"Batman Begins" Production Notes

The real costuming challenge was creating a Batman cape with the right look and movement on screen. To accomplish this, the crew got help from the British Ministry of Defense. Ministry technicians taught the crew a technique that is used on police gear to lower night-vision detection, called electrostatic flocking.

The crew brushed nylon parachute fabric with glue and dropped a very fine, hair-like material onto it. Then an electrostatic charge was run under the fabric. This process gave the cape a seamless look and a distinctive, velvety sheen. The idea was to make the cape in the film look more like what we've seen in the comic book.

The Cape

Batman's cape was also developed by the Applied Science Division of Wayne Enterprises. Based on a nylon derivative, the special memory fiber, can billow and flow like any fabric -- but when an electric charge is applied to the fiber, it becomes stiff and takes on a distinctive shape. For instance, Batman's cape has been sculpted into a kind of glider than can slow his falls or even allow for short flights.