I need to create a full size, full-body model of my lead actor that is hollow, so that it can be filled with light and then various pieces of it stripped away to let the light shine out. Can anyone point me toward finding out how to do this? Do I use latex, or is there some other faster/cheaper way to go? I unfortunately have no money for an FX artist on this short and will have to do it myself.
There is no fast, cheap way to do a body cast and it's a bit daunting for a beginner, though not impossible. Traditionally, the cast is done using plaster bandage, the stuff a hospital would use on a broken limb after a good greasing down of the model using vaseline. The art is in knowing where to break the mould into sections, but again this is not difficult and I could write to you a more detailed description if you need one.
Details such as the head and hands are moulded using dental alginate, the stuff they cast your mouth with. It is incredibly detailed and totally non-toxic, important for the face especially. This will also need an outer skin of plaster bandage to stop it distorting while you cast it.
Latex is used in a lot of prosthetic props, but has no inherant strength so you would need to lay it as a skin over a transparent or translucent body shape to be able to peal it off.
Total transparency is impossible using any fibreglass type products, though clear resin and powder-bound mat will make a fairly even, translucent shell.
As I say, this is a simplified description of something I have done quite a few times and I'd be happy to go into more detail if you want but it occurs to me an easier though less perfect route might be to get your hands on a clear, vacform manequin and be creative with your lighting and editing.
You don't say where you are. In the UK there is a company called Peter Evans Studios that makes vacformed effects for theatre and film. Their figurative pieces can be pretty crude, but a clear vacform head and torso should be quite cheap and then you could experiment with latex, soft clear wax on clingfilm or any other thing you can think of to peal off.
If you have some tools and skills you could get an old shop manequin and cut it into a front half so that any vacforming company could do you a pull in clear plastic. You would have to block off any openings and make sure there are no undercuts, but its pretty easy. Again I could give you more detail if you want to go down this route.
Good luck, hope the finished effect works, one way or another, it should.
Dermot
