Models/Props - Moulding and Casting!

In the latest session of model and props making, we have started on casting and moulding. I have done a little of this before but not like this! We started by learning a little about the various methods and materials used and the pros and cons of them before starting to discuss and decide what we wanted to form in this and the following session.

I had initially thought to make something that was specifically intended as a prop but was inspired by two of the images supplied by the tutor as they were masks, but incredibly intricately formed which gave me the idea to try and make a costume prop mask/headpiece that at the moment I am debating either turning into a form of prosthetic face OR casting in a thicker silicone and casting a back as well to make it into a puppet head - either of which are possible after seeing some of the examples presented by the tutor! What I found so inspiring about the two images were how much they reminded me of an early idea I had for the fairies from the 'A Midsummer Nights Dream' production that I designed for last year. Now over a year on with more experience and a unique opportunity to explore this option I decided to go for it!

 

But back to the session - the first step was to create the master to cast. Using the two images (above) as inspiration was a good starting point but I wanted to make this a design all my own. The first task was to create face! This needed to be effectively the front half of the head, and considering the size and materials I used blue foam to mass out a large section of the centre, building onto it with ceramic clay. With the exception of vac forming during moving tides and prototyping for Breathe, the last time I used ceramic clay was for my A Level ceramics course and it was a lovely opportunity to use it again as it has always been a medium I have enjoyed.

Once I had formed the head, making sure that  proportionally it was correct, it was time to add surface detail. I decided that instead of taking a while to try and sketch out in detail what I wanted to do, I would treat my first try as an experiment and go with what I felt looked the best - and with that in mind I decided to make him an Oberon inspired mask/puppet and use the more masculine lines of vines and oak and ivy leaves with acorns amongst them.

 

Being that Oberon is the King of the fairies and has power over nature, I felt that mixing the leaves on the same vines was fitting as he governs all and so visually could be less restricted by the logical. The building of a master can take a surprisingly long time, and by the end of the session I was just getting to the point of adding the finer surface detail. Next session I will get my surface details added and extend the design downward, then get on to casting!