Lanterns · Episode 6 · Props & Costumes

The Ring On The Workbench

Quick answer: The Lanterns ring was designed from about 20 sketch versions, inspired by lighthouse Fresnel lenses, and built at Studio Art and Technology from about 19 pieces: laser-cut brass and an acrylic gem turned on a lathe, aged by painter Albert Luera and finished in green candy paint. Costume designer Cynthia Ann Summers made the suit a real, physical costume and aged it across the story.

Key facts

Ring design: about 20 sketch versions; inspired by Fresnel lighthouse lenses (production designer John Paino).
Build: Studio Art and Technology; ~19 pieces; laser-cut brass; acrylic gem turned on a lathe and bored to hold a light.
Finish: painter Albert Luera — base coat, aging, translucent 'green candy' paint. Prop master: Jeffrey Johnson.
The lantern's glass and bevelling follow a Fresnel lighthouse lens; a 'light cistern' set element was built.
Suit: a physical costume (not ring-generated) by Cynthia Ann Summers; several designs; aged from 1996 to 2016.
Director James Hawes: the suit is faded 'because the man himself is faded'.
Hal: a trashed Double RL jacket and cowboy boots inspired by photos of Anthony Bourdain; John: tailored, military-influenced pieces.

Frequently asked questions

How was the Green Lantern ring made for Lanterns?

At Studio Art and Technology from about 19 pieces: laser-cut brass and an acrylic gem turned on a lathe, painted and aged by Albert Luera.

What inspired the Lanterns ring design?

Lighthouse Fresnel lenses; production designer John Paino said he became fascinated with them.

Is the Green Lantern suit in Lanterns CGI?

No. It is a real, physical suit designed by Cynthia Ann Summers, aged across the story's timeline.

Who designed the costumes for Lanterns?

Costume designer Cynthia Ann Summers.

Chapters

0:00 Cold Open
0:50 Designing a Ring
2:00 Nineteen Pieces
3:00 A Beacon on the Table
3:48 A Suit That Lives in Our World
4:38 Faded on Purpose
5:34 Dressing Two Lanterns
6:31 Resolution + Next

Transcript

Cold Open + Ident

It fits in the palm of your hand. It took about twenty sketches, nineteen pieces, a lathe... and a lighthouse.

This is the ring at the heart of HBO's Lanterns. And before it ever glowed on screen, it sat on a workbench.

This is Behind the Lens, from Tenguu Vision... The Ring on the Workbench.

Designing a Ring

Co-creator Damon Lindelof says the hook of this hero is simple: his superpower is his imagination. The ring is the antenna that broadcasts it.

So, in HBO's official featurette, the props team describes studying almost every Green Lantern comic, then sitting down in sketch sessions. They say they probably did twenty versions.

The goal was to ground it in the real world. And the idea that unlocked it came from the word lantern itself. A lantern is a beacon. So the team looked at lighthouses.

Lighthouses use Fresnel lenses: rings of angled glass that bend a small light into a beam you can see for miles. Production designer John Paino told VFX Voice: "I became fascinated with Fresnel lenses in lighthouses." That circular pattern found its way into the ring.

Our reading: it's a perfect metaphor. A lighthouse doesn't fight the storm. It just tells you where home is.

Nineteen Pieces

The ring was built at Studio Art and Technology. Its 3D design file was broken into about nineteen separate pieces.

Structural parts were laser-cut from brass. The clear stone was turned from acrylic on a lathe, so it would be, in the team's words, "machine true," then bored through the centre to hold a light.

Then painter Albert Luera took over: a base coat, then aging, to bring out every crack and scratch. The gem was finished in what the team calls green candy paint, a translucent colour that glows when light passes through it.

On set, the ring could light up on cue. Prop master Jeffrey Johnson brought it in, and showrunner Chris Mundy remembers that when it arrived, everyone in the hall followed it.

Billions of dollars of franchise history... and the whole crew chasing a piece of jewellery down a corridor.

A Beacon on the Table

Every ring needs a battery. In Lanterns, that's the lantern itself.

Paino says the lantern's glass, shape and bevelling are based on the structure of a Fresnel lighthouse lens. So the ring and the lantern share one design language: the same circles, the same idea of light sent out across the dark.

For the glowing substance inside, the production even built a dedicated set element, a light cistern, to create it physically before effects took over.

Our reading: when a prop and its power source rhyme, the audience feels a system, not a gadget. It makes the magic feel like it has rules.

A Suit That Lives in Our World

Then there's the suit. And Lanterns broke with tradition here. In the comics, the ring generates the uniform. In the show, it's a real, physical suit.

Costume designer Cynthia Ann Summers told SYFY why: "Because our show is so grounded and it's this noir world we're living in, the suit needed to fit within our world."

Her team worked from what she calls a whole colour chart of greens, and went through several designs before the showrunner and director chose one.

And remember episode three: the rest of the wardrobe stayed out of green on purpose. In Summers' words, they "started off so earthy, intentionally, to set the tone, place, and decade."

Faded on Purpose

A suit that has been to war shouldn't look new. So Summers aged it across the story's timeline.

In a nineteen ninety-six newscast, it's "a little more green," and not as battle-worn. By twenty sixteen, in her words, "There's a bullet hole, and there's a gash, and it almost looks like the armor has lost layers." Grimy. It has lost its sheen.

Director James Hawes says Hal had many suits, all fairly beat up. And then the line that explains the whole design: it's faded "because the man himself is faded."

Our reading: costume is memory you can wear. Every scuff is a mission. Every faded panel is a year he didn't come home.

Dressing Two Lanterns

Out of uniform, the two men are dressed as opposites.

Hal wears a trashed Double RL jacket and cowboy boots. Summers says the boots were inspired by photographs of Anthony Bourdain. His clothes are "a little bit oversized, a little bit ill-fitting." A man who stopped dressing for anyone a long time ago.

John is the opposite: industrial chinos and military-influenced pieces, "tailored, close, and tight." Everything in its place. And actor Aaron Pierre reportedly trained like a Marine for the role, so the clothes sit on a body that moves like a soldier.

Our reading: we read clothing faster than dialogue. Before either man speaks, you already know who has given up on appearances... and who never lets his guard down.

Resolution + Next

Twenty sketches. A lighthouse lens. Nineteen pieces of brass and acrylic. A lantern that rhymes with the ring. A suit faded because the man is faded. And two wardrobes that tell you who these men are.

In Lanterns, the props don't just look real. They carry the story in your hand.

But where do you put a story like this? A Nebraska town that's really in California. A farmhouse on a soundstage. And a house far too big for one man.

Next time, on Behind the Lens... The Town That Isn't in Nebraska. This has been Behind the Lens, from Tenguu Vision.

Sources

HBO Max "How Green Lantern's Ring Came to Life" featurette (Lindelof, props team, Studio Art and Technology, 19 pieces, lathe, Albert Luera, Jeffrey Johnson, Mundy); VFX Voice (Paino: Fresnel lenses, lantern); SYFY (Summers: suit, greens, designs); MPA The Credits (Summers: suit aging, Hal/John wardrobe, Bourdain); HBO Max "Inside Episode 2" (Hawes: "faded because the man himself is faded").

Narration uses an AI voice model of Jovaun L. Brown's own voice. Some images are AI illustrations, not production stills.