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Project Evaluation

Since starting the course I have thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of make-up but have known that Special Effects is something I want to go into once I finish this degree. I think I struggled from the start of this unit as I have found it hard to balance my time between this project and Goodbye To Berlin as well as dealing with matters outside of the course. Though it was really enjoyable the stress took over and now it's over I can see that clearly.

I think I could have come up with a much more imaginative creation for the tribal project and I definitely want to research into this topic more and maybe re shoot something similar to this in the future with different patterns and textures. It was a really interesting part of this unit and I think I could come up with some great designs in my own time.

The mould making was my favourite part I just wish we had more even more time to create them! I wasn't overly happy with the shape of mine until I put it onto the skin and saw how effective they can be so I am going to be purchasing my own products to practice these techniques at home and also use them for a future shoot.

I wasn't so successful with the research part of this either as like I said I found it hard to balance my time between both projects that I had going on which I something I really want to manage better next semester and going into my third year.

Technical Post - Application & Colouring your piece

• Using a cotton bud apply prosaide on the area of skin you want to put the piece and on the back of the prosthetic
• Leave it to get tacky and place it on the skin getting it as flat as you can
• Once fully dry use a cotton bud and acetone to start melting away the edges and blending it into the skin as best as you can
• When that's done take your foundation and alcohol activated palette to start colouring the piece
• You need to really study the skin to see what colours are in it and a good technique to break up the colour of the mould is to get some on your brush and flick it, it's subtle but adds colour to take away the block colour look

Technical Post - Making the prosthetic piece

You will need:

Plastic cups

Wooden Spatula’s

Digital Scales

Baldiez

Acetone

Silicone Gel 25 A, B and C

Mould Release Spray

Hairdryer

Colour Pigment – alcohol palette

Gloves

Well Ventilated Room

IPA

• Once your sure the silicone is hardened you can take the cup off using scissors and it should come apart quite easily, it will come away from the clay too then clean with IPA
• Spray the mould with petroleaze and then using a mixture of 1 part acetone and 2 parts baldiez brush on around 3 layers to the mould making sure there dry in between each layer
• You can now measure your silicone to pour into the mould, 50% A & 50% B then 90% C
• Mix them all together and add a small pea sized amount of colour and mix well
• Put your mould on a flat surface and pour in the silicone, use a ruler or spatula to scrape off the excess so it doesn't over spill
• Take some nepatha on a cotton bud and clean around the mould to get rid of excess silicone, this doesn't melt away the baldiez and acetone mixture
• Leave to dry, powder with baby powder once your sure its dry to take away stickiness

Technical Post - Sculpting & Preparation

This week we have begun to sculpt our clay shapes so we can then make our silicone moulds. I found the clay quite difficult to work with at first but once it starts to warm up it's quite simple

You will need:

Clay

Hairdryer

Sculpt tools

Spatulas

Plastic Square

Plastic cups

Fixer spray

IPA

Gel 25 Silicone – A,B & C

Digital Scales

Wooden spatulas

• Cut a square of plastic out to carve your mould onto, make it as big as you would like as long as it’s big enough for the shape you create
• Blow a warm hairdryer onto the clay to make it easier to cut some off and start moulding your shape on the plastic
• Make sure your edges go flatter towards the edge, this is so the mould isn’t too think and will make it easier when stick the silicone piece onto the skin
• It’s best to get the clay as smooth as possible so the silicone is smooth too, use a spatula or your fingers to do this
• Once your happy with it clean it with some IPA to get rid of any dirt or bits of hair that might be on there and spray with fixer spray
• Then cut the bottom off a plastic cup and glue gun it onto the square around the clay, this will stop any silicone from coming out from under the cup when you pour it in
• You need to measure out 75 grams of part A and 75 grams of part B on your scales into separate cups, it's important you do not contaminate the tubs so use different spatulas and gloves for this reason as it can stop the product from working
• Make sure they weigh exactly the same and then mix them together thoroughly, you can then pour the mixture into your cup covering the clay

Prosthetic piece final image

 The week coming up to shooting this final look I had some problems with my moulds and a couple that I had left to dry were knocked around in my box resulting in them spilling out everywhere! I finally had 2 pieces that I was happy with using thought one of them (the one on the right side) was a bit thinner making it look more flat and I found it really difficult to blend the edges away. The left one came out a lot better and I'm pleased with the blending apart from the bottom left corner which folded onto itself making it thick and hard to disguise.

I'm pleased with the colouring, I have only tried this a few times so taking that into consideration I think I did a good job but I could have worked more on shading around the edges to pull the piece out in the image more. Although I did use the colour flicking technique that Sue taught us I didn't think about how it would show up on camera so I should have done more to make it visible and break up the colour more. 

I would like to continue to practice these skills at home as I really enjoyed it and would like to improve on perfecting it. 

Image 2 - Tribalism

I realized after getting feedback from Sharron from the previous image to keep it simple but to show more than one technique that we have learned from our practical sessions. I liked how the wax flowed into the rice and latex texture I added so I decided not to get carried away by adding more but looking back at my images I think I could have been a bit more inventive. I found this task quite challenging and I got worried that I was going to do it wrong again so that's another reason why I stuck to such a simple design. 

I'm pleased with the colour match I achieved but could have melted the latex away a little more in between the rice grains as you can see it slightly in the images.  I would like to re shoot something similar to this in the future so I will continue to try out more textures and products that work well on the skin.

Revised Face Chart

I did this basic drawing to show my really simple design that I am going to create for my second attempt at a tribal look. 

I want to keep it as basic as possible to show the techniques I'm using which is wax for the forehead and rice with latex going across the cheek.

I decided to not follow the same pattern of rice on the other side of the face as I quite like the idea of the forehead scar flowing into the rice texture.

Bald Caps

• Brush through your models hair making sure there are not knots and then spray the hair with water making sure it's completely wet right through
• The you need to cover the hair with hair gel and brush it through, don't be afraid to use a lot as the hair needs to be as flat to the head as possible
• My models hair was quite long and thick so it was easier to split the hair into 2 sections, take one section and brush it flat onto the opposite side and wrap it round to the top of the head
• Repeat this with the other section of hair and press it all down onto the head to make sure it's flat
• Now it's flat you can put the cap on, get your model to help by pulling the front over their forehead while you pull it over the back
• Once it's on start cutting the excess of the bald cap to fit around the models face, do small bits at a time so you don't end up over cutting!
• Use spirit gum to glue the cap to the head, I find starting at the front of the head is best then you can pull it tight before gluing down the back
• Acetone helps to blend the edges of the cap into the skin so use a small amount on a cotton bud and lightly dab the edges until they melt away
• It's now ready to colour! If you are doing a skin coloured head then first cover it with a pinky/red greasepaint, this blocks out the darkness of the hair underneath!
 

I painted my cap in a bit of a rush as I ran out of time! I used a gold spray paint which I actually really like the effect of as it dries quite matte. I would have like the application to be tighter to the head which I know now for next time and to also try out lots more different designs using all sorts of materials, colours and shapes. 

The gold has covered the edges of the bald cap quite well but they were far from perfect which is something I need to work on, I'd also like to try different brands of bald caps rather than the Kryolan ones we used during the practical session.

Tribal moodboard

I picked these images as there are from real tribes in Africa as this is what I wanted to source my inspiration from. Each picture is different from one another in texture and shape which I found really interesting as it shows how every tribe is different from one another and they show this is so many different ways.

Image 1 - Tribalism

I had an idea for my first image to create an antelope type character using a bald cap, horns made from a clay mould and latex, wax to change the shape of the nose and oats to give texture to the face. I don't think I wanted the human face to be recognizable as I was going for an animalistic approach which I now understand was completely wrong.  

I didn't practice the look properly beforehand so it didn't work how I wanted it to, particularly when attaching the horns to the bald cap. The latex was layered too thick at the bottom which meant it didn't stick onto the bald cap easily and it looked sloppy. I spent so much time doing this that the makeup on the face was rushed and I couldn't perfect the wax on the nose. 



I also used a model that had a beard which I should have put into consideration as it really didn't work. Basically it was all over the place and a complete mess!!

Looking back at my image now I'm extremely unhappy with it. At the time I thought we were supposed to incorporate all the techniques we had been taught so far to our designs and I concentrated far too much on the body modification side of the unit that Sharon was talking about. I got myself lost and panicked about everything and I don't really have the answers as to why I came up with what I did.

Now that I have had a chat with Sharon I completely understand that my design should be based on tribalism so I am now going to do some more research to try and come up with something related to this that's simple but effective.

Initial Face Chart

Bagel Head

A 'Bagel Head' is part of Japanese body modification where saline is injected into the forehead then pushing into the centre to create a bagel shaped lump under the skin. The 2 hour treatment lasts as long as 24 hours when the forehead eventually reduces back to normal from being absorbed by the body. 

It's been in Tokyo for almost 8 years and fans of the procedure even hold saline parties or go to clubs and fetish parties with their Bagel Heads.

I have never heard of anything like this before! I find it odd and disturbing that people can think it looks "cute" and surely it's dangerous? Even so, it's an interesting procedure to read about and useful in my research towards body modification. 

Modified portraits

Our task was to find portrait photographs and modify them using different materials or by drawing on them. Now I find this type of thing but am actually surprisingly pleased with the outcomes! The image below is the first one I did and i specifically chose it as I thought I could do something with the teeth and I liked how the crazy the hair is. I coloured in the teeth with all the different coloured pens I had and then pulled apart pieces of a feather and stuck them onto the hair to create the shape of it.

With the next portrait I ripped up small pieces of tissue paper, scrunched them up and stuck them onto the eyebrows. There was something about it that made me think clown so i drew lines on the side of the mouth to extend it into a joker type smile and then dotted the lips using 2 different highlighter pens. I also put the dots under the eyes to match, the black spikes on the nose were just to add something to the middle of the face but I think I could have left them out!

I decided to draw onto the outline of the face on this one with an orange greasepaint from my Kryolan palette, I then feathered it out onto the face using a sponge. I really like the effect and wish I had left it there but I thought it needed something more which is why I stippled on some black greasepaint with a stipple sponge but I don't like the result of it. 

Body Mod Mood Board

I chose these images as they are all really different types of body mods and ones that I had never seen before. I particularly love the ones of the backs, the patterns look beautiful and the feathers coming out on the left image really makes a statement.

Low tech body mods

The first thing most probably think of when hearing the term body modification is piercings and though it may be obscure for some they actually date right back over 5,000 years ago! Yes, that's right. Mummified remains were discovered with earrings and then pharaohs were said to have belly piercings! Even more "extreme" piercings like the nipples go back to the roman days. 

 

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/182184747401151019/

(Below right) http://thewildestkingdom.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/africa-tribal-piercings-httpfarm1.html

It's well known that different tribes in Africa had piercings like lip plates and "plugs" in the side of the nose but in the western civilization piercings were forgotten until the 1960's where it would resurface again. Ear piercings were extremely popular within the gay community across England and America and then through the punk rock community in 1970. They would use body piercing as a sign of difference. In the UK people believed that piercings were a form of consensual sadomasochism and tried to outlaw it but failed. By the 90's piercings had took off, even celebrities were endorsing them.  

(Left - 1970's/80's punk)
http://www.marieclaire.com/hair-beauty/history-of-piercings

Piercings today are extremely popular and common in most people, but why? For some it's for cultural purposes but for most it's a fashion statement. 

However, it's no longer just piercings and simple tattoos. The body modification world has gone to extremes and we are now seeing scarification, implants and even branding. 

A lot of judgement comes with these types of body modification, I feel it's mostly the older generation who didn't see much more than an ear piercing when they were younger that don't understand it and stereotype the people that do as weird or scary human beings. 

For me I think it's simply a fashion statement and for some a way of expressing themselves. People should be entitled to do whatever they please with their own body, do I think some are too extreme? 100% but who am I to judge? I have piercings and tattoos myself which some people may find too much but that's their opinion which they are also entitled to!

Left - Scarification
http://weheartit.com/from/www.totalmania.net

 We were asked if we think scarification is different to tattooing and my answer is yes. At first I saw it as a scar on your body either way but you can get tattoos lazered off whereas scarification is something that you can't undo and must be incredibly painful! 

Tattoo - Right

http://www.fulltattoo.com/cherry-blossom-tattoo-designs-women.html/simple-cherry-blossom-tattoo-designs 

Tattoo's will continue in the future, eventually it will be uncommon to find someone without and I also hope that people in everyday life begin to be more accepting of people with these weird and wonderful modifications. 

Changing the face with wax

Wax us a great way to change the shape of the face and it actually is really easy to use, it's extremely sticky at first but once it's on the skin area and you begin to mould it, it stays on pretty well.

I first used the wax to create these bumps on the temples of Terri-anne's head to almost represent horns. I struggled to get them symmetrical on both sides at first but once I took a step back and looked properly I got it right.

It was also a little difficult to get them completely smooth to make them look more natural and actually a part of her face.
I also added wax in between the eyebrows that I thought resembled something quite tribal, I think they way I painted it also gave it that look. Again, I would have liked it to have a smoother finish which is something I need to work on in the future. Looking back at the photos I could have smoothed the edges of the wax and also coloured them more as you can see the wax coming through.

 

Drawing - Week 2

This week we were to draw a scull that we had in front of us from the angle we could see it. Kevin taught us about how to sketch out the basic shapes first and then add in more detail. I find drawing really difficult but Kevin made it quite easy for me to understand how to create basic shapes.

He also gave us an image for us to draw upside down, it was surprisingly hard drawing it this way and I really had to think about it! My drawing skills obviously need a lot more work too!!

Technical Post - Scarification

Following Kierons lecture we had a similar practical to last weeks where we used different materials to create patterns on the skin. I had the idea to do raised circles using string and latex but the results didn't come out as I wanted them to. I had difficulty blending the edges into the skin to make it look more realistic and the string was a little too frayed in texture to look like raised skin. 

I used tuplast to create lines across the arm to look like scars which I'm semi pleased about. The colouring needs a lot of work which is something I usually find difficult to do especially when using products like latex and tuplast. I will continue to try out other materials and work on my blending and colour matching skills!

Guest Speaker - Kieron LeVine "Tribal Body Modification"

Today we had a guest speaker called Kieron LeVine come in to talk to us about Tribal Body Modification. I have heard of certain cultures doing it before but it was really interesting to go into depth about the different types of modification each tribe does and what it all means. 

Scarification 

Africa - Scarification is a process where patterns are created in the skin by cutting and raising scars. It has a variety of meanings, one of them being that it shows a woman can bare pain if she can go through this process. It was also a symbol of strength, fortitude and courage. Nowadays it is more common to just find this on elderly people in Africa.

http://www.tumblr.com/search/African+scarification - 15.10.14

Nuba - Here scarification shows a reflection of responsibilities. Women would have this process done after each child she had starting with the torso, breasts then back. Men have much more distinctive patterns though they do not have as many as women.

http://www.pinterest.com/debraleethomson/hiute/ - 15.10.14

Shilluk - This tribe has a unique style of scarification that is known as the "Pearling Process" which is done by using fish hooks under the skin. 

http://www.paulbanksphoto.com/viewcategory/1 - 15.10.14

Luba -Scarification for this tribe is used as a way of encoding who people are and more patterns get added as they get older and wiser.

http://www.bookdrum.com/books/heart-of-darkness/9780140186529/bookmarks-51-75.html?bookId=284 - 5.10.14

Yoruba - Like some other tribes, there marking are used to show resistance to pain. The markings they practice are called "Kolo" markings which are short, shallow and closely spaced cuts are marked into the skin.

http://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/scarification.html - 15.10.14

Omo Valley - They still scar themselves to this day and as with many tribes they mean nothing. 

http://www.randafricanart.com/Scarification_and_Cicatrisation_among_African_cultures.html - 15.10.14

Piercings

Africa - As well as scarification Africa is famous for the large stretched lip piercings. The holes are done using wooden pegs and women make the lip plates themselves.

http://lauradutoit.hubpages.com/hub/Have-Mursi-on-the-Lip-Plate - 15.10.14

Makonde - They also have lip plates, the difference is that they are thicker. You can also get double lip plates which include the top lip as well as the bottom.

http://www.piercingtime.com/piercing/lip-plate/page/15/ - 15.10.14

Neck Rings

Ndebele - You receive a neck ring in this culture once you are married, it's not so much a body modification as the neck isn't physically stretch it's just a trick of the mind. The number of rings depict the wealth of the married couple, this is only seen now on the older generation and not very common in the younger people anymore.

http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/LY004596/ndebele-woman-wearing-traditional-neck-rings - 15.10.14

Skull Binding

Mangbetu - Practiced by the older generation as it was banned in the 1950's. Skull binding implies an expansion of knowledge and at times is exaggerated by doing different hairstyle that elongate the head.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:COLLECTIE_TROPENMUSEUM_Mangbetu-vrouw_met_schedeldeformatie_TMnr_60033946.jpg - 15.10.14

Tooth Modification

Japan - Women coat their teeth in black lacquer by chewing a seed called Betel. It's said to be a sign of oral hygiene and is still something that is done today. You can even buy the seeds on e-bay! 

 http://www.dentaldynamicsonline.com/japanese-teeth-blackening-ohaguro - 15.10.14

Indonesia - Here they chisel the teeth which is intended to keep spirits at bay.

http://idigculture.com/beauty-rituals-teeth-chiseling - 15.10.14

Techinical Post - Texture

Today we played around with latex and fullers earth along with a mixture of materials like string, split peas and pasta to create shapes in the skin. This session was helpful for us to discover which materials worked best for the look we wanted to create and to just experiment with what we could create. 

You will need:

• Fullers earth
• Rice
• Latex
• Any other materials you want to create texture
• Paints to colour over the top once you are finished

I used latex, split peas, string and gold paint to create this pattern on the arm. I dipped the string in the latex then laid on Terri-Anne's arm in the shape I wanted. I then put a tiny dot of latex on the back of some split peas and put them in between the curves of the string.

It was a simple design but I'm surprised with how great the effect looks after putting some paint on it. Once I pulled the string off it left bare skin from where that section wasn't touched with paint so I would like to try laying the string in different patterns to see how it looks.

Introduction

Here I am in my second year and in my chosen option of Special Effects. I have been a huge fan of sci-fi movies since watching Star Wars with my mum as a child and it's that genre of film that really sparked my interest of being a SFX Artist. I'm always so blown away by the amount of creativity and hard work that gets put into the characters the artists create, during my first year of university I discovered the TV show Face Off and from then on I have been utterly mesmerized by the industry.

I touched on basic special effects 2 years ago when I did a hair and makeup course at West Thames College in London and also during the first year of my current course at Southampton Solent University. I love creating the wounds and bruises but now I'm keen to take SFX to the other angle of morphing the human body. I'm also lucky enough to have had the chance to work as an assistant alongside my incredibly talented friend on a recent war film and at a special fx workshop. It was an amazing experience that gave me such a buzz and constantly pushes me towards this route of makeup.

My eyes have already been opened to the possibilities of human transformation and it's made me think about attention to detail. False nails, eyelashes and dying your hair are all ways of transforming your body so it doesn't necessarily have to be a huge change. It was really interesting to find out about Lucy McRae and Bart Hess and see how they get materials and experiment to see what creations they can come up with. Special Effects is thinking outside the box and these artists are proof of that.

http://lucyandbart.blogspot.co.uk/

One of my favorite movies of all time is The Matrix, prosthetics are used in this film to create the characters plugs on the backs of their heads and down the spine. This film also includes several transformations in the characters as they are constantly going back and forth from The Matrix and the real world where their appearances are different in each place.  

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/114208540522111516/

Levi Van Valux was mentioned in this first session and I was really drawn to the image below right, it made me feel a little disturbed seeing a human hair covering every inch of his face but fascinated at the same time. Every single piece of his work is so detailed and unlike anything I have seen before that I can't take my eyes away from them! 

http://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/levi-van-veluw/#_

I found another article that related to transformation about 3 artists that create artwork from domestic objects. It reminded me a little of Lucy & Bart as they also create art from materials they can find around the house, shops or markets.  

http://www.heraldsun.com/lifestyles/entertainment/x1071194069/Three-artists-who-transform-found-objects