If you’ve attended the Oregon Country Fair, a renaissance festival, then you might have seen Michael Shaffer’s tree costume. It looks like an Ent from Lord of the Rings, though Shaffer doesn’t specifically name the costume as such. The tree has detailed bark made from latex and moves more fluidly than you’d think such a tall, cumbersome build would – the stilts must be really well designed. The above video shows the costume in action. Shaffer’s company, Apropos Production, made the first version of the tree costume in 2007. When it was lost, they unveiled an improved tree ensemble in 2013. The costume is more about celebrating our relationship with nature than embodying a character.
See another video of the tree costume in action at Nerdbot.
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