Monday, 30 November 2015

Bibliography

Books
Corson, R. (ed.), 2009. Stage Makeup. Focal Press.
Debreceni, T., 2009. Special Makeup Effects for Stage and Screen. Focal Press, Burlington.
Simblet, S., 2001. Anatomy for the Artist. Dorling Kindersley.
Smart, P., 1985. The illustrated encyclopedia of the butterfly world. Salamander
Vinther J., 2003. Special Effects Make-up. Psychology Press.
Whalley, P,. 1988. Butterfly & Moth. Dorling Kindersley, London.

Websites
AMOS J., 2011. Ralph Fiennes’ chilling Voldemort transformation [viewed 7 November 2015]. Available from: http://www.harrypotterfans.com/2011/04/ralph-fiennes-chilling-voldemort-transformation/
2014. Behind The Scenes Of Lord Voldemort Makeup [viewed 7 November 2015]. Available from: http://prostheticmakeupfx.com/tag/lord-voldemort/
EELES P. Purple Emperor [viewed 8 November 2015]. Available from: http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species.php?vernacular_name=Purple%20Emperor
ENCHANTED LEARNING, [viewed 7 November 2015]. Available from: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/butterfly/allabout/
Glass wounds [viewed 2 October 2015]. Available from: http://www.forensicmed.co.uk/wounds/sharp-force-trauma/glass-wounds/
GORDON, Broken Glass Injury Lawsuits [viewed 2 October 2015]. Available from: http://www.fortheinjured.com/auto-broken-glass-injuries.html#top
GRETCHEN, 2014. It's All Good [viewed 2 October 2015]. Available from: http://www.roamingjones.com/its-all-g/
HOSKINS A. Butterfly Anatomy [viewed 7 November 2015]. Available from: http://www.learnaboutbutterflies.com/Anatomy%203.htm
HYSLOP L., 2013.  TomTato: 'mutant' plant that grows tomatoes and potatoes unleashed [viewed 7 November 2015]. Available from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/howtogrow/fruitandvegetables/10332908/TomTato-mutant-plant-that-grows-tomatoes-and-potatoes-unleashed.html
JAMIE, 2011. History Of Special Effect Make-up [viewed 24 October]. Available from: http://jaimieslookbook.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/chapter-1-history-of-special-effect_15.html
MAYO CLINIC, 2014. Foreign Object In The Skin: First Aid [viewed 24 October]. Available from:  http://www.mayoclinic.org/first-aid/first-aid/basics/art-20056604
PAGE N, 2013. [viewed 7 November 2015]. Available from: http://www.nevillepage.com/about.html
SCHELL J. [viewed 7 November 2015]. Available from: http://www.jorduschell.com/about.html
TAYLOR T. Muscles Of The Head And Neck [viewed 7 November 2015]. Available from: http://www.innerbody.com/anatomy/muscular/head-neck
TAYLOR V., 2014. Peachy Keen! Artist Creates Hybrid Tree Grows 40 Kinds Of Fruit [viewed 7 November 2015]. Available from: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/artist-creates-hybrid-tree-grows-40-fruit-article-1.1887459
WISCHHOVER C., 2014. What It Took To Turn Angelina Jolie Into Maleficent [viewed 7 November 2015]. Available from: http://fashionista.com/2014/05/maleficent-makeup-costumes

Project Evaluation

At the start of this unit, I found the whole brief quite overwhelming, especially considering the fairly short amount of time that we had to do it in. However, as time went on, I realised that once I got the hang of creating the moulds and pieces, it was not as hard, nor time consuming as I thought. I kept up to date and before I knew it, the unit was coming to an end!

My main problem that I encountered throughout this unit was just coming up with an initial idea and then transferring this to pen and paper. For example, when deciding on a hybrid animal, it took me while for my mind to suddenly click and realise what I wanted to do, but then once I did figure it out, I found it quite difficult to explain and show my idea to anyone. However, I managed to overcome this by creating several face charts that demonstrated what I meant, and then by creating the pieces, it started to become clear, and everything else fell into place. On the other hand, this is one of my favourite parts about SFX - you can think of a totally individual idea that no one has every seen before, and then you are able to actually create it! 

Overall, I have really enjoyed this unit and it has taught me so much in such a short space of time - it is definitely something I will think about pursuing in the future!

Technical Evaluation

Throughout this project, I have learnt so many new technical skills and a lot of knowledge, that I can continue to reuse and build upon. I feel that I can now confidently create a mould and know the things that will impact how successful it will turn out, e.g. are the edges of my sculpture as smooth? Have I sealed all of the sculpture, to ensure no silicone leaks out? I can also now create prosthetic pieces using my moulds, and am more than able to apply and remove them successfully. I found this unit both very interesting, and at times challenging. At first, I was very weary as to if what I was doing was right, but now, I know what I need to do when working in this particular field of work. 

When working on my wound, I liked that I was able to create a prosthetic piece that had something attached to it (the glass), because I now feel confident in doing that, as well as the standard pieces, like I created in the hybrid part. I liked the variation between creating something realistic and something extremely creative; I found the realistic part slightly harder because I knew exactly how it should look, and this was the first prosthetic piece I created. 

I have learnt there are a lot of health and hygiene factors that I needed to be aware of; one of the key ones being not to contaminate any of the silicones - this means you had to  ensure you were labelling things up, and changing gloves. Also, throughout the process, you are spraying a few different things (e.g. petrolease and fixing spray) therefore you need to ensure that you are spraying these products by an open window, and have a mask on. 

Creating My Hybrid Instructions


  1. Apply the prosthetics to the face using prosaide - ensure that it is clear on both the piece and the model before sticking it to the face
  2. Using alcohol and cotton buds, remove the excess areas of boldiez and try to create a seamless transition between the piece and the skin
  3. Apply purple eyeshadow all over the eyelid
  4. Using purple supracolor, create a winged liner
  5. Apply foundation all over the face (not worrying too much about going over the prosthetic pieces)
  6. Using the supracolor palette, create the butterfly pattern on the face
  7. Colour the pattern by mixing purple and white supracolor, making the purple fade out as in comes into the centre of the face
  8. Using a very small brush, apply foundation between the lines of the butterfly pattern to give it crisp, clean edges
  9. Fade the purple out using foundation
  10. Powder lightly using Illamasqua translucent powder
  11. Apply a small amount of highlighter to the tops of the cheeks
  12. Contour lightly, using purple eyeshadow, around the jawline and neck
  13. Apply mascara to top and bottom eyelashes
  14. Apply supracolor to the lips, creating a slight ombre
  15. Curl hair and brush out to be quite wavy
  16. Create a quiff, and twist the remaining hair at the back, and grip into place
When removing, ensure to use prosaide remover.

Friday, 27 November 2015

Creating My Final Hybrid

Tools/equipment needed:


Prosthetics with no paint job





Prosthetics with paint job






Final images
















Tuesday, 17 November 2015

Practicing My Hybrid

Now I had created my pieces successfully I wanted to get the make-up down to a T. Therefore, I decided the best way in which I could do this is by creating more of the prosthetic pieces using the moulds, to quickly apply and then practice the make-up to give me an idea of completed look.

However, I did not have any Petrolease at home... I tried to create the pieces anyway, to see how they would turn out, and even if they were not very successful, I hoped that I could still use them to give me a gist of the full look. The problem I found when I took the pieces out was that the actual piece (not boldiez), became very tough to take out as it was stuck and I had to really pull it to get it out. When doing this, it caused some of the pieces to stretch and move out of place, and left a lot of dents and gaps, which meant they did not look how I wanted, but still I thought they would be usable for a practice run (as at this point I was running out of silicone A and B!).
The pieces without using Petrolease
With this in mind, I decided to still go ahead and use them because I was not practicing applying/using the prosthetic pieces, they were just there to give me a rough idea of how the face will look. I am only going to half of the face for this practice, and I am doing it on myself so I will not be able to see it from all angles/perspectives like I will be able to do when I am doing it on my model.
Reminder of my face chart


Tools/products needed to create the look




This shows the prosthetics roughly placed on the face, and the butterfly pattern painted on using the supracolor palette 
Lip colour added, also using supracolor

Purple/lilac eyeshadow added
I feel from this angle you can see the butterfly structure that has been combined into the face to create the hybrid


I then added supracolor and eyeshadow under the piece to really make the butterfly structure stand out
Hair style added - slight quiff, with relaxed wavy hair



After carrying out this practice, I can really imagine and see my hybrid coming to life. I feel that the prosthetic piece and make-up work quite well together, especially around the cheekbone area, when you catch it from the side (as shown in last 2 images). Obviously, I will do the prosthetics as best I can for the final thing; ensuring that the edges are blended as seamlessly as possible, and that it looks like it really is part of the face. I think I may also tone down the butterfly pattern on the forehead slightly as well, just because I feel it is slightly too large and dark for the forehead. Also, I will ensure that the nose is much more precise, sharp and clean. I have also decided that I am definitely not going to use antennas in the look because I think it would just be too much, whether it was in prosthetics or even drawn on, other than that, my look reflects the face chart exactly. 

Overall, this practice run has helped me a lot because I now feel more confident in my idea and I know exactly what I am doing. As long as the prosthetic pieces go to plan, I think this could potentially produce a very good, unique and interesting outcome! 





Creating My Prosthetic Pieces

When creating my prosthetic pieces I wanted them to be quite soft and flexible; the reason for this is because I think they will be more realistic like this, and will make the concept itself more believable, because if it was completely solid it would have been excruciating when it was growing out of the skin. Therefore, I ensured that I used 70% deadener. 

I chose to use the skin colour pigment, because the majority of the pieces will be skin colour with a coloured butterfly pattern on top, therefore, making them skin coloured gives me the freedom to see how much colour and exactly where it will be on the pieces. 

I casted the cheek and forehead pieces twice, using the same mould - this meant that they would be exactly the same which is good, and definitely an advantage of using the moulds!

I followed the instructions in a previous post to apply the boldiez and create the pieces...
Moulds after being cleaned with alcohol and sprayed with Petrolease

The pieces setting


The first 2 pieces taken out of the moulds
Overall, I was quite happy with how the pieces turned out - they all took the shape that I wanted and I managed to remove the whole piece without ripping any part of it.

Brave New World Theme Moodboard


This is my Brave New World theme mood board:
  • It clearly shows the Purple Emperor butterfly 
  • It features the areas in which the hybrid lives - both rural areas, as well as built up cities
  • It has a purple theme running through it to represent the colour scheme of my make-up and the butterfly
  • It shows the outline of a butterfly pattern very similar to the one I will be using
  • It shows the process of females growing up and becoming a woman; which is the underlying theme for my hybrid, and this when the hybrid transformation takes place 
I actually often found myself wanting to include drawings/face charts to demonstrate my hybrid and my ideas, but I had to ensure that I remained focused on the Brave New World theme, and not my hybrid itself. 


Sunday, 15 November 2015

Brave New World Hybrid Environment

My human butterfly hybrid features in all environments and continents across the world. It basically can be seen wherever you can see any teenage girls - so thats the countryside, rain forests, cities, etc. 




The reason for this is because it is a sign of adulthood for all females, therefore, wherever you find females, you will find these hybrids! 

Styling Of My Hybrid Character

I did not want my character's styling/clothing options to be too overwhelming or too obvious - I want there to be small subtle hints, but I do not want it to be noticeable that it is a butterfly hybrid, just from looking at the clothes. I want the focus to be mainly on the face. Ideally, I want the audience to take a look and at a fast first glimpse, not necessarily notice or be able to tell why is different, but then as you look closer, you see the alterations in the face structure, therefore I do not want the styling to be a give away. I also feel that I have quite a lot of butterfly influence within the face anyway, and some of the best hybrids, you can clearly still see the majority of the human. 

The clothing that I did want is to be quite flowy and free - keeping with the theme of girls blossoming into women, and with butterflies being quite free.



However, it is key to remember that in the brief it states that we must have close up and mid shots, so I feel that you would not see that texture/idea of the dresses, like shown above, in a mid shot. Therefore, I thought that something like a kimono might be a good idea, because it is quite floral and natural, as well as being quite free-flowing, but at the same time, quite cacoon-like. 

So I am thinking of having just a fairly neutral/white top under a more colourful floral kimono. I feel that this provides a subtle hint and is relatable to the butterfly, but at the same time does not reveal too much, and is still relevant to humans.

Also, as we are styling to whole body, and not just the face, I am going to include small areas of the butterfly pattern on the body parts that are visible, e.g. the neck/arms. It will match the pattern of the face, but only be in small patterns that fade out at the edges, as though it is incorporated into the skin.