American Cinematographer - May 1991 - 71

New

Technology for Keeping Your Cool

by Ron Magid
Kevin Peter Hall

What do NASA astronauts, Bigfoot and the
Predator have in common? They all work
best when their temperatures are main¬
tained by climate control systems.
For decades, the nuclear and

demonstrates
the use of the
Actor Climate

system from

Diligent
Dwarves. It runs

aerospace industries, among others, have
tried to create such systems to regulate the

on

batteries, is

easy to put on
and take off.

temperature of employees operating in

Hall is

high-risk environments. Mistakes can be
costly when fatigue sets in due to raised
body temperature. A company called
Lifesupport Services Incorporated solved
the problem for aerospace and other in¬
dustries by creating a vest and cap which,
in conjunction with a climate control sys¬
tem, can effectively regulate body tem¬

times

some¬

Big Foot

and sometimes

Predator in his

different 7'2"
roles.

perature.
For the past three years, Di I igent
Dwarves Effects Lab has been effectively

redesigning a climate control system spe¬
cifically for use in the motion picture in¬
dustry. Called the Actor Climate System,
Diligent Dwarves' package not only keeps
actors in hot costumes cool under hot lights,
but warms those wearing minimal clothing
in cold environments
For their contributions to the art
of motion pictures, where they've suc¬
ceeded in keeping the hottest creatures in

Hollywood calm, cool and collected during
the filming of Predator, Harry and the
Hendersons and Star Trek V, both Diligent
Dwarves and J & G Enterprises have earned

special technical Academy Awards. These
honors were bestowed in a ceremony on
March 2, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly

Hills, along with
dustry laurels.

a

number of similar in¬

Chris Gilman, who heads Dili¬
gent Dwarves, co-developed the Actor Cli¬
mate

System with shop

manager

Harvey

Hubert, after learning of Lifesupport Sys¬
tems' cool suits. "I first became

aware

of

their system from an auto racing friend of
mine who was experimenting with it to

keep cool in his race car," Gilman relates.
"My original idea was that this system
would be perfect for protecting a stuntman
engulfed in flames for a full body burn stunt.
Harvey and I both felt that Lifesupport's
cooling system, which was really designed
for aerospace and medical purposes, was

specialized and delicate for motion pic¬
began concentrating on
developing a new system specifically for the
film industry. We ended up creating our
own cooling system that still incorporated
Life Support System's climate control vest
and cap."
This system made its motion
picture debut in the original Predator, thanks
to Gilman's acquaintance with actor Kevin
Peter Hall, who played the alien in that film.
"Kevin had done a lot of suit jobs including
too

ture use, so we

May 1991

Harryand the Hendersons, and he'd told me
in those

how uncomfortable he always was
creature

costumes," Gilman remembers,

"so when I told him about the system we'd

developed, he was very interested. He came
over one day and I put the system on him,
and he just flipped. I think it was because
of Kevin that

we were

able to get our sys¬

tem on the first Predator shoot. The

makeup people were a little apprehensive
might

at first that the thickness of the vest

show underneath the Predator costume,

American

Cinematographer

69
American Cinematographer - May 1991

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