Donnie Darko Frank the Bunny - Original Mold

[PHArchivist]

Tell me I don't have the best wife ever! thumbsup:thumbsup

She said, "I got to touch it, tee hee..."

YOU have the best wife ever.

 

[Keith]

Very cool thing to own. Glad you got it.

Keith.

 

[PHArchivist]

Freakiest fricking character I think I've ever seen, and was quite taken with the film...

Time for a little bit of the Bunnymen...

 

[Alan Castillo]

Mind you he woke up the next morning and told me he saw it on ebay the night before and was worried it wouldn't still be there. I'm like, go buy it...NOW! Glad he listened It is really a super cool piece and love that there is all the silver remnants left in the mold. I got to touch it, heeheehee!

Tell me I don't have the best wife ever! thumbsup:thumbsup

The Mrs. has done that to me once or twice. I'd be very hesitant to buy something for whatever reason (very unlike me, but it happens). So when she says 'go for it & to heck with anything', it's the bestest feeling evah :thumbsup

Congrats on the acquisition Art, it's a wonderful feeling to have a holy grail in your hands !

... now I can confess I haven't seen the movie :confused, but looked it up and getting the DVD as you got me curious as hell :lol :thumbsup

 

[Driver]

Hahaha! I love this movie. Frank certainly was a sinister little bunny wabbit wasn't he.

 

[robstyle]

I had seen that auction too and wondered who would spend that much on a mold! I was told the original mold was destroyed but looks like it went home with someone instead. It has all the tells of the original pulls so its safe to say you got a winner.

Here is another original from that mold in private hands that not many have seen. The masks are either very well planned out or were a total stroke of luck as a simple change in lighting or a slight angle and it goes from silly to sinister.

 

[JOATRASH FX]

I bow to the incredibly immense epicness of this thread.

 

[RoCKo]

Really? Again you, Art?! Congrats again, iconic piece from one of my favorite movies!

 

[superjedi]

Wow, awesome score!
I don't think I could have a Frank mask in my house. . . I'd never sleep again. :eek

 

[Funky]

Interesting. So it was molded in silver? Can we assume that maybe only the eyes and teeth were painted then it was ready to be worn?

 

[Contec]

How was the actor able to see out from the mask....Or was he?

 

[Funky]

How was the actor able to see out from the mask....Or was he?

Slits above the eyeballs.

 

[Art Andrews]

I had seen that auction too and wondered who would spend that much on a mold!

I suppose I would be your who. It was indeed a lot to spend, but considering what it costs to have a private commission sculpted that is simply never going to truly capture all the wonkiness and organic shapes of Frank, I think I did alright. Not to mention the sales price of the last screen used piece that sold... telling me I will never own one of those! For me, what is important here, especially now that I have had a chance to study it, is that I can make something that is not cast off original, but cast from the same mold as the original. I could never say a cast out of this mold would be equal to the originals, but it will be far closer than any later generational casting could be, and for me, that is easily worth the money spent.

I was told the original mold was destroyed but looks like it went home with someone instead.

I don't think either is the case. As recently as July, one of the original sculptors who also created the mold for the movie said that the mold had never left his shop, although he also mentioned that he had heard there were copies of the mask floating around (like the one you posted). I am now talking to him directly to see if he was the seller and if he can confirm this is indeed the mold he created.

The masks are either very well planned out or were a total stroke of luck as a simple change in lighting or a slight angle and it goes from silly to sinister.

Rob Burman, who was the primary sculptor said he sculpted it in a little over a day and considers it to be " the silliest thing I'd ever sculpted."

 

[Art Andrews]

Interesting. So it was molded in silver? Can we assume that maybe only the eyes and teeth were painted then it was ready to be worn?

We are struggling with the process used to make the masks. According the the mold maker there were 7 masks made for the movie, only three made it into the movie and all but one ended up being given away as crew gifts. He also said ALL of those had been nickel plated. Either he is incorrect, or there were additional pulls made for the piece we see in the movie because the ones we see in the movie, except at the very end, aren't plated.

In looking at the inside of the mold, you can clearly see silver...something. I don't know enough about molding and casting to know exactly what it is. I know some people will dust a mold with metal to create a metallic look and I don't know if that is what this is, or if they literally put paint into the mold and then filled the mold.

I am shipping the mold off to a fellow RPFer and master-caster (heh heh) to take a closer look, tell me what is what and to take a test casting from the mold and then we will decide from there whether to try to add the color during the molding process or simply paint the silver on after the fact.

And to answer your question about being ready to wear, I would think this mask has minimal cleanup and finishing to it. Pull it from the mold. Paint the eyes, inside of the mouth and teeth. Cut the airhole in the mouth. Cut the eye triangles. Done.

 

[Art Andrews]

How was the actor able to see out from the mask....Or was he?

Little triangles were sculpted into the upper corner of the eyes and then cut out of the casting. James Duval has said that it was not easy to see out of.

View attachment 110968

 

[robstyle]

the "nickle plating" looks like it was nickle powder brushed into the mold. Its still visible in the bubbles of the mold. When brushed in nickle doesnt come out bright and shiny but is rather dullish with a sheen. Thats why I never use nickle powder but a custom mix I make myself for badges and the like. The mesh for nickle powder isnt very fine either, usually around 320 or so. I use 3000 mesh powders. The difference is comparable to sand vs water in the way the powders will move in a jar. The picture I posted was taken in direct sunlight with flash to show details which is why its so reflective. No flash or sunlight and its a dull sheen.

There will be seams as there are no vents in the mold (minus the tiny ones at the top of the ears) or a pour spout. Thats most likely why there is that spot of metal powder on the side. The flashing and expansion of the material used simply took the powder with it when a cast was pulled from the mold. Its going to be tricky getting soft wearable a pull from it that doesnt have air bubbles in the teeth and ears. A hard casting would be a different story as the time is there to brush and slush in material.

There is a small oval opening behind the teeth to let him breath better. Its visible in the mold.

 

[Clutch]

I thought that would be a cool costume to wear to cons and then the whole 'furry' thing happened. :lol

 

[Griefboy]

Nice score Art!

I was looking at the same auction and came insanely close to buying it. I'm also a huge fan of Donnie Darko and thought this is the closest I would get to a screen-used mask.

Glad it went to a good home.

 

[Flix4Me]

SCORE!!!

Congrats, Art!


KC

 

[mau5]

Incredible score! Congratulations! Interesting that it's cut flat down the middle of the ears like that, I haven't watched the film in years but did the ears have any kind of backing? Fur perhaps?