Battles With Bits of Rubber

By Stuart Bray and Todd Debreceni

Arts Education Visual Arts

What's Battles With Bits of Rubber about?

Stuart Bray and Todd Debreceni talk makeup effects and prosthetics.

If you like rubber monsters, prosthetics and gore then you can listen, learn and suggest new episode subjects.

Todd is author of 'Special Makeup Effects For Stage And Screen', what many consider to be the modern makeup FX bible.

Stuart Bray is a working makeup FX artist with many years experienc. Credits include 'Saving Private Ryan', 'Shaun of the Dead', 'Dr Who' and more recently 'Game of Thrones' and 'Dr Strange'.

Email us at [email protected]

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LAST EPISODE

#91 - Digital Tools In The ...

11.28.2023

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 ...

Battles With Bits of Rubber episodes:

11.28.2023 #91 - Digital Tools In The Workshop 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 ...
12.31.2022 #90 - Joel Harlow 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 ...
10.02.2022 #89 - Maddie Scott-Spencer 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 ...
08.16.2022 #88 - Adam 'KreatureKid' Dougherty 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 ...
08.14.2022 #87 - Frank Ippolito 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 ...
07.30.2022 #86 - More Noses, Fewer Horns 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 ...
07.03.2022 #85 - Bill Corso "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 ...
02.03.2022 #84 - Pete Tindall In this episode, we talk with materials maestro Pete Tindall about all things making related, along with a dose of rantage. I moan a bit about ZBrush (although I love it) and the fact that despite the terrifying interface and ...
01.27.2022 #83 - Ian Morse & Cliff Wallace Part 2 Check the shownotes on the blog: https://battleswithbitsofrubber.com/ This second part of our chat with Ian and Cliff takes a look back at the company they had together, Creature Concepts - or as Ian puts it ‘How not to run a ...
01.21.2022 #82 - Ian Morse & Cliff Wallace Part 1 This episode was recorded at Cliff's studio, with all four of us present and correct. Ian and Cliff have worked together and separately in the industry for a long time - Ian's credits include Little Shop Of Horrors, Alien 3, ...
01.01.2022 #81 - Bolton Part 2 Competence and comfort are the results of the repetition of activity over a significant period of time. In an age of endless self-promotion, this podcast has always championed the work involved in quiet competence. Being competent at something is what ...
12.26.2021 #80 - Bolton Part 1 What does digital sculpting have to do with battling with bits of rubber? Speaking in one of the VFX classrooms, a huge space with rows of monitors and Wacom Cintiqs, we gathered as a group to discuss training to work ...
12.18.2021 #79 - Jake Garber Our conversation recently with Jake Garber at The Prosthetics Event in Coventry was, we think, a very important chat worth listening to for anyone who is trying, or thinking about trying to get a foot in the door into the ...
11.24.2021 Amelia Rowcroft: Strong Foundations Figurative sculptor Amelia Rowcroft lives in the lovely Sussex town of Lewes on the South East Coast of England, which dates back to 961AD. She was kind enough to invite us into her studio in a building that once housed ...
11.20.2021 #77 - Truth Is Grosser Than Fiction Click Here For Blog Post Of This Episode Paul Savage is a returning guest on the show. We caught up with him at the Prosthetics Event in Coventry. Merging medical knowledge with movie makeup, he aims to bring more realism ...
10.18.2021 #76 - 1.9 Million Sq. Ft Needed This episode is in two parts. The first part is the generally good news of the increase in film industry activity which sees many people run off their feet with work. After a year of lockdowns and closed up shops, ...
07.20.2021 #75 - Cutting Edges & Flat Moulds We covered cutting edges in episode #61 but this one is specifically about cutting edges on flat moulds. Cutting edges on appliance moulds do the work of separating the fine appliance edge from the flashing and excess, allowing the mould ...
06.21.2021 #74 - Foam & Filament In episode #74 we talk about running lots of foam latex and overcoming the things that can go wrong with foam latex. Despite silicone being the material most go to first, it is a very real material that needs to ...
02.20.2021 ~73 - Rod Maxwell Rod Maxwell is a bit of a Renaissance man, and the more we talked the more you can see how wearing many hats has informed his approach. Of late, Rod has become known for his fusion of digital techniques with ...
02.10.2021 #72 - Adam Beane Adam has become well known for his miniature and smaller-scale work which has both great expression as well as high levels of detail, and even developed a material which allowed such tight detail for miniatures called Cx5. The man has ...
01.08.2021 #71 - Daniel Parker Daniel was the first professional prosthetic professional to look at my portfolio. That stuff sticks with you. That was back in 1994, and there was still a lot of Frankenstein stuff kicking about in the workshop from the previous year. ...
12.28.2020 #70 - Dominic Hailstone Part 2 In this second and final part of the chat with Dominic, we look at his art and discuss the drawing and sculptures. As usual, this podcast episode is a tale of two stories. Todd and I talk about the difficult ...
12.13.2020 #69 - Dominic Hailstone Part 1 In this episode (and the next), we have a chat with artist Dominic Hailstone. He works extensively with visual effects and has a background in makeup effects and practical effects which inform his approach. Being an early adopter of visual ...
11.29.2020 #68 - Q&A This episode is a catch up on some emails and questions we had over the last couple of weeks. We have some great questions this time around, so many thanks for getting in touch! We talk about epoxy surfaced moulds, ...
11.15.2020 #67 - Brian Kinney Brian Kinney is a primetime Emmy-nominated makeup artist and a Journeyman in IATSE Hollywood Local 706 Make-up Artists and Hairstylists Guild, where he serves as Makeup Craft President and Executive Board Member. His work can be seen in feature films ...
11.10.2020 #66 - Lars Carlsson Lars is a generous self-taught artist from Sweden. He works in film, TV and theatre productions often using new technology to scan and print items for practical effects. We wanted to chat theatre stuff, as that is not something we ...
10.29.2020 #65 - Ghosts, Goblins & Cutting Edges https://battleswithbitsofrubber.com/ It’s Halloween. A Saturday! A full moon! Also not happening because of Covid. Boo. It’s a damn shame, but I imagine around the world, a lot more horror movies will be watched. I can only hope such mass consumption ...
08.27.2020 #64 - Danny Marie Elias Danny has done some interesting things with prosthetics, leading with fashion and high concept looks and bringing appliance work into the mix. Most demonstrations at trade shows involving appliances are showing just the tail end of a much longer hidden ...
08.19.2020 #63 - Things That Go Wrong We have all spotted things in shows which were never meant to be there. Scars swapping sides, hair up one minute and then down the next, blood which moves shot to shot or an errant edge which can't be hidden. ...
06.21.2020 #62 - Mould Closure Closing moulds correctly is vital to get good casts out of them. There seems little point in making a good mould and then getting bad casts out of it. In this episode we chat about things to consider when looking ...
06.11.2020 #61 - Cutting Edges Cutting edges are the point at which a core meets the mould, and is crucial in creating a fine edge for many appliances. In flat moulds, there can be something similar even though a core isn’t involved, as it establishes ...
05.17.2020 #60 - Tim Baggaley Blog Post for this episode here. Tim Baggaley played the one-armed zombie in Shaun of the Dead. He's a damn nice fella, an actor, talented graphic designer and a fabulous dancer. In this episode, we chat about his experience on ...
05.17.2020 #59 - Mark Donovan Here is a little treat - an additional little episode that checks in with Mark Donovan who played The Hulking Zombie in Shaun Of The Dead. We talked through the difficulties involved in getting ready to be attacked with records ...
05.17.2020 #57 - 'Little John' Cormican It was a great pleasure to chat with John face to face (before lockdown, I hasten to add) back in December of 2019. John is a well known FX artist who has since gone on to work at Tussauds and ...
05.17.2020 #58 - Air Bubbles Air bubbles of one kind or another are inevitable if you deal with materials which start out life as a liquid and then later solidify such as plaster, latex, silicone and resin. Let’s take a look at what can happen, ...
04.28.2020 #56 - Q & A This episode of the podcast, we catch up with some questions left on our answerphone, emails and comments. Clay issues, alcohol colours, and a nice message from sculpting master Amelia Rowcroft. Cheers to those been in touch, and leaving messages. ...
04.25.2020 #55 - Shaun Of The Dead: An Appreciation The Shaun Of The Dead prosthetic team reunites and talk through the movie effects shots. Blog post for this episode here I thought it would be fun to chat with Stuart Conran and Dan Frye, two FX buddies who I ...
04.17.2020 #54 - Approaching Workshops Blog Post link: https://battleswithbitsofrubber.com/54-approaching-workshops/ Folio under your arm, at some point you may wish to appeal to those who could give you a job. It's nervewracking to be judged, but your folio is maybe pages of your heart and soul ...
04.12.2020 #53 - 5 Big Questions Commonly Asked There are often a number of questions about prosthetic makeup that get asked often. We put together the top 5 that keep cropping up and do a deep dive into our responses. 1. How do I match an appliance to ...
04.02.2020 #52 - Brandon & Jacquie Ryan Todd talks with his good friends and fellow artists, Jacquie & Brandon Ryan. This episode looks at how people teach, learn, and maybe don't learn. We all need a motivation to learn, and many of us will require different styles ...
03.19.2020 #51- Neill Gorton I first met Neill with a folio tucked under my arm for my interview I had managed to arrange at Ealing Studios in 1995. My first job with him was making oversized Casio watches, which were fibreglassed out of silicone ...
01.16.2020 #50 - Richard McEvoy Crompton At IMATS London 2019, I sat and had a great chat with Rick from Bolton University. For those that may not be aware, a breif Rick bio: "Richard is a senior lecturer and Programme Leader of the Special Effects for ...
12.18.2019 #49 - Matthew Mungle In this episode, I got to chat with Matthew Mungle & visit his jail cell! Matthew and his company, WM Creations have been responsible for makeup effects on scores of shows and racked up a lot of awards and nominations ...
12.12.2019 #48 - Neil Morrill In this episode, Neill Morrill joins me in the workshop as we hit up Todd in Colorado and chat about our collaborated efforts on the makeup we did for The Prosthetics Event 2019. Neil is originally from the UK but ...
11.18.2019 #47 - Kate Benton In this episode, Todd and Stu talk about our week making moulds with epoxy, dropping sculpts and moulage effects for first responder training. Earlier in 2019, Stu got to sit and chat with some fine folks at IMATS London and ...
11.10.2019 #46 - Makeup Education Starting Education In Makeup Effects & Prosthetics This episode is prompted by seeing a few questions on forums about how best to learn about makeup FX and prosthetics. Where to go and what to learn? Depending on what you want ...
09.10.2019 #45 - Jordu Schell Jordu Schell has been pushing clay around for a while and knows a thing or two about sculpting. Creating concepts for characters and creatures, masks, makeups and beautifully crafted designs, he also teaches his craft all over the world and ...
08.15.2019 #44 - Colorado 2019 It’s been a while since Todd & I have podcasted, so apologies for the slow return to form. It’s been a brutal few months, mainly as I have been on the new Netflix/BBC version of Dracula which has kept my ...
04.23.2019 #43 - Paul Savage OBE "Paul walked into a Lifeboat station on his 17th birthday and never left, initially volunteering at Poole and now at Tower Lifeboat in London. So far he has been a Search and Rescue Volunteer with the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat ...
02.27.2019 #42 - Sculpting with Pauline Fowler In this podcast we talk about art, what it means to be an artist, why we do it, and the challenges we face in trying to make a living doing this. This was mostly brought about because of the fantastic ...

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