Masks, Ballet and the Mouse King!

Earlier this month I was delighted to be asked make two masks for an upcoming ballet of the Nutcracker, being performed in London for children and young audiences. The ballet company is Lets All Dance (www.lets-all-dance.co.uk) founded by Orit Sutton, specialised in dance classes and in 2013 produced their first professional show 'The Princess and the Frog' which toured England to more then 3000 children, parents and teachers.

I have been asked to make the Nutcracker and Mouse King masks, a challenge since this is a two person ballet and involves a lot of quick changes, so there are some very specific requirements to take into account - the main one being that the masks cannot touch the dancers faces and must affect their makeup and hair as little as possible. They also must be light and have as much visibility as possible whilst looking visually impressive.

After discussion with the founder of Lets All Dance, Orit Sutton, it was decided that Varaform would be the best material to use. At University, I saw varaform used but haven't used it before myself, so this was a new experience for me.

The first thing that I learnt, unfortunately the hard way, was that when you are using a large piece of varaform, the only way to soften the plastic infused cotton if you don't have a heat gun is to submerge it in 70 degree+ water, at which point if you cant sustain the temperature of the water you have to take it out and work fast to form it before it hardens again, or folds over on itself and fuses. Using gloves also doesn't work as the varaform can fuse to the gloves, so it was a time of very sore fingers for a bit!

The Mouse King!

The first stage of making this mask was to create a master form to mould it over. For this I used tin foil, reasoning that the plastic wouldn't stick to it and that the foil could be compressed to remove it from inside the mask. For the main bulk of the mask I used varaform light mesh

After submerging the varaform in hot water I quickly moulded it around the master and it set within a couple of minutes. Below is the mask after the foil was removed!

For the crown I decided to use varaform gauze, which is cotton gauze impregnated with plastic. This was much stiffer and less stable when moulded then the mesh. It also does not fuse as well to the mesh as the mesh does to itself. I cut out the basic crown shape, submerged it as I did with the mesh and fastened it to the 'forehead' of the mouse face.

When I was a student, an art supplier would come to the campus to sell discounted art supplies, and on one of those occasions, with a few pounds to spare, I bought some gold metal leaf, thinking at some point I would need some and it would be good to get some in preparation. That was over two years ago, and finally this was my first chance to use it! Despite saying that it requires a special adhesive, I have found that strong PVA actually works very well. This is the stage the mask is currently at, and tomorrow once the glue has a chance to set properly, I am going to layer a coat of glue over the crown to make sure that the leaf holds.

To make the mask secure on the head and to keep the mask away from the face, the best way that I have come up with is to use a similar technique to the one used by the 'Breathe' team when making the hats and headdresses for the performers - namely using a dismantled bicycle helmet cut apart to form a 'crown' going in a band around the head. This will hopefully reduce the impact on the hair, make it a secure fit and hold the mask securely away from the face.

I hope to use the same technique on the interior of the Nutcracker mask.

Model/Props Making - Final session!

This session was my final chance to cast from my mould and work on the rest of my pieces from the short course.

 

I started the session with casting in latex and expanding foam! This is something I was incredibly interested in doing with my mould as I wanted to try and create a prosthetic style mask with enough rigidity to hold its form and be able to last for a run of performances.

To start, I used a small amount of liquid latex (after spilling a fair bit down myself) to put a two thin coats of liquid latex inside the mould, drying it under the hand drier between coats. After covering a board to go over the mould in a thin layer of vaseline to stop the foam from sticking, I then had to mix the expanding foam. This was a fascinating process but had to be done incredibly quickly and so I did not manage to get any photos unfortunately. To make the expanding foam mix I had to use a two to one ratio of the foam to the catalyst, I then had about 8 seconds to mix it thoroughly before pouring it into mould and covering it with the board.

 

 

I then went back to the fibre glass version while I waited for the expanding foam to propperly set - while it is very fast I wanted to use all the time in the session to get as much as I possibly could done.

 

 

In going back to the fibre glass version, I got the chance to use my new favourite piece of workshop equiptment - the industrual sander! With this I managed to get all the edges sanded down beautifully in just 10 minutes, with the exception of a couple of interior sections that need cutting out. After this I got some wire wool and buffed the rest of the surface.

 

 

 Here it is in the sun, buffed and polished and held up against the wall in the sunlight (the photo has come up dark because of the glare coming off the shinier parts and the camera compensating for it) you can still see a lot of the detailing though despite the glare, and more so on the photo below!

 

 And here they are together - the copper fibre glass version and the silicone version! Just after this photo I cut out the eye holes and scooped a face shape out of the back, it needs tidying and painting before it can be propperly worn, but overall pretty proud of it and not a bad start to props and model making all in all!

 

Model/Prop Making - Casting Session 1!

Todays session was de-moulding and casting in fibre glass!

At the beginning of the session I took the master out the mould and cleaned the inside of the silicone to get rid of any embedded bits of clay in the detailing.

 

FROM HERE ON OUT GLOVES AND A MASK WERE DEFINITELY REQUIRED!!! The combination of fumes and metal powder are not good for the lungs! The next stage was to brush metal powder around the inside of the mould - I chose copper as I thought the warmer colour would suit the design. When finished this can be buffed into a shiny finish, not much is needed and too much can cause a powdery outside - not desirable! Then it was time to add the first coat - a gel coat that is enough of the gel to provide a decent coat with 2% catalyst added, and into this I added some of the copper powder (about a tea spoon) and a tiny bit of green pigment so that when polished it would have an antique copper effect.

Here it is with the gel coat!

 



 From here the next step was using fibre glass tissue, cutting it into pieces and small strips and putting the gel onto it - the gel started to break down the tissue and softened the fibre glass until it was maleable enough to stick to the gel coat. The job of the fibre glass is basically to reinforce the gel coat.

 

Here it is, after being de-moulded before any polishing and before the fibre glass edges had been sanded. For the last bit of the session I got some wire wool and managed to buff a couple of sections and below are the results on one of the acorns and a small section around it. 





Model/Props - Mouldmaking!

After an incredibly busy couple of weeks I'm back to write up the last two of my sessions!

 

Today was my last day to get my master finished, and to start making the mould in preparation for the first cast!

 

 After finishing the detailing on the leaves, I decided to add leaf 'veins' into the face to make it more of an integration between the human and plant aspects. And so here we come to the finished head!

I have to say the acorns are some of my favourite parts.

 

 After finally finishing the master, I built a 'wall' of clay around it leaving a rough 2 inch gap, then covered it in silicone with a catalyst.

 

After covering the master, while waiting for it to set I decided to do a little more work on my gun but unfortunately ran out of time on that before I could do much and needed to go back to mouldmaking but here it is!

 

I've gotten some of the marks put in place on both sides, and I hope to mark into it with a soldering iron.  BUT then back on to the mould making, as the solicone was dry I had enough time to cover the mould in a layer of thick plaster before the end of the session - next session will be time to take the master out the mould and see how its come out.

Model/Props - Casting and Costume props!

After discussing turning my master into a prosthetic like mask and casting in silicone, I started working in this session to extend the face down the 'neck' and to continue with the objective of finishing the surface detailing!

 

                                          At end of previous session                     Starting to add more surface detail

Extending to go down the 'neck'

 

I added more acorns as well as the additional different types of leaves for more variety. In order to get the details on the leaves correct I used research images to check the patterning.

 

Adding more detail to the surface using a silicone modeling tool. I find this gives a smoother line.

 

All but two of the leaves now have their surface details, and next session I will be covering the master in silicone and forming the mould, which I hope to cast in both silicone and fibre glass.

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!

Props Continued! The gun!

In terms of detail and parts to put together this has been a relatively complex exercise, and this week went very slowly in terms of working out what order to do things in and how to fit them together!

 

 

So to follow on from last session - here are all the separate pieces that I finished last time! We have the main body of the back, the main front barrel, the handle and trigger piece, the front 'fin' that goes on the front barrel, and the uncut but measured out front barrel.

 

 

The first order of business was to start getting the main pieces connected! For the front barrel it was a simple matter of cutting a groove into the body of it to slot the trigger piece into. For the main body mass it was slightly more complicated and I had to use the hot wire tool to cut out a thin strip to slot the trigger piece into, making sure it lined up with the barrel without making the groove too long and have it fall apart. There is a smaller section that fits onto the front barrel and slots into the trigger bit, I have made it from blue foam and cut it from a cylindrical piece using the hot wire tool, but that will be one of the last pieces I put on so I haven't got a photo of it yet.

 

As the next pieces to make I decided to concentrate on the back panels, working from the inside of the gun out. As there are some very fine details to be put on at the end, I decided to use the yellow foam as it is more dense and you can create cleaner cuts and lines with it.

 

Above are the finished panels and below are the panels on the gun. To save a bit of time since this is the last session that I am going to be able to focus on the gun, I used a glue gun to stick on the panels!

 

After cutting the dowel for the front barrel, I then moved on to the rear outer sections, being the circular shapes. I used the yellow foam to make these, again because they are better for detail work. After marking the exact shape of the pieces and cutting away the main excess of foam with a scalpel, I found that using one of the smaller hand graters, rather then shredding the foam as it would with the blue foam, on the yellow worked to create a quick smooth line that was much more effective and created a cleaner effect then using the scalpel.

 

Here is the gun at the end of the session - as you can see it is a vast improvement on last week but I will admit to being dissapointed with my work in terms of my working speed this week and that is something that I am going to work to improve on as the weeks progress!

 

Next week we are going to start casting work, which I am intrigued to learn about as this is something that I haven't yet had any experience with.

 

 

PROPS AT LAST!

This lesson it was time for the part I was most anticipating - props making!
In this and the next lesson we were to select and make a prop either from a photo/design we had brought in or from one of the example images provided.  Our tutor had provided a range of images from simple to make to relatively complex, and considering that I'm new to props and want to learn to make them well I felt it best to ask for his advice on what to go for on my first try!

With this in mind after some discussion, we decided on this prop gun as out of the prop guns it had the most interesting detail and was different from anything I had done before.

 

 

The first step was to break down the prop into sections in terms of how to make it, how 3D it is and different layers. This it turns out is quite complex in terms of layers, with the back obviously not visible on the image but a number of layers being implied. The decision to make is how many layers - it is either 5 or 7, and how they fit together is also going to be a challenge. 

 

The first section to make was the handle with the trigger, and making it large enough to slot into the main body of the prop. After discussing it with my tutor he recommended making it out of MDF, so I drew out the shape on a 1cm sheet of MDF and after a demonstration on using the bandsaw got to - under the supervision of the tutor since it has been a while since I've used it - cut out the shape!

 





 The next step was making the other large parts out of blue foam. I started with finding a cylindrical section for the main front barrel which was luckilly the right diameter, and cutting it to the right length using the hot wire tool. I then found a segment for the main body of the gun, which I marked out and again but to the right size and shape with the hot wire tool.

Above - creating cuts with the hot wire tool!



In order to get the front curve right for the tapering I marked out the center working outwards and marked the diameter for the front barrel dowelling. I then marked in dots the length of the tapering down the barrel, then began filing away at blue foam.

During filing

Here are the finished sections!

 

 

The final task of the day was to make the top fin for the front barrel, and after marking out the length of the front barrel on a piece of the correct diameter dowel, I used yellow foam - a much more dense foam then the blue - and used a scalpel to cut the shape. I chose to use the yellow foam as, because it is more dense you can create cleaner finer details then with the blue.

 

Next times session will be carrying on with our props!