For those who always fear that with any new technology comes a complete abandonment of the old, I give you the special effects team at American Horror Story. Whether you like the show or not, you have to admit it has some pretty awesome special effects requiring some not-so-standard creations like a second head complete with musculature. These might not be the standard problems presented in special effects school (although they very well might be…my degree is in art history), but when it comes time to tackle the projects required by this series, the folks at Fractured FX realize that it’s important to be able to work with all of the tools of the trade, old school or cutting edge.
He explained the way that he sees all of these techniques coming together on any given project:
“We do have a big combination of modern 3D design and printing married with a lot of traditional sculpting and artisans who work hand-in-hand with both sides of it. We can create things that are completely symmetrical, highly machined-looking parts that we would never be able to create by hand. And then in some aspects, when we want perfect skin texture, it doesn’t work and it’s better to have an artisan do that by hand in clay.”
Whether working to create a second face or give Lobster Boy realistic claw hands, both of these worlds come together to create the best product possible. 3D printing isn’t the star of the show, it’s another tool that expands the possibilities.
“One of the problems we’ve had in the past is creating hyper-detailed sculptures of someone in a screaming expression or some kind of extreme expression,” Raleigh said. “It’s hard to live cast someone like that. But now we’re starting to develop technology that can scan the person’s expression. [We can] 3D print that exact data and then re-mold it and re-sculpt it. That’s kind of the best process. So for things we only used to do by hand, now we can get the best of both worlds.”
Some people feel a certain sense of moral superiority when they do everything the old fashioned way, even when new, and improved, options are available to them. Raleigh is not one to worry about what people think, he just wants to work with what’s best. To paraphrase him, could you do all this without 3D printing? Probably, but would you really want to?
Do you watch this show? What are your thoughts on their use of 3D printing for costumes and props? Discuss in the American Horror Story forum on 3DPB.com.