 foot tall title creature in the movie "Carnosaur". The foam was cut in pattern to form the skin, then butt-glued at the seams like a wetsuit. The skin was then sculpted with a soldering iron to give it 'dino skin'. The result, when airbrushed, was quite good considering the budget ;)

7.Put a skirt of black cloth or thin foam rubber sheet around the base of the pedestal between the rim and the floor. If you use rubber, this will help deaden the sound of the electronics inside as well as hide the casters of the chair. Make sure to give yourself enough ground clearance to clear any expected obstacles like carpet strips, etc.

8.Ingress / egress. The way I'd handle it would be to fasten the hover-chair base to the base of the chair that you're using. The actor can climb in over the sill of the hoverchair, then the Hiver body can be lowered over them onto velcro pads while he or she connects the electronics.

Voila! One pretty realistic Hiver :D