Battles With Bits of Rubber

In this episode, Neill Morrill joins me in the workshop as we hit up Todd in Colorado and chat about our collaborated efforts on the makeup we did for The Prosthetics Event 2019 . Neil is originally from the UK but moved to Toronto in the early 2000s and has worked on a number of high profile shows over the years such as 300 , The Strain , Suicide Squad , Hereditary , It , Shazam! and the What We...

In this episode, Todd and Stu talk about our week making moulds with epoxy, dropping sculpts and moulage effects for first responder training. Earlier in 2019, Stu got to sit and chat with some fine folks at IMATS London and a chat with makeup designer Kate Benton kicks off the first of these finally edited up after a crazy industry year. This is the sculpt I was detailing and then dropped. Doh! A...

Starting Education In Makeup Effects & Prosthetics This episode is prompted by seeing a few questions on forums about how best to learn about makeup FX and prosthetics. Where to go and what to learn? Depending on what you want to be able to do, let's also draw a distinction between a makeup artist who sometimes will apply a prosthetic v someone who specialises in creating and applying more complex...

Jordu Schell has been pushing clay around for a while and knows a thing or two about sculpting. Creating concepts for characters and creatures, masks, makeups and beautifully crafted designs, he also teaches his craft all over the world and has recently released the first of a series of downloadable books The Professional Creature Design Handbook . In this podcast we chat about: The headspace of s...

It's been a while since Todd & I have podcasted, so apologies for the slow return to form. It's been a brutal few months, mainly as I have been on the new Netflix/BBC version of Dracula which has kept my hands red and my days long and busy.   Naturally, NDA's prevent me from divulging what's what but rest assured, fans of the Hammer style will enjoy the perfect casting of Danish actor Claes Bang i...

"Paul walked into a Lifeboat station on his 17th birthday and never left, initially volunteering at Poole and now at Tower Lifeboat in London. So far he has been a Search and Rescue Volunteer with the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) and HM Coastguard for 31 years." So reads the write-up for the honours listing of Pauls OBE, a high honour of recognition for sterling work which he continu...

In this podcast we talk about art, what it means to be an artist, why we do it, and the challenges we face in trying to make a living doing this. This was mostly brought about because of the fantastic conversation I had with my first ever boss when I started working in effects in 1994. Pauline and business partner, Nik Williams run Animated Extras, an effects company specialising in prosthetics, a...

Richard Redlefsen is someone I saw for the first time a few years back at the UMAE where he was applying his demo makeup on the PPI stand. What was of note for me was how particular and precise everything was. Care was taken at every turn, and it struck me that the amount of effort that takes must come from a deep well. So it was a great pleasure to sit and chat with the man himself, and I could a...

Rick Baker knows a thing or two about making stuff in rubber. It's also fair to say he knows a thing or two about the digital world too, as he has been mixing the two for a while. In 2015, when it was announced that Rick was to close his shop, the FX world was stunned and the bell tolled once again for the end of all practical effects as people speculated the end of live-action anything . There wa...

Something that Don talked about passionately in our interview was how (mostly) young, creative people can be in a position to get taken advantage of. When working starting out, you are not likely to be handed a position of massive responsibility with large sums of money and heavy hitting clients. So it stands to reason when the phone first rings, it's likely to be a smaller production with little...

We are back with more Don! Even though I was there when we recorded, I still get a buzz hearing back what we spoke about. Simply put, Don will make you better and get you thinking about sculpting. In part 2 we spoke to Don about: - Ego - Looking for the positives - Music whilst sculpting - Using the same tool to get many results - Sculptures that want to come out - Deadlines - Chisel shape tipped...

If you have any sculpting ambition or love for any monster movies made in the last twenty years, then you should know the name Don Lanning. Not only is he a gifted craftsman who has worked hard for his place, but he is also a gifted teacher who can help make others better, and he is damn fine fella the whole time he is doing it. Don has been working away on productions for years as a hired gun on...

After the madness of Monsterpalooza 2018, we had the chance to grab the gang for a wind down chat to debrief about the trip and talk about what we got up to. It was a fun time, and I hope the warmth of a truly magical few days comes across, as Todd and I were truly humbled at the non-stop kindness and generosity we were liberally soaked with. Anticlockwise from bottom: Me, Sam Shuck, Adrian Rigby,...

Steve LaPorte was a joy to speak with. For one thing, he is incredibly talented and has a fantastic body of work. That aside, he also recalls exactly how he got there and can track back the step by step process of how he got there. It's a wonderful thing when someone can trace back their steps and know how they got to where they have and are keen to help others understand what is important. Steve...

Michael Westmore has done battle with rubber for a few shows, it's fair to say. With a long career spanning every aspect of makeup, he comes from a several generation deep family which practically bleeds greasepaint. Many know of his work on Star Trek, but the breadth of his experience is quite something. To read more on the subject, check out a brief history of it here , on Wikipedia or track dow...

Contact lenses are pretty easy to find nowadays. It wasn't always so, and the increased use of lenses has meant an increase in opportunities to have problems with eyes caused by them. We chatted to Cristina Patterson of Eye Ink FX about eye care and lenses, especially in the light of many people around us who had created characters for Monsterpalooza using lenses. Many conventions will have extens...

Todd and I had a great morning chatting with Allan A. Apone and Brad Look at MEL headquarters ( Makeup Effects Lab ) based up in North Hollywood. MEL now occupies a huge area of workshops and produces effects for shows as well as products used by artists in the industry, including PAX paints, baldcaps and appliances. Starting out as a small lab in 1978, it now boasts some 18000 square feet of faci...

One of the great things about Monsterpalooza, and other makeup FX heavy trade shows is you get to meet the people who make a life around doing the work, and who care enough to help others do it too. For my money, this chat with sculpting and creature legend Steve Wang was the most potent use of 20 minutes anyone could have. Steve was in high demand, but Todd managed to get him for a short timeslot...

Chris and Fangs FX is who we call when we need teeth, but there is a lot more to Fangs FX than just...well...fangs! This is the first of a series of interviews Todd and I did at Monsterpalooza 2018, a three-day event in Los Angeles which was busting at the seams with visitors, demos and vendors. It was amazing, and Todd and I applied my Bela Lugosi makeup for the Rick Baker Tribute on the enormous...

So, this is my turn at soloing for a brief episode of Battles with Bits of Rubber. And, depending on responses to my musings, perhaps Stuart and I can extend this into a longer broadcast with tips from you all on how to get rid of unwanted and no longer needed stuff. Hi. My name is Todd. And I'm a pack rat. (Hi, Todd!) Let's face it, most of us have too much stuff. Stuff we don't use, stuff we don...

I had the great privilege to be asked to teach some masters degree students at Theaterakademie August Everding in Munich, Germany recently. I had a splendid time! The three students I worked with all had ambitious, figurative projects which they had been working on for some weeks when I arrived for my five day stint there. Daniel Riedl had made a full-size figure leaning out of a bath and was in t...

Seven hours is a big time difference to deal with when trying to synchronise a podcast with two people. To help with that, Todd and I figured adding some extra single features to help keep the show moving. ------------------------------------- At Pinewood studios, I was teaching a great class which had me thinking a lot about what we teach and why. I seized the moment to share my observations whic...

Most people learn techniques and perfect them. Some people then take those techniques and look at what can be improved. Sangeet falls into this camp. He is now pretty well known for creating high quality prosthetic transfers, moulds made which contain the appliances and are used directly in their application. As far as I can ascertain, this system was developed by Conor O'Sullivan and Rob Trenton...

3D printing is having an effect on the way things are made. This episode talks about what those things are, how it benefits us all and how you can get involved. Chris Dombos knows a thing or two about 3D printing, and he is also a massive FX nerd so we got on rather well. Having met him first at LA IMATS in Jan 2017 ( I discovered he had some of the original Lost Boys moulds ), it made sense to ca...

This podcast was a lot of fun to do. I met up with the Mekashes (Eryn and Mike) at their hotel as they were over for The Prosthetics Event here in the UK. I was lucky enough to squeeze in a face to face interview and had a frankly wonderful time chatting with a couple of lovely people who also are amazing artists and FX nerds. Listen here, or on Apple Podcasts/iTunes. Soundcloud or whatever podcat...