As a visual artist who also taps into the anonymity of my room, I always wondered how Daft Punk managed to create not only his music, but his visual presence. A masterpiece in itself, Daft Punk helmets transform two anonymous musicians into supernatural beings. Funk and electro referees. Sound ambassadors. Synthesizer gods. You got it. Helmets allow the musician to stand out from reality and bring the audience into his universe. This leaves the musician in a mystery and, even today, the genesis of the helmets was a mystery to me too.
In a @daft_wub tweet topic, you can see the entire process from sketch to finish, including wiring diagrams and initial helmet sculptures. They also show the complex wiring required to power the LED array, as well as behind-the-scenes images from Daft Punk’s first photo shoot.
The topic also credits the companies involved: Alterian Inc., which worked on the first version of the helmets, and Ironhead Studios, which worked on the latest and thinnest versions of our favorite funk bots. Both studios have experience in cinema; Ironhead Studios, in particular, worked with Marvel in live action costumes for characters like Spider-Man, Black Panther, Thanos and others.
These images are not new; the topic of the tweet is simply recirculating them, but this is great for fans like me, who have never seen the process. If you want to know more, I suggest reading this article by Piers Martin, based on an extensive 2000 interview of the duo originally conducted for The face. You can even read a complete annotated transcript.
And for bonus material, check out this video with Designer Alterian SFX Tony Gardner exploring various iterations of the costumes.