So the next step to creating the Grinch's face is to sculpt a similar shape onto my head cast that I've made (which is now fully dry after hours in the oven). Today was going to be the day that I uploaded photos of the progress I had made with it... Sadly it cannot be so.
I loaded the car up this morning with everything I needed; sewing box, Grinch Bible (containing all relevant information and images to my project), clay. Drove up to Uni, and as I was transporting the heaviest block of clay from my car to the workshop, I realised, I'd left my head in kitchen! Gutted! What an absolute moron! The one reason I went into Uni today and I forget the head! Instead I used the space to cut some patterns for Cindy Lou but I was so frustrated at myself I decided to go to the gym instead.
Plan for this week: Start sculpting the face (tomorrow) Finish dresses for a fitting with Izzy who is my model for Cindy Lou and finish the body suit for a fitting with Charlie on Friday.
Short and sweet, sort of like my time in Uni today...
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Saturday, 25 February 2012
The Great Plaster Head Unveiling
I was gutted that I didn't get a chance to post this yesterday but I went straight from Uni to work so there was just no time... Never mind, today I share with you pictures of the finished head cast.
The minute I got into Uni I was running round the building trying to find Richard, desperate to take the mould off the plaster. Eventually I found him and we headed to the 3D studio where my head had been drying. (I'm only dragging the story out because I had to wait so long to see the head, so I'm making you wait as well).
We took it off the same way we took it off her head, back first!
This is the front and back outer shell of the mould. All the moisture in the plaster that was poured in had made its way to the outside of the cast while it was drying and it was pretty damp! The one on the left is the front and you can see that the Alginate has come away from the inside which we had to peel off separately - it felt even more gross than on Thursday having been sat in between layers of damp plaster all night!
Here is what was inside...
HOW CREEPY DOES IT LOOK!?!
The detail that the Alginate picked up was just incredible! Her right ear came out perfectly...
... Unfortunately the same can't be said for her left ear. As I am only using the face to sculpt the clay over this isn't too much of an issue but Richard said that it would be easy to fix as we have the piece that fell off anyways.
I took this photo just to give you an idea on the amount of detail that this Alginate stuff gives you. Just look at it!!
Its a piece of plaster - the wound covering kind - the I used to cover up one of Charlie's piercings and its even picked up the little dots on the plaster. It also managed to pick up her eye lashes but it doesn't show so well on the photo. HOW AMAZING IS THAT!?
After a very careful drive home with my plaster head safely packed away into a box in the boot, I had to cook it at 60 degrees for about an hour and half - I have this isn't the first time I've put someones head in the oven... KIDDING! But it looked even more creepy than before when I put it in there!
I told you!!
Now she's all cooked I have to take it into uni next week to fix the ear and file the back of the head down so its all nice and smooth. Then it will be time to start sculpting the Grinch's face onto it.
Meanwhile, in Cindy Lou Land, I am making 3 toile dresses to fit to Izzy (model) next wednesday and I have a fitting of the body suit that I am making this week on Friday with Charlie! Busy busy busy!!
More fun and photos coming soon people! Don't go away! x
The minute I got into Uni I was running round the building trying to find Richard, desperate to take the mould off the plaster. Eventually I found him and we headed to the 3D studio where my head had been drying. (I'm only dragging the story out because I had to wait so long to see the head, so I'm making you wait as well).
We took it off the same way we took it off her head, back first!
This is the front and back outer shell of the mould. All the moisture in the plaster that was poured in had made its way to the outside of the cast while it was drying and it was pretty damp! The one on the left is the front and you can see that the Alginate has come away from the inside which we had to peel off separately - it felt even more gross than on Thursday having been sat in between layers of damp plaster all night!
Here is what was inside...
HOW CREEPY DOES IT LOOK!?!
The detail that the Alginate picked up was just incredible! Her right ear came out perfectly...
... Unfortunately the same can't be said for her left ear. As I am only using the face to sculpt the clay over this isn't too much of an issue but Richard said that it would be easy to fix as we have the piece that fell off anyways.
I took this photo just to give you an idea on the amount of detail that this Alginate stuff gives you. Just look at it!!
Its a piece of plaster - the wound covering kind - the I used to cover up one of Charlie's piercings and its even picked up the little dots on the plaster. It also managed to pick up her eye lashes but it doesn't show so well on the photo. HOW AMAZING IS THAT!?
After a very careful drive home with my plaster head safely packed away into a box in the boot, I had to cook it at 60 degrees for about an hour and half - I have this isn't the first time I've put someones head in the oven... KIDDING! But it looked even more creepy than before when I put it in there!
I told you!!
Now she's all cooked I have to take it into uni next week to fix the ear and file the back of the head down so its all nice and smooth. Then it will be time to start sculpting the Grinch's face onto it.
Meanwhile, in Cindy Lou Land, I am making 3 toile dresses to fit to Izzy (model) next wednesday and I have a fitting of the body suit that I am making this week on Friday with Charlie! Busy busy busy!!
More fun and photos coming soon people! Don't go away! x
Thursday, 23 February 2012
Head Casting Day!!
AAHHH! What an exciting morning!! I was so so nervous while I was driving to Uni with all my bits and bobs, but some Chris Moyles Breakfast Show kept me calm enough to drive. Love Dave's Tedious Link!
Once I got to Uni I took everything in and Richard (head casting extraordinaire) had already begun setting up the room. Basically the reason I'm doing this head cast is so that I can create the Grinch's face by sculpting onto a plaster head with clay. Obviously it needs to be the models head because the prosthetics have to fit her the same way the costume has to. After the clay is sculpted onto the plaster head I'm going to do another cast of that before creating the gelatine face pieces.
So first of all, after preparing all the ingredients on a table
Charlie say down on a cling film covered chair in a stylish poncho-esque bin bag and her head was wrapped completely in cling film - making sure all of the hair was as tight to her head as possible!
Once this was done we put cotton wool in her ears to stop her brain from getting wet and rubbed vaseline into the hair that wasn't covered by the cling film. This was so that when we pulled the cast away it didn't rip her hair off at the same time.
As Richard was feeling nice he said that we could do the back first so that Charlie wasn't sat with plaster all over her face for longer than she needed to be. The ridge that you can see in the picture (left) was built up using strips of ModRoc and this is what the front would be attached to later.
So after a relatively easy and chilled out first 20 minutes or so of covering the back of her head... it was time to start on her face. I covered up her lip piercing with a plaster, rubbed more vaseline into her eyebrows and eyelashes as well as around the edge of the plaster bridge running over her head. This was so we would be able to take the front piece from the back when the plaster was dry. Otherwise she would just be stuck in it forever - and lets face it, no one wants to be stuck in a plaster head for the rest of their life!
Oh, and we gave her a little tube to put in her mouth so she could breathe - bit crucial!
This next bit was the worst bit for me! This blue stuff is called Alginate. Its made from seaweed and basically it mixes into a paste and dries into a rubber in less than 2 minutes. So this bit had to be done quickly. I literally had one minute to mix it all in the bucket then about 90 seconds to slap it on Charlie's face before it started drying - oh my god!!
There wasn't even time for Charlie to see the blue goo before Richard and I were pouring it down her face. She just shut her eyes, had a tube in her mouth to breathe and was going to be like this for another 20 minutes at least. There is NO WAY I could have had a head cast done!! Claustrophobic much!??! I imagine it's what being in a coffin would be like!
So after all the skin on her face and neck was covered in Alginate she looked a little bit like this! I then had to put about 15, inch square sponges all over her face - I didn't quite understand why at the time but it did become clear later.
When she was covered in the tiny sponges and the Alginate was dry we basically did what we had already done to the back of her head and covered her blue, rubbery face in ModRoc. Key thing here was to build another bridge against the bridge that was already there but NOT to overlap it - again, danger of the plaster not coming apart and Charlie being stuck in it which would have been a bit of a bummer!
Then we just let her chill out for a bit. Me and Rich grabbed a coffee, bacon roll, had a bit of a chat... KIDDING! The ModRoc sets really quick so she didn't have to be sat in the cast for ages!!
We took the back off first to give the front a bit of extra time to dry so that it didn't just crumble and all my hard work go to waste. Then, ears first, we prised the front off of Charlie's face. I think the exact term Richard used was "wiggle your face... like a bunny..." - I'm guessing he meant like when they twitch their noses? I suppose we'll never know but luckily enough the cast came off and we were left with a negative of Charlie's face.
OH! And while I think about it, turns out the sponges help hold the Alginate to the plaster - who knew!?
The rest was pretty simple and straight forward really... Once Charlie could see and hear again we had to reattached the two separate head pieces to create the mould that we would pour the paster into. They fit together almost perfectly so we clamped them together with 'G-Clamps' - no idea what they were until today - and sealed the edges together with more ModRoc.
How creepy does that look!?? Nice added touch of the saliva-drenched breathing pipe I feel.
It didn't occur to me but OBVIOUSLY we had to block the pipe she was breathing through otherwise all the plaster we poured in would just come straight back out which wouldn't be exactly ideal, so Richard stuffed some clay in it - good idea I thought.
I was in charge of mixing the plaster! Apparently, when you mix plaster you fill a bucket about half full and just keep adding the plaster to it until, and this is a technical term supposedly, you 'see an island of powder'... Right... Then it had to be mixed so it was the consistency of single cream... Can't exactly imagine builders saying this rubbish can you?! I''m sure real builders must use measurements!
With or without measurements we filled the empty head with plaster and now I have to wait, which I am rubbish at doing, until tomorrow when I can take the mould off and see the finished head!! Yet ANOTHER exciting thing to look forward to. Pretty successful morning even if I do say so myself. Who knew making the Grinch could be so much fun!?
So until tomorrow people, take care of yourselves, and each other (said in true Jerry Springer style)
NB. Kids, don't try this at home without the supervision of another kid!
 |
| Wrapping Charlie's Head |
Charlie say down on a cling film covered chair in a stylish poncho-esque bin bag and her head was wrapped completely in cling film - making sure all of the hair was as tight to her head as possible!
Once this was done we put cotton wool in her ears to stop her brain from getting wet and rubbed vaseline into the hair that wasn't covered by the cling film. This was so that when we pulled the cast away it didn't rip her hair off at the same time.
As Richard was feeling nice he said that we could do the back first so that Charlie wasn't sat with plaster all over her face for longer than she needed to be. The ridge that you can see in the picture (left) was built up using strips of ModRoc and this is what the front would be attached to later.
Oh, and we gave her a little tube to put in her mouth so she could breathe - bit crucial!
There wasn't even time for Charlie to see the blue goo before Richard and I were pouring it down her face. She just shut her eyes, had a tube in her mouth to breathe and was going to be like this for another 20 minutes at least. There is NO WAY I could have had a head cast done!! Claustrophobic much!??! I imagine it's what being in a coffin would be like!
When she was covered in the tiny sponges and the Alginate was dry we basically did what we had already done to the back of her head and covered her blue, rubbery face in ModRoc. Key thing here was to build another bridge against the bridge that was already there but NOT to overlap it - again, danger of the plaster not coming apart and Charlie being stuck in it which would have been a bit of a bummer!
Then we just let her chill out for a bit. Me and Rich grabbed a coffee, bacon roll, had a bit of a chat... KIDDING! The ModRoc sets really quick so she didn't have to be sat in the cast for ages!!
OH! And while I think about it, turns out the sponges help hold the Alginate to the plaster - who knew!?
The rest was pretty simple and straight forward really... Once Charlie could see and hear again we had to reattached the two separate head pieces to create the mould that we would pour the paster into. They fit together almost perfectly so we clamped them together with 'G-Clamps' - no idea what they were until today - and sealed the edges together with more ModRoc.
 |
| Inside of the Cast |
How creepy does that look!?? Nice added touch of the saliva-drenched breathing pipe I feel.
It didn't occur to me but OBVIOUSLY we had to block the pipe she was breathing through otherwise all the plaster we poured in would just come straight back out which wouldn't be exactly ideal, so Richard stuffed some clay in it - good idea I thought.
I was in charge of mixing the plaster! Apparently, when you mix plaster you fill a bucket about half full and just keep adding the plaster to it until, and this is a technical term supposedly, you 'see an island of powder'... Right... Then it had to be mixed so it was the consistency of single cream... Can't exactly imagine builders saying this rubbish can you?! I''m sure real builders must use measurements!
With or without measurements we filled the empty head with plaster and now I have to wait, which I am rubbish at doing, until tomorrow when I can take the mould off and see the finished head!! Yet ANOTHER exciting thing to look forward to. Pretty successful morning even if I do say so myself. Who knew making the Grinch could be so much fun!?
So until tomorrow people, take care of yourselves, and each other (said in true Jerry Springer style)
NB. Kids, don't try this at home without the supervision of another kid!
Wednesday, 22 February 2012
Unexpected stressful day...
I wasn't initially planning to blog today but recent events have brought me to do so...
So, I was supposed to be doing a head cast tomorrow morning but my lovely lovely model informed me THIS MORNING that he wasn't able to be my model anymore - fab! I went to my tutor, Richard, who I am doing the head cast with and he told me that he had arranged for 20 students from the Rhondda campus to come and watch us do the cast as part of their studies. OH GOD!! Had no choice but to find a model...
I literally had about 10 girls from both second and first years phoning their boyfriends, brothers, housemates, friends, anyone the could think of that was tall, animated, and most of all, willing to have a head cast at 9.30am the next day! I tell you something, I'd never seen so many girls flirt with so many guys before as a method of persuasion - I was impressed!!
Phone call after phone call and text after text these boys made their excuses... then it dawned on me... I didn't need a boy, I needed a woman!! Surely the Grinch doesn't HAVE to be a man?! I'd be covering their face entirely with prosthetics, covering their body in green fur... why couldn't it be a woman?!
Change of plan then - I've got a girl Grinch! Her name's Charlotte as she's up for having a head cast made tomorrow morning and she's always around the college which will make fittings easier as well!!
After these stressful few hours I needed to calm myself so I had TWO steak bakes and TWO fondant ring donuts from Greggs - calories don't count when you're stressed!! Then after my sugar levels had gone up and my stress levels had come down it was time to go to town to pick up a few last minute bits a bobs for the casting tomorrow... Buying two large tubs of vaseline, a pair of rubber gloves, a 50M roll of cling film, a packet of 100 straws and a 15L bucket, needless to say I got some very odd looks...
Aaaah well!! All in a days work! HEAD CAST TOMORROW FOLKS!! I'll keep you posted x
So, I was supposed to be doing a head cast tomorrow morning but my lovely lovely model informed me THIS MORNING that he wasn't able to be my model anymore - fab! I went to my tutor, Richard, who I am doing the head cast with and he told me that he had arranged for 20 students from the Rhondda campus to come and watch us do the cast as part of their studies. OH GOD!! Had no choice but to find a model...
I literally had about 10 girls from both second and first years phoning their boyfriends, brothers, housemates, friends, anyone the could think of that was tall, animated, and most of all, willing to have a head cast at 9.30am the next day! I tell you something, I'd never seen so many girls flirt with so many guys before as a method of persuasion - I was impressed!!
Phone call after phone call and text after text these boys made their excuses... then it dawned on me... I didn't need a boy, I needed a woman!! Surely the Grinch doesn't HAVE to be a man?! I'd be covering their face entirely with prosthetics, covering their body in green fur... why couldn't it be a woman?!
Change of plan then - I've got a girl Grinch! Her name's Charlotte as she's up for having a head cast made tomorrow morning and she's always around the college which will make fittings easier as well!!
After these stressful few hours I needed to calm myself so I had TWO steak bakes and TWO fondant ring donuts from Greggs - calories don't count when you're stressed!! Then after my sugar levels had gone up and my stress levels had come down it was time to go to town to pick up a few last minute bits a bobs for the casting tomorrow... Buying two large tubs of vaseline, a pair of rubber gloves, a 50M roll of cling film, a packet of 100 straws and a 15L bucket, needless to say I got some very odd looks...
Aaaah well!! All in a days work! HEAD CAST TOMORROW FOLKS!! I'll keep you posted x
Tuesday, 21 February 2012
Dissertation Bound, Logo Finished!
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So today, I GOT MY DISSERTATION BOUND! What was it about I hear you ask?? 'The justification of inaccurate costume within film: A study of Throughly Modern Millie - sounds interesting doesn't it?!! But its finished and I don't have to think about it anymore!
Another module that I am in the middle of at the moment along side my FMP (Final Major Project) is my 'Professional Practice' module. This part of the course helps us create a brand for ourselves, set up online portfolios, create CVs to prepare use for getting jobs within the industry. One of things we've had to do is to create a logo for ourselves to put on CVs, business cards, headed paper, compliment slips and other choice pieces of stationary.
So this is my finished logo. I like it because it's quite simple and I think it has a professional edge to it - be nice to know what anyone else thinks about it if you'd like to leave a comment.
That's it in a nutshell really. To update you quickly on my FMP, on Thursday I am hoping to make a head cast of my Grinch model, if all goes to plan, and next week I will have first fitting photographs of Cindy Lou Who as well - watch this space!
Monday, 20 February 2012
Hi there!
Welcome to my first post! I guess this means I am now officially a blogger. As I have just starter my Final Major Project I've decided to keep you updated about what I'm doing, problems and stresses along the way as well as my final costumes. EXCITING! Deadline: 9th May. Far too close for my liking! Wish me luck!
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