Work In Progress - Special Makeup Effects for Sondheim's INTO THE WOODS

This is the show that I was fortunate enough to win an ORCHID award for Excellence in Special Makeup Effects in the greater Cincinnati area in the summer of 1996. Press here to see award.

PRELIMINARY
First of all, what is not shown are the preliminary steps of casting the life masks of the actors involved. This had already been done before these shots were taken. Also I created the sectional casts of the chins and nose areas of both actors because the appliances were only to cover those areas as you will see in the application process photos later. One day I will get all the steps down on film and post them so you can see the process right from the very beginning all the way through to the application and finishing of the prostheses. I will take better photographs as well - these didn't come out very well but at least I wanted to show them to give you an idea of what it takes to get these things made to this point.

CLAY SCULPTURE
What is being shown in the photo are the casts of the actors' noses and chins with the clay sculptures built up on them ready for negative castings to be made. Notice the half-round "keys" which will make the two halves line up properly when they are ready to fill with foam latex and the 1/4" clay flash built up all over the cast. This creates the overflow area. Notice also, the cutting edge nearest to the scuplted areas. This must be very close and very thin near the sculpted area to act as a cutting edge which presses the foam latex to a very thin edge near where the finished latex appliance would be glued onto the actor and is where the excess foam is pulled away from the appliance when done. It helps to create a tissue thin area at the edge of the latex appliance for impossible to see seams when applied.

CLAY SCULPTURE - VIEW TWO
This is another view of the clay sculptures being readied for casting of the negative molds. These are just the wolf snouts and chins. As you will note it was easier for me to create the teeth already built into the clay sculpture and not have the worry of installing acrylic teeth for every dress rehearsal and performance of the show. Plus the actor that had to wear this was only in it for about 5 minutes so I really didn't want to go to all that trouble of making and putting in acrylic teeth for each new appliance every night before performance.

NEGATIVE PLASTER CASTING
This is a shot of the positive sculpture being cast as a negative cast. Note that I have placed a rubber matting wall around the cast that the clay sculpture was built on. Also I used this same rubber wall when I cast the base part of the positive casts of the noses and chins anyway. This way the same rubber wall fit around it and even has a small sort of key where the rubber wall wraps and leaves an indentation. I secured it with a rubber band, plaster poured in after brushing in a thin coat - called "splash" coat which is allowed to set a little and then the rest is poured in very carefully. The splash coat insures that there are no bubbles in the negative cast when done. It helps to tap the board you are doing the casting on lightly on the table so any air bubbles will rise to the top. Then it is allowed to set, the rubber wall removed and the two halves very carefully seperated when dry or nearly dry.

SEPERATED MOLD HALVES
This is sort of where the tale is told with regard to undercuts. If you have created any undercuts the mold halves will be next to impossible if not impossible to seperate. So care has to be taken when creating the clay sculpture so this doesn't occur. I got lucky on this but I knew the clay build-up was fairly thick so that becomes less of a problem. This is a shot of the open molds showing both negative and the positive which corresponds to it. Notice how thick the molds are. These are fairly thick because the appliances were to be fairly long. This thickness can be reduced by using plaster additives such as ACRYL 60 or the like to strengthen plaster casts rather than inserting the wire mesh that I used this time. The plaster hardeners make the plaster VERY hard and suitable for baking in the oven with less chance of breakage so they can be made thinner thus using less plaster.

WORK AREA
This is a shot of the area where I did the work on this. Notice the fine hand crotched table cloth that if I had ruined it I would be dead or divorced now. Something to be said for having a workshop, which if I can ever get my basement finished, I will have - and soon I am happy to say. My wife didn't have much to say because she knows I'm nuts but also very careful about the things I do so there wasn't a problem with the table cloth which I removed later anyway. Just shows some of the stuff you have to accumulate to work with.

POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE CASTS
This is another shot of the positive and their corresponding negative molds being readied for the foam latex. The two mold halves are cleaned with a light brushing of alcohol or acetone after they are fully dry (maybe a day or so). The clay residue would create a difficult spot for the foam latex to adhere to plus the additives in clay have a funky effect on foam latex if the molds aren't properly cleaned. The molds also have to be coated with a seperator of some kind but I will discuss this in more detail in subsequent photographs as you progress.

POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE CASTS FIT
This shot shows some of the positive and negative casts placed together to be sure they fit properly. When this is accomplished, drawing a line across the two halves, labeling and numbering them helps when ready to cast or for later use. The half round keys that were drilled into the faces of the positive cast become positive keys on the negative cast and aid in making sure the two halves fit together. There are so many ways to use keys in making molds ready for casting I can't begin to tell you all of them here, but when you get into it and you do the research you'll find there are as many differnt ways to accomplish something as there are people doing it. Do what works best for you. For me and this kind of mold, the half round keys are fine but there are other ways.

MOLDS LINED UP READY FOR FILLING
This is just about where the rubber meets the road. All the molds have been properly cleaned and the seperator applied. They are lined up in a row ready to be filled with foam latex. The corresponding halves are upside down on edge above them. When you fill the molds - especially if you are doing it alone - you don't have the time to putz around finding the correct corresponding half to a mold so you do it logically and in order so there is no waste of time. You don't have time to waste when doing this phase anyhow. The seperator I use is simply Lux soap. There are so many different mold seperators on the market that you just have to find what works best for you and use it. I have silicone seperator which I use in the sprue holes applying it with pipe cleaners. But all over the surface of both halves of the mold I just use Lux soap. I work it into a lather with a brush and just brush it on liberally. This makes the foam less likely to stick to the plaster when baked.

MOLDS LINED UP READY FOR FILLING -VIEW TWO
This is a shot of the molds again ready to fill and the foam latex in the final stage just after the gelling agent has been added. The foam is in the mixer being refined. This process is so exacting and the tools needed are so very specific that there can be no guess work. I had to do some test runs and make some failures before I figured out what was going wrong. Once I did, it was smooth sailing. And every batch of foam latex you buy is different. It is best to run at least one dummy run before you do any actual work. It gives you a better idea of the nature of that particular batch of foam latex. And I learned right from the start that TAKING NOTES is paramount to success on subsequent runs. Learn that now.

MOLDS CLOSED AND READY FOR BAKING
Here the molds have been filled - and you only have about 5 minutes or so to do that before the foam begins to gel - plus the molds have been closed. The negative is spoon-filled or injected with an injection gun with an adequate amount - you really have to get used to how much - and making sure there are no air bubbles trapped under the foam as you spoon it in, you then close the mold. The positive mold is placed on the negative filled with foam latex and the weight of this mold is allowed to push the excess foam out. Then you can go on and press the two halves of the mold together very hard. This forces more excess out of the mold and up the sprew hole in the mold. These are almost ready to put in the oven to be baked at 175 - 210 degrees for about 3 hours time. The foam should be allowed to gel fully before putting in the oven. I often put them in anyway - this hastens gelling and shortens "cooking" time.

FINISHED APPLIANCES
Shown are two sets of each pair of appliances. For the wolf I created a snout and lower mouth area, both with teeth, and for the witch I created a long nose and crooked chin. This photo shows the two sets I made at once. I knew I could get through eight runs of foam but I figured for the small amount I use on each run I could get them done quicker (namely in four runs) and bake the molds many times less than if I had just had one set of molds. I needed to make eight sets of appliances. Two were for final dress rehearsals and six for performances. I had made one set earlier for a makeup test a couple of weeks before and did test makeups timing the application and removal process so I could decide how I wanted to handle it in performance.

WOLF WIG
It is difficult to see but there is a photograph in the Broadway program shown that shows the wolf makeup when the show was done on Broadway. I used this photo to recreate the makeup and in this case to recreate the wig the wolf would wear. This was a bit unusual in that I adapted an old wig I had, creating a bald front but with those wolf ears you see, part way back on the head. Then I punched in a new hairline from about the middle of the head or so forward adding in the white hair you see to match the varigated color of wolf fur but more to recreate what was done with the original Broadway makeup job. It came out very well.

FINAL THOUGHTS
One of my biggest problems in creating this makeup was not so much in the casting and running of foam latex but in the application and removal process I KNEW I would have to get done in such a short amount of time. The wolf makeup and witch makeup were both applied in less than an hour and a half. Basically, when you work in professional theater, unless you own the building, you can only get into the actors' makeup and dressing room areas at specified times by contract and union rules. So getting in at 6:00 for an 8:00 P.M. show gives you so little time to prepare. I did the witch first because the makeup was so much easier to do as you will see later. I used simple cream makeups and water based stuff because she only had about 3 minutes to go from the witch makeup to full out glamour makeup. Fortunately she was able to do lines from the wings as I finished her up before she goes on in glamour makeup - there was a witch double onstage lip syncing her lines while I cleaned her up. Of course I had to put the witch makeup on the double too but had time once the show began to do that.

The wolf was another issue. I had him in the chair for about 45 minutes, he was in the makeup for about 5 minutes and I had eight minutes to get him totally out of this makeup into straight makeup for the Prince's role. Plus I had to get a wolf double into the wolf makeup and wolf wig the minute I took it off the main actor so the double could do the Granny's house scene where he gets cut open by Granny and Little Red Ridinghood. This was another trick. And because, on the main wolf I used a lot of cream and/or grease makeup, blackened his teeth so his teeth wouldn't show, glued on the wig and appliances with 355 adhesive it made getting it all off less easy. But my assistant helped a great deal and we never missed the transformation. He was also delivering his lines from the wings while the onstage double was doing the scene as I cleaned him up so he could go back out onstage as the Prince. In addition to that, he was having to get out of the wolf costume into another costume at the same time. So I was trying to do my part while the costumer was trying to do her part. It was crazy but we never missed a cue.

One of the things I live for in doing special makeup effects, and especially in live theater, is having the luxury of the time to do things as I know they should be done. I hope someday someone hires me to do it and gives me plenty of time to get it done as I know it should be done. I don't think I have ever had that luxury. Some day maybe.

I have already posted the photos of the application process, such as they are. You can get an idea of what the makeups looked like and why I could only hope for ample time someday to do them with exactness and quality. I hate rushing things and when everyone says it's good enough, it rarely ever is for me. They are not great photos either but they will give you an idea of what it takes to do this process to some degree.

Go to APPLICATION page.

Back to first page.