"Salome" severed head - first-time questions

Howdy y'all,

I've been asked by a theater company I work with to make a severed head for their upcoming production of Oscar Wilde's "Salome" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salome_(play)).

The closest thing I've done to this in the past is plaster-strip masks, so I felt it prudent to seek some expert advice.

We're working on a very tight budget, so here's the process I had in my head:

-Make a lifecast of the actor's face using the alginate mold/plaster cast method.
-Affix said face to a foam mannequin head (after cutting and sanding down the current "face," of course)
-More plaster to hide the seam as necessary
-Use an old wig for hair (thankfully, the actor has long hair, so I won't need to bother with details like the ears, and I think can get away with discrepancies in head shape between his skull and the foam head)
-Paint


Now, here are some questions I had for the experts:

-Is it possible/practical to make a mold with the actor's eyes and/or mouth open? I really would like to get that "rigor mortis" look if I can
-I've seen a couple different brands of alginate and plaster out there; any recommendations on brands/suppliers for those materials? Or suggestions for alternatives I may not have thought of?
-Any tips on getting realistic-looking skin. I have no clue here. I'll also have to add eyebrows, and possibly a beard/stubble. I'm assuming I can use ordinary fake hair and spirit gum?
-How durable are these things generally? I know it's going to be handled, but I don't know how much. I'll try to minimize by giving the actors an extra foam head for rehearsals, but it would be nice to be able to provide safe handling instructions for the real thing


Any other tips, tricks and advice greatly appreciated!

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UPDATE:

Got the pics from the show, so y'all can see what it looks like in action.

After some rather messy experimentation, here's the result:









The face was lifecast in plaster using an alginate mold of the actor's face. I had some trouble with plugging the nose on the alginate mold, so just about everything forward of the nostrils had to be reconstructed. I added a layer of plaster over the foam head armature to add some texture...it didn't work very well. Had I had more time and money, I probably would have tried latex.

I also didn't have time to apply a primer coat; you can see a few places where the paint has chipped from handling. The skintone was also a bit off from the actor's, but under the stage lights it wasn't really noticeable. The eyebrows and stubble were done with simple stippling of black paint, rather than the actual hair I would have preferred. I also wish I could have made the neck look a little more hacked apart. He was supposed to be decapitated with a sword, and I think the flat base of the foam head looked a little too clean.

And I really wish I could have coated it with fake blood so the actress handling it would get all bloody, but that idea met with some resistance from the costumer. Can't imagine why.

Overall, I was pleased with my first attempt. It pales in comparison to some of the display busts I've seen here, but as a prop it was perfectly serviceable.

It was surprising that no one was able to offer some advice... maybe you hit at a quiet time on the forums. Your finished head looks great, very convincing... it doesn't need the detail of the display heads seen on here, it's a stage prop and it does the job it's required to do... lots of detail would have been wasted. Well done.

I agree that it is more than good enough for a stage prop. People aren't going to see it that close. To be honest I think it would be good enough for film. I think you did great work

This looks really good!

Sorry they weren't keen on the fake blood idea. I just finished a production of King Lear and got through buckets of the stuff so I think I used enough to make up for you not being able to!

13doctorwho said:

I agree that it is more than good enough for a stage prop. People aren't going to see it that close. To be honest I think it would be good enough for film. I think you did great work

Click to expand...

Due to the tiny black-box nature of our performance space, the audience was only a few feet from the action, so it needed to be a good deal more realistic than it might have if we had a traditional proscenium stage. Had the audience been farther away, I probably wouldn't have bothered with the lifecasting. But this way I get to learn something!

And the prank value of a realistic severed head cannot be overstated. Left it in the director's fridge after the cast party and I think she peed herself a little when she found it.