Propbuilding: working on some props for incoming sets and discovering new materials
Added 2024-07-14 17:17:15 +0000 UTCToday I just finished one of the alien plants for the set of my next Vamps the space Ranger photo shoot.
To complete the scene of a jungle planet I wanted to create some plants that although they look "familiar" (I don't want neon color plants) at the first glance they also give this strange touch to the set, like a vegetation that does not seem to be completely normal!
Here some proecesses and steps of the creation of the new plant.
For the skeleton of the plant I have used a new material that I am in love with. I don't know its name in English*, but it is used as underfloor heating pipes. It is not very expensive (at least in my neighborhood hardware store) and its property is that it is completely bendable and manageable to create curves, so you can give it the shape you want to use as a structure for your projects just with your hands (no need of a heatgun).
On top I have used other materials that are also bendable:
-Aluminum foil for thicknes and form
-Carpenter's tape for extra wrinkles and holding the foil in place
-Strings from a rope to create the hanging roots
-3 coats of vinyl latex mixed with paint so the paint don't crack when I bend the structure
This way once the prop is finished it keeps its position but I can stil bend it to adopt other shapes or heights if I need it when I finally use it on the final photographic set!
*Edit: for those who may be interested, I looked it up and this kind of tubing it's called white PEX. It's flexible aluminum tubing with plastic coating, used for the hot water on the underfloor heating systems that have to be installed in a zigzag pattern.
