Battles With Bits of Rubber

Blog post on this podcast is here:

It seems it would be handy to have some sensible steps to actually start making things. So check out the podcast on this very subject and also the lowdown on cap plastic.After all, the longest of journeys start with a single step, so having some steps in mind will help you start if you are not sure where to begin making.One thing to say is that you don’t have to go through all of the processes to begin with. Just sculpting is at least getting you involved in the act of making, without the added cost or time of making moulds, casts and applying. You can of course do those too if your means permit, but the point is that if you haven’t got all that, you can still start making things in some capacity.

Make Small Things Well

We'd recommend making small things well, and then expand sophistication and scale once you gain confidence. Wounds and casualty effects are a good way to begin, because if you do make pieces to stick on, and things go a little wrong, you can smother a bit of blood or bruising over the offending edge or error. Then, as you get better, try to step away gradually from gore and try to hide your efforts less behind the red stuff.

Noses are great things to do, and if you can do a flawless nose which looks great, the scale up to noses and eyebags. Then cheeks, chin and a neck. If the nose isn’t right, then figure that first. Nobody worth their salt is impressed with huge full body appliances painted badly or with terrible edges if it doesn't display a high level of skill. So get that skill by not spreading yourself too thin on big makeup jobs.

Looking at the work of the current masters of the trade is a great way to be inspired (and sometimes a little upset by how good the work can be) and then being able to place yourself more accurately on a continuum - where do you sit on the scale? It’s well worth checking these artists out if you haven’t yet seen any of their stuff. This is by no means a complete list - no doubt I will be blasted for the glaring omissions but it serves to start you off.

• Mike Hill
• Jordu Schell
• Bobby C
• Martin Rezard
• Carlos Huante
• Paul Komoda

Cap plastic

Cap plastic (not ‘cat plastic’ as some have misheard) is a flexible plastic usually supplied as a concentrated thick liquid, and thinned down with solvents for use either by conventional brushing or with an airbrush. Naturally, for airbrushing it needs to be thinned considerably to avoid blocking the fine nozzle. Clean the airbrush out after with the appropriate solvent.

Traditionally, bald cap plastic was acetone based and used to pretty much just make bald caps (although latex can also be used very successfully for bald caps), and the edges could be melted with acetone.

As silicone appliances began to use bald cap plastic as an encapsulant, so it was that more cap plastic was being used on the face instead of just as bald caps. The notion of a bald cap material which could be thinned with alcohol came about as a much less aggressive solvent to use on the skin.

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In the second and final part of the interview with Geoff Portass, we talk more Ken Russel, Pinhead and FX stories plus some insights into the right way to go about learning some of this crazy stuff.

Leave feedback and email your technical questions at [email protected]

We love to help!

Check out Stuart's Pinewood Studios workshops this year - dates on the website: http://www.learnmakeupeffects.com/workshops/

Hey folks, it’s just me today as Todd is pretty sick with a bad cold, so get well soon Todd. Hope you get fixed up and back on track soon.

We’ve got a great interview with someone who was the first person I ever got in touch with. Geoff Portass started Image Animation with business partner Bob Keen, and the company worked on some iconic genre movies and shows in the late 80’s and early 90’s. They also spawned the careers of some of the best known fx artists working today.

I still have my letters from 1990 when Geoff replied to my questions when I was 16! I sent foam samples of foam latex I had made at home and asked about the makeup they used and replied every time. Check the blog post to see these

I also remember meeting Nick Dudman at my college in 1993, when I basically cornered him for half an hour and asked him all these questions that nobody else could answer – pre Goole etc. I then went on to work for Nick on a few Harry Potter and Mummy movies.

Anyhow, I drove up to Geoff’s place and we chatted for a good few hours and I had to split this into two podcasts, as there was so much material and it seemed to fall into two logical topics – the film stuff and the teaching stuff. So, this is part 1 which looks at the film stuff and the next episode will be looking at the teaching stuff too.

Just a quick mention of some new workshops coming up at Pinewood studios in the next few months, keep an eye out for announcements and dates on the workshop page of the website: http://www.learnmakeupeffects.com/workshops/

Also, just to remind you that we’d love to hear from you. Feedback is always welcome and as we normally look at solutions to problems (hence the podcast being called Battles with bits of Rubber).

Our email is [email protected]

Finally, if you like the podcast please consider leaving a review on iTunes. It's the best way you can help us out, after all if you enjoy it then hopefully kindred spirits will.

Colour theory is a crucial part of makeup, especially if you are in the business of trying make a portion of the face out of rubber and make it look like it belongs there and is the same as the real skin which surrounds it.

This podcast accompanies the article we wrote for Neill Gortons 'Prosthetics' magazine, jam packed with tutorials and great behind the scenes goodies for all things prosthetic!

This is especially true when mixing your skin tone into your appliance material in the case of silicone or gelatine appliances.

The materials are different, but the principles of colour theory and how to create skin tones remain the same. This colour is IN the pieces rather than ON them.

We have gone on a fair bit in the past about the importance of colour and colour theory in posts about using photoshop to match skin tones, and 7 tips for painting skin tones. The reason...? Because it really matters and it's actually rather simple.

It's important to get the base tone of your appliances right, as you don't want to make things harder for yourself later by creating an appliance which fights you all the way because of poor base tinting.

It's very frustrating to have to use the makeup to 'correct' a badly or inappropriately coloured appliance when you can get the base tone to do most of the work for you.

Check out the blog post which has video and a podcast download for this episode right here...

....and email your questions and feedback to us at [email protected].

Todd and I have been chatting, as we both let the blogging slip because of work - so we are back with a plan to do more podcasts to give responses to email questions on a regular basis.

So, we caught up in this podcast to get the ball rolling again - listen or download it from here. It was recorded on Friday 13th....so it isn't about the movie Friday the 13th, so sorry to the Michael Myers fans.....this time we're talking plaster heads and master moulds, plastiline and apps to help design.

Check out the blogpost on it here: http://www.learnmakeupeffects.com/appsolute-idiot/

We sure do love a good question too so please ask your techy FX questions to us at our email [email protected]

Read the blog post to accompay this podcast: www.learnmakeupeffects.com/shooting-guns-at-meat

This time we take an interesting approach to capturing the tissue damage caused by gunshots and being able to safely recreate the three dimensional effects by moulding the results.

It's a novel way of testing out some theories. All we need is some sides of meat, a range of firearms, some privacy and an afternoon in the Colorado woodlands. All in the name of FX reference. Fun times!

Got an idea for a podcast episode for us? [email protected]

Check out the blogpost on this subject too: www.learnmakeupeffects.com/lifecasting-tipstricks/

Lifecasting is an essential, basic skill used in makeup effects and prosthetics - whether to create a custom fit appliance or to make a lifelike prop without sculpting from scratch.

In this podcast, Stuart & Todd share cool tips and tricks about this important yet varied subject.

Got an FX question you want to see covered? Email it to [email protected]

This podcast is the first joint blog post venture with Stuart Bray and Todd Debreceni.

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 experience. Credits include 'Saving Private Ryan', 'Shaun of the Dead', 'Dr Who' and more recently 'Game of Thrones'.

This one is all about the glues and removers we use with prosthetics. One thing is for sure, people get confused about which is what and why. This podcast breaks it down and you can be assured its really not as complicated as it sounds!

If you have any FX questions you would like to see made into a featured blog post, then get in touch: [email protected]