There isn't an entirely historical president for the intent of a Media Obscura. They are made to resemble an everyday object that could plausibly fit into a wide array of SCA situations. Their intended goal is to make preserving the moment unobtrusive.
This particular Obscura was designed to look like a fairly generic paddle fan that would have been plausible in a range of cultures and time periods.
It has been pointed out that it also looks like a mirror, and I am ok with that. It just means I need to be mindful of how I hold it. Adding a Bluetooth selfie button that I can conceal in my other hand has helped a lot with my Narcissa problem.
The construction of this item only loosely adheres to how a paddle fan would usually be made. This is the area of SCA art that crosses over with stage craft to produce functional props that sometimes need to be sturdy, reliable, and pass at ten feet more than they need to be works of art in themselves. These are tools. That informed my materials choices in this case. I wanted something durable but decent looking.
I had another challenge that SCA and the stage share, which was a need to have this item arose at the last minute. That informed my decisions about materials choices. They had to be inexpensive, and readily available. The time crunch also meant that construction methods needed to be quick to execute. I tried at first to stay a little true to some more period methods, but long story short; my fingers don't always work right, and I glued myself to the project twice with paste before a member of my Household saved me from myself with a glue gun. Some days I have amazing dexterity, this was not one of those days. Thank you Tahir.
Materials:
•Skull shaped Halloween mask
•1 Sheet wide wale velvet look felt
•3 Beaded Bands w Elastic
•1 Phone Case
The balsa wood mask is not too far from a paddle fan base that might have been covered with fabric. It had one major benefit to my purposes in the form of pre-cut and conveniently located eye holes. I lined the phone case up so the camera had a clear view and so the entire phone body was hidden and marked around the phone case.
I intend to paste the fabric to the board, fold the edge of the fabric around the corner and flat fell it to itself to secure it, stitch the decoration in place, glue the phone case to the fan, tighten the elastic to hold extra batteries, make a small buttonhole for the lens to keep through and be ready.
This was a reasonable plan that would have looked a little more finished in the back. It was thwarted by my struggle to even get the paste to spread correctly. It turns out that hot melt glue was the right answer both because of timing and durability. I am glad the option was suggested.