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"Sometimes people aren't just rooting for the best singer or entertainer. They really do have their favorite costume."
She told BuzzFeed that after working in reality TV for so long, she was used to the short time constraints and quick turnaround.
Before filming, Marina typically gets a month of pre-production to work on illustrations and concepts, and then she gets an additional two to three months to build each costume.
During these early stages, Marina meets with the show's casting director and talks about who's being pitched to join the show and who's already signed on. Then, she's able to send out concepts and sketches to the talent, and they give her feedback.
Marina said, "We go and really analyze what the character is like and what [the celebrities] like about it. A majority of the time, they're drawn to certain things based on personal preference." She also explained that she'll often take it "a step further" and customize specific elements for each celebrity, and that way she still gets to keep her work original.
As the seasons have progressed, Marina has gotten feedback from the celebs and sound crew, which helped make the masks as lightweight as possible. The masks are actually built on top of helmets, which helps them attach to the talent's heads. From there, they use lightweight foam to create the features.
She also explained that the first fittings are where the talent gets used to wearing the masks, plus they have a chance to give Marina any feedback on their costumes and customizations they want her to include.
She said that during the beginning stages, she and her team collaborate to "strategically figure out what's best for the show," meaning what kinds of characters have yet to appear on the show and what kinds of characters different demographics, like kids, want to see. She's even looked online to see what characters fans want to see.
A lot of minor things get fixed, like screens being shifted to enhance sound quality. The costume team also does a lot of work testing the costumes so they can figure out what restrictions they may have.
There are also cooling rooms backstage. Every contestant has specifically assigned costumers who carry water bottles and fans. But because the celebs get so used to wearing their masks, Marina explained that there are rarely any overheating issues while filming.
Marina explained that the masks come off immediately after performances. Each celebrity has their own trailer or dressing room where they wait between performances.
Marina explained, "Season 1 was our trial run to see what will happen to a costume that's cylindrical. We did have some issues with overheating inside. So we had to open up the vents and make sure that we could build in fans. We do turn them off during the performance so there's no sound effects going through. Now, with [costumes] that allow me space to build any kind of cooling system, we build it in right away."
If there are any other last-minute issues, Marina is around to fix them.
There's a little bit of prep time before a celeb is finally unmasked. However, if they're comfortable, some celebs don't even bother getting their hair or makeup done before the reveal.
She said that every season she tries to push the boundaries even higher, not only creating brand-new creatures, but adding a lot more intricacy and detail to everything they design.
She said that the team is still waiting to hear about production protocols and that her creative process is going to change a little as she ensures the costumes abide by safety regulations. She said, "As of right now, we're really hoping that we start filming or start prepping in the next couple of months and hopefully have a show by the end of the year. But unfortunately, a lot of it is out of our hands right now."
She explained that they'll have a more cartoonish approach and that she's "really diving into a lot of technical aspects to costuming that we haven't seen yet."
She said, "I really do hope to see more shows — or more emphasis — on the idea of costume design, and how much it really affects the visuals of production. In this case, it really is something that people fall in love with. Sometimes people aren't just rooting for the best singer or entertainer. They really do have their favorite costume."