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This page answers the most common questions put my way via
e-mail. You serve ‘em up, I bat ‘em back… Please note that my replies are based on personal
impressions only and aren’t intended to be the final word on the matter.
(You might also find that I ignore my own advice several times over
on this very site. But then, that’s me all over – contrary little
bugger.) Finally, apologies to overseas visitors for the inevitable
Click on a question, or scroll down to read each question and answer in turn: |
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Can you make something for me/my company? Are the items in the Gallery section for sale? How can I get a job doing creature effects? What should I include in my portfolio? Do I need any college qualifications? How do I go about showing my work to an effects studio? What are the contact details for U.K. effects houses? Will I have to move down to the London area? I don’t sculpt, but… is there a niche for me in the U.K. industry? Is it worthwhile doing work experience? Say I’m offered a position in the industry, what can I expect? Can you give me a job/ work experience placement? What about computer-generated creature effects? What sculpting tools do you use? Where can I buy tools and materials? Can you tell me about prosthetic makeup? Can you put my website on your Links page? Do I know you from school/college? Help! I can't see the pictures on your website - why not? |
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A. If your question is about a particular special effects technique or use of a certain material, may I recommend taking a look at my Behind The Scenes section?This covers everything from silicone painting to bodycasting to miniature mouldmaking, and explains them in more detail than I could ever get into in a personal e-mail.
A. Q. Can you make something for me/my company? A. No, not any more. Since 2005 I've focussed exclusively on making digital characters for videogames, and that occupies all my time. Thanks for asking though. |
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Q. Are the things in the Gallery section for sale? A. No. As you might expect, most of those items are owned by the people who put up the money to hire me to make them in the first place. The remainder... to be honest, I threw all my personal sculpture work in the bin when I realised I didn't want to lug it down three flights of stairs during a house move years ago. I should add that It was looking pretty shopworn by this point; you wouldn't want it cluttering up your home, I don't think. Back to top
Q. How can I get a job in creature effects/ making rubber monsters? A. Three steps: 1 - Put together a collection of photos (or portfolio) that demonstrate your creature-making prowess. 2 - Show your portfolio to creature effects companies. 3 - Hope they offer you employment on the strength of what they see. And that’s it. Great, see ya! Huhhhh? What? More questions…? |
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Q. What should I include in my portfolio? A. Easy – photographs of your best work. If you’re starting out from a basically amateur level, nobody will be expecting you to have dabbled in the more expensive and technical procedures of the trade – so if you haven’t built that 30-foot hydraulic Godzilla in your garage just yet, don’t worry about it. However, your portfolio should show a grasp of the basic ‘building blocks’ of the craft: sculpting and painting creatures, maybe some mask- or puppet-making; prosthetic makeup, if that’s a field you’re looking to enter. If you think your abilities need a bit of polishing up, I can sum up the best way to learn and improve in three words: practice practice practice. The first time I sculpted a face, I was so thrilled that I’d managed to model something that even vaguely resembled a human being that my crude efforts were promptly announced finished and put on the display shelf. By my second attempt, that novelty had worn off, and I started to think more about proportion, and anatomy, and detailing… Each project gives you the confidence to reach that bit farther the next time, and soon your work is coming on in leaps and bounds. (You can view some of my earliest fumblings here; wisely, I’ve played them all for laughs…!) |
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There’s a lot to be said for studying examples of
realistic work and trying to ‘train’ your eye only to accept that standard.
(If you’ve ever taken photographs of your work over a length of time you’ll
find that this happens automatically anyway – no doubt you look back on your
early endeavours and notice flaws and shortcomings that went entirely
overlooked at the time.) Check out the sites and publications on my Links page if you want to see examples of gold standard, world-class, intimidatingly good creature effects work. You should find plenty to motivate you there. The natural world is an obvious wealth of inspiration too. I’ve got a file this thick full of magazine cuttings of interesting faces, figures and animals. There’s no real right or wrong to what should make up the
content of your portfolio – the quality of the work is the paramount concern.
That said, here are some friendly suggestions: |
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- Steer clear of Savini-style gore effects. Personally I find photos of people’s brothers/neighbours/girlfriends pretending to have steak knives through their necks kind of funny, but there are more high-minded souls in the industry who will mark them down as juvenile and off-putting. - Avoid doing your own version of a famous film monster
(e.g. Alien, Predator). - Don’t put together a portfolio of nothing but monsters.
Just because it limits - Don’t bore people with umpteen different angles of a single piece – however proud of it you are. A couple of views is plenty to gauge the calibre of your work. Regarding the actual photography of your work, shots should be in focus, blur-free and taken under natural lighting conditions rather than with a flash. Even
inexpensive cameras can give you all this these days, so
you don’t need a fancy set-up to get good-looking results. Practically
everything on this site was photographed outdoors or next to a window using a
bog-standard manual camera, with the occasional strategically positioned bit
of mirror or white card to kick some light back into the shadows. Take care not to frame your work against distracting backgrounds. If you’re working in a professional environment then shots showing ‘workshop conditions’ are acceptable. However, if you’re working out of your bedroom avoid scenic views of home furnishings, floral pattern curtains, wallpaper and anything else that smart alecs are sure to pick up on. I’m in the habit of draping a large black T-shirt behind my creations to blot out any clutter. All you horror-obsessed Goth kids should be able to manage that one. As a final yardstick – and because I’m a really good sport – I include below the portfolio that got me my first professional job on the 1997 Image Animation Event Horizon crew, albeit at a very junior level. Looking back, my book contained work ranging from the decent to the plain misguided; you’ll notice that most items have taken up permanent residence in the quality control reject bin since then. Click on a thumbnail to see a closeup and read my thoughts on each piece in hindsight…
Q. Do I need any formal qualifications? Can you recommend any relevant college courses? A. No. That’s not to say that you won’t find creature effects-related subjects being taught – it’s just that there’s no course of study out there that’s essential to your success. (In fact the college route is anything but a safe bet, just because the establishments that offer these subjects have far more students passing through their gates than the industry can hope to find jobs for anyway.) Newcomers are hired on the basis of ability, not academic credentials. A guy with a great portfolio who works in a record shop will always be offered work over someone who has collected qualifications like stamps but has little to show for it. In my instance, I did an honours degree in film at art school. Whilst my time at college was a good laugh, all very informative, gave me letters after my name and the opportunity to dabble in different areas of film production, did it get me in any higher up the ladder when I started my career? Not at all. Something to consider before you embark on three years of financial hardship. A common sight in the workshop: the crestfallen look on college graduates’ faces when they realise that they too will have to sweep the floor and empty the bins… Beware too of expensive courses that operate on a ‘vanity publishing’ basis: they’ll take your money, massage your ego and let you play at effects artist… and then leave you with a level of skill that falls short of what the industry demands. If you’ve seen the pictorial ads placed in Fangoria by a certain American makeup school you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. Also, to apply cold cynical logic to the situation, if some industry veteran has to run a paid tuition course to keep the wolf from the door, what does that say about the availability of work in that industry? At least find out how former students have fared before parting with your cash. The one certificate that may stand you in good stead: a driving licence. A lot of junior work involves ‘running’ duties – fetching supplies, ferrying things across town, etc. I was the world’s worst runner because I couldn’t drive, and still can’t. My valiant one-man mission to collect a 30-foot ladder from Pinewood Stores would’ve done Laurel and Hardy proud. Thank Christ nobody asked me to get a piano up a flight of stairs. Read about more of my early adventures here. [**THRILLING UPDATE**: I finally did learn to drive in the summer of 2007, at the grand old age of 34. Perhaps I should have skipped the car licence and gone directly for the mobility scooter.] |
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Q. How do I go about showing my work to an effects studio? A. Simple, phone them up and arrange it. You’ll find that most people you speak to are genuinely helpful and encouraging, if occasionally a little preoccupied to offer you too much of their time. You may encounter the occasional miserable devil, but don’t be put off by them – it’s their problem, not yours. Everyone in the trade – everyone – was in the same boat as you at some point in their career, and it’s only the pompous and vain that choose to forget it. If a place is busy or you live a distance away you’ll more than likely be asked to send in your C.V. and pictures of your work by post. Don’t hype up your C.V. If you’ve got no professional experience, be honest about it. The industry probably looks more favourably upon straight-up, eager newcomers who’ll work hard for a break. Mysterious, dark-horse characters with a lot of cooked-up past projects to their name may be passed over by shops crewing up for junior vacancies on the suspicion that these individuals might (gasp!) ask for more money. If you’ve worked in, say, community theatre, great, by all means mention it – just don’t spin three pages of spurious credits off the back of it. As for pictures of your work, don’t send original photos or stuff that’ll want returning. It’s much better to give potential employers something they can keep, put on file and refer back to in the future. The thing I used to do is arrange 6x4 photos from my portfolio on a piece of A3 paper, then get the whole lot colour copied and reduced to A4 size. That way I got a handy sheet of good, sharp pictures of my work.
Remember to include your name and telephone number on every
page that you send out. People are hired over the phone in this business.
I’ve known instances where people have lost out on work because they forgot
to list a contact number or didn’t pick up the phone. An answering machine is
a worthwhile investment, or a mobile phone with a voicemail facility. Accompany all this with a short letter (a page at
most) briefly explaining your circumstances and why you’re getting
in touch. Polite and to-the-point is the tone to adopt. (There’s a
great [possibly Chinese Whisper embellished] story about a notoriously
pushy and careerist British effects guy trying to curry favour with
a top |
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It’s a good idea to get the name of a specific person
(e.g. the workshop supervisor) to address your package to. Correspondence
marked “Dear Sir/Madam” or “The Personnel Department” will go straight on the
slush pile with all the other unsolicited mail, whereas if you target an
individual they’ll feel obliged to open your letter as soon as it drops on
their doormat.
If you’re invited to an effects house for an interview,
same story – make sure you have a sheet with contact details and pictures of your work on to leave behind. A quick tip to save you from looking like a dandy in an Oxfam shop: dispense with the usual interview shirt-and-tie getup. Remember, you’re looking for a job in a workshop environment, not Harvey Nichols’ eveningswear department. Your everyday street clothes will be just fine. Most people in the business regard their dishevelled, goo-spattered appearance as a badge of honour, and the sight of someone in a suit has unpleasant studio executive/bailiff/taxman connotations for many! Finally, don’t be heartbroken if they don’t offer you a job on the spot. The fact that they have time to see you personally suggests that there might not be much going on workwise in the first place. But tomorrow, who knows? |
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Q. So what are the contact addresses/ phone numbers for effects houses? A.
Also, look out for a handbook called The Knowledge. This is the Yellow Pages of the British film industry and features a comprehensive list of contacts, effects houses included. It’s expensive to buy, but your local reference library might be able to furnish you with a copy. Or visit the online version. |
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Q. Will I have to move down to the A. If you want to do film and TV projects and be working regularly
enough to make a living, I would have to say yes. As you can see, nearly all
the busy You will find creature shops elsewhere in the country, often set up with the aid of regional development grants. I’ve visited many of them and heard the same story from each: “oh yes, we’re expanding, we’ve got a big project coming up in the New Year,” etc., etc. Sadly, all too often this proves to be wishful thinking, to the point
where eighteen months later these same people are peddling their portfolios
down south themselves to try and pay the rent. Film producers know that the
biggest FX skills base in this country is in |
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Q. I don’t sculpt, but I’m great at designing/moulding/painting creatures.
Is there a niche for me in the A. Yeah, although I wouldn’t care to say how big. Because
of smaller budgets and crews British creature effects work tends to be far less
departmentalised than the Stateside model, and the more disciplines you’ve
got under your belt the more employable you are. (By the way, I think us On some projects, I’ve been expected to design, sculpt, mould, finish, paint and operate a creature on set; meanwhile, elsewhere, I’ve lost out on some sculpture-heavy prosthetic makeup jobs because they needed someone who could apply the makeups as well. See how it works? |
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Q. Can you give me a job/ work experience placement? A. No - not least because I don't do the rubber stuff any more! This page is all the help I can offer. Back to top |
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Q. Is it worthwhile doing work experience? A. Work experience is a polite way of saying, “working for nothing to get your foot in the door”. If you’re on your college break with a week or so to spare and want to beef up your C.V., work experience might prove useful. At least try to get the company to pay your daily travelling expenses though. If, on the other hand, you’re genuinely looking for ongoing work, I’d advise you to hold out for a properly paid position to come calling. Be aware that work experiencers will probably only be trusted with the most menial jobs in the workshop. You’d be wise not to entertain the notion that once you’re at large you’ll prove to be such a shining, creative star that it’ll lead to something more permanent. It’s difficult to brew the tea and clean moulds with very much more flair than the next guy… and rest assured, nine times out of ten that will be what you’re expected to do. (Although I’ve known exceptions: I remember being astonished at the uncommon lengths one effects guy went to to give a young female student useful and instructive things to do during her placement at his workshop. However, just as I was thinking, hey, y’know, maybe the FX trade isn’t such a cynical place after all, it transpired it was all an elaborate, pre-meditated ploy to get into her knickers! Yipe. Well, I owe you more than to feed you the sanitised, airbrushed, Cinefex view of the way the business works. Paranoia fans will be thrilled to learn that I can name no names, but I can at least reassure my female readership that the gentleman involved has since cashed in his chips and stepped away from the industry!) In short, make sure you’re getting something out of the
deal (and ladies, I don’t mean a bed for the night!): a reference, contacts,
a chance to use a corner of the workshop or whatever. Back to top |
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Q. Say I’m finally offered a position in the industry – what can I expect? A. Well, you’ll realise straight away that you’ve still got a lot to learn: If you’re not overworked, you’re underemployed. This is one of the few jobs where you have to wash your hands before you go to the toilet. Disillusionment is actually a valuable survival tool. If your main goal is to amass riches and meet beautiful women, you should chuck your sculpting tools out of the window today. If you want to meet dozens of guys with Rick Baker fixations, zero social life and debts in five figures, on the other hand… And if after reading all this you still want to work in creature effects, congratulations – you may just have the right sort of blind, stubborn devotion to your craft to make it! |
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Q. What about computer generated imagery (CGI)? Aren’t movie monsters being increasingly done using computer graphics? A. Yep! I hope that’s the realist’s answer rather than the pessimist’s ( although as my old dad would say, the two often amount to the same thing, heh heh). But yeah, CGI is coming to the fore as the most flexible, manageable and realistic way of solving many effects problems. To illustrate my point, let’s take a film at random from the pre-digital era, say Total Recall (1990). An expensive visual effects Oscar-winner with a lot of rubber on show, courtesy of Rob Bottin. However, I can say with all objectivity: there’s scarcely an effect in that entire picture that wouldn’t be better realised with modern CGI techniques. Those fake heads? Forget it, shoot the scene using the real guy and then tweak the footage in the computer. Those cumbersome and limited mechanical puppet rigs? Ditch the puppets and create the same elements using a 3D animation program instead. And so on. See how things have changed? In fact, if the Total Recall script were going before the camera today, there’s a good chance that the studio wouldn’t be knocking on Mr. Bottin’s door at all. Of course, CGI has its shortcomings. For a start, a lot of it looks, well, ‘computery’. (Although this will change in time. Darn it, it wasn’t so long ago that Pac Man was considered a nifty bit of hi-tech razzle-dazzle.) Yes, the sensibilities of many CG artists seem better suited to video games and Saturday morning animation than live-action features. (The title creature from
the recent Mummy remakes? For Pete’s sake. Why didn’t
they go the whole hog and just composite in Mumm-Ra from the old Thundercats
cartoons?) Yes, the fad for making films showcasing the first digital
[fill in the blank] in history has resulted in a lot of expensive
egg on producers’ faces. (What’s the most sensible method of putting
a famous sock puppet character on film? Spending thousands of dollars
painstakingly constructing the character’s likeness in the computer
and then animating it frame by frame, or, er, filming a sock puppet?
The makers of the 2002 Star Wars picture [and its all-CGI Yoda] will
insist that the first answer is the correct one…!) |
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Regardless, here’s the primary reason why think the digital medium will come to dominate the creature effects scene: CGI is an absolute dream for filmmakers to work with. For the first time, the visionary filmmaker has the necessary tools to put any image up there on the screen (given the right effects crew and budget). No argument, that’s pretty special. As for the non-visionary director (and trust me, the latter far outnumber the former), well, at least CGI means he doesn’t have to endure the embarrassment of trying to coax a performance out of fifteen puppeteers and a temperamental animatronic beastie whilst his entire crew breathes down his neck. He can just shoot background plates and fill in all that hard-to-grasp monster stuff later in the low-pressure environment of the computer suite – the ultimate ‘fix it in post’ solution. I do believe practical creature effects will survive to a degree, but I think the craft will eventually return to the comparatively low-profile status it had during the Dick Smith era of the Sixties and Seventies – a rubber face here, a corpse prop there. Those dedicated professionals who get satisfaction from this kind of work will still be able to carve out a career for themselves, I’m sure. However, for artists that relish the prospect of delivering jaw-dropping, never-before-seen characters and effects (and I'd have to include myself amongst them), the live-action, hand-crafted, ‘analogue’ route may not always be the one to take. A shame? Well, maybe, but my feeling is that progress and change go with the territory when it comes to film special effects. The industry has always been about embracing the latest technology to astound and thrill audiences anew – otherwise we’d still be watching model spaceships being flown around on wires with fireworks sticking out of the back of them... Back to top |
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Q. What sculpting tools do you use?
A. My fearsome ‘tiger-style’ sculpting technique was taught
to me by 14th Century Shaolin monks, and to betray its secrets would be a
folly punishable by death. The sensible answer: metal scraper kidney, rubber kidney, sponge, loop tools, dental scraper tool, pointy metal stick thing(??), brushes.
Some recent favourites include toothbrushes and stiffer rust-removal brushes – good for smoothing out plastiline. A No.0 tapered Royal Sovereign Colour Shaper is useful for miniature work. If you’ve ever wished you could shrink your sculpting fingers down to tiny size, well, these rubber-tipped tools are the best next thing. Back to top |
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Q. Where can I buy sculpting/ mouldmaking/ casting tools and materials? A. Between them, these people should be able to help you out (again, double-check the contact details on Google in case the ones here are out of date): |
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ALEC TIRANTI LTD. Website |
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Mail order: Theale RG7 5AR Tel: 0118 930 2775 Fax: 0118 932 3487 |
Shop: |
Sculpting, mouldmaking and casting supplies. Tiranti’s
mail-order service was a godsend to me growing up in the leafy suburbs of |
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POTTERYCRAFTS Website Staffs ST4 4ET Tel: 01782 745000 Fax: 01782 746000 |
Clays and sculpting tools |
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JACOBSON
CHEMICALS LTD. Website Jacobson House GU10 2JD |
Suppliers of plastiline modelling clay, resins and
silicone rubbers |
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BENTLEY
CHEMICALS Website Hoo Farm Industrial Estate DY11 7RA Tel: 01562 515151 |
Smooth-On rubbers, foams and plastics |
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MOULDLIFE Website Packhorse End Bridge St Moulton CB8 8SP Tel: 01638 750679 |
Polytek rubbers, foams and plastics |
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CANTOR
& NISSEL LTD. Special Eye Dept. Fensomes Cl. Herts HP2 5DH |
Suppliers of realistic replica eyes for fake heads, dummies etc. |
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SCOTT
BADER CO. LTD Website Wollaston Wellingborough Northamptonshire NN29 7RL Tel: 01933 663100 Fax: 01933 664592
THE FIBREGLASS SHOP 197 High Street Brentford Middlesex TW8 8AH Tel: 0208 8568 1645 Fax: 0208 568 7191 |
Resins and matting for fibreglass work |
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RS COMPONENTS
ONLINE Website Tel: 01536 444222 Fax: 01536 201501 SOFT
OPTIONS Website Tel: 0208 964 3355 Fax: 0208 964 9164 WHEESH Website SCREWFIX
Website REPLICATION
TECHNOLOGIES A.J.
COPE & SON LTD AXMINSTER
TOOLS
MAKEUP
ARTIST PROVISIONS EALING
BOARDS AND TIMBERS Tel: 0208 8579 3325 |
Power tools, animatronics components and assorted workshop
‘stuff’ Suppliers of industrial mixers necessary for foam latex production Hexagon bolts & wingnuts for mouldmaking, drill bits Source of acetone, isopropyl alcohol, dilimonene and all those other fun, life-giving solvents we love so much Lab supplies – weighing scales, syringes, stopwatches
Power tools Not hugely useful if you’re reading this in |
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Q. Can you tell me about prosthetic makeup techniques/ materials? A. Er… maybe yes, maybe no. I’ve sculpted many appliance makeups in my time, but I don’t deal with sticking them on – in fact, I’ve never owned or worked out of a makeup kit in my life. I’m really not the fella to ask about the cosmetics side of things. Back to top Q. I have my own effects website. Can you feature it on your Links page? A. Out of respect for my visitors, I prefer only to spotlight sites that I can honestly recommend. If the content of your page measures up to the other sites listed then sure, I’d be glad to. Back to top Q. Are you the Tom Carruthers I went to school/ college with? A. Well, you know, the Carruthers clan have spread across the globe like the cockroaches we are – but if you attended these places at these times, and you remember a curly-haired kid who used to sit at the back of the class reading horror mags, then yeah! Drop me an e-mail, I’d love to hear from you. Unless of course I owe you money, in which case I want nothing to do with you, and have no idea who you are anyway. |
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1977-82 1982-86 1986-91 1991-92 1992-93 1993-96 |
Bradford and |
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Q. Help! I can’t see the pictures on your website – why not? A. This is a less common problem since I redid most of the pages in Dreamweaver. However, there are obscure corners of the site that are still written in the old Word 2000-generated code. For some reason, Word 2000 webpages tell your browser that they’ve finished downloading before the picture content has had a chance to come down the phone line – one of Uncle Bill Gates’ less sparkling innovations. If you’re on a fast connection this glitch is barely noticeable: the text appears and the graphics follow moments afterwards. However, if your PC has a slower modem, your web browser gives you this misleading “Done” signal despite the fact that all the pictures are still missing. My advice? Sit tight and the pictures should download in time; hit Refresh if any gaps remain. Still no good? Er, I don’t know… send me a slate and some chalk in the post and I’ll draw pictures of my work for you! Don’t see your question here? Ask me via e-mail: Keep ‘em coming! |
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