Staff Profile, Ryan Tolentino: May the 4th Be with You!

Ryan Tolentino
has a plethora of interesting hobbies besides graphic designing for UA. Whether he’s creating pixel art with perler beads, taking Hip Hop, Swing, and Jazz classes, or even building elaborate costumes, Ryan uses the “arts” as an escape and thoroughly enjoys expressing himself artistically through different mediums. With that being said, Ryan recently unveiled his latest project during the latest Star Wars Celebration this past April. Here Ryan shares more on his experience at the Star Wars Celebration and provides insight on costume making — “the nerdiest, yet most dramatic” aspect of it all. As Yoda would say: Ready, I hope you are.

Ryan Tolentino

Senior Graphic Designer 


 

 

What exactly is the Star Wars Celebration and what activities and contests occur at the event?


Star Wars Celebration is a convention to bring together all the fans of the Star Wars Saga: movies, TV shows, books, comics, toys, merchandise, apparel, technology, etc. There are panels debuting new content and interesting tidbits: sneak peeks into the upcoming Star Wars Rebels season 2 (James Earl Jones will reprise his role, voicing Darth Vader), the premise behind Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One (The story of a squad of Rebel soldiers stealing the plans for the first Death Star) directed by Gareth Edwards (Godzilla 2014), and a full art exhibit showing the new costumes from the Force Awakens movie. There was also a costume contest, a droid-builders exhibit, costuming groups (Rebel Legion, Mandolorian Mercs, 501st legion, The Saber Guild), vendors, major toy makers (Hasbro, Lego) etc.

How long have you been attending the Star Wars Celebration and what has been your favorite memory?

This is the first time I’ve ever attended a Star Wars Celebration. My favorite memory from this Celebration was battling with lightsabers with John Boyega (Finn in Star Wars: The Force Awakens) on Day 1 after the Opening Panel. I was cosplaying the character Galen Marek (AKA Starkiller) from the video game series, the Force Unleashed, a video game Boyega referenced as a favorite video game of his, prior to getting his role as Finn. He took notice of me and wanted to test out my lightsaber and I gladly did, not knowing it was him under a Clone Trooper mask.

Have you always designed your own costume for the event? What do you consider when crafting a costume?

Star Wars Celebration 2015 is the first major event where I’ve cosplayed. My favorite Star Wars character would be Galen Marek from the Force Unleashed video game series and I loved the fashion that came out of it. It had subtle nods to all the amazing fashion that came out of the movies. There was always little bit of a modern take on a classic look.

The first time I showed a fully realized costume character was here at Chapman during Halloween of 2012, Darth Malgus from the Old Republic video game. It was purely for fun and it was self-fulfilling creation. No one knew who I was, but I thought it looked cool and I was excited to do it.

When I craft a costume I’ve learned that being able to breathe and range of movement is key. Essentially, balance “form” and “function.” Also, if the back is covered up by a cloak, save time on the details that won’t be shown. I started creating armor with basic craft foam sheets that you can buy from Michaels or Joanns, adhere cheesecloth to the back of large areas to prevent the foam from tearing, seal with a mixture of fabric glue and Elmers glue, sand and paint. Spray paints eat foam. Use acrylics and brushes. Velcro, zip ties, webbing (like straps from a backpack) are your best friend. Grommeting plus zip ties makes for clean ways to connect straps. For helmets or masks you are limiting your oxygen flow, so install a Radio Shack fan with a 9 volt battery to help circulate the air surrounding your mouth and nose.

If you want to get into costuming, budget at least 4 months prior to the event that you will unveil your creation. Give yourself time, because mistakes and miscalculations are bound to happen. Buy extra material! You are engineering this thing to your body, so standard sizes do not apply. Also, you will need help, so get a friend. My wife helped me with getting my armor on, finding where I should sew certain things, carefully put on a backpack as to not damage my armor, and she was just an extra pair of hands and eyes when I needed them.

How will you be celebrating May 4th this year considering it is the unofficial Star Wars day?


For May the 4th, I have the 124 Palm Conference Room calendared for a casual brown bag lunch. All of UA is invited and I will bring Star Wars-esque props (Lightsabers, Blasters, Masks, Leia hair buns, etc.) so we can take photos to commemorate the day. I will try to bring Blue (Bantha) Milk as a treat that day.

Anything else you’d like to share?

If costuming is something you want to get into, do it for you. I costume characters that speak to me and that is what motivates me to build them. When I was at the convention, for the few people that could identify my character and got excited about it, that was reassurance that I did a good job and that my efforts spoke to them, BUT I did it for me.  I love making the fiction into something real and tangible. There were so many Leia’s in gold bikinis, classic stormtroopers, steampunked versions of characters, disney parodies, and regardless of the repetition and sometimes loss in translation, the person portraying that character felt good in their own skin. Don’t discount a large Leia, a cardboard stormtrooper, or a store bought costume. Do it because you are passionate and show your love for great storytelling.