Battles With Bits Of Rubber

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 practical outcomes. Looking at his Instagram, you can see trailblazing work with 3D printed moulds, scanning lifecasts and moulds and using that data to create things impossible to do any other way. Overlaying lifecasts done years apart to animate the changes in features displaying the effects of aging? Yes please! Rod created a short movie, The Wishing Well, in which he created and wore 26 makeups to play the various characters...all self applied. Check it out on Amazon Prime and see this behind the scenes video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYJmW3KYtTw He was on Syfy's Face Off season 3, which he took as an opportunity to take full advantage of the opportunity to make something with an amazing facility at his disposal. He created an app to help artists improve their colour theory skills, called

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 done a lot of things and has worked many jobs - let's be clear his feet are on the ground and he knows what hard work is.  He also has cultivated a very positive and effective mindset which is infectious and inspiring to behold and makes you want to try harder as you see that he walks the walk himself. There is a great body of work to be seen online, so check out his Instagram, (www.instagram.com/adambeanecreates) so you see what we are talking about. Adam also teaches so check out his website www.adambeane.com and his Patreon at www.patreon.com/AdamBeaneCreates. It's new at the time of writing, so go give the man a hand and check him out. ------------------------------------- Links The study Adam mentions (by Aude Oliva, Antonio Torralba & Philippe. G. Schyns) with

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. I learned a lot being in that workshop, and got to see a makeup test on Ian McKellan for Richard III in my time there. Daniel has recently been praised for his work as makeup and hair designer on The Queens Gambit (Netflix) and Chernobyl (HBO). He has an extensive range of credits spanning 37 years, including Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker, Band Of Brothers, Frankenstein (Academy Award nominee) Empire Of The Sun, Cloud Atlas, Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves and Enemy Mine. In this conversation, we talked about how often simple techniques and good paintwork can do so much and using appliances wisely. It is very easy for an artist to fall in love with the processes and things they have learned, and to decide to inflict themselves as extensively as possible on anything the

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 work involved in lifecasting the deceased, which can be much trickier than dealing with the living. Then the chat with Dom, looking at his processes for creating artwork, using traditional and digital media and how they can work off each other. ZBrush has become such an integral part of many design processes and is a powerful tool with a terrifying interface which puts many people off. It's a good chat, and it pleased us greatly that the feet-on-the-ground attitude Dom has, despite being such an accomplished designer, was an inspiration. It's the kind of thing you need to hear if you are intimidated by good work. ---------------------------- This past month has seen us produce some new videos for the channel. It's been a while since we have made some video tutorials, and so we present a couple on using ca

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 effects and using computers places him in a unique position of seeing both sides and is well versed in the processes and business in film making. As you will hear, his intimate understanding of film making as a storyteller and a designer gives him a good insight into the business. Necro Deathmort Album Cover Art Check out Dominic's website https://www.dominichailstone.com/ where you can see his work as a director in The Eel, artist, sculptor and visual effects reels. The variety and range of mediums and styles is fantastic, and you really have to see this stuff to appreciate what he is capable of.  We think you'll get a kick out of it. Dom is also on YouTube and Instagram @dominic_hailstone_ In this first part, the areas we cover include: Management meddling with effects

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, crinkly edges, and dodgy makeup course practices. Books mentioned in this episode: Silicone Art - Silicone As An Art Material By Tom McLaughlin V1.3 Fundamentals of Facial Prosthetics By Robert E McKinstry Products mentioned: MAC Matte Cream or 'Crème Matifiante' A quick shout out to Thomas Tuohey for making this awesome mixer head available on Thingiverse: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4648372 This fantastic materials calculator: https://www.fxcalc.monster/ Many thanks as always for your time checking the stuff out. You can email us direct at stuartandtodd@gmail.com or leave us a voice message directly 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

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 and television shows, such as Fear The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Westworld, Purge: Anarchy and CSI. Check out his extensive IMDb page to see the hefty list of credits. Brian came to my workshop just after Christmas 2019 and we had a great afternoon catching up and recording a chat. It seems funny to remember when you could just be in a room with other people normally and not wear masks... Anyhoo, we started our chat with the time Brian visited the workshops of Stuart Freeborn (original Star Wars trilogy, 2001, The Bridge Over The River Kwai) which is eye-watering nostalgic. Brian has a fantastic manner, combining the makeup artists skills with exquisite etiquette (plus a great voice for radio as you'll hear!). We chat about being responsible for thi

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 have spoken much about on the podcast. It's an area which may well be more available for people starting out, as many sizes of theatre and regional playhouses have small scale productions offering great opportunities for creative people starting out. In this episode, we talk scanning, printing and sculpting in virtual reality, trouble with new LED lighting in theatres, making mistakes and having the courage to say YES to things in order to figure out how to do them. We also chat about the famous airbrush splatter nozzles which Lars came up with and freely shares on his website. Check out Lars' website, shop and in particular, the tutorials which cover so many important areas in makeup effects, from sculpting, moulding, painting and of course, hair punching. Of particular note is th

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 will drive production to make more stuff as we burn through the back catalogue of shows with a worldwide captive audience. Cutting Edges On appliances, a cutting edge is often employed to mark the boundary of where appliance stops and real skin should begin. With foam and gelatine, the end of the piece was the end of the piece. With silicone appliances, we usually have a cap plastic barrier which extends beyond the silicone edge to provide that nice, melt-to-nothing transition. However, on a lot of flat moulds, we have seen varying takes on how far away a cutting edge should be from the sculpt. We chat about that! Cap Plastic On The Back Of A Piece We also chat about cap plastic on the back of pieces. Usually necessary when a mould and a core is involved, but th

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 process which perhaps isn't at all evident in the final piece. It's nice to hear about what happens in the lead up to such a thing. As with many artists sealed tight with Non-Disclosure Agreements on professional projects, trade shows offer a real opportunity to try something new and experiment with ideas and processes without the risk of shooting days or high-stakes schedules. We chat with Danny about her influences, approach and work ethic and get into some pretty useful stuff. For example, Danny keeps records of makeup applications and lists what was used, including techniques, materials and products as well as notes on what well and what didn't. The result after a number of years is a great resource which will supply a record of a journey, as well as

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. Those are the things which you notice, and maybe take great pleasure in spotting and shaming those unfortunate artists who were 'responsible'. However, there are many things which you didn't spot which could have been issues if they were not overcome before the cameras started rolling. We go through some of these hidden problems which are not so rare, and which will tax the creative minds of those on whose shoulders these things fall. We have had a long lay-off and been quiet coping with one thing and another, so apologies for the radio silence. We have a few new toys which will mean things are going to be more regular on the podcast front. ------------------------------- Links to things we mention in this episode Nomad sculpting app: https://nomadsculpt.com/ Procreate art app: https://procreate.art/

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 at ‘mould closure’. Essentially, a mould other than a flat or open mould will usually need to be attached or fitted to another component to produce a cast. This could be another part of the mould if a ‘multi-piece’ mould is made and/or a core which will be placed into the mould to create the interior. These pieces need to remain securely in position, and may be required to exert a lot of force if the cast piece needs to have thin seams which are more easily repaired. That has cost implications - think about having to repair bad seams of fifty casts out of a mould which wasn’t closed correctly! Small block moulds are often clamped together for speed and convenience, but what happens if the mould is huge, such as a full body or a dinosaur? This episode has another hefty set of notes to help make sense

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 where the appliance actually stops and the skin begins. A cutting edge and overflow are critical in foam appliances, especially where a mould has foam latex added and a core is pushed into it. A gap between the core and the mould face would ensure the excess foam could escape, and the contact point where the mould meets the core would be decided carefully and precisely. Go to our website to get the free booklet supporting this episode, or go here. This principle has carried on with silicone, although usually excess waste is minimised owing to the fact silicone isn't mostly made of air, as is the case with foam latex. Wherever the core meets or touches the mould - be it keys, the cutting edge or an unintentional, is known as a touchdown. Getting great edges is important in making pieces

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 set and his recollections of being among the undead. As we chatted, he reminded me of a few other things we had worked on together and we get into the nitty-gritty of whether or not we should see the genitals of monsters. Sounds like a fun tangent, but it is a serious consideration when making creature suits. After all, their absence may be as strange as whatever freakishly upsetting creature-junk one may wish to design in their place. Who wants to write that back story? ---------------------- Many thanks as always for your time checking the stuff out. You can email us direct at stuartandtodd@gmail.com or leave us a voice message directly 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 the

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 and cricket bats, shovels and the heat whilst caked in blood. Also, as you'll hear, some very cool comic book related stuff which was an exciting discovery. You may recall in the bumper podcast episode #55 that Stuart Conran mentioned the back story to the Hulking Zombie, how he came to be a zombie and why he was there with Mary. I mentioned this to Mark and not only was he aware of it but he has the actual original panels framed at his home! Check pics in the accompanying blog post here. Many thanks for listening. -Stuart & Todd    

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 is a freelance artist. I think you will get a real kick out of hearing his take, a perfect attitude to how to feel when creating. We chat about what it means to sculpt, that internal dialogue we all have when creating something new, Fact checking bellend: In this, I mistakenly assign Constantin Brâncuși as the artist behind 'Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2)' which of course it wasn't - it was Marcel Duchamp. Links to things we mentioned. The Barclays Bank commercial directed by Ridley Scott. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnVyANe0ZnE John Schoonraad Episode: https://battleswithbitsofrubber.com/14-scanners-schoonraads/ Neill Gorton Episode: https://battleswithbitsofrubber.com/51-neill-gorton/ Kris Costa: https://www.instagram.com/theantropus/ Olya Anufrieva: https://www.instagram.co

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, why, and what to do about it. Blog post accompanying this post: https://battleswithbitsofrubber.com/58-airbubbles/

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. You can get in touch by email at stuartandtodd@gmail.com or leave a voicemail here. I mentioned working at the BBC Visual FX department, and I was reminded that I have a book about it - BBC Vfx: The History of the BBC Visual Effects Department 2010 by Mat Irvine (Author), Mike Tucker (Author) ISBN-10: 1845135563 ISBN-13: 978-1845135560 I mentioned 'enjoy the suck' and it was, of course, 'embrace the suck', and it's meaning is as follows: (military, slang) To consciously accept or appreciate something that is extremely unpleasant but unavoidable. Quite appropriate right now. Check our podcast website here: https://battleswithbitsofrubber.com/

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 have known and worked with for many years on many projects. I rewatched the movie to refresh my memory and listed the effects in chronological order. Make sure to download the free booklet which accompanies this episode. This little nod of appreciation comes from that place which still makes me warm and fuzzy when I flick through old Fangoria and Gorezone magazines. You can easily get in touch with the show by leaving us a voicemail on our website here or emailing us at the usual address, stuartandtodd@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. -Stuart & Todd  

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 now made visible for others to assess and rate. The main way anyone gets work is simply by having a portfolio of good work and then show that to someone who pays for people like that to solve a problem they have. There isn't a single path or trick to game the system. You are not likely to be given a job you are wholly unsuited to - the work is too precious to those who are looking to hire, and there is a pretty robust system of hiring. Here we discuss some main points to help you get your head straight. Think through what you could mean to them rather than what they can do for you. Listen to the podcast for the full monty, but the key points are listed below! 1.        How much to charge. Know your worth        Know how much it costs you to sta