What silicone masks and props would you like to see next?

[ShatteredFX]

Hey guys, Jarred here from Shattered FX again.

Thought I'd do some R&D and see what kind of new silicone full overhead masks you'd like to see?

Were also coming out with a whole line of silicone half masks, so any ideas or requests for a design are welcome.

Also, we make realistic foam weapons and have a few questions for everyone. First off, all our weapons are made entirely of foam with a support rod. Which would you rather? Full foam weapons, or wood handles with foam heads? If we make the wood handle ones, we can have a HUGE selection of 15-20 different weapons in time for transworld. If we make them only out of foam, we can have around 10. Our prices for these will be much lower than the competition. All suggestions for what weapons we make are welcome as well.

We're currently having a software designer re-design our entire website into full HTML and getting away from all the flash stuff. So far it is looking fantastic.

Transworld this year will also bring some new animatronics to the table. Most of what we'll be carrying will run about $1,000 and will be entirely different from whats out there. Hope to have about 5, but might not be able to bring them with depending on funds because we'll have to purchase a second booth, but if not we will have videos with us. I saw the post for the realistic fire prop, and we WILL be creating this, and using this technology to make other props out of it. Wouldn't it be amazing to have a hallway with fire bursts coming out of the walls? Or any actor appear to be burning alive? I think your customers will think so...

On a side note, some of you may or may not know, im 19 years old and just graduated high school. This can either scare you away from purchasing, or draw you in. My quality of my products and knowledge is well beyond my years. What im trying to say is any tips of suggestions anyone has im completely open to. I know some of my sculptures aren't quite cfx and spfx quality but they will get there over the next year or so. What people dont realize is how well they fit and move, and the price difference from other companies. You'll just have to purchase one and find out from yourself. Everyone will be happy to know also that i have hired on 4, thats right 4, sculptors to start sculpting masks. One of which has worked for universal studios hollywood and was a full scale sculptor for magic the gathering (card game). With this being said, each sculptor will be pumping out 1-2 masks per month, along with myself pumping out 2-3 each month. By transworld we hope to have about 25-35 different sculptures with different designs and styles. In addition to the 15-20 half masks. Hopefully everyone can take advantage of the price different from the other companies and the massively low show prices.

Which shows does everyone think we should attend? Im 100% planning on transworld, nation haunt convention (only a 45 min drive), and midwest, but im unsure about hauntcon because it will take away time from orders shortly after transworld.

Kind of got carried away with the length of this. Hopefully everyone will read the entirety and leave there comments and replies, although for some reason most of my threads get few to no replys. Unsure why.

Thanks for everyones time.
Hope everything is going great building your haunts!

Thanks again,
Jarred


www.ShatteredFX.com

[jakprintsHAUNT]

I have yet to see a really nice steampunk one...maybe a robot or gasmask style? Would be tougher to do in silicone, but could be cool?

Mike "Pogo" Hach

[Allen H]

what kind of new silicone full overhead masks you'd like to see?
**** Jarred, I also make silicone masks. Aside from giving you my line up here are a few ideas
A silicone mask that fits more like a web than a whole skin, big holes in it that would allow make up to show through and would allow a comfortable temperature to be maintained- Im talking 30% of the mask is the actors face, holes in the head so their hair can be pulled through stuff like that. Im doing one that is a peeled face, it was skinned poorly and they decided to wear it. These style designs will allow for the use of 30% less silicone so they should be cheaper.

a few pieces with air bladders would be cool a tube to the actors mouth and he could inflate the bladders so an infected person covered in boils- the winning frog make up from last years "face off"- a mid transformation werewolf all could use the bladders.

If you have silicone mask characters that are flesh colored the same basic coloration as most actors, they why go through all of the expense and effort of making a full silicone mask? Make silicone masks that hit below the jaw line and up. Of course that wont work on a gray mask, but if your tinting it skin tone why not? You will need a modified core for this- very deep under the chin so the mask can lock on there instead of using the weight of the silicone to cause it to flex instead of ride up. But its worth it, that’s the way that the industry is going to see $150 silicone masks.


Were also coming out with a whole line of silicone half masks, so any ideas or requests for a design are welcome.
***I don’t understand silicone half masks, silicone is used because of how well it moves with a performers face. Half masks barely move at all because they don’t have enough connection points to move. So to make them move you need to strap the hell out of them. So If you are doing silicone half maks look for styles that will look great with six straps going across the back of the head, that leaves you with…
Steam punk (as Mike suggested)
Cenobite style
A Gimp design
Human skin masks that are very well strapped on
With out the straps they will move like latex so why have the extra costs?

Which would you rather? Full foam weapons, or wood handles with foam heads?
***Wood handles with foam heads, hands down there is no advantage to full foam.

The fire effect looked great on video, and because it was water vapor I wouldn’t want to be the swampy rashy actor that had to stand in the mist all night
Im not saying don’t go for it, but keep in mind that someone has to interact with that prop and its effects all night.


I know some of my sculptures aren't quite cfx and spfx quality but they will get there over the next year or so.
****Work hard to get your sculpting better, focus on one emotion and try to show that in your next sculpt. Ive been sculpting longer than you have been alive and for the first 18 years of it I never got any better. Only in the last 3 years ago has my sculpting improved…slightly. I have a long way to go and I don’t have the time to practice enough to get it much better, Im trying but its really slow going. Really study, really listen to the forms in the human face- Don’t just make it recognizable then move on to the next part.
Refrences really are huge, I have folders and folders of reference photos for sculpts I never used to use them, but they are making me better. Make a folder for nasal labial folds, make a folder for eye brow ridges, make a folder for teeth, make a folder for cheekbones, and eye bags and noses and frenums. Not just humans but animals to, you will find yourself awake at night wishing you could find more pictures of hairless chimps on the internet. Making the leap from a decent form to a detailed sculpt is immensely difficult, at least it is for me.
Sculpting great detail and emotion are very hard- and you can’t get to an A level sculptor by repeating C and D level sculpts over and over. Im saying this because I made this mistake, I have produced hundreds of adequate but kinda crappy sculptures. I don’t think you will get to where CFX and SPFX are in a year or so. Unless you take the year off and practice. They didn’t get from the level we are at to the level they are at in a year. It’s cocky to think that. Just practice and don’t stop work on a sculpt until it’s your best work ever. That’s how I am trying to do it now and I am doing slightly better work. I hope in the next 10 years to get much better.


Which shows does everyone think we should attend? Im 100% planning on transworld, nation haunt convention (only a 45 min drive), and midwest, but im unsure about hauntcon because it will take away time from orders shortly after transworld.
*** I think you are hitting the biggies, for those who don’t know this is about $10,000 in cost (advertising) to do all these shows depending on where you are located. One recommendation I have for the shows is to come up with a $20 cash and carry item. If it’s a good Item you will sell plenty of them and it will help draw to your booth

Kind of got carried away with the length of this.
***Length is not an issue as long as it’s a quality post.

Hopefully everyone will read the entirety and leave there comments and replies, although for some reason most of my threads get few to no replys. Unsure why.
***You have only started 8 threads. 4 of those were the exact same post in four different forums. So that leaves you with 5 threads including this one. Three of the five were ads for your new mask company you got 8 responses to one of those because your website is/was bad. Another one was an ad for a specific mask and you got two responses. You have posted 21 times total. All of them have been ads for your products or asking for ideas. You haven’t answered anyone else’s questions aside from posting links to your items for sale on ebay.
You get what you give. That is not a harp or a dig you just asked why. Numbers don’t lie.
Another reason why you are getting few responses to the Ideas posts is that is the nature of those posts. If people have ideas -they don’t want to give them to you- so you can sell their ideas back to them. Responding to “Help I need ideas” posts are kind of my bread and butter. I always try to help with ideas. Keep in mind however that haunt owners and actors rely on haunt vendors to pump new ideas and technology in their shows. They come up with ideas for their shows all the time and they are counting on you for ideas. They want to see your products and be inspired by them so much they need to buy them. You should have started your company because you are full of ideas.
I posted a new mask I made two weeks ago, no responses-zero. It was a modification of a custom mask. Im very limited on how I make it because I don’t want it to look like the clients custom character that he paid for. Because of that It isint my best mask. they were being kind and not saying…that kinda sucks. Your masks (and mine) are not as well sculpted as the competition so that is peoples first thought, and they don’t want to post that. Im willing to bet if you participate more in the forums than just advertising (you obviously have skills to contribute) then you will get more out of the forums.
I don’t now if you work for a haunt, but If you want to get ideas about the industry and your masks then work this season in a local haunt wearing one. You will come up with ideas to make them cooler, fit better, and who knows what else. Ideas are how the industry and companies leap forward, if you are not encountering the problems, they you wont be the one making the solutions.

Thanks for everyones time.
***No problem, happy to help a fellow haunter and mask maker. I really hope I didn’t
come off sounding like Dark Angel (No offense Dark angel). Im honestly trying to help and answer questions.
Allen H

[scarygoat]

Excellent post Allen. I have to agree with Allen on the bladder thing, the Frog Prince that the guy did on Face Off was very cool, and the effect worked wonders.

I would try to reply, but Allen really expressed any thoughts I had, and more.

- Jake

[jakprintsHAUNT]

Just some ideas to throw out there on silicone half masks.

I understand Allen's comment on why go the extra cost of silicone if it is not super strapped,but I would also argue that it is a lot tougher to get some of the really cool translucent paint effects you can on silicone vs latex. At least in my personal observation and experience with latex.

One idea you might want to run with that popped in my head reading Allen's post is do the heavily strapped half mask for the lower cost, but then have a wig or something to actually cover the head to hide the straps. Could be a whole new market line!

Mike "Pogo" Hach

[scarygoat]

What about attaching the silicone half mask to a spandex sock for a silicone sock mask? Would that hold it well enough on the face?

[siliconeskull]

I like the half mask concept , you can hide straps with wigs , cowls , hoods , etc. so you're really not all that limited , I think you would need to keep the thickness down for it to more freely move with the face , but definitely would need to be taut. I'm currently waiting on one from 1313fx done with their headsock instead of straps so it will be interesting to see how it works , here are some of there's in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=841zghtRF0Y

[ShatteredFX]

Thanks everyone. Sorry, its been awhile since ive been on here due to my move into a new warehouse. I have the half mask idea worked out and should have a fair few for TW. Many different styles and what not, I can sculpt 1 per day so i'll have a nice variety.

Alan,
Thanks for the info and taking the time to write all that. Hopefully everyone can see my skills grow over the next years to come. Im finally starting to get many techniques i had trouble with before, down pat. All masks are being made with smaller eye holes due to popular demand. I think slightly bigger eye holes are more comfortable, but everyone likes them smaller.

Im getting a new website put up and all new pictures. I hope they'll give the masks paint jobs a bit more justice. Paint wise, i believe there very nice.

Thanks for the replies everyone!