Joe Knapper, project manager, with industry giants FBFX popped in for a day of discussing his industry workflow. He covered some of the trials and tribulations of working in our exciting as well as the glory.
In the afternoon he ran a painting workshop where a bunch of SFX 2nd and 3rd years got to put their skills (and Joe's advice and guidance) to the test by painting up some medieval helmets. This is Joe's 4th visit to our campus and he's fast become a firm favourite with the students.
Art finishing and painting certain materials to look like others is a big part of effects. The lids we painted today were made from a urethane rubber which is lighter and "bouncier" than real metal.
FBFX create specialist and unusual costumes; varying from a simple bespoke buckle or button to a hugely complicated spacesuit, suit of armour or superhero costume, incorporating complex electronics, lighting and moving parts.
Over the last 26 years, they have made thousands of costumes for hundreds of Film, TV and theatre productions; many of which have been partially or fully designed in-house.
Their workshops are amongst the largest and best equipped in Europe, they're supported by an exceptionally skilled team. and are at the forefront of developing Special FX manufacturing techniques, materials and technologies, including 3D scanning, computer aided design, CNC milling, 3D printing so that we can make our costumes as realistic, lightweight, comfortable and strong as possible to enable us to create just about anything imaginable.
Check out some of FBFX's work here!
