PROSTHETICS Magazine Issue 5

SPECIAL MAKE-UP FX | ANIMATRONICS | BODY & FACE ART ISSUE 5 WINTer 2016 £6.95

IN THIS ISSUE… >> A Monster Calls

DDT Efectos Especiales’ David Martí on large-scale monster making for J. A. Bayona

>> Franchise

Follow-ups

Second instalments of our

X-Men retrospective and Joel Harlow’s sensational work on Star Trek Beyond

>> Skill Up!

Fun with foam latex, crafting believable eyes and sculpting the human hand

>> Unsung Hero

Our spotlight on the incredible career of Gary Pollard

EXPERT OPINIO NS Straight m akeup’s place in prosthet ics

Animatronics Renaissance

Spectral Motion’s Mike Elizalde and Mark Setrakian on their pioneering work that keeps the animatronics flame burning PROSTHETICS

1

The new Prosthetics Adhesive World class quality at competitive prices

After a year in development and extensive trials, Neill’s Materials is delighted to introduce the brand new adhesive range designed by multi-award winning prosthetics artist Neill Gorton for makeup artists everywhere!

Pro-Key

Acrylic Adhesive

2

PROSTHETICS

Sil-Key

Silicone Adhesive

w w w. n e i l l s m at e r i a l s . c o . u k

Sil-Key Thinners

WINTer 2016 Publisher Neill Gorton Editor Lisa Gorton Designer Mike Truscott Editorial Assistant Laura Barnes Artwork Assistant Stuart McDonald

Welcome

to issue five of Prosthetics Magazine

Sales Laura Hargreaves Every year I guarantee that I will get a number of students contacting me and asking me to answer questions on the industry for their dissertation, and the title of at least half of those dissertations is something akin to…

Proofreader Mary Loveday Edwards Contact Prosthetics Magazine Unit 3 Penrose House, Treleigh Industrial Estate, Redruth, Cornwall TR16 4DE Email info@prostheticsmagazine.co.uk Subscriptions Subscribe to the magazine and online library at www.prostheticsmagazine.co.uk Cover image Corakinus leader of the Shadow Kin from brand new Doctor Who spin-off Class (BBC Three). Sculpted by Gary Pollard, subject of Unsung Hero, page 32

Contributors Our sincere thanks to everyone who provided material for this issue and shared their knowledge so generously, in page order: Rob Freitas, Joe Nazzaro, Laura Sutherland, Gary Pollard, Stuart Bray, Todd Debreceni, Mike Elizalde, Mark Setrakian, Andrew Sinclair, David Martí and Richard Martin.

‘How CGI and digital FX have affected the world of prosthetics and animatronics.’

Now the frequency with which this question arises does make me think there are a lot of people out there with very little imagination when it comes to thinking of original topics for their dissertation! That aside however, it also suggests that this question isn’t being answered enough, or possibly not answered in the right way.

So to attempt to help answer this and other questions about the future of animatronics and how the landscape of the industry has changed in recent years, I turned to two masters of the craft, Mike Elizalde and Mark Setrakian. Rather than just doing a straight Q&A, instead I wanted to try and dig a bit deeper so asked that they enter into a discussion with one another on various topics with just basic prompts from me. What has resulted is a piece that I think really captures something more personal about these men, their passion for their craft and how focused and dedicated they are in creating their truly inspiring work.

It’s interesting to note that I had originally asked Mike and Mark to record this for me for the previous issue, but their schedules meant we couldn’t make the deadline and we had to bump it to this issue.

That delay however turned out to be providential, as I received a message from David Martí of DDT Efectos Especiales in Spain, telling me about his recent film A Monster Calls and how he, partner Montse and their fantastic crew had taken on the challenge of building an enormous animatronic puppet for that movie. This job inevitably included some triumphs and frustrations that came as part and parcel of working with large-scale animatronics, as well as in how their work was interwoven with CGI and the difficulties they had balancing the two technologies on the movie.

I would advise then reading these two features back to back; first Mike’s and Mark’s musings on the subject followed by David’s description of working on A Monster Calls, and seeing how many similarities you find in the two different accounts of working in this field, from leading artists on two different continents.

Enjoy issue five!

Content, instructional material and advertised products: The publisher is not responsible for unsolicited material, technical/artistic instruction or materials cited or promoted herein and does not endorse, guarantee, provide assurance of or recommend any products advertised or techniques described.

Neill Gorton Publisher

All contents © Prosthetics Magazine (a subsidiary of Neill Gorton Prosthetics Studio Ltd) or published under licence.

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any way without prior written permission from the publisher, including for storage and transmission purposes. All rights reserved.

PROSTHETICS

3

Contents

“…more and more filmmakers, I believe, are embracing that and seeing the value of it.”

Mike Elizalde - President of Spectral Motion

WORDS OF WISDOM 06

Rob Freitas, industry master mould maker sets the scene for this issue

08 THE ALIENS OF BEYOND Part II

Makeup Effects on the Final Frontier: Joe Nazzaro talks to Academy Award winner Joel Harlow about the multitudinous alien characters in Star Trek Beyond

THE STRAIGHT DEBATE 22

Makeup FX artist and journalist Laura Sutherland examines the relationship between prosthetics and straight makeup

UNSUNG HERO 32

Our career retrospective on Gary Pollard, one of the industry’s great sculptors, mapped out in an interview with Neill Gorton

45 A LESSON IN LATEX,

or FUN WITH FOAM

4

Part one of an in-depth, two-part tutorial from transatlantic educators Stuart Bray and Todd Debreceni on the stalwart prosthetic material foam latex

PROSTHETICS

64

52 DESIGNING THE X-MEN PART II

The concluding part of Joe Nazzaro’s examination of the makeup FX challenges created by a decade of the best selling comic book franchise on the big screen

ANIMATRONICS RENAISSANCE 64

Spectral Motion’s Mike Elizalde and Mark

Setrakian on the resurgence of animatronics in the wake of the CGI tidal wave

75 SCULPTING THE HAND

22

Leading classical sculptor Andrew Sinclair ARBS shares his approach to sculpting the human hand, one of the key anatomical elements for imbuing life into sculptural work

95

86 A SMALL MOVIE WITH A HUGE MONSTER

David Martí of DDT Efectos Especiales on the challenges of creating the prosthetics for J. A. Bayona’s new release A Monster Calls

95 CREATING BELIEVABLe EYES

British prosthetics artist and teacher Richard Martin gives us an overview of the specialist skills and equipment involved in manufacturing prosthetic eyes

SPFX Materials by Polytek® Development Corp.

Polytek® Manufactures a Full Line of Versatile Mold Making & Casting Products Skin-Safe Silicone Rubbers | Silicone & Polyurethane Mold Rubbers | Casting Plastics | Casting Rubbers | Silicone & Polyurethane Casting Foams Specialty Materials | Accessories: Smith’s Theatrical Prosthetic Deadener, Deadener LV, Silicone Color Pigments, More!

Creators of: PlatSil® Gel-OO, Gel-10 & Gel-25 Use PlatSil® Gels for prosthetics, molds and lifecasting.

EasyFlo Casting Plastics PT Flex Casting Rubbers PlatSil® Silicone Rubbers TinSil® Silicone Rubbers Poly-Optic® Clear Casting Resin PolyFoam Flexible & Rigid Casting Foams and much more!

Polytek® products are available worldwide.

PlatSil® Gel-25 silicone prosthetic (photo, above) prior to flocking with fur (photo, left).

Artist: Jim Udenberg - Imaginarium FX with hair work by Terje Rødsjø Photographer (photo, left): Nick Wall, courtesy of IMATS

www.polytek.com 610.559.8620 | 800.858.5990 sales@polytek.com

Available from Neill’s Materials www.neillsmaterials.co.uk

PROSTHETICS

5

FOReWORD

Words of Wisdom

An industry leader sets the scene for the issue Rob Freitas on mastering the materials and methodologies that comprise the complex craft of mould making

I

t wasn’t too long ago that I was thinking to myself, ‘I wish there were more current resources in print that focused on the craft I love.’

Then a couple of years ago I received a magazine in the post. ‘Prosthetics’ magazine was the name written across the top, and that brought a smile to my face! Thanks to you Neill and your entire team, for creating another valuable resource and allowing me to be a part of it.

When I think of the phrase ‘Words of Wisdom’ of course my first thoughts are centered upon the task that I have spent the better part of my life practicing, and that would be mould making.

When one begins to learn the art of mould making, whether it starts in the garage or when entering a lab for the first time, the first emotion that I remember becoming really familiar with was fear, followed by apprehension. Mould making is different from many of the other skills practised when first learning to create prosthetics for a makeup.

Most of the other tasks enable the artist to choose their own pace and make changes as they go along, whether it be modifying a sculpture or making changes to a paint job; clay and paint are materials that for the most part wait and allow the artist time to contemplate and refine during the process.

Now when it comes to the materials that we use to make moulds, whether it is gypsums, urethanes, polyesters, epoxies or silicones, these materials once mixed together with their curing components require the technician to be aware of the time each takes to gel and then cure. When one is less experienced the idea that the material has the upper hand may be the cause of the aforementioned emotions.

6

PROSTHETICS

Without enough experience with some of these materials, the technician may feel that they’re trying to keep up with them…they may feel that they are racing to try and do what they need to do before the material begins to gel. Knowing you’re dealing with a sculpture, knowing that once the surface coat has begun to be applied there is no turning back…therein lies the fear.

Add to that, we must learn what inhibition means, and how do we avoid it? When using these materials, how do we stop them from adhering and bonding to each other? Some of them, such as polyesters, use catalysts that can be variable due to the weather outside or the type of clay used for the sculpture. What if we add too much, or not enough catalyst? Some of these materials heat up as they cure, so how do we avoid the materials warping? When mixing plasters with water how do we know if we are using the proper amounts and ratios?

So while we have all of these thoughts and worries going through our minds prior to even beginning the work…therein lies the apprehension.

Now, if I am to be completely honest some of these emotions do diminish over time, but some will continue to stay with us. I feel that the best way to battle these fears, these emotions, is to exhaust as many resources as possible.

One must research and study the techniques of those that were successful before us. Not to simply learn ‘what’ they did, but to also ask yourself ‘why’ they did what they did and try to understand their methodology. Problem solving is a very large part of the job, and so is being able to look at the work of others… and develop the skills to reverse engineer what their steps may have been.

Learning about release agents and which

products work with the different materials available to make moulds is very important.

One must go past the simple label and name, and learn the contents of the release agents themselves. Some products that are available to some may not be available to you. Knowing if the release agent is wax based, silicone based or petroleum based can save you when that time comes. If you find that the brand you are looking for is not available, you will know how to proceed.

One must also study the differences between tin and platinum based silicones, and then learn what materials do and do not work with each one. Both can be used with great success, but knowing what to avoid can be very important at times.

There are an amazing amount of resources available these days. Whether it is a great book that is 30 years old, a website, a forum or this magazine that you now hold in your hands, there is no substitute for spending the necessary time and doing your research.

Then you simply have to practise, practise, and practise.

You will need to prepare yourself mentally as well, because mistakes are going to happen.

They are almost inevitable along the way of learning the craft and yes, we learn from our mistakes. I recommend taking notes as you go along as I started taking notes 27 years ago and still do today. It is good to write down what works, and what didn’t work successfully.

Then hopefully as you gain more and more experience you will begin to love the craft as I do…learn to master the materials and replace that fear with a smile.

Rob Freitas Master Mould Maker

BITY Mold Supply

www.brickintheyard.com

Special FX Supplies Make-Up FX:

Prosthetics:

→ Bluebird FX

→ Polytek Gels

Palettes, Inks, and

→ Bluestar Silicones

Removers

→ P.T.M.

→ European Body Art

→ Mouldlife Adhesives,

Palettes and Inks

Encapsulators, and

→ MEL PAX Paints

Pigments

+1 416-745-0604

→ Bdellium Brushes

www.Skycon.ca

info@skycon.ca PROSTHETICS

7