READ THIS FIRST
I have made mention a few times of my belief that dolls and mannequins are used quite often in media fakery, particularly with regards to the political arena. So my aim with this topic thread is to create a list of examples to demonstrate the realism possible. I do not intend discussing the items I post within this thread, rather it is a list of examples in one place for others to easily navigate. I would therefore appreciate it if others post to this thread in the same way. Thank you.
Realistic Dolls & Mannequins
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rachel
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rachel
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Re: Realistic Dolls & Mannequins
Custom Darren Asleep, Reborn Baby Doll, ultra realistic, painted hair:
- DarrenAsleep1.jpg (70.15 KiB) Viewed 2299 times
- DarrenAsleep2.jpg (52.2 KiB) Viewed 2299 times
- DarrenAsleep3.jpg (35.99 KiB) Viewed 2299 times
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rachel
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Re: Realistic Dolls & Mannequins
Life-like Realistic Reborn Baby 6 Week Old Crystal:
- Baby-6-Week-Old-1.jpeg (100.35 KiB) Viewed 2297 times
- Baby-6-Week-Old-2.jpeg (60.5 KiB) Viewed 2297 times
- Baby-6-Week-Old-3.jpeg (56.3 KiB) Viewed 2297 times
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rachel
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Re: Realistic Dolls & Mannequins
Lifelike Animatronic Abraham Lincoln
This incredibly lifelike animatronic Abraham Lincoln is the work of Garner Holt Productions, which has been making robots for theme parks, museums, and other attractions for 40 years.
Stills from video:
This incredibly lifelike animatronic Abraham Lincoln is the work of Garner Holt Productions, which has been making robots for theme parks, museums, and other attractions for 40 years.
Stills from video:
- artificial skin detail
- lincoln1.jpg (35.1 KiB) Viewed 2295 times
- underlying automaton mechanics
- lincoln2.jpg (44.34 KiB) Viewed 2295 times
- head dressed using human hair
- lincoln3.jpg (38.11 KiB) Viewed 2295 times
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rachel
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Re: Realistic Dolls & Mannequins
World's Most Expressive Lifelike Animatronic Humanoid Robotic AI Head
Garner Holt Productions expressive emotions animatronic figure is the most advanced humanoid robotic head ever created. The figure utilizes theme park quality construction to accomplish incredible special effects movement in a robotic or animatronic human platform. http://www.garnerholt.com
World's Most Expressive Lifelike Animatronic Humanoid Robotic AI Head by Garner Holt Productions
Other animatronic humanoids:
Garner Holt Productions expressive emotions animatronic figure is the most advanced humanoid robotic head ever created. The figure utilizes theme park quality construction to accomplish incredible special effects movement in a robotic or animatronic human platform. http://www.garnerholt.com
World's Most Expressive Lifelike Animatronic Humanoid Robotic AI Head by Garner Holt Productions
Other animatronic humanoids:
- skier.jpg (76.22 KiB) Viewed 2281 times
- man.jpg (52.05 KiB) Viewed 2281 times
- pirate.jpg (78.91 KiB) Viewed 2281 times
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rachel
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Re: Realistic Dolls & Mannequins
Life-like Realistic Baby Sage Newborn:
- sage1.jpg (218.54 KiB) Viewed 2275 times
- sage2.jpg (157.26 KiB) Viewed 2275 times
- sage3.jpg (224.7 KiB) Viewed 2275 times
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rachel
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Re: Realistic Dolls & Mannequins
Hope's Dream Babies Baby Doll, Evelyn:
- evelyn-1.jpg (174.35 KiB) Viewed 2275 times
- evelyn-2.jpg (210.43 KiB) Viewed 2275 times
- evelyn-3.jpg (160.2 KiB) Viewed 2275 times
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rachel
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Re: Realistic Dolls & Mannequins
Figure Finishing and the Devil in Details
Extract from: https://micechat.com/182535-animatronic ... t-figures/
At GHP (and others who create art like us), the sculpture is only one part of the much larger process of creating a likeness. After a sculpt is finished and approved, it will be molded (tooled) and parts cast from it—sometimes in fiberglass for some static figures (like the Mayor in the well on Pirates of the Caribbean)—usually in silicone for animated or even static portrait figures. It next undergoes a series of steps to add the real essence of life, called figure finishing.
Paint is its own discipline, but in our world is really part of the figure finishing process in that it’s the first step in realizing details that help blur the line between art and technology and real life. Painting silicone skins to make them look lifelike is a unique challenge. Human skin is translucent (hold a flashlight up to your hand and you can see this, or inside your mouth to make your cheeks glow). Because of this, light is actually dispersed under the skin rather than being stopped by it. Our silicone formulations are not opaque in their liquid form, to which we add a translucent base pigmentation as the first step to color. Often, we add tiny fibers in specific areas like the nose to replicate capillaries under the skin, a technique not replicable through paint. This base is usually the darkest part of the skin, and will be added to using surface-painted yellows and blushes going from light to dark to achieve a lifelike look. Some of our most challenging work in this area has been in creating realistic prosthetics. For these, they are often immediately comparable to real skin (in the case of replacement forearms or even facial appliances). We start with a spectrophotometer to give a scientific measure to the color and light absorbency values of skin, making it easier to accurately create a painted match. It’s easy to get too translucent with paint by having too little base pigmentation (causing a washed or ghostly look) or too opaque by having too much surface paint (causing a waxy look). The balance between these and the proper application of layering is essential to achieving a realistic look.
Eyes need to be properly sized and colored for their subject and for performance realism. Although relatively close, eye sizes can vary considerably from person to person, as can iris and common pupil diameters. Eye color and iris size are critically important to the look of a figure. If irises are too dark, eyes tend to have a crazed look in contrast with the white of the eyes. Too light and they have a washed out, faded look that lacks focus. Pupils need to be sized as if reacting to the light of their performance—a character can be totally altered or muted if the pupils are too constricted or too dilated. As eyes are “the mirror of the soul,” they are frequently one of the first or the very first places people look and dwell when viewing a figure. I’ve observed over the years that one way to totally ruin the illusion of fake eyes is if they appear too flat and not moist. Eyes need a look of gloss or wetness, a shine. If mechanical eyelids make contact with the eyes, such an effect can be lost quickly, ruining the look of realism.
Eyelashes add an almost outsized sense of realism to a figure, and can do much to alter expression. They must be properly placed on the upper and lower eyelids, following closely the natural curve of the lids to the aperture. Their absence lends a strange, hollow, or even flat look to eyes. Exaggerated eyelashes draw an undue amount of attention to themselves, and can even feminize a sculpture if they are too pronounced.
Teeth can sometimes be the linchpin holding together a successful likeness. In a smiling figure, teeth can take up a couple square inches of real estate on a face—a relatively large percentage of the whole. In some people, their teeth are so characteristic that they are as important as any other feature of the face (imagine Terry-Thomas’s famous gap, Julia Roberts’ toothy smile, or Steve Buscemi’s unusual choppers). Sometimes, off the shelf teeth or cast acrylic teeth from a common mold will do, but we frequently need to sculpt custom teeth to really capture a look. Most recently, we created custom teeth for a figure of Dick Van Dyke as Bert the chimney sweep from Mary Poppins—he has a very distinct set of teeth as characteristic as anything else in his wonderful face. The shape, color, and composition of teeth play an important structural and aesthetic role in a portrait, and should be matched to their real life counterparts, even if the reality is somewhat unflattering. The position of teeth beneath a silicone mask performs a critical function, giving body to the skin (in the same way the absence of teeth can cause the face to seem to cave in, as in some older folks with dentures removed). Upper teeth support the upper lip area and must be present and visible in a talking figure. In many cases, mechanisms push the teeth too far back from the upper lip and detract from the realism of the character.
Hair is often as varied in detail as the lines of any face. Far from being a solid helmet of any one color, hair is a palette of varying colors of differing weights and saturation. The weight of individual hairs changes as it reaches the hairline, as does the density of hair in a scalp, lending a thinning look at hairlines. Grey hair is thinner in general than colored hair. We punch hairlines (and often entire heads) using individual strands that, using a special needle tool, become embedded in the pores of the silicone mask. It’s critical when punching hair that all strands be punched in the same direction as they would on a real person’s head. The angle of insertion of each strand can affect how the sum of a full head appears. Styling hair cannot remedy mistakes in its basic directional flow, and artists must be careful to manage the angle even through tedious repetition.
Eyebrows, if not properly shaped and positioned, can cause unintended expression that can in itself seem to alter the sculptural shape of a face. Facial hair (or a lack of it) is as important as flesh structure in replicating an accurate likeness. Wig hair looks best when it’s made of real human hair. Beard hair is next to impossible to replicate accurately because of its vastly different weight and denier. As a result, GHP uses actual beard hair whenever possible in making mustaches, beards, and sideburns (this makes for some interesting stocking up!).
Extract from: https://micechat.com/182535-animatronic ... t-figures/
At GHP (and others who create art like us), the sculpture is only one part of the much larger process of creating a likeness. After a sculpt is finished and approved, it will be molded (tooled) and parts cast from it—sometimes in fiberglass for some static figures (like the Mayor in the well on Pirates of the Caribbean)—usually in silicone for animated or even static portrait figures. It next undergoes a series of steps to add the real essence of life, called figure finishing.
Paint is its own discipline, but in our world is really part of the figure finishing process in that it’s the first step in realizing details that help blur the line between art and technology and real life. Painting silicone skins to make them look lifelike is a unique challenge. Human skin is translucent (hold a flashlight up to your hand and you can see this, or inside your mouth to make your cheeks glow). Because of this, light is actually dispersed under the skin rather than being stopped by it. Our silicone formulations are not opaque in their liquid form, to which we add a translucent base pigmentation as the first step to color. Often, we add tiny fibers in specific areas like the nose to replicate capillaries under the skin, a technique not replicable through paint. This base is usually the darkest part of the skin, and will be added to using surface-painted yellows and blushes going from light to dark to achieve a lifelike look. Some of our most challenging work in this area has been in creating realistic prosthetics. For these, they are often immediately comparable to real skin (in the case of replacement forearms or even facial appliances). We start with a spectrophotometer to give a scientific measure to the color and light absorbency values of skin, making it easier to accurately create a painted match. It’s easy to get too translucent with paint by having too little base pigmentation (causing a washed or ghostly look) or too opaque by having too much surface paint (causing a waxy look). The balance between these and the proper application of layering is essential to achieving a realistic look.
- GHP-2.jpg (78.83 KiB) Viewed 2272 times
- Silicone masks based on digital scans of real people
- GHP-1.jpg (85.76 KiB) Viewed 2272 times
Eyes need to be properly sized and colored for their subject and for performance realism. Although relatively close, eye sizes can vary considerably from person to person, as can iris and common pupil diameters. Eye color and iris size are critically important to the look of a figure. If irises are too dark, eyes tend to have a crazed look in contrast with the white of the eyes. Too light and they have a washed out, faded look that lacks focus. Pupils need to be sized as if reacting to the light of their performance—a character can be totally altered or muted if the pupils are too constricted or too dilated. As eyes are “the mirror of the soul,” they are frequently one of the first or the very first places people look and dwell when viewing a figure. I’ve observed over the years that one way to totally ruin the illusion of fake eyes is if they appear too flat and not moist. Eyes need a look of gloss or wetness, a shine. If mechanical eyelids make contact with the eyes, such an effect can be lost quickly, ruining the look of realism.
Eyelashes add an almost outsized sense of realism to a figure, and can do much to alter expression. They must be properly placed on the upper and lower eyelids, following closely the natural curve of the lids to the aperture. Their absence lends a strange, hollow, or even flat look to eyes. Exaggerated eyelashes draw an undue amount of attention to themselves, and can even feminize a sculpture if they are too pronounced.
Teeth can sometimes be the linchpin holding together a successful likeness. In a smiling figure, teeth can take up a couple square inches of real estate on a face—a relatively large percentage of the whole. In some people, their teeth are so characteristic that they are as important as any other feature of the face (imagine Terry-Thomas’s famous gap, Julia Roberts’ toothy smile, or Steve Buscemi’s unusual choppers). Sometimes, off the shelf teeth or cast acrylic teeth from a common mold will do, but we frequently need to sculpt custom teeth to really capture a look. Most recently, we created custom teeth for a figure of Dick Van Dyke as Bert the chimney sweep from Mary Poppins—he has a very distinct set of teeth as characteristic as anything else in his wonderful face. The shape, color, and composition of teeth play an important structural and aesthetic role in a portrait, and should be matched to their real life counterparts, even if the reality is somewhat unflattering. The position of teeth beneath a silicone mask performs a critical function, giving body to the skin (in the same way the absence of teeth can cause the face to seem to cave in, as in some older folks with dentures removed). Upper teeth support the upper lip area and must be present and visible in a talking figure. In many cases, mechanisms push the teeth too far back from the upper lip and detract from the realism of the character.
- Sculpted of Dick Van Dyke
- GHP-Bert.jpg (73.62 KiB) Viewed 2272 times
Hair is often as varied in detail as the lines of any face. Far from being a solid helmet of any one color, hair is a palette of varying colors of differing weights and saturation. The weight of individual hairs changes as it reaches the hairline, as does the density of hair in a scalp, lending a thinning look at hairlines. Grey hair is thinner in general than colored hair. We punch hairlines (and often entire heads) using individual strands that, using a special needle tool, become embedded in the pores of the silicone mask. It’s critical when punching hair that all strands be punched in the same direction as they would on a real person’s head. The angle of insertion of each strand can affect how the sum of a full head appears. Styling hair cannot remedy mistakes in its basic directional flow, and artists must be careful to manage the angle even through tedious repetition.
Eyebrows, if not properly shaped and positioned, can cause unintended expression that can in itself seem to alter the sculptural shape of a face. Facial hair (or a lack of it) is as important as flesh structure in replicating an accurate likeness. Wig hair looks best when it’s made of real human hair. Beard hair is next to impossible to replicate accurately because of its vastly different weight and denier. As a result, GHP uses actual beard hair whenever possible in making mustaches, beards, and sideburns (this makes for some interesting stocking up!).
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rachel
- Posts: 3866
- Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2018 9:04 pm
- Location: Liverpool, England
- Has thanked: 1357 times
- Been thanked: 1639 times
Re: Realistic Dolls & Mannequins
Wouldn't fool us now, but an example of the creepy realism achieved in a 19th century French Musical Automaton "The Juggling Clown" by Vichy
Mechanism and head ball balancing automaton:
Automaton Clown
How the automaton would have looked dressed:
Mechanism and head ball balancing automaton:
Automaton Clown
How the automaton would have looked dressed:
- the_juggling_clown.jpg (38.48 KiB) Viewed 2266 times
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rachel
- Posts: 3866
- Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2018 9:04 pm
- Location: Liverpool, England
- Has thanked: 1357 times
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Re: Realistic Dolls & Mannequins
Animatronic Head: Work in Progress
This is a short collection of footage and photos taken during the build of Greg Townley's animatronic head for Edgar Wright's "THE WORLD"S END. Greg played a teenage "Blank" (Alien humanoid robots), whose head was knocked off against a urinal by Simon Pegg's character Gary King as a precursor to the big fight in the Cross Hands pub.
The build process starts with a lifecast of the performer's head which is cast out in wax clay, the eyes opened and generally cleaned up. A fibreglass mould is taken of this and a fibreglass core produced from it, which will be the basis for the mechanical understructure on which the skin will sit. Softened silicone, pigmented to the base colour of the performer's skin is poured into the mould around the core and when it has set forms the skin for the head.
The fibreglass core is then mechanised using 12 servos, 10 for the eyes and brows and 2 for the jaw and is mechanically completely self contained, with a magnetic power switch which can be operated through the silicone skin. A second "working" skin is used to test the movement, after which the "hero" skin is stuck down onto the mechanical underskull and the head goes through a period of testing and programming with the performance system.
Once programming is completed the skin is prepped for painting, seams trimmed and any bubbles in the silicone filled. The rubber is painted with a mix of oil paints and liquid silicone, using reference photos and colour swatches taken during the lifecast and acrylic teeth produced from casts of the performers own teeth to replace the test set already in the head.
Finally, the back, sides and front hairline of the hair is hand punched and a knotted wig used for the longer top section, then the eyelashes and eyebrows added to complete the cosmetic process.