Strangeface; Experiencing the Workplace

Working with Russell in the Strangeface workshop has been a very interesting time. I have learnt from all steps of creating a Strangeface mask, and in the process was presented with the fantastic opportunity to make my own from scratch. To best present my experiences in being in the workshop, I will go through each step of the process section by section.

Sculpting
Russell has a great deal of knowledge and years of experience in sculpting effectively. He sculpts all of his masks using basic white studio clay, intended for firing, but instead vacuum forms over it before it dries out and cracks. He has taught me a lot about sculpting theory, such as the importance of lines in a sculpt, and how e.g. parallel lines are uninteresting to the eye, where as a line which curves slightly or intercepts with another line will catch the viewer. Russell starts all his mask sculpts by making a maquette, and I gave this a go. It was difficult trying to capture what I wanted from the character within the 20-minute quick 'sketch' timeframe, so the maquette ended up being a very rough guide.

The character I want to present is a naive schoolgirl who happens to have a third eye, which she is somewhat ashamed of. When I started the full size sculpt over the top of a vacuum formed life cast of a face, I got a much better idea of where I would go with her expression. The Strangeface masks are designed to show different expressions dependent on not only the actor's movements and sounds, but also the angle the mask is viewed from. They are sculpted in a way that leaves them widely open to the interpretation of the viewer, and forever in a state of trying to decide which expression the mask is pulling. This is a part of a human's instinctual drive to empathise and understand other things it reads as being a face, hence why some of Strangeface's masks are rather abstract and quite far removed from being a human - but still read as one.

Here is the sculpt after a few hours of work on it. I find the process exciting but also a little intimidating. Whilst I have done some sculpting, I feel hugely inexperienced - especially being shadowed by Russell's 1000+ sculpts - but the learning curve is challenging. I want the mask to read as different expressions especially from each side - one side being a little apprehensive, a little sorry for herself, and the other being a shy, possibly even a little bit coy or even cocky smirk. I was worried about the sculpt looking a little bit older than I wanted at this stage, and was recommended to smooth her out more - the smoother a sculpt is, the younger it looks, making younger sculpts actually harder than folded, detailed, older characters.

Here is the sculpt after it has been smoothed out, neatened up and finalised for the vacuum former. I have taken out the pupils as they are no longer needed as a point of reference. I am relatively satisfied with the sculpt, but the dissatisfaction is really down to my lack of experience in sculpting, not because of something that can be immediately fixed.

Once the sculpt is finished, a drill with a piece of wire is used to burn holes in the plastic form under the head. This sucks the plastic into the small details and crevices such as in the corners of the mouth and eyes. Russell then sprays his sculpts with WD-40 as a mould release, which also helps with any last-minute smoothing.

Vacuum Forming

For the single mask commissions, Russell will complete a sculpt then just take two vacuum forms of it - one for the mask, and one as proof, which can be filled with plaster and fixed up to make more copies of if anything happens to the original. Vacuum forming is a simple process, when the plastic has been fixed into place in the metal bracket, a heater is slid over the top. The sculpt sits on a moving platform underneath the plastic.

When the plastic is supple enough and droops under the heater, the sculpt is lifted up via a lever to press into the plastic, and the vacuum is turned on. This sucks all of the air out between the plastic layer and the sculpt, so it takes on its form well. A soft cloth can be used to push the plastic further into the crevices.

The Mask in the vacuum former. The plastic we used was a clear BPA, the same used
for making water bottles. It has good strength and flexibility.

Once the shape has been formed, some brute force is required to get the mask off of the sculpt. This is worse in masks with a lot of details and especially those with undercuts, which may require the sculpt to be destroyed in order to get the mask off. Once it has been removed, it is cleaned with rubbing alcohol to remove any clay and WD-40 residue, and a buffing cloth keys the surface lightly to allow the primer and paint to grip it.

Painting

A layer of yellow primer is sprayed onto the mask as a base for the acrylic. It is a better colour than black to cover. Flesh tone acrylic is then sponged over the top in two layers, to form a base coat with a 'stippled' texture. Russell painted my mask because I have very little experience in using an airbrush, so he could paint it to reveal it's best potential. He uses no black - a few shades of red make up the blushing and warm tones, and a muted dark green is used for the shadow. Even the 'black' parts, like around the eyes and in the nostrils, are done with a very dark blue. This prevents the flatness that can occur with using solid colours.

On quizzing Russell on how he developed his style, he explains that it's taken him ten years to get to where he is. I find this reassuring because I don't feel like I solidly have my own style; there is plenty of time to develop it. He also mentioned that because his style has had to become commercially reliable, he feels it has become stale to him. I can see this happening often in a business that is run off of a created object, especially when each new product is sculpted from scratch.

The completed mask, in need of a wig. I am really happy with the paint job that Russell did, it definitely helps to define the emotions I was trying to capture. I have ordered her a wig to complete the look and will be updating this post with pictures of the mask being worn when it arrives.

Blind Summit @ Latitude Festival 2015: Citizen Puppet

Blind Summit did their 'first professional performance' of this show at Latitude Festival near Ipswich, which I was lucky enough to go to. They presented a parade of realistically portrayed individual puppets, with characters so three dimensional that they broke the fourth wall and made fun of the way puppets are often portrayed as silly, simple, uncomplicated characters.

Puppets for 'Citizen Puppet' in the Blind Summit workshop.

Suki (left) and Tina (right) expressing their digust.

The show was a very contemporary interpretation of 'Jack and the Beanstalk', with there being no Jack, or beanstalk. The story followed the residents of a run-down town called 'Massiveville', and their shock and trepidation the day that the giant from up the beanstalk fell, dead, across their town. Their recollections had a charming realism from them, from the descriptions of the giant's leg lifelessly blocking everyone down the centre of the high street, to the awful traffic backed up around the town and disrupting their day-to-day lives.
Blind Summit challenge traditional puppetry values and transform puppet shows into a platform for adults to enjoy. By presenting 'Citizen Puppet' as a docudrama based entirely on verbatim from the characters, they turned a silly, light hearted children's tale into a very believable and surprisingly tangible collection of the struggles and experiences of the characters.

The puppeteers seemed to 'melt' away
during the performance.

The set of the show was nonexistent, relying on the sheer presence of the characters to provide atmosphere. The puppets sat atop tall benches, chairs and wheelchairs, allowing the puppeteers to freely operate them and avoiding the 'floating puppet' issue. These benches helped set the mood for the town as well - it really was reminiscent of the likes of a dodgy park in the middle of Maidstone or some other exceedingly average British town. The way this production was prevented was completely unexpected; the entire show was fantastically observed and was a huge highlight of the festival.

Work Experience at Bay Productions

I completed two weeks of work experience for Bay Productions in Cardiff in June, and it was definitely a learning curve. It is such a great experience to be involved and treated as a professional in a proper, industrial working environment. Although a lot of the work was highly repetitive - as you would expect when working on something on such a large scale as real size sets - there were elements of it that were both challenging and enjoyable. I plan to go into more prop- and costume-orientated work elements in the future, but it was still wonderful to work with a team of such like-minded and creative individuals on making such beautiful Opera sets.
Here are some examples of the sets that Bay Productions have been created, images from their facebook page and website.

The set of 'Don Giovanni' at Lyric Opera in Chicago.

Houses for the London 2012 Olympics Ceremony.

The Production - What a Show!

On Friday the 10th July, I ventured to Mid Kent College to see the production of Pride Lands by Razzamataz. I had also helped out before the show was performed, making adjustments to some of the masks for them to fit smaller children, sewing fur on leotards and generally assisting in the costume department.
The first half of the show was a series of numbers from different musicals and fairy tales, remixed into short and cheeky dances, songs and stories. This is when most of the younger performers of Razzamataz strutted their stuff, and the length of some of the pieces they remembered was impressive.
The second half of the performance was what I'd truly been waiting for, and seeing the work I'd been so heavily involved with being worn and enjoyed by all the talented actors was amazing. I got a bit emotional! I was blown away by the style and coherence of the play, boasting a fantastic mix of song, dance and narrative that was truly complimented by the massive range of costumes. To top it all off, nothing fell off or broke - I'm sure this would be a concern for any costume and prop maker's first production..!
It truly was a fantastic, inspiring night and the whole experience has lead me on to want to be involved with this type of work for the rest of my life. After working with such a fantastic team, it would be a dream to be a costume, prop and set designer and maker for Razzamataz, or any small, energetic theatre company.