Battles With Bits of Rubber

This time around we discuss the technical aspects of 3D modelling and printing for practical work, especially in creating detailed prosthetics and animatronic components using software like CAD and ZBrush. 

We delve into teaching and learning new techniques, particularly  the significance of hands-on experience in moulding and sculpting. 

Then we look at taking on jobs without proper qualifications, highlighting the potential dangers and importance of safety in prosthetic and special effects work. 

With Sasquatch suits, severed heads and blood gags on stage, come and join us on episode #94 of Battles with Bits of Rubber! ----

Cannibal! The Musical (1993) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlMIFRXLW8c

In this second and final part of our trip to Falmouth Uni, Neill Gorton joins us as we discuss making mistakes and learning the hard way in the workshop. 

We also discuss how to approach workshops and folio critiques and why latex and plaster are such great materials when starting and budgets are tight. 

Latex and plaster are a big theme in this episode. Be sure to check out the blog post with the show notes and the latest free workbook download, which is all about making latex pieces and plaster moulds from the UMAE 2024 makeups Stuart recently did. 

This is a hefty episode, and the workbook is 26 pages full of step-by-step processes and techniques!

If you enjoy this podcast and got something out of it, would you do us a solid and tell people about it? Send them a link and help the show grow!

Our trip down to Falmouth Uni preceded The Prosthetics Event 2023. It was a great trip, and so nice to see the work being done by students there and talk shop.

As always, we have a rough idea about what we want to talk about, but it's always led by the feeling in the room at the time, questions that come up and current events within the group .

We spoke for so long in a packed room using a single recorder, so the sound is a little different from our usual close microphone stuff.

It went on for nearly three hours, and fell into two distinct sections - the first half we present here.

The second part we shall release soon, and was when Neill Gorton arrived after just having beaten Covid again. Present were lecturers and all-round good eggs Brad Greenwood and Duncan Cameron, plus a room crammed with the students from the Prosthetic Effects MA who we had come to see.

Thanks to Duncan Cameron for his awesome sketches which feature in the episode art of parts 1 and 2. Check his work out on Insta @brokensharkcage.

Thanks for listening! Incidentally, the 'Hi, welcome to passes with bits of brother' bit comes from an automated transcript attempt in Word of the near 3 hour recording. Needless to say,I don't think we will be using that as a way to pull text from audio!

More notes on the blog post found at

https://battleswithbitsofrubber.com/falmouthp1

Makeup artists typically like makeup. It is a tactile medium, and they enjoy products, how they feel and smell and respond to brushes and pressure.    Making prosthetics similarly has its tactile qualities, and it is hard to separate these sensations from the very nature of the joy in the work.   It is little wonder then that this same group of people may not have developed an extensive love of digital versions of the same work.   Doing a digital makeup effect in Photoshop requires the makeup artist's mindset but somehow it is not the same thing, and I think this reluctance to do digital work can put the makeup community at a disadvantage.  The digital ship has definitely sailed, but the opportunity to join the crew is always open. This is our attempt at starting a wider conversation within the makeup industry regarding digital tools in the workshop. Check out the extensive notes available on the blog post that corresponds with this episode.   https://battleswithbitsofrubber.com/

Joel Harlow is an academy award-winning artist who started out in animation before he moved on to makeup.

Gradually building multi-faceted skills, confidence and workloads, he has evolved and expanded into the makeup effects heavyweight we know today with a hefty rollcall of credits.

Check out his company, https://morphologyfx.com/.

It is always fascinating to go through the IMDb of an artist and see their credits creeping up the hierarchy over time. Evidence of trust earned as supervisors see a way to pass the responsibility on, and nothing breeds more work than showing up on time and doing more than the client bargained for, happily smiling through it all and happy to be doing it.

This was certainly the impression Joel gave us in the chat too, and we think you’ll love it!

Drop us a line @ [email protected] or leave us a voice message on https://battleswithbitsofrubber.com/

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Stuart & Todd

 

Maddie is a talented concept artist and teacher known mostly for her ZBrush work. Coming from a practical background, her skills come from familiar ground - Fangoria, a love of monsters and sculpting for fun!

She has taught classes for Gnomon since 2006 - we recommend the ‘Introduction to ZBrush 2021’ video course. Todd and I both cite this as the breakthrough moment for both of us, making what previously had been indecipherable to us accessible and understandable. The way she comes across reminded us of Dick Smith, with a generous nature coupled with a thorough understanding of the subject. 

Maddie graciously invited Stu and me into her museum-like flat in London, where we chatted for hours surrounded by an eclectic collection of curios and oddities; it is a little 'Ripley’s Believe It Or Not' and a little bit Smithsonian, with a dash of Natural History thrown carefully in. We talked about everything, concentrating on how digital sculpting has become a permanent part of the special makeup effects world.

Adam Dougherty and his company https://www.kreaturekid.com/ are based in Colorado. An incredibly talented artist, he is an inspiring soul who makes things happen with determination and persistent hard work.

Although he considers himself lazy, his output shows anything but. In particular, his style celebrates the warmth and unique character that Jim Henson created with puppets, and has himself produced some jaw-droppingly effective puppets for various projects such as the upcoming Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls, directed by Andrew Bowser.

Adam has a flair and a style for big, expressive characters and, as you will hear in the podcast, celebrates and works hard to put practical effects front and centre. He is a sculptor working both digitally and practically, so he understands both sides of the coin. He also has a clear vision of a good story and isn't happy to mindlessly follow the herd.

We left inspired and impressed! We think you will be too. Check out his homepage, Instagram and YouTube account. It will be time well spent. In particular, this video from ADI (Amalgamated Dynamics) is an excellent account of Adam's journey and is a joy to watch: https://youtu.be/xKEA_JV7jF8

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Many thanks, as always, for your time checking the stuff out. You can email us directly at [email protected] or leave us a voice message on our site.

If you enjoy this podcast and got something out of it, would you do us a solid and tell just one more person about us? Send them a link and help us grow!

-Stuart & Todd

Frank Ippolito is something of a practical effects polymath. From starting out with makeup effects and putting in solid work in the lab, he has gradually expanded to running a company and crew with impressive credits and a high standard of work.

Checking out Frank's IMDb, you’ll see a switch around 2016 as he started working on speciality costumes. This is a big overlap in the practical effects industry as creature and ‘hero’ suits become more sophisticated. 

Frank started as a freelancer doing the thing; now, he runs a shop and has a well-trusted and reliable workforce at his shop, Thingergy INC. Because of his heavy lifting, now a team of folks get work and get paid, and our chat was an amazing dive into how a workshop is set up and run. This is a great episode to listen to if you are serious about getting work in the industry and want to understand how workshops work. 

We particularly appreciate Frank discussing budgets with actual numbers. Not often will folks spell out the costs of making stuff so clearly, but this is SO important. Often, a suitable budget is put together and whittled down until there is no profit or financial gain from an endeavour.

It is particularly the case for creative freelancers who are often people pleasers and feel uncomfortable discussing money and defending their costs.

(Hint: Just because they say they can't afford it doesn't mean you have to work for nothing and do the job! Saying no to something that takes your time and gives nothing in return is often the wisest move.)

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Many thanks, as always, for your time checking the stuff out. You can email us at [email protected] or leave us a voice message on our site.

If you enjoy this podcast and got something out of it, would you do us a solid and tell just one more person about us? Send them a link and help us grow!

-Stuart & Todd

In this episode, we look at a makeup I did nearly 30 years ago at college. Adrian Rigby sent me a remaining original piece from the mould, along with some photos (prints, no less, which I scanned).

We talk about remembering what you knew then (the past) and how you thought it should be done. You can also advise your old self on how it could be done better using the knowledge you know now (the present) and things you would attain in the future. By seeing your errors written plain, having an actual artefact from the past, you can connect with both then and now. 

We also answer a few listener questions about how to work out softnesses for appliances and what to include in a successful portfolio.

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Many thanks, as always, for your time checking the stuff out. You can email us at [email protected] or leave us a voice message direct on our site.

If you enjoy this podcast and got something out of it, would you do us a solid and tell just one more person about us? Send them a link and help us grow!

-Stuart & Todd

"Bill, there's a scene where The Blob attacks a woman who's in a 'phone booth and it covers the 'phone booth, it crushes the 'phone booth and here and then it goes on the sidewalk and goes into a gutter and disappears into this sewer."

I'm just looking at him and I go…"Okay."

And he says "Figure out how to do that scene!"

I was, like "Well, what IS The Blob?"

He goes "I don't know…you come up with something. Come up with 5 things and I'll pick one."

That was it. That was my first day

Bill who? Pardon our manners. We're talking about Emmy and Academy Award winner, Bill Corso, makeup designer extraordinaire, whose credit list is mind-boggling.

We talk about respect and the future of our industry, which is mainly what this episode is about. There are full-on makeups being done digitally now, but they're being done by people who are not makeup artists. Bill's push is that more makeup people do get involved.

Rarely is the makeup department consulted when digital modifications are employed which affect makeup so Bill has taken the step of formulating the Digital Makeup Group to address the absence of the makeup artist in the digital process. This is a great episode for those looking to get into the industry!

Many thanks as always for your time checking the stuff out. You can email us direct at [email protected] or leave us a voice message directly on our site.

-Stuart & Todd