Domino costume

[quozaxx]

domino costume (plural domino costumes)

 

1. A loose hooded cloak worn with a half mask, worn especially at masquerades
   

 

 

I often wondered how superheroes believe that a very small mask (one just covering the eyes) can accurately hide their features.

 

I never quite understood, even, how superman can disguise his appearance by simply removing his glasses. Does a flashy costume really distract that much from a observant person?

 

Let's take The Incredibles for instance. The mom hands out small masks to each of the children to hide their identity. First of all, there are no straps in the back, how does it even stay on? Second. a decent sketch artist could take any of their appearance and change the black of the mask color to the color of the rest of their skin - for that fact, couldn't a person take a photo of any of them and change it on the computer?

 

I can see a 1/2 mask or even a full face mask, but a small "domino" mask?

[Tasha]

Re: Domino costume

 

It's held on by spirit gum. If you need "realism" in your supers.

 

I think that the idea behind the Domino mask is that it hides how deep the eyes are in the skull also it can hide the size of the nosebridge and how prominent the brow is. Which is why the Domino mask is almost always a dark color, light colors wouldn't work as well when hiding those features

 

Also, one of the tropes of comics is that subconsciously people really DON'T want to know a super's secret ID. That's why things like Glasses, Trenchcoats and other silly disguise materials work well at hiding the super's identity.

 

Yeah modern image scanners would probably make most spandex masks/Costumes worthless for concealing one's ID, but if true it breaks the genre. Everyone then has public ID's or at least secret IDs become impractical for all but the most stealthy/invisible heroes.

[pinecone]

Re: Domino costume

 

Invisability :Invisable power effects: REnd>0 OIF Domino mask???? (Invis:Invis...you can't tell that facial features are unperceivable...)

[Checkmate]

Re: Domino costume

 

domino costume (plural domino costumes)

 

 

1. A loose hooded cloak worn with a half mask, worn especially at masquerades
   

 

 

 

I often wondered how superheroes believe that a very small mask (one just covering the eyes) can accurately hide their features.

 

I never quite understood, even, how superman can disguise his appearance by simply removing his glasses. Does a flashy costume really distract that much from a observant person?

 

Let's take The Incredibles for instance. The mom hands out small masks to each of the children to hide their identity. First of all, there are no straps in the back, how does it even stay on? Second. a decent sketch artist could take any of their appearance and change the black of the mask color to the color of the rest of their skin - for that fact, couldn't a person take a photo of any of them and change it on the computer?

 

I can see a 1/2 mask or even a full face mask, but a small "domino" mask?

Really? You're okay with people displaying incredible powers and abilities, it's the domino mask you're having trouble with?

 

If we wanted to get realistic, there isn't a costume designed that would keep a secret identity a secret if enough people wanted to find out. Wouldn't matter if you had a full face mask and plastic surgery every night, your secret wouldn't last long.

[JmOz]

Re: Domino costume

 

personaly I have never had a problem with a disguise of this nature preventing the guy on the street from figuring it out. My problem has always been the Lois Lane's out there, someone who has a lot of interactions with both the SI and Heroic ID not being able to figure it out...

[Hawknight]

Re: Domino costume

 

Blinded by love of Superman & Clark Kent is beneath her notice.

[Tom]

Re: Domino costume

 

The power of personal expectations...

 

It used to be a running joke when I was in the service about guys meeting into the women they served with all day and not recognizing them in their civvies in the evening. The funny part being, frequently enough, it was true...

 

Doesn't help with the Lois Lane and Superman/Clark Kent thing, but it does work for the 'average' person often enough to give it a pass as a trope...

[Beast]

Re: Domino costume

 

I work at the 2 big Ren faires here in california

I have family that have known me all my life and will walk right past me when I'm in costume at faire

there are also friends from faire that do not recognize me out of costume when we meet out in the real world

 

the way I carry myself at faire is way different than how I carry myself in the real world and of course there is the change in clothing

[BNakagawa]

Re: Domino costume

 

I've been videoconferencing with a woman every week for the last month and change, I go to find her at a restaurant and walk right by her because she cut her hair in the time between our last conference and the convention. You'd be surprised how much a tiny change can affect your ability to recognize people...

 

Then again, we're talking about a genre where people fly, lift tanks and shoot lasers out of their eyes and you're wondering about the functionality of a domino mask?

[JmOz]

Re: Domino costume

 

Exactly, the fact that Clark Kent walks by a magazine stand as he walks into the Daily Planet and the guy who works it does not make the superman conection is fine to me, even if clark stops to say Hi everyday, and superman saves him from being held up a couple of times. However people who deal with both OFTEN, and closley should be able to see through it.

[Lawnmower Boy]

Re: Domino costume

 

....

 

Also, one of the tropes of comics is that subconsciously people really DON'T want to know a super's secret ID. That's why things like Glasses, Trenchcoats and other silly disguise materials work well at hiding the super's identity.

 

....QUOTE]

 

I think that this is exactly right. Secret identities and costumes fill a necessary role. They have to work, so we cooperate to make them work. If Robin disguises himself as Batman one night, Commissione Gordon will recognise him instantly as Robin --but never as Dick Grayson.

[Querysphinx]

Re: Domino costume

 

People are fantastically bad at recognizing faces to begin with/ I remember an experiment where Man A would strike up a conversation with a person on the street. After a few minutes there would be a bump to distract the stranger and Man B would take Man A's place and continue the conversation with the stranger. As long as Man B was dressed as Man A, and the right general color, the stranger almost never picked up on the switch.

[DusterBoy]

Re: Domino costume

 

Well, the times I've had people I know rather well tell me, when I'm wearing my contact lenses "Oh, I didn't recognise you without your glasses".

 

It could be that a garish primary coloured costume is designed to distract attention from the face, so people remember the costume, not the person inside it.

 

And, as any cop will tell you, people make lousy witnesses.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Domino costume

 

personaly I have never had a problem with a disguise of this nature preventing the guy on the street from figuring it out. My problem has always been the Lois Lane's out there' date=' someone who has a lot of interactions with both the SI and Heroic ID not being able to figure it out...[/quote']

 

That's the brilliance of Christopher Reeve's interpretation of Clark Kent and Superman. He not only changed clothes, glasses and hairstyle; his vocal quality, posture, and mannerisms were all very different between his two guises. Collectively they altered his appearance radically. Unless they knew the truth or were specifically looking for a resemblance, even people close to both personas wouldn't suspect they were the same man, at least not for a long time.

[JmOz]

Re: Domino costume

 

That's the brilliance of Christopher Reeve's interpretation of Clark Kent and Superman. He not only changed clothes' date=' glasses and hairstyle; his vocal quality, posture, and mannerisms were all very different between his two guises. Collectively they altered his appearance radically. Unless they knew the truth or were specifically looking for a resemblance, even people close to both personas wouldn't suspect they were the same man, at least not for a long time.[/quote']

 

I agree Reeve's did a wonderful job with it, but I do feel that people who spent hours with him everyday in both ID's would have recognised him sooner than later

[Nuclear Fridge]

Re: Domino costume

 

When I worked as a supermarket drone on the night shift, I bumped into people I met the night before who did NOT recognise me because I was not "in uniform". I was in normal clothes, therefore I was "invisible".

[Checkmate]

Re: Domino costume

 

While I agree is certain situations it is easy to miss someone. If I always see people in their military uniform, I may walk right by them if they have civilian clothes on, but that is in absolutely no way the same. Even the example where the friend cut their hair isn't the same. You were looking for someone who appeared a certain way, with a certain hair style, you mentally dismissed anyone that didn't fit that profile without ever REALLY seeing them. Anyone a motorcycle rider? Ever have a car driver, look you right in the eyes, and then pull out right in front of you anyway? It happens all the time, because the car driver didn't actually see you. The driver's brain was looking for a car, a motorcycle didn't fit that description so it dismissed it and didn't register. That's what you all are talking about, but that isn't what I am talking about.

 

Take a costume baggy clothes, full mask whatever you like, the problem is there are too many things that give you away. Did you know people can tell your approximate height just from the size of your hands? A footprint in dirt or sand and they know your shoe size and approximate weight. It would be next to nothing to get your actual height, just stand by an object of a known size and you're busted. Talk once where someone records your voice, now they know where you were born, where you spent a lot of your time, how educated you are and more. Sign one autograph and they almost have a psych profile done. There are just way, way, way too many things that would give you away that have nothing to do with how you look.

[Badger]

Re: Domino costume

 

Almost nobody I havent seen since before I grew my beard seems to recognize me. Course, I have also put on about 30 lbs which might help that scenario.

 

I seemed to remember that Andrew Cunnannan (or whatever his name was) was hard to find because of not wearing his glasses. Or maybe I am not rememberng it right.

[Badger]

Re: Domino costume

 

While I agree is certain situations it is easy to miss someone. If I always see people in their military uniform, I may walk right by them if they have civilian clothes on, but that is in absolutely no way the same. Even the example where the friend cut their hair isn't the same. You were looking for someone who appeared a certain way, with a certain hair style, you mentally dismissed anyone that didn't fit that profile without ever REALLY seeing them. Anyone a motorcycle rider? Ever have a car driver, look you right in the eyes, and then pull out right in front of you anyway? It happens all the time, because the car driver didn't actually see you. The driver's brain was looking for a car, a motorcycle didn't fit that description so it dismissed it and didn't register. That's what you all are talking about, but that isn't what I am talking about.

 

Take a costume baggy clothes, full mask whatever you like, the problem is there are too many things that give you away. Did you know people can tell your approximate height just from the size of your hands? A footprint in dirt or sand and they know your shoe size and approximate weight. It would be next to nothing to get your actual height, just stand by an object of a known size and you're busted. Talk once where someone records your voice, now they know where you were born, where you spent a lot of your time, how educated you are and more. Sign one autograph and they almost have a psych profile done. There are just way, way, way too many things that would give you away that have nothing to do with how you look.

 

Well, weight from a footprint is no brainer. (deeper imprint) But, the height is a little surprising. I mean my feet are longer than most people my height, is all. Course, they could probably tell my legs are freakishly long because of longer strides and the like.

[Squall]

Re: Domino costume

 

While I agree is certain situations it is easy to miss someone. If I always see people in their military uniform, I may walk right by them if they have civilian clothes on, but that is in absolutely no way the same. Even the example where the friend cut their hair isn't the same. You were looking for someone who appeared a certain way, with a certain hair style, you mentally dismissed anyone that didn't fit that profile without ever REALLY seeing them. Anyone a motorcycle rider? Ever have a car driver, look you right in the eyes, and then pull out right in front of you anyway? It happens all the time, because the car driver didn't actually see you. The driver's brain was looking for a car, a motorcycle didn't fit that description so it dismissed it and didn't register. That's what you all are talking about, but that isn't what I am talking about.

 

Take a costume baggy clothes, full mask whatever you like, the problem is there are too many things that give you away. Did you know people can tell your approximate height just from the size of your hands? A footprint in dirt or sand and they know your shoe size and approximate weight. It would be next to nothing to get your actual height, just stand by an object of a known size and you're busted. Talk once where someone records your voice, now they know where you were born, where you spent a lot of your time, how educated you are and more. Sign one autograph and they almost have a psych profile done. There are just way, way, way too many things that would give you away that have nothing to do with how you look.

What works, scientifically and forensically, in real life only works in comic books when the writer wants it to.

 

Methods Batman uses to track down a bad guy and move the plot forward don't necessarily work when a supervillain is trying to figure out Batman is Bruce Wayne, in other words.

[Checkmate]

Re: Domino costume

 

What works, scientifically and forensically, in real life only works in comic books when the writer wants it to.

 

Methods Batman uses to track down a bad guy and move the plot forward don't necessarily work when a supervillain is trying to figure out Batman is Bruce Wayne, in other words.

You misunderstand, everything I said above, is real world.

[Zeropoint]

Re: Domino costume

 

Methods Batman uses to track down a bad guy and move the plot forward don't necessarily work when a supervillain is trying to figure out Batman is Bruce Wayne, in other words.

 

Ha, it is to laugh! There's no way that that flighty, responsibility-phobic, easily distracted skirt-chasing idiot playboy Wayne could be the Batman. Next you'll be telling me that Clark Kent looks like Superman's long-lost twin because they're the same person!

[Escafarc]

Re: Domino costume

 

Ha' date=' it is to laugh! There's no way that that flighty, responsibility-phobic, easily distracted skirt-chasing idiot playboy Wayne could be the Batman. Next you'll be telling me that Clark Kent looks like Superman's long-lost twin because they're the same person![/quote']

 

It couldn't of been Supes or Bats as you can see they have been busy

 

[Squall]

Re: Domino costume

 

You misunderstand' date=' everything I said above, is real world.[/quote']

No, I don't misunderstand anything. I know everything you said about is real world. I'm just saying that just because it works like that in the real world doesn't mean it will work like that -- at least not reliably -- in a comic book universe/Champions game.

 

So when it comes to the value of wearing a skimpy little domino mask, or a change of haircut and posture, or whatever, if the writer (or GM) says it's good enough to preserve a secret identity, it's good enough to preserve a secret identity.

[Checkmate]

Re: Domino costume

 

No' date=' I don't [i']misunderstand[/i] anything. I know everything you said about is real world. I'm just saying that just because it works like that in the real world doesn't mean it will work like that -- at least not reliably -- in a comic book universe/Champions game.

 

So when it comes to the value of wearing a skimpy little domino mask, or a change of haircut and posture, or whatever, if the writer (or GM) says it's good enough to preserve a secret identity, it's good enough to preserve a secret identity.

Ah, I misunderstood you, I realize this, but if you read the thread again, I think my posts will make more sense.