"Project Alchemy"

Blood Rose Media

We were asked to provide Prosthetic Make-Up along with physical and pyrotechnic special effects for the "Project Alchemy" production.

The Prosthetics were for one specific character called "Tracker" - a cyborg 'super soldier' created as part of the "Project Alchemy" program and sent to hunt down the latest 'prototype' in the form of the protagonis, a genetically enhanced human being.

The Make-Up for "Tracker" was required to create the illusion that he had various mechanical implants both above and below his skin. We created this by first sculpting a series of 'metallic plates' that covered the right hand side of his face, continued around his jaw line and then up onto his left cheek.

This section was cast from a 2 part polyurethane (cold) foam mix with a pigmented latex skin. We then created a set of (hot) foam latex appliances that were designed to fit partly over the 'metallic' cold foam and over part of the actors own skin, these were then blended down shamelessly to give the effect that the 'metallic' areas extended under his skin.

We were initially asked to provide four different pyrotechnic effects: a normal bullet hit and blood pack 'squib' effect, the firing of a futuristic gun (using a mixed black powder and single base nitro powder charge), the death of "Tracker" as he blows his own brains out (utilising a medium stage maroon inside a mortar tube with a payload of electronic components and luminous chemicals) and finally an exploding car.

This final effect was achieved by firstly driving the car off a road and through some undergrowth eventually coming to rest just out of direct view of the camera, behind various trees and bushes. The car was then removed while the camera, having panned around to follow the motion of the car, was locked into place.

We then positioned a number of bags of petrol in the area, each with a burster (stage maroon) charge and (flash) ignition charge. We also used a naphthalene "fireburst" charge. These were then fired in sequence to produce a rippled effect as if the explosion started in the engine and then travelled through the car to the fuel tank.

In addition to the pre-planned pyrotechnic effects, we was called upon to do a couple more. One was the reflection of an explosion in the face and eyes of a witness to the car crash, for which we simply used a 'practicle fire' rig to produce a plume of flame just off camera.

The second effect was an exploding crossbow bolt: where the flights of the bolt are blown off to reveal a microphone transmitter with a small flashing L.E.D. to simulate its operation.