Tackling a local ghost story
in General
I've been meaning to be more active on here so that I can meet and interact with my fellow effects folks, so I figured I'd show you guys my most recent project-
Here in Pittsburgh we have a semi famous spooky tale about the "Green Man's Tunnel", said to be haunted by a faceless ghost who glows a sickly green color. As it turns out, he was just a normal guy. A childhood accident left his face majorly deformed, and his nighttime walks down the forest road ended up scaring the occasional passerby.
A local director had written a script about the story, and I was set with the (paid!) task of creating the look for The Green Man, known in real life as Raymond Robinson. I decided a gelatin prosthetic would give me the flexibility of price while also being straightforward enough to achieve that I, a novice, could continue to feign professionalism.
Here is the final sculpt of my interpretation of Mr. Robinson. Though I referenced images of him in real life, I was quite limited by the fact that in reality, Robinson had no nose or eyes. The actor did not want to be blinded (naturally) or wear contacts, so we compromised on one eye covered. I also wanted to achieve a more skeletal appearance than Raymond actually was.
Casting was relatively straightforward, I followed Rob Burman's recipe here on the site to GREAT success. His method for gelatin yields something that feels damn near foam latex, especially if you don't wait for the baking soda to bubble a little bit. I didn't wait long enough and ended up with several internal air bubbles which fortunately didn't affect anything other than the weight of the piece.
Here I am applying the piece, with a laughably ineffective desk lamp. We ended up using a car's headlights to get the job done.
And here's the final result. Definitely not my best work, I am sorry to say. I couldn't get the edges to blend well, which was quite frustrating considering that was one of the main reasons I chose a gelatin piece. In hindsight I also should have prepainted the piece. Trying to get the character done in the dark and cold alone was hard enough, let alone the fact that production was at a standstill until I finished. But hey, you live and you learn.
Everything ended up going well though. The film is a found footage style, so the most gorgeous makeup on planet earth wouldn't have been able to be seen fully, and I'm overall still pleased with how it turned out.
If you're so inclined, you can check out my instagram @centurion_effects to see more photos. I'm open to any advice or critique on the piece, especially if anyone has any tips with controlling gelatin. Thanks!
Here in Pittsburgh we have a semi famous spooky tale about the "Green Man's Tunnel", said to be haunted by a faceless ghost who glows a sickly green color. As it turns out, he was just a normal guy. A childhood accident left his face majorly deformed, and his nighttime walks down the forest road ended up scaring the occasional passerby.
A local director had written a script about the story, and I was set with the (paid!) task of creating the look for The Green Man, known in real life as Raymond Robinson. I decided a gelatin prosthetic would give me the flexibility of price while also being straightforward enough to achieve that I, a novice, could continue to feign professionalism.
Here is the final sculpt of my interpretation of Mr. Robinson. Though I referenced images of him in real life, I was quite limited by the fact that in reality, Robinson had no nose or eyes. The actor did not want to be blinded (naturally) or wear contacts, so we compromised on one eye covered. I also wanted to achieve a more skeletal appearance than Raymond actually was.Casting was relatively straightforward, I followed Rob Burman's recipe here on the site to GREAT success. His method for gelatin yields something that feels damn near foam latex, especially if you don't wait for the baking soda to bubble a little bit. I didn't wait long enough and ended up with several internal air bubbles which fortunately didn't affect anything other than the weight of the piece.
Here I am applying the piece, with a laughably ineffective desk lamp. We ended up using a car's headlights to get the job done.
And here's the final result. Definitely not my best work, I am sorry to say. I couldn't get the edges to blend well, which was quite frustrating considering that was one of the main reasons I chose a gelatin piece. In hindsight I also should have prepainted the piece. Trying to get the character done in the dark and cold alone was hard enough, let alone the fact that production was at a standstill until I finished. But hey, you live and you learn.Everything ended up going well though. The film is a found footage style, so the most gorgeous makeup on planet earth wouldn't have been able to be seen fully, and I'm overall still pleased with how it turned out.
If you're so inclined, you can check out my instagram @centurion_effects to see more photos. I'm open to any advice or critique on the piece, especially if anyone has any tips with controlling gelatin. Thanks!
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