Battles With Bits of Rubber

I had the great privilege to be asked to teach some masters degree students at Theaterakademie August Everding in Munich, Germany recently.

I had a splendid time! The three students I worked with all had ambitious, figurative projects which they had been working on for some weeks when I arrived for my five day stint there.

• Daniel Riedl had made a full-size figure leaning out of a bath and was in the final sculpting stages preparing to make ready for moulding.
• Julian Hutcheson had just moulded his sculpt of a male torso, and in the week we mixed and cast out the silicone in the chosen flesh tone (Moldstar 20 from Smooth-On).
• Caterina Veronesi had sculpted a scale figure of herself which will be cast in silicone and was also in the final sculpting stages and preparing to make the mould.

We had a great group chat to discuss how things work there, the education system (It's a free, government paid education which requires an extensive interview process which is a completely different model to the business-style version most makeup education systems work to) and the expected quality of work such a system produces. One great project they had was to take classic roman marble sculptures and create realistic portrait busts based on them. This was a great project as it revealed the licence artists took to portray an idealised version of someone who perhaps would really have been a good deal less attractive in reality - the photoshop of it's day.

By studying the people depicted, discrepencies between reported ages and health reveal how much the idealised versions deviated from reality.

Pic: The original marble bust (left)and lifelike interpretation by Julian Hutcheson (right).

We also chat about how important beer is, making your own silicone wig blocks, using Monster Clay in a cold environment as well as the re-emerging point of the unavoidable trinity in all creative endeavours:

"Good – Quick – Cheap...Pick two because you can't have all three".

Dividing up large appliances

Michael Pennington got in touch through our email ([email protected]) with a question about how best to know where one should divide up appliance sculpts to break them down into smaller pieces. As Todd points out, much of this is a hangover from foam latex and the shrinkage which was inevitable with that material.

Silicone howver has none of these shrinkage issues, so we don't always need to divide it in the same way. That said, there are often good reasons to make a large appliance makeup into smaller, more manageable pieces.

The most logical place to do this is where the sculpture is at it's thinnest, and to try and keep edges in easier-to-hide areas where possible, such as where there is naturally a crease or shadow.

This was covered in more detail in a post from a while back, 'Floating Pieces' where you will also find a workbook with lots of in-depth information:

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'Cheap Cheap Cheap' shouldn't be 'Shit Shit Shit'

Whenever we do a video tutorial, I can guarantee that someone will want to do it for less money. This is of course an inevitable occurance, as it is quite sensible to not spend money you don't need to.

However, there does come a point where substitutuing can become so obsessive that eventually the end result can just look like a pile of crap.

I do a wax scar, someone wants to make their own wax becasue it's too expensive.

If I had a makeup using good wishes and exhaled air, someone somewhere would want to economise on that somehow. (I know of people who have made their own wax, but if you don't put a dollar value on your time or you seriously have a great idea to improve it then fine - but to me wax IS the cheaper and quicker way compared to sculpting, moulding and casting an appliance!)

Whilst it is true that skill will 'work well with anything', I can assure you top pro makeup kits do not have packs of cured meats and jam instead of makeup products to use on their screen talent. If mashed banana looks just right for fat, or pus or brains then fantatsic.

Just don't extend that to 'I'll never need to buy another makeup product again'.

Once you've seen outsandingmakeup work done firsthand, then your priorities change. You decide instead of trying to do something as quick and cheap as possible, you would rather try and do something as good as possible.

Like that trinity of choices above, pick two and decide which you would rather have in your portfolio.

Latex is a material that often gets used in colleges because it is cheap and easy to get. Howver, it requires more skill to paint it to appear like real skin than silicone appliances, so there is always a trade off.

We would encourage you to get good at using cheap materials on a small scale, and then gradually scale up as you improve. Beware clickbait and attention grabbing use of foodstuffs - if there was a way of not buying makeup then we can assure you working professionals would be the first in line at the grocery store!

Jam may be fine for a kids halloween party, but it won't do you any favours in a working portfolio.

Till next time.

Stuart & Todd

Seven hours is a big time difference to deal with when trying to synchronise a podcast with two people.

To help with that, Todd and I figured adding some extra single features to help keep the show moving.

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At Pinewood studios, I was teaching a great class which had me thinking a lot about what we teach and why. I seized the moment to share my observations which briefly were:

1. When and why to premake pieces way in advance versus fabricating something up directly onto the skin.
2. The difference between knowing about something and mastering it.
3. Keeping a record of your efforts when trying to solve a problem.
4. It's hard to be subtle - heavy handed is way easier to do.
5. The importance of mixing the correct base tone to your appliance material.
6. Making v buying fake blood.

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Links you may find useful which were mentioned:

Neill Gorton's Make-up FX 911

Rob Smith - Blood Podcast Part 1

Rob Smith - Blood Podcast Part 2

Maekup - David Stoneman's FX materials range

Eyeblood (Kryolan)

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Questions or comments either on the blog, the facebook page or email us direct [email protected]

Until next time,

Stuart

Most people learn techniques and perfect them. Some people then take those techniques and look at what can be improved. Sangeet falls into this camp.

He is now pretty well known for creating high quality prosthetic transfers, moulds made which contain the appliances and are used directly in their application.

As far as I can ascertain, this system was developed by Conor O'Sullivan and Rob Trenton and involves making silicone mould inserts which contain the appliances during application, speeding up the process in the chair and allowing multiple appliances to be run from the same sculpt.

Sangeet has taken this process and developed many techniques and methods to push it even further. The transfer technique involves a lot of moulding and remoulding, and is not for the faint of heart but the results can be fantastic.

Check out his website studiosangeet.com/ and his range of anatomivcally accurate injury appliance flat moulds.

I chatted with Sangeet in his home studio in North London, and we spent four hours talking about moulds, standing on the shoulders of giants, using old-school materials in new ways. We covered a number of topics, including:

• Parental influences, how you absorb things you see in your parents rather than were actively shown, especially seeing them at work and learning to problem solve.
• Using simple materials in a more effective way.
• Seth Godin – what is school for. (Video: STOP STEALING DREAMS: On the future of education & what we can do about it).
• Scott Sigler, horror author https://scottsigler.com/
• Why simply knowing good techniques doesn't make you a good artist.
• Art v Craft - Grayson Perry http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03969vt. (Grayson did a number of amazing lectures with the BBC called 'Playing to the Gallery'. I'd urge you to track them down to listen. )
• Grayson Perry documentary 'All Man' : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvrC0i4pXak
• Howard Finster artist: http://www.finster.com/
• The Falstaff inflatable makeup from 1911, from Popular Mechanics. (It actually used silk, not cotton as I said in the podcast).
• Mouldmakers – Carl Lyon (https://www.instagram.com/carllyonfx/), (http://vvdfx.com/)
• Rob Freitas (https://www.instagram.com/freighttrain_moldmaker/) and his interview with Gunnar Ferdinandsen: https://vimeo.com/68578907
• Brian Best http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0078907/
• Blender, free and open source 3D software: https://www.blender.org/
• Artes Mechanicae https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artes_Mechanicae
• The baggage from deifying techniques.
• VFX and production are not living in the past, but looking forward.
• Langers Lines – directions of skin tension: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langer%27s_lines
• Compare also with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraissl%27s_lines and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaschko%27s_lines
• Newtonian Fluid: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newtonian_fluid
• 3M and material development.
• The benefits of a folio of failures.
• Overusing appliances rather than working with the face.
• Incredible prosthetic artist Floris Schuller http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0776047/
• Acylic Polymers - Jesmonite, AcrylicOne, Forton MG
• I mentioned a plaster here in the UK called Alpha K.
• Dave Parvin, artist, who incidentally wrote a fantatsic series of articles collated in the book 'The Casting of Angels'.

Check us out on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/stuartandtodd/ or email us direct at [email protected]!

If you dig this, then share it! It would really help us out to grow the podcast.

- Stuart & Todd

3D printing is having an effect on the way things are made. This episode talks about what those things are, how it benefits us all and how you can get involved.

Chris Dombos knows a thing or two about 3D printing, and he is also a massive FX nerd so we got on rather well. Having met him first at LA IMATS in Jan 2017 (I discovered he had some of the original Lost Boys moulds), it made sense to catch up when he came over to London recently. Of course, I figured bring the mic and make a podcast out of it.

We recorded in a cemetery in London, so there are background noises. The whole gamut of life - cars, sirens, passing people, kids, birds in the sky, aircraft, wind – it's all there in a place of the dead. It's all background, our audio is clear and we chatted about a number of great topics which matter to anyone who makes things. This includes:

• There have been a number of auctions as big FX shops started scaling down! This means that the larger shops have all but disappeared but more smaller operations opening up.
• Props Store London https://propstore.com/
• Importance of design and the danger of generic, the process informing the look.
• Occulus Medium: https://www.oculus.com/medium/
• Cost of CAD programs - the free and the fortunes.
• Digital sculpting revealing an artists lack of anatomical understanding, and how an understanding of form is essential to good sculpture regardless of the medium – clay or pixels.
• Costs or materials v digital process. It exists as a process, will only get better.
• The increased incident of joined up thinking, and how digital FX uses a team to create what would have been the job of one person, teams fitting together. For practical FX this wider collaboration is a new thing.

We also mention some great artists. These include:

• Norman Cabreara https://www.instagram.com/norman_cabrera_monsters/
• Steve Wang https://www.instagram.com/stevewangcreaturecreator/
• Gio Nakpil http://gionakpil.com/
• Bill Corso https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/artists/special-effects-makeup-artist-bill-corso
• Digital Makeup Group - http://www.digitalmakeupgroup.com/
• Adam beane and 'CS Wax' http://www.adambeaneindustries.com/cx5/
• Landon Meier http://www.hyperflesh.com/
• Jose Fernandez and http://ironheadstudio.com/

Software and websites to help include:

• Modo https://www.foundry.com/products/modo
• Places to learn 3D Sculpting https://www.renderosity.com/ http://www.wings3d.com/
• Sculptris http://pixologic.com/sculptris/
• ZBrush Central http://www.zbrushcentral.com/
• ZBrush http://pixologic.com/zclassroom/
• ZBrush Core https://store.pixologic.com/zbrushcore/ who listened to sculptors to make the software work for sculpture.
• Mudbox (https://www.autodesk.com/products/mudbox/overview ), DigiPen https://www.digipen.edu/
• Gnomon https://www.gnomon.edu/
• Pluralsight (Formerly Digital Tutors) https://www.pluralsight.com/
• https://www.gentlegiantstudios.com/
• https://3dprinting.com/what-is-3d-printing/
• Reality Capture – photogrammetry software https://www.capturingreality.com/

Hope you enjoy this episode - It's exciting and scary at the same time for me.

Check us out on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/stuartandtodd/ or email us direct at [email protected]!

- Stuart & Todd

This podcast was a lot of fun to do.

I met up with the Mekashes (Eryn and Mike) at their hotel as they were over for The Prosthetics Event here in the UK.

I was lucky enough to squeeze in a face to face interview and had a frankly wonderful time chatting with a couple of lovely people who also are amazing artists and FX nerds. Listen here, or on Apple Podcasts/iTunes. Soundcloud or whatever podcatcher you like to use.

Her credits include TV shows Glee, Nip/Tuck & Movies such as Flags of our Fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima, My Sisters Keeper. As per her IMDb bio:

Eryn Krueger Mekash has 30 years of television and film industry experience as a makeup artist and is diversified in beauty, makeup effects and design. Her credits cover a wide range of productions. Eryn started her career in the special makeup effects field in Los Angeles. Eryn has won 6 Emmys and 6 Artisan awards and well as 29 Emmy Nominations for outstanding makeup, prosthetic and non-prosthetic. She is the department head for FX's anthology, American Horror Story (2011), and can still make a nice mold in a pinch.

Listen here, or on Apple Podcasts/iTunes. Soundcloud or whatever podcatcher you like to use. It's a hefty one, almost 2 hours so get stuck in!

We are also now on Spotify, so check us out there too!

We talk about the great book Leading Ladies of Makeup Effects in which Eryn features, being a department head for FX heavy shows like American Horror Story, how much fun Halloween is at Rick Bakers place and recreating The Lost Boys thirty years on using pieces from the original moulds.

Todd was printing a head of himself to make 'Chocolate Todds' so that's the sound you can hear in the background. Todd discusses the finishing up of his third edition to the well-known FX bible Special Makeup Effects for Stage And Screen! Hear all about the goodies in store there in the podcast.

Incidentally, the antler in question which frankly I think looks like something which needs batteries is this: I think this looks suspect. Is it just me...?

WINNER!

The winner of the Steve Wang Sculpting Tool Set is Darren Pastor - well done fella. These will be on their way to you soon!

As ever, get in touch on our Facebook page, comment here or email us [email protected].

My sincerest thanks for the Mekashes for giving up their time so generously and for all the beer and pudding!

Until next time!

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Stuart & Todd

5 THINGS YOU'D LIKE TO KNOW (OR WOULD HAVE LIKED TO HAVE KNOWN) WHEN LEARNING PROSTHETIC MAKEUP

I'm still learning every day. I still make mistakes and I am still worried that every job I am about to start will go wrong. That feeling has never gone away and I suspect it never will. The trick is to get used to the sensation, understand that it isn't abnormal and to get on with the job anyway.

There are many things which often get taught again and again at makeup school, but along the way there are also things I noticed which are vital and yet which never seem to get the same level of spotlight.

In this podcast, Todd and I discuss 5 of the big ones which deserve looking at in some depth. We gave this subject as a talk at IMATS LA 2017, but this is a recording done recently (Nov 2017) so we're up to date and happy to hear your thoughts. Our email is [email protected].

1. It's hard to be subtle. 2. There Are Other Important Qualities To Recreating Skin Other Than Shape and Colour. 3. Believe in primary colours

Check out our posts on use of colour Colour Theory In Practice and 7 Tips For Painting Skin Tones.

4. 90% of what you do won't get noticed (Hopefully) 5. Failure: when things don't go to plan, it's easy to beat yourself up thinking you're no good.

Feel free to get in touch on our facebook page or email us at [email protected] --- Til next time

Stuart & Todd

Rob Burns makes great sculpting tools because he sculpts and knows what works.

Blog post for this episode with video:

http://www.learnmakeupeffects.com/rob-burns/

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It helps to know your tools, and in the podcast, he chats about how he started the company and how he paid his dues. We also chat with Mitch of Brick In The Yard again, and we talk about the proliferation of information in the hi-tech age and how having so much information on hand doesn't necessarily mean that it makes it into the brain.

Incidentally, this is what the tribble-like recorder looked like which we mention in the podcast:

Sculpting Tools Tools are something I have an unreasonable desire for, and I have far too many already but I'll be damned if that will stop me buying more. I have done a few posts on tools, manufacture tutorials and loop tool repair. This doesn't mean I don't buy tools as well - just because I know how to make a sandwich doesn't mean I don't go to Subway on occasion!

When I met with Rob at BITY, I had a play with the Steve Wang set, a signature set of tools designed in association with the master creature designer himself! I liked them so much I bought a set there and then for myself, and also got another set for a giveaway on the podcast. See the competition details below to enter!

Our email is [email protected]

Makeup Education Todd is busy with the newest edition of his book, and I have had a few cool jobs and loads of teaching spots which led me to reflect on the differences between the job and the education side of things.

There are a few recurring issues I see partly because I think people think 'makeup' sounds like an easy option and partly because academic frameworks don't necessarily make for a good approach to what is a vocational skill.

This being the case, we want to hear from anyone who is/was either a student or tutor in a makeup college/school/course and has a strong feeling either good or bad. What was your experience? What went well and what was pitiful? Did you find yourself surrounded with like-minded artistic souls or was it a difficult mixed group?

I've seen a lot of good thing and great tutors working hard to do right by their students, but sometimes any good they do is despite the system they find themselves in rather than because of it. Am I way off?

Let me know by emailing [email protected] It'll all be handled in confidence - I'm not interested in naming individual schools or people but I am interested in discussing the problem areas and what we can do to address them.

Check out Rob Burns and Cutting Edge Sculpture on Facebook, Instagram and the website.

Check out Prosthetics Magazine too, available as print or online subscription. This edition features a ton of amazing stuff, and we have part 2 of our latex tutorial - applying latex appliances.

Until next time!

Stuart & Todd

Allen Hopps is the director of Dark Hour, a huge haunt attraction in Plano, Texas.

I wanted to take a tour and chat with Allen about what it takes to keep people scared and the business of running a haunt all year round.

When people think about creating makeup effects, masks and prosthetics, its usually associated with film and TV shows. In the US, Halloween is pretty big and getting bigger every year.

I went for a tour of the huge show floor, and got to see behind the scenes where all the in-house stuff gets made - from sets, costumes, masks, prosthetics and props. The level of the thought and detail that goes into setting up a new show (there are several original new shows a year) is incredible. The team work year round updating and thinking up new ways to keep the screams coming.

There are a few absolute wisdom bombs in this podcast episode which many makers would do well to listen to.

• If you've ever been guilty of having great ideas which seem to expand ever bigger, only to burst and fade away then this episode of the podcast is for you!
• If you've been trapped in a cycle of indecision, dithering and not wanting to grasp the nettle of your creative masterpieces then this episode is for you.
• If you think that movies are the ultimate end-game for creating creatures and masks and that if you can't make that coveted position then what's the point...? Then this episode is for you!

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• Check out http://darkhourhauntedhouse.com/ to see what's on offer and I highly recommend Allen's YouTube channel, StiltbeastStudios.
• On Insta, check him on @allen_hopps.
• Dark Hour are on YouTube too: https://www.youtube.com/user/DarkHourPlano

Cap plastic is big....and it's not just for bald caps. Cap plastic is so called as it was originally pretty much used only for making bald caps, so those with hair could temporarily be without it. Over the last ten years or so, it's used much more widely as an encapsulant or barrier in a mould so that when silicone gel appliances are cast into it, they come out of the mould with that cap plastic as a surface. This allows glue and makeup to remain attached to it - after all, silicone is at its best a mould material because almost nothing sticks to it!

Chek out the blog post that supports this episode of the podcast.

OOOh, and if you enjoyed this then tell a friend, give us a shout out on social media or just say hi on our Facebook page! We love talking to you!

-Stuart & Todd.

This podcast episode is the belated accompaniment to the blog post.

We had a blast, learned some stuff and made some new friends. It was amazing, and I can't wait until IMATS London when I'll be back! Until then, please enjoy and get in touch with us at [email protected] and our facebook page.

Please also check out the breakdowns of the makeup demos, there is extensive behind the scenes info on the build of both makeup demos:

• Demo 1: Worm Infection!
• Demo 2: Todds' Crazy Eyes!

Thanks for listening!

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Stuart & Todd