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The
Bracers of Gondor:
Determining the
Colors
CONSTRUCTION
These
are constructed of three layers including the padding. There is the top
layer with the feather and tree art, the bottom layer upon which the top
layer, buckles and straps are hand stitched to. The pads are separate
pieces which I hand make using available pre-colored softer leather and a
sewing machine.
THE
ACTUAL FILM BRACERS
I
can be difficult to assess the colors in the film as many considerations
come into play. These are also
complicated by the fact that there were two different actors that would
wear these throughout the epic story.
Boromir
was the first to wear this until his death near the end of FotR, after
which Aragorn put them on and wore them through the of FotR, throughout
Two Towers and into RotK.
Each
actor had 12 pairs that were made, as well as each stunt double (usually
two doubles for some of the primary actors). Quick math shows that at
least 72 pairs were made.
FILM
SCENES AND LIGHTING
I
have experience in the photo and film industry and there is nothing more
important in both than lighting. I’ve
often been asked about why they look brown in the meeting of the
fellowship scene in Rivendell and they look black on Aragorn.
The
quick answers are that the fellowship scenes are very warmly lit, which
means more reddish-yellowish. You
can see this effect in the skins tones and other clues.
Brown tones will look more richly brown in such lighting
conditions. Also important to
note is that the condition of Boromir’s gear is still rather new.
Later adventures will wear his gear.
The
death of Boromir and river battle scenes were more coolly lit with natural
blues of sunlight, and such battle and death scenes are often filtered to
have a duller lighting effect to enhance the dread or seriousness of the
story. The bracers are also more used at this point and have been wet at
times from the moisture of weather, the elements and possibly even some
blood staining. When brown
leather gets wet it very much gets darker.
Don’t
forget how many were made, and it’s very probably that they were made in
different colors for different scenes and characters. I do believe that
Aragorn’s version were probably made darker to better coincide with the
overall coloring of his attire.
DETERMINING
THE TRUE COLORS
Having
said all of that above I’ve charged myself with making a color scheme
that should work for all conditions.
I’ve
studied film grabs and probably most notably I did the museum exhibit
sleepover when it came near to me. There I and a few others were allowed
unlimited access to the displays at leisure during the overnight
experience. Though not cameras or even notepads were allowed, they did
give each of us a trivia sheet of questions and a pencil.
I saw so many things! I didn’t do the trivia on the paper, I took
notes!
Now,
the Bracers of Gondor specifically were not there to my disappointment, but
much leather gear including Gondorian bracers of sorts were there and I
was able to really study them and their art.
I was also later able to find someone else’s photos from another
museum visit where the Gondors were present, and upon which I could apply
my notes!
IN
CONCLUSION
I’ve
determined that the true color is in between my dark and chocolate browns,
leaning closer to the dark brown. And both layers appear to be the same.
So I’ve decided this scheme for my basic:
Top
Layer with art: Dark Brown
Bottom
Layer with straps: Chocolate brown
Padding:
I select pre-colored leather that is as close as I can get, and it can
differ from time to time. Tannery runs are never exactly the same.
A
NOTE ON LEATHER STAINS
It’s
important to note that the same dye will react slightly differently to
each new hide. I cut the
pieces from the same hide to maintain consistency, but a dark brown pair
from one hide can slightly differ from a pair made from another hide.
All
in all I will make whatever color scheme you decide!
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