So here’s the finished cast of Tom’s face. I’ve now started sculpting some makeup over it to make him look like a robot.
The idea is that there’ll be wires showing through the torn sections. I’ve embedded some in the sculpture itself as well as some bits and pieces from old sets of earphones, there’ll also be some broken wires hanging free from the damaged sections.
I’ve also bought some LEDs which will be wired into the finished piece. There’ll be some blue ones which will will be embedded in the torn sections to give them a blue glow. There’ll also be some hanging out of the makeup on the ends of wires.
The makeup’s going to be cast in gelatin in the same manner as the Terminator makeup I’m also currently working on. I want to get a kind of a plastic look to the flesh though, making it look like they’re a synthetic robot rather than some kind of cyborg – I don’t want them to look like the terminator hence the blue LEDs.
Been working on the Measure of a Man vid. Spent much of saturday shooting some footage of the robot, recording sound effects and making a life cast of Toms face so we can produce some makeup for the final scenes of the vid.
I needed some POV shots of the robot against the sky to cut into the video. I felt that alot of the shots I had did not quite sell the supposed scale of the robot, so I shot some footage with the camera down very low to make it look abit larger. Here’s some pics:
We also recorded some sound effects for the robot which were done by recording power tools then pitching them down. We also recorded some footfalls by slamming a router and a few spanners down at the same time then boosting the bass and pitching it down slightly. Having added the sound to the video I found the sound effects seemed a little too powerful for the video, so I’ve added camera shake to the video where the robots footfalls can be heard making it look like the building’s shaking.
Finally we took a life cast of Toms face. I’ll be using the plaster cast to sculpt some makeup for the final scene of the video. Here’s a video of the cast being done.
The idea is that the yellow robot smashes the block of flats and buries Tom and Pete in the rubble. They then crawl out and it’s revealed they’re robots too. I’m going to do some make-up along the lines of the Terminator makeup below, but not quite so gory. The idea I have is to have wires poking out from beneath rubber looking skin complete with flashing lights. I also want to have one makeup that looks like they have an eye hanging out on the end of a bunch of cables.
Other bits still to be done include the destruction of the block of flats. This is a little tricky. I’ve decided to make some miniature rubble and film it falling against green screen. I can super impose it over the footage I have of Tom and Pete hitting the ground, and then also film them both in make-up against greenscreen and superimpose them over the footage of the rubble!
We also plan to record some sound effects for the robot. I think this is going to be done by recording a bunch of power tools that we can then slow down and do, ooh…weird things to, to make them sound abit more..well, ‘roboty’.
Finally, I’m not entirely sure if Pete can make it this sat. If not I’m thinking about replacing him with a robot puppet that can look completely robotified. I’ve an idea for a half man half unicycle type robot!!
Quick update on the terminator make-up. Probably doesn’t look that that different – I’ve just tidied up the edges, tried to give it an appropriately ‘torn flesh’ look. I’ve also tried to get a skin texture to it by stippling the clay with a brush laden with turpentine – the turps helps to soften the clay, makes the texture look abit softer. Seems to look OK, it’s quite subtle though so not sure how well the fine detail will carry across once I’ve made the mold.
Here’s a few pics
And here’s some details of the …well, detail. I’ve added some frown lines to the forehead and even added the scar I have on my forehead ;0) Not quiet sure how easy this is to see in a photo.
This is almost done to be honest. I’ll do a final once over before I make the mold. I’m holding off slightly – I’m waiting for the gelatin I’ve ordered to arrive before I make the mold just so I can get a feel for the material before I start – I’ve not used it before. It probably won’t make much difference, but just in case.
So been working on the makeup. I’ve cast the metal skull in resin with an aluminium filler powder mixed into the resin to give it a metallic look. I figured this would look more authentic rather than painting it. I need to get some polish to bring the sheen out abit more (hopefully!)
I’m sculpting the rest of the makeup in super sculpey from which I’ll then make a plaster mold. The finished piece will then be cast in gelatin. I’ll also be rigging up a red light for the eye piece.
I’m sculpting the makeup to go all the way across the forehead so there’s a less visible seam line where the makeup meets the skin. The sections where there’s a gap between the metal skull and makeup will be painted black to give the impression of depth.
Have decided to do a short video pastiche using the terminator make-up as it’s abit pointless just making the damn thing then not using it for anything! Unless a handy fancy dress party shows up of course. The last one I went to had a 30s theme, so a cyborg might not’ve fit in. They are time travellers though I guess….
Anyway, I digest…
I’m going to do something similar to the scene in the first film where the terminator fixes himself after the car crash. The idea I have is that it starts off with a close up of water . Suddenly a drop of blood falls in and swirls around. The shot widens til we see a figure standing in front of a bathroom mirror. He rather ominously picks up a craft knife and does something to his face, then a drill. The shot then changes to over the shoulder and we see the metal skull etc in the mirror. He then picks up his gun and departs.
Nice and short and easy. I had great fun dripping droplets of food colouring into the bathroom sink last night. Creates some rather nice patterns.
I’ve also made a mold of the sculpture for the make-up pictured in the last post so will be ready to cast it up soon. I’ve found some aluminium powder in the cupboard which I bought for something else a while back. I’m going to mix it into the resin to give it a metallic effect instead of painting the piece. Should give it a more authentic look.
Just some shots of the robot being filmed against the greenscreen. I’d forgotten I’d taken these and just found them on my memory card. They’re quite cool – I quite like the way the robot looks in black & white – so I thought I’d post them. When I have time I’ll probably add them to the main page for the robot on my website.
I’ll be doing some prosthetic robot make-up soon for the Measure of a Man music video I’m currently working on. We’re going to be making Tom and Pete look like robots with some wires and other mechanical bits showing from under their skin.
In preparation, I’ve come back to a piece I started working on a while back which is a terminator make-up. This is a refinement on my previous attempt (pictured below to the right) which I did a while ago. I felt it was too bulky and there was a very obvious line visible on the skin where the prosthetic met the flesh.
The new version is designed to be alot thinner and be comprised of separate parts rather than being one large piece. So where-as before the make-up piece covered the eye socket with a fibre glass shell, this one will leave the eye socket open. The red LED this time will be a separate piece which will sit over the eye and be removable, held in place by magnets. Additionally rather than building up the prosthetic piece to give a sense of depth, I’ve instead decided to make the make-up very thin and use black water based make-up on the skin below the prosthetic to give the impression of depth.
Additionally, the previous version was made of silicon which made it difficult to get a decent blend between the skin and make-up. This time round I plan to use a different material, perhaps gelatin. The advantage here is that you can melt the edges with isopropyl alcohol to blend them into the skin. At least I’ve been told you can, I’ve not tried it myself!
hanging free from the damaged sections.
s a very obvious line visible on the skin where the prosthetic met the flesh.
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