Brave New World project evaluation

I didn't expect to learn such a large amount in just one term like I have done in the Brave New World special effects and prosthetics make-up unit. I feel lucky to have completed this unit as I have learnt a new and important set of skills and knowledge in an area of make-up I wouldn't have had a chance to be taught properly by industry professionals otherwise. I started out this unit having such a small idea about the world of special effects and prosthetics make-up, when I had only experimented with wax and latex around Halloween time. Now I am able to make my own moulds for almost any silicone prosthetic piece I need to create, and be able to make the pieces from my moulds and apply them confidently. I know how to use all of the products and tools we used to learn these skills with, with confidence and respect abiding by the health and safety rules to ensure my products last long and work well.

I think this unit was planned really well as looking back, the wound assessment part of this project was a perfect way to teach us how to create sculptures using our clay and sculpting tools, how to create a mould from our clay sculpture using silicones A and B and how to make our prosthetic pieces using our finished moulds using our silicones A and B, baldies and deadener. In this one part of our project we were taught the basics and importance of health and safety, how to use our products in our kit properly and to finish with (what after the hybrid assessment seems like) a simple assessment with our prosthetic wounds. I really enjoyed this as I have always been fascinated by casualty make-up in particular in the prosthetics side of make-up and enjoyed doing the research of bullet wounds and guns in order to make my outcome as realistic as possible.

The hybrid section of this project was undeniably a huge step up from the wound section but we had been equipped with the skill and knowledge we needed to progress with this section independently after completing our wounds. I decided to do a mermaid as I wanted to create something beautiful and wanted my model to still look quite human. When I think of the ocean and under water life I associate that with pure beauty and serenity and I wanted to portray this through my work, the mythical creatures that mermaids are are also associated with great beauty which is exactly what I wanted to create. As well as this, I didn't want to give myself something that I thought I wouldn't be able to pull off as it was only my second time making all the moulds and silicone pieces and I wasn't confident enough to do something really daring and difficult. I found the sculpting and making the moulds very time consuming as in the previous wound assessment we only had to make one sculpture to mould and to create our final piece to apply, it made me realise how much patience and time goes into creating one character alone. After the 6 hour long application process for the hybrid assessment I was leased with my final images and feel like they capture the calm and serene mood of the beautiful mermaid I wanted to create.