Voldemort Build Thread (very pic heavy)

[kessa]

Thanks all (esp @aelynn000 for the lovely words)

@MykiiAmore - there's probably not much else I'd add to a headcast tutorial to be honest as the main steps are covered, and I dont really have enough experience to do a tutorial in full as that was only my 2nd ever one and so I dont feel I have enough knowledge yet to say "Do it this way" (.... plus, I dont want to get sued! lol)

Seriously though, if you have any questions I'll be happy to help if I can. (but probably best to post them in a seperate thread so that this one doesn't go too far off topic)

Also, if you haven't already, pay a visit to The FX Lab
Whenever I had any questions that was always my first port of call, and the folks there are really helpful.

Finally, Neill Gorton has recently released a Lifecasting DVD. It may seem quite expensive (if like me, you're not exactly loaded), BUT having bought his Silicone prosthetics boxset I have to say that they're worth every penny.

I wouldn't have dreamt of tackling Voldy without them and Neill has a really great way of sharing info which makes it really easy even for newbies such as me to follow.

Lifecasting with Silicones and Alginates - Double disc - Millennium FX

@blindienation - you're a braver man than I! lol
I couldn't shave my head - the missus would kill me! Nice nails by the way. I've posted on the other thread (Jokers cosplay one) a quick question about them.

 

[MykiiAmore]

Yeah, totally understand where you are coming from Kessa.
I may send you a message then as have no idea how to apply a bald cap (Although always wanted to for some cosplay stuff!) And also the Alginate looks tricky!

Personally I just wanted my very own life cast of my head so I had something to put my Ironman helmet on! And possibly make some Cowls

 

[frostbolt85]

This is absolutely incredible. I would love to see more threads like these- some of them are lacking in detail.

 

[nigel123]

thats pretty incredible well done

 

[leith]

wow! that's amazing! good job

 

[Harmonic_Distortion]

WOW. Just WOW!

 

[Mithredates]

Very impressive ... I have never seen a tutorial detailing facial prosthetics from start to finish, so this was a very interesting read.

 

[spookykid7404]

very impressive ... I can't even begin to express how ... I've wanted to do this costume so bad. I did a very crappy version of ole Voldy in the suit a couple Halloweens ago. It turned out horrible. I really want to be able to do this costume. A few of my 501st friends also have a Potter group and I would love to be able to have this costume to be in their group.

 

[kessa]

It's a great costume to do, but I've learnt the hard way that it's neither cheap, nor as quick and easy to wear as my Stormtrooper.

I've only worn it once so far, but it took 2 people 3 hours to apply! It also took about an hour to get out of, so it does really limit the times I can wear him.

Also, unlike something like a stormtrooper, there's a lot of wear and tear which happens for each usage. Even after the 1st outing I had a few repairs to make. That's one of the compromises apparently; I could make him stronger, but then I'd loose some of the facial expression.

The other big downside was the cost. If I'd have known it was going to be as expensive as it turned out, I simply couldn't have afforded to have started it.

In hindsight, I'm not sure I'd tackle him again unless I knew money wasn't an issue, and I'd always have someone available to do the application.... that said, I do still feel pleased with the outcome, and proud that he's come out as well as he has considering I started the project knowing nothing about prosthetics.... and I think that's all part of the fun.

 

[Ood sigma]

WOW, *in Awe*!!!

what DVD was it you used? I think I will buy that myself

thanks for sharing this

 

[marksman321]

my nose is way to big to wear anything like that.

 

[Kavan]

I just started working on my own Voldemort mask the other day and a friend sent me to your link and I have to say....Holy crap! This is by far the best out there! Outstanding work sir!

 

[khworld2]

This is amazing!

 

[TRCViper]

Fascinating work, man. WOW. Speechless

 

[kessa]

Hi folks,

Just thought I'd share another quick update.

Voldemort has recently had his 2nd public outing... this time, at the London Expo event in May.

I only managed to do the Saturday, but it was awesome!!!

I had 4 people "spotting" for me (making sure people didn't stand on the robes ,etc) and at times, even that wasn't enough! He got absolutely mobbed! We had to up it to 6 at one point to help stop people overwhelming us!

As a costumer, it's great to see something you've created go down so well!

There were literally hundred's of people taking photo's of him during the course of the day, and the event had something like 40,000 people over the course of the weekend.

It was great to hear so many lovely comments too. A lot of people seemed genuinely shocked by how life-like he is...

This seem to be reflected in the amount of comments that contained expletives (so I won't repeat them here exactly! )

Safe to say that most were along the lines of:

"holly [expletive], that's awesome!!!" or
"[expletive], that's soooo realistic"​

(I'll let you replace the words in [expletive] with an expletive of your choice so you can decifer and construct the general type of feedback from those :rotfl

It was also funny to see how many people were genuinely unnerved by him.
I even had a few big, burly (bouncer type) blokes running away screaming like little girls at one point :rotfl:
It was a real struggle to stay in character and to just just burst out laughing! lol

Again, as a costumer it's wonderful to see that kind of reaction as it really does show that people don't just see you as "a bloke wearing a mask".

To add to that, I also started introducing more "interaction" than I did on his 1st outing. The first time was all about just getting comfortable with him. This time, it was about putting it all together and having fun :eyebrows:

This really added an extra layer as you got the initial "wow" factor reaction when people 1st saw you, and then, I'd either do the head move that he does in GoF when he's resurected, or start questioning/tormenting/torturing people.

This meant you got a double whammy which comments like:

"[expletive], he even talks like him!!!" or
"[expletive], he even does the moves!!!"​

(Again, insert expletive here )

It took about 3 hours to get kitted up again, but this time we tackled the makeup differently, and also applied the bald cap much much tighter to reduce the creasing I suffered from last time. (That in itself has its issues, but I wont go into those here other than to say that 2 weeks on, I'm still healing!)

I was sooo much happier with the overall effect and hopefully you can really see the difference in the pictures.

He's still difficult to photograph well under indoor lighting due to the way the silicone and the makeup react to light, but in terms of structure, I think we've got the initial application issues ironed out.

There are still a few things I'd like to improve (when isn't there!), but I need to resculpt him to address those. I'm hoping to do that in time for the final premiere next month, but it's been really handy to try him out a few times to see what works, and what I need to go back to make work even better.


Anyway, enough waffle... here's a couple of pics:

 

[iycis]

Loooooove it!!! That's great to be able to get such strong reaction to your creation. I'm telling you, bring this costume to Dragon Con.

 

[Pete SSS]

It's just incredible man! It's so cool to see you having fun with it, even down to the way your holding the wand!

 

[cinematical]

WOW. Very impressive.

 

[Gorgot3000]

amazing ! very impressive !

 

[surrealkiller1]

Wow freaking amazing! Good job!