Dramatic Context
Georgia Brown
Sculpting | Closed Mould: Making the mould
Vacuum form process:
There are three dials on the machine for choosing how much of your cast you want to mould- the centre, outside edges or the whole thing. To cover your whole face cast then turn all three dials onto a level 5 heat. If any of the three dials have been missed by mistake then a part of your mould will be missed in the vacuum process.
You are drawing heat over the plastic , dont leave it in there too long or it will begin to smoke and melt, keep checking the plastic in the machine! Its it ready when the plastic is slumped.
Guillotine for cutting plastic, then place the plastic over the base of the heater, check the plastic is in place tight and firm before closing the vacuum form.
VACUUM
PROCESS
SCULPTING PROCESS
Meticulous neat, efficient. Mould making cannot be rushed. Keep your edges tidy and uniform, it helps to develop your manual dexterity and youll get a lot from the mould itself.
The grounding: Water based clay is natural and will crack, it can be messy. Man made plaster-line clay will look neat and wont crack or chip. Keep the grounding a minimum of 5mm away from your sculpt, keep relatively close to sculpt because that will be the flashing used to blend the edges. The inside edge must be clean cut and sharp, it will be your cutting edge and needs to be tapered in order to cut a neat edge on the prosthetic. Shape your piece and keep it even the whole way around. The holes: are your touch down points, they lock everything in place and are used for an overflow. Fiberglass casting would be used for bulk moulds. Plaster casts wouldnt hold for more than a couple of moulds.
Tools Used for Sculpting:
Rubber pointed tool (for pore texture)
Thin plastic wrap, singly or doubled over for different pore seize and textured lines
Coarse sand paper for pore detail
Cheap plastic brushes to smooth out any harsh lines.
Technique Review:
Looking at the photographs I could have built the grounding a lot closer to my sculpt. However, this will come with practise and I'm happy with the sculpt itself. The pore texture is in accurate but I didnt have any visual reference. It was merely experimental, practising technique, and I will reference pore texture for my final closed mould piece.
Mould Review:
I mixed up the plaster too thick to start and it sped up the drying time. Therefore, I didnt acheive a flat top- the secure the moulding process when pouring in the material. The mould will not lie flat whilst the material is drying and it could be problematic for the prosthetic edges. I was happy with the touch down pounts and managed to keep them clear of plaster. This should ensure the material overflows and doesnt gather inside of the mould.
"The biggest characteristic of special effects makeup is that a prosthetic, unlike a mask, adheres to the contours of the wearers face and allows the come through the wearers fcial expressions"
The exterior is the sculpted design and the interior mirrors the contours of the wearers face