Claire Golby
Level 5
Dramatic Contexts
Sculpting and Casting with Gelatine (Closed Mould)
Gelatin or Gelatine is an animal protein capable of retaining many times it's weight and volume in water or certain other liquids. Gelatine is an excellent medium for prosthetic makeup due to it's flesh-like consistency, elastisity, high tear threshold and ability to capture fine detail when properly prepared. Gelatine can be coloured with silicone pigment or foundation.
An added bonus which makes it especially optimal for beginners is the ability to recycle gelatine, so long as it isn't heated beyond a certain threshold. Flawed prosthetics may be remelted and recast repeatedly.
By using low-water components to prepare gelatine, such as glycerine and sorbitol, the life of a gelatine prosthetic can be increased many fold. Due to the component's hygroscopic properties, water does not leak or evaporate from the substance, reducing shrinkage.Gelatine prosthetics may be thinned or dissolved with Witch hazel. Warm witch hazel works best,but whether witch hazel dissolves or corrodes is debated . Many artists leave a bit of the overflow on the blending edge so that during application they can pull the blending edge out as it is adhered and then use witch hazel to cut away the edge. This works well, but being able to brush away a thick edge as is done with acetone and cap plastic is not in my experience.
For adhesives, silicone adhesives lead prosaid use for application. Gelatine is not porous to sweat or air, so any undried prosaid will not dry and sweat can cause little pockets of moisture and resolvented prosaid. Even the hydraulic force of sweat can lift a piece. Also gelatine is not quite as mobile as skin and can eventually pull away in mobile areas in the face. For stunt players or desert movies gelatine is not the best choice. Like silicone it can be heavier than foamed products.
That said, the sheer advantage of having media that matches the translucency of skin and the ease of production makes it very popular. Pieces can be molded to match the actors skin tone by adding facial powders,pancake makeup,flocking,or othe dry pigments.With the right application, pieces can be applied that are indetectable. Molds can even be run on location since very little in setup is required. Easily 20 or 30 runs of a mold in a day are possible. Old age makeups, look alike makeups and other realistic makeups are good choices for gelatine or silicon.To match skin tone , add warm colors, or add breakup; gel makeups (like gel blush or tan gels) or alcohol activated colors seem to blend in to the piece better while most normal makeups and PAXs tend to look like they are on the surface. Again translucency vs opaque coloration.
Gelatine is a component in recipes for substances like burn and scar tissue, and old-age stipple.It stiffens old age stipple and allows for easy removal with water.
Wiki (2014) Gelatin. [online] Available from:http://fx.wikia.com/wiki/Gelatin [Accessed: November 5th 2014]
Gelatin Prosthetic (2011) [online image] Available from:http://www.instructables.com/id/Using-gelatin-for-moulds-and-prosthetics/ [Accessed: November 5th 2014]
"Ralph Fiennes' terrifying transformation into Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter films mixed great makeup work with CGI. The English actor wore gelatin prosthetics over his eyebrows giving his forehead an evil ridge and deep eye sockets. The character's serpent-like nose, however, was added in post-production. Fiennes also worse dentures, contacts, and fake fingernails."
Zimbio (2014) Many Faces - Actors who've worn prosthetic makeup. [online] Available from:http://www.zimbio.com/Many+Faces+-+Actors+Who've+Worn+Prosthetic+Makeup/articles/9H6Da-_3iY4/Ralph+Fiennes+Harry+Potter+Films [Accessed: November 5th 2014]
While I'd obviously considered using silicone in a plaster, closed mould, the thought of using gelatine in my flatpiece silicone moulds had never occured to me. As silicone is used so much in industry and I was convinced it would yield better results, it hadn't occurred to me to run my brow pieces in silicone. I think maybe after I saw how th noses came out, I slightly rejected it in my mind as an option, which looking back on it I definately should have experimented with.
Voldemort makeup. (2012) [online image] Available from:http://www.zimbio.com/Many+Faces+-+Actors+Who've+Worn+Prosthetic+Makeup/articles/9H6Da-_3iY4/Ralph+Fiennes+Harry+Potter+Films [Accessed: November 5th 2014]
Sculpting a closed mould piece
- Blend out the edges of the sculpt onto the lifecast.
- A good quality mould can be used about 40 times.
- The grounding doesn't need to be thick, approximately 3mm.
- Use plasterline based clay, as water-based clay can crack
- The grounding should be a minimum of 5mm away from the edge of the sculpt.
- The inside line (cutting edge) needs to be sharp, as it cute through whichever material you use to give a tapered edge.
- The touch down points are necessary for the points to marry up so that the mould will lock.
- The extended overflow points will bleed out any extra silicone.
Moulding a closed mould piece
- Any visible plaster must be covered with vaseline as a mould release (use a small brush to get in the crevices).
- You can heat the vaseline to make it soak into the plaster better.
- If you add a pinch of salt to the plaster, it will set really quick
- If you add PVA glue to the plaster then it will set like steel.
- Any residue plaster in a bowl will also make it set quicker
- Sieve the plaster through your hands checking for cured pieces
- Mix a creamy, non-watery mix, like custard. (Latent mix; more plaster than water).
- Apply with a brush to prevent missing any areas and tap it so air bubbles will rise to the surface
- When the mix starts to solidify more, gloop the mix on from above, instead of painting it on.
- Ensure there is a decent thickness on the tip of the nose
- Neaten around the edges with a stick
- Try and get the top of the mould to be flat so that it will rest well on surfaces.
- Its ok if you can see the edge of the grounding
- The plaster take 30 minutes to cure, then the mould can be opened.
Making and Applying a closed mould piece
- Clean the mould out with IPA
- Pour in melted gelatine
- Press the negative and positive moulds together and add weight to the top.
- Seperate after 20 minutes and the piece should be ready
- Clean your models face
- Seal the inside of the piece with kryolan fixer spray or sealer
- Apply prosaide to the inside of the nose. Hold it on the nose, remove it and wait for the prosaide to go clear. Then apply nose properly.
- Blend out edges with witch hazel.
- Seal the edges with sealer
- Paint and colour.
For a first time process, I found this quite confusing. I think my mould came out fine and I followed all the instructions accordingly and nothing really went wrong, but I don't really understand the principles of the grounding and mould making. I don't understand why the touch down points are necessary. I get that they make the mould 'lock' properly but I don't see how; it's not like there are negative slots in the lifecast for them to lock into. In my mind, it would work the same without the touch down points, even though i'm sure it wouldn't in reality. And surely the overflow points have to visible when you mould the piece, or they're just barricaded off by plaster and become obselete? I think I need to do some more research to fully understand the concept. My first piece came out ok, but the edges ripped down one side and when I applied to to someone, they were quite thick. I ran it again and it came out better the second time so I think I will try applying this one to my model, as I sculpted it to look like my portrait's nose.
A Dangerous Method
This 2011 film is another one featuring a gelatin prosthetic by Stephan Dupuis. Again, another incredible subtle yet face-altering piece. I'm not sure whether i'm being overly sceptical or whether its because I now know its a prosthetic, but I feel I can almost see where it end on the bridge of his nose and it looks slightly shinier than the rest of his face. Either way, it works very effectively, and its surprised me how much gelatine is used in industry in such high profile films.
Nazzaro, J. (2011) From Fly to Freud. Makeup Artist Magazine. Issue 90. Page 68.
Viggo Mortenson, A Dangeous Method (2011) [onlin eimage] Available from:http://p3.no/filmpolitiet/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/A-Dangerous-Method-bilde-2.jpg [Accessed: December 10th 2014]
Viggo Mortenson, A Dangeous Method (2011) [online image] Available from:http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/viggo-mortensen-has-the-most-fantastic-beard.452881673/ [Accessed: December 10th 2014]