The Prosthetics Event, Birmingham.

On Saturday 21st November, I was lucky enough to attend the Prosthetics Event in Birmingham, hosted by Neill Gorton. It was an event that I was really looking forward to, and went along with two other students Becky Gould and Sarah Leftly. We stayed the night at Becky's House in Leicester, then on the Saturday took the trip to Birmingham. I was really looking forward to this event as last year I couldn't attend it. This year, the event was held at Aston Conference Centre, which is part of the university, where there would be back to back demonstrations in the lecture theatre, alongside retail stalls, and the Monster Mash Exhibition, Body Art Zone and the small educational stage. The event is for students, professionals, cosplay enthusiasts and fans, which means that everyone is there because we all have the same in common; we all love prosthetics. I wasn't as nervous about attending an event like this, as I was really looking forward to it, and wanted to see how much I could learn.

When we got to the conference centre, we got our tickets, and first went into the main demonstration of the day, where Neill Gorton and Stuart Bray completed character makeup for Laurel and Hardy on their two models. To create this look, they had to go through the process of life-casting, and making the prosthetic pieces out of silicone. This had obviously been done beforehand, but this was shown to us on a projector. As both Neill and Stuart were applying their pieces, they talked the audience through the processes of the look, as well as both the challenges and achievements. They started the looks off with the application of bald caps, and then began to apply and colour their pieces. The demonstration look quite a while, but it was much faster than I expected. The final looks were amazing! They looked so real, as well as very similar to the characters that they were portraying. Both Neill and Stuart did an amazing job, and thought of every little detail, such as making Laurel's neck thicker. After the demonstration, we were allowed to see the final outcome up close, and were able to take pictures of the two models.

The application of the prosthetic pieces. 

Application of the Prosthetic Pieces.

The final looks!

The final looks!

After the demonstration, we headed into the 'Monster Mash' exhibition, where smaller scale prosthetics were on show. This is where sculptures and moulds were on show for us to see up close. Looks from the film 'World War Z' were on show, which I found amazing as I had seen the film a couple of times. The moulds for Laurel and Hardy's characters were on show too, which allowed us to see up close how both Neill and Stuart made the pieces. 

All of these looks were just so realistic, you were waiting for them to move. I have never seen anything like it so close, that we were able to see each individual detail, such as tiny minuscule hairs on the faces. It was an experience that I am always going to remember, and strive to be as good as these artists. 

After the Monster Mash Exhibition, we looked at the Body Art Zone. This is where artists were completing whole body art looks on models throughout the day, which allowed us to see the processes of such a big look. The models were standing up for the whole day, being painted until the end of the show where the models were to walk the catwalk in their final looks. I managed to get a couple of images of the artists at work. 

I preferred the body art that made the model's into a certain character, rather than the ones that were basically a canvas for drawings. The middle image was one of my favourite looks as the model was like an elvish character, and the artists made her look very realistic. I did like the other type of body art, but I am more into making characters. 

After looking at the body art zone and talking to the artists, we took a trip into the rooms were retailers such as Kryolan, Screenface, PAM, Mould Life and Paintopia were. They had stalls showcasing their bestselling products, which was really difficult to walk through as I wanted to buy so much! I went to the Kryolan stall and ended up buying a green metallic supra colour, and a small detailing brush to use when creating my hybrid. On some of the stalls, there were resident artists creating looks with their products. Being able to see the products each and every stall had, really benefited me as I was able to see the range in front of my eyes. Being able to test out products makes you realise which ones are better for certain things than others. 

Overall, I really enjoyed being able to attend this event. It was well organised, and very educational. I think I have learnt a lot as well as being inspired to create more and more looks. The whole event was a lot of fun, and it was amazing that we were able to see looks being created in front of us, allowing us to see the processes that have to be gone through to create them. As my hybrid was coming up a couple of days after, I felt very inspired by many of the stalls, and artists. I will definitely be going again next year, as this has really benefitted myself.