Technical evaluation

The technical skills we have been taught on this part of the course has been invaluable and I feel like I have taken notes well and paid attention enough to be able to use these techniques over and over again and practise, progress and get better throughout my career. These are technical skills I wouldn't have learnt without picking this unit which is why I am very grateful we had the opportunity. Prior to this term I had only ever used products like scar wax and liquid latex to create simple special effects make-up such as burns and cuts, but I have always been interested in the prosthetic make-up side, especially casualty make-up which is why I enjoyed the wound assessment so much. We have learnt so much in such a small amount of time already, if we continued this unit onto next term and for the rest of the academic year I would have so many skills in the prosthetic area I feel like I would be able to create so many more different types of characters, creatures and effects which is why I am so disappointed it is over already. We had to first sculpt the shape we wanted our mould to be a negative of out of moulding clay using the tools for sculpting that came in our kit onto a non-porous base. Prior to filling the sculpture with the silicone mix to create the mould we had to cover the sculpture with a cup cut in half, secured by a glue gun to stop the silicone mix leaking out everywhere. I didn't realise how scientific make-up could be until we were taught how to create a mould using our clay sculptures out of the silicones and how important it was to measure out the exact same amounts of each silicones and not to contaminate them as they would set and become unusable, this made creating the first mould for our wound very nerve wracking as I wanted to get it right the first time. Luckily I managed to create all of my moulds over the term without any cross-contamination so my products are all still clean, organised and in good working order. Things you can do to avoid contamination of the silicones is covering all surfaces the tubs are placed on with cling film, wearing latex gloves and changing them every time you deal with a new product, marking the wooden sticks you use to transfer silicone from the tub to cups with 'A' and 'B', so you only ever use sticks marked with an 'A' for silicone A and vice versa. Once the silicone mix is set and you have your mould you must clean the mould well with IPA, and use a cotton bud with the alcohol on to clean in any small spaces. When the mould is ready to be used to create silicone flat pieces we were taught the Baldies and IPA ratio should be Baldies 1:IPA 2. When making the silicone mix for the prosthetic pieces you should make sure there is the exact same amount of each silicone plus 60% off deadener. We also learnt about the importance of good ventilation an wearing masks over your face while using products such as fixing sprays and petrolease as the inhilation of these products can be damaging to you if your breathe these in in a closed off space without fresh air flowing through. I am glad we had to make our own moulds and prosthetic pieces rather than buying pre-made pieces and learning to apply them as I think the most valuable part of this term was learning to make our own from the products in our kit. It has also taught me the importance of reflecting on everything and always writing everything down, as its because of writing so many notes on everything I have done that I remember this all and feel like I could create a new mould and silicone flat pieces without having to look through notes now as it has stuck in my head. I have really enjoyed the learning process and practical based nature of this unit and am disappointed not to be continuing it for another term as I feel like I would learn so much more even more quickly now that I know the basics.