Foam Latex Research

Foam latex is a popular from of prosthetic appliance because it gives a high amount of performer comfort. Materials such as silicone do mimic the texture and appearance of human skin a lot more realistically, but silicone has no breath-ability and an actor wearing silicone appliances will perspire a lot under the prosthetics when worn for an extended period of time. Gelatin, being another option, may start to melt. Foam latex is also a lot lighter than the other two options so a full-face appliance will likely weigh less than an ounce and when applied, it is almost undetectable by the actor wearing it. Although foam latex is the lightest and most comfortable appliance to wear, it is probably the most difficult material to work with overall.

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Problems

- Foam latex is opaque. Silicone and gelatin can be coloured intrinsically to be semitransparent or translucent, similar to real human skin. Therefore to create the idea of translucency, the appliance has to be painted with numerous transparent layers of pigment, most often with an airbrush, to look like real skin.

- Foam latex requires a heat cure in an oven and it can't be a normal kitchen oven.

- Foam latex gives off toxic fumes during the heat cure

- Foam latex is time and temperature sensitive, meaning it has to be watched closely, can go wrong very easily and can turn out different between each batch.

- Foam latex can shrink, the thicker the foam the more it shrinks

- Foam latex is delicate so rarely survives removal in one piece at the end of the day meaning there needs to be fresh appliances every day for the performer.

History of Latex

- Latex is a natural liquid that comes from the hevea tree grown in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines and other tropical countries

- The tree is tapped and a small amount of latex (a few ounces) is collected from each tree before the cut on the tree congeals and heals itself. Each tree is only tapped once every two days.

- Over 95% of all natural latex is concentrated by a method called centrifuging. The result is a high quality product containing 60-65% solids.

- The remaining latex, which is less than 5% of the worlds production, is concentrated by another method called creaming were ammonium alginate is added to the raw latex, causing separation. The watery 'serum layer' is drained from the vats, leaving a higher concentration of latex.

- As latex is a natural product, its composition is dependent on different environmental conditions. The hevea tress and the latex are affected by how much rainfall there is in a given season, how many sunny days, how young the tress are etc. Therefore the quality of rubber varies from season to season, year to year and month to month.

- These fluctuations can be very difficult for makeup effects because the latex will behave differently every time. For this reason when GM foam purchases creamed latex it calibrates its own latex base. It adjusts the pH balance, then conditions the latex with additives and finally makes a special blend with other types of latex. This means GM foam can carefully control the cell size, foam volume, flow and gel time.

Debreceni, T (2009) Special Makeup effects for stage and screen. Oxford: Focal Press (pg. 169-72)

Weaving Chignons

Making a Template

- Draw a pattern of the size of the chignon required using cling film, sellotape and a marker pen.
- Place the pattern onto a malleable block
- Taking string or wool follow the pattern starting from the middle, working outwards. Pin as you go
- The length of the string that you use will give you the overall length of weft you require.
- The length of the outer circle needs to be marked/measured on the string too to give you 2 measurements - 1) the length of the outside circle and 2) the overall length of weaving.

Setting up the weaving frame

- You will need to add 30-40cms extra to each length of silk and wire
- Set up the weaving frame with a measured length of silk in the top notch and in the bottom notch of the weaving pole. The silks are made from 3 ply strong thread that has been coated in bees wax
- Draw both silks across towards the left side to meet the weaving pole that has the nail on it and tie the silks together by making two knots 2-3cms apart.
- Hook the silks over the nail between the knots and tighten the frame
- Remember you will need to add 30-40cms extra to the overall length of wire
- Wrap the measured length of weaving wire around the middle notch of the weaving pole in the same direction as the weaving silks above and below
- Draw the weaving wire across the frame and wrap the end around the nail to secure.
- Place hair into hair mats
- Commence with starting knot
- Using flat weft weave the length of the outside circle using the 'flat weft' method.
- Weave the rest of the length using the 'wig weft' method
- Finish with a finish knot

Removing the weft from the weaving frame:

- Cut the two silks leaving about 8cms excess on each silk and knot the two silk threads tightly together against the end of the weft
- Using pliers cut the wire leaving the excess of 1-2 cms
- Fold the excess wire back on itself flat against the weft (fold inwards so the wire weft will hold)
- Cover the shine/appearance of the bare wire ends by over sewing to match the colour of the weft

Sewing Up

- Start from the inner circle using your template as a reference and make the circle with the wig weft end and work outwards
- Sew each meeting point or 'stitch point' as you construct the shape
- The outer circle should be the flat weft as this appears as a neat weft edge
- Sew a hair comb to the inside of the chignon to secure the hairpiece to the head.

Gender Roles and Transformations in Film

Before the sexual revolution of the 1960s, there was little that might be called transexual cinema before the 1960s. Although many of the first transexual and openly transgender identified people were trans men the media tended to focus more on trans women. During the 1960s underground film makers cast trans people in roles not just limited to trans roles. However it still remains unusual to cast a transgender person in a transgender role, even if the filmmaker is going for a sympathetic portrayal.

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Women in revolt (1971)

This film didn't deal with trans issues but features the Factories three trans 'superstars' Candy Darling, Holly Woodlawn and Jackie Curtis as the leaders of PIG (politically involved girls) a feminist group torn apart by infighting, personal ambition and lack of coherent goals.

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In a year of 13 moons (1978)

The film has a bleak outlook on trans people. It features Elvira, formerly Erwin, who went for sex reassignment surgery shortly after the man she loved said he'd love her if she was a woman. He reject Elvira, as does everyone she ever cared for. It is a harrowing film and difficult between trans people partly due to the connection between surgery and butchery. However it is a eye-opening exposition of the challenges that gender-variant people had in this time.

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The crying game (1992)

The crying game promotes it's famous twist of the revelation of the leading ladies genitalia and the audience find this out the same time as the ladies lover. She had been born male. It is a mainstream film that rethought old stereotypes of trans people, encouraging the audience to empathize with the main character without only asking for sympathy.

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The adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert (1994)

The film follows a transsexual woman, a transvestite and a drag queen as they travel across the outback to resurrect their old cabaret act the other side of Australia. It was one of the most significant trans-themed films of the 1990s.

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Boys don't cry (1999)

Trans women became more popular as a subject for films and documentaries during the 1990s, but it wasn't until the end of the decade that major picture centered around the subject. It was based on the true story of Brandon Teena who was raped and murdered in Humboldt, Nebraska in 1993 after two acquaintances discovered he was trans. The film follows Brandon as he struggles to fit in with the local guys whilst keeping his gender identity secret, resulting in tragedy for which his community blames him.

Jacques, J (2015) 10 Great Transgender films [Online] Available at: http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/lists/10-great-transgender-films . [Last accessed 24th Feb 2015]

Comedy films often have gender transformation roles that mirror the pantomime dame role. Two famous gender transformations in films have been John Travolta in Hairspray and Robin Williams in Mrs Doubtfire

Hairspray

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This video gives a detailed explanation of the prosthetic and wig work that went into turning John Travolta into Edna Turnblad. It was very interesting to see the large foam latex pieces that clipped together to form the entire body suit, foam latex would have been used because it is very light and therefore the actor could move and dance whilst wearing the pieces. It was also interesting how eight different versions of the face were sculpted before one was decided upon and they were then split into separate prosthetic pieces to be attached to the face. Although I'm not doing such a heavily based prosthetic elements in my makeup it's very useful to see the way this would be done in films and the realistic result it gives.

Mrs DoubtFire

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This video shows the process of transforming Robin Williams into Mrs Doubtfire. The pieces looked like foam latex pieces as they were blended at the edges by using more material added on It was very useful seeing the prosthetic pieces fitting together seamlessly to look like one large piece over the whole face and also how they were a very opaque pink colour when they were applied but then had layers of colour and stipple put over them to form a more realistic skin look that had translucency. Again although this was a heavily prosthetic makeup it's very useful to see the transformation process and the work that goes into it and the areas of the face that need to be altered to appear more feminine, such as a softer jawline.