This blog post will showcase company research that both is relevant to the field I am most interested in and those whose work has influenced the models I am planning to make for my FMP.
It can be very difficult to find examples of companies and their work when It comes to looking for industry examples of moulding and casting unless you look on social media website such as Instagram or channels on YouTube where people are able to freely share what they are doing. Throughout my research during the previous Launch Pad unit and during this unit, I have found that the online presence for these making companies is either absent or tricky to find.
The following companies and examples are what I am using for the benchmarking for some of my projects for FMP.
Tarver Productions is a Watford based prop making company that specialises in the making of and replication of prop objects for tv, film, theatre, military training, commercials, museums, and exhibitions. Due to their extensive history in the prop making industry, Tarver has become a staple for productions requiring bespoke props in large volumes with a consistent replication and quality. The company is situated within reach of the major UK film studios around London but are frequently hired to supply models for productions around the world.
When researching this company for Launch Pad I found a specific mould that I became really fascinated with. The image below is of the mould that I have had growing interest in making.
The mould I became fascinated with was a type of slam mould that uses MDF boards to reduce and support the silicone that surrounds the object or cast. I had never seen this type of mould before, and I had immediately wanted to try this process.
Tarver uses this same method across most of its moulding and casting briefs as it allows for stronger moulds that may endure a higher volume of casts pulled from it – this is shown by their room full of stock knives, these would have been individually requested pieces but because of the durability of the moulds the company can stockpile all of the designs for new production needs, reducing the production time of props.
Aardman Animations
Aardman is a British animation production company in Bristol, founded in 1927 by Peter Lord and David Sproxton. The company is most well known for their design and production of characters such as Wallace & Gromit, Morph, and Shaun the Sheep. The award-winning animation studio produces many different types of entertainment from feature films, web and television series’, advertising, apps, interactive content, and games.
I chose to use Aardman as a company for benchmarking moulds because of their extensive work with moulding and casting.
A good example for Aardman’s work with mould making and casting that I have found very useful is the makers Instagram accounts, especially that of James Young aka ‘jimmy2eggs’. Jimmy Young has been at Aardman Animations for the last 19 years and has uploaded many images and videos of his work during production, this has helped me to gain a better understanding of the expected quality and materials used within this company. The images below show examples of his posts.
- fibreglassing for foam latex casting
- Aluminium fast cast moulds for silicone injection casts.
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