FUHS BEAST Program

So great to have kids back in the studio again (socially distanced and masked, of course) and working on their projects - Mechanical Arts is working on the "fun-sized" version of our "Talking Skull" project while in Biological Arts students are casting hydrocal armatures from vaccum formed molds to get ready to sculpt their zombie masks!

So another project down and only one to go for the year! Made possible with our NEA Covid Student Success grant, "The Crystal Skull" project - in which students created a one-piece platinum silicone cut mold of a hydrocal plaster skull and learned to mix and pour crystal clear resin to get a Crystal Skull inspired by the Indiana Jones' movie!

So thrilled to be featured in the FUHS Tribe Tribune! https://tribetribune.com/10021/news/april-briefly-2/#

So another great project by our BADE students is in the book! Students vaccuum formed a mold and created a prop "severed arm" using Smooth-On brand Flex-Foam It! 8 - which is a great analog for human flesh and used to make props like these by SFX artists for films, haunts, and theme parks! Students then created flesh tones and added liquid latex to create flexible paints. So proud of all our students both our Campus and Home Learning kids for doing their best!

Great job by our student SFX artists in BADE - We learned how to use our vacuum former and "FlexFoam It! 25" - a dense expanding flexible foam to create "prop" hammers that could be used in a movie (ex.; to bonk a zombie on the head but not hurt the actor). Students vacuformed the hammers, poured and mixed their chemicals! They also learned to create their own liquid-latex based flexible acrylic paints, and use them to drybrush highlights and wash lowlights!

With the funds from our NEA Covid Student Success grant, our BADE students had fun with the lastest project in our new "Mold Making and Materials" unit- The Facial Feature project! Inspired by the famous ear necklace worn by "The Walking Dead" character Daryll Dixon (made by the amazing KNB studios), students were challenged to create a silicone ear (or nose) by sculpting in clay, molding in plaster, and then casting in platinum silicone! We had to learn several new materials and (of course) both ear and nose anatomy! So much fun making stretchy rubber ears and noses!

So today, BADE students studied the "OG" creator of SFX - French filmmaker Georges Melies! While cinephiles may know the name, the casual moviegoer may not. He invented so many great Special Effects still used today! His works were chronicled in the Amazing film "Hugo" and still show up from time to time in homage works like the Smashing Pumpkins video for Tonight Tonight". We have to start somewhere, so for BADE it starts with Melies. Here's a bit about Melies from Hugo!

BEAST is excited to announced that Mr. Hudson and Mr. Pitochelli have been honored by Voya Financial with a Voya "Unsung Heroes" Award. One program is selected per state for a prize of $2000, and a chance to go on for additional funding of up to $25,000. We are humbled to have been selected for a second time in 5 years for this recognition and it will go a long way to helping make BEAST even better in the future! Thank you Voya Financial!

We have a Donor's Choose up and running for mold making supplies which is running out of time. We could use anyone's help in crossing the finish line for these supplies, so if you can give a little, it will mean a lot. Thank you. :)

Our last speaker for the year and it was a terrific one! We were privileged to meet with Garner Holt, the Founder and CEO of Garner Holt Productions - designers and creators of the world's premiere animatronic characters! Garner was able to share with us his amazing career - from building a haunted house at age 15 and an animatronic Uncle Sam at 16, to make the world's most expressive creations at his impressive organization today. Thanks so much to Garner for his time, and to Dixie Binkley and Ryan Rainbolt as well for helping make amazing things happen for our students!

Huge BEAST shoutout to author of "Special Makeup Effects for Stage and Screen" and founder of Back Porch FX studios in Colorado, Todd Debreceni! Todd was kind enough to meet with our students and the students of Pinon Valley FX in Alabama today to go over his extensive experiences, including Visual Effects, Practical Effects, 3D Design/Printing, and medical moulage, so it was great to here about how all those fit together in today's world. Todd also has theatrical MUFX experience, so students were able to learn how those effects are similar and different from film and television, Thank you again, Todd Debreceni for making time in your busy schedule for our students.

So grateful to USC film makeup professor & founder of Rogue Planet Laboratories Ian Goodwin for meeting virtually with the "Quaranteens" of FUHS BEAST and Pinson Valley High School SFX program to talk to the students about beauty, film/television, and prosthetic makeup. Professor Goodwin spoke about how his inspiration came full-circle from loving "Star Trek: The Next Generation" to working on the new "Picard" series, and how SFX can be used to create a lifelong career, including applications in industrial counter-espionage! Thank you Jeff Watamura of El Diamante High School for helping us reach out to Professor Goodwin. Such an inspiration for students (and teachers as well) during this shutdown. Professor Goodwin, your generosity of time and positive spirit was much needed and appreciated. :)

Great article on the FJUHSD in EDSource. All of us at BEAST are so proud of our district - including our amazing students, innovative teachers, decisive administration and flexible classified staff - and how together we are keeping education going during the CoVid-19 shutdown. https://edsource.org//why-distance-learning-is-a-su/630051

A huge BEAST thank you to Matt Winston of the Stan Winston School of Character Arts for coming to the "virtual meetup" with our BEAST students and students from Pinson Valley High School SFX Program. Students were able to hear what "Growing Up Winston" was like, and learn first hand what it was like to watch his father Stan Winston go from a shop in the garage to possibly the greatest SFX Studios in film history. Such a fantastic opportunity for our students. We are so grateful to Matt Winston and the SWSCA for their ongoing and invaluable support!

So grateful that Darla Wigley of "Wigley FX" in Chickamauga, GA could make time for a combined visit for students from BEAST and our "sister" program Pinson Valley High School SFX, in Alabama to do a virtual tour her home studio. She answered student questions about setting up your own home-based SFX shop, makeup kits, and demoed one of Wigley FX's encapsulated silicone appliances! Additionally, she shared her experiences in the Haunt Industry at the amazing "Dread Hollow" Haunted House in Chattanooga, TN. So grateful that the SFX community is coming out to help support our kids! Thank you again Darla! You are one of a kind! :D

So cool to see this - from one partner about another partner! Fractured FX was working on this when we visited but couldn't say anything about from the NDA we signed! :D

Here's the video of today's interview. To preserve student privacy, they were asked to keep their cameras and microphones off, but they participated via the Chat feature to ask Justin questions live!

Exciting day! Our first "Virtual Guest Speaker" Justin Raleigh, CEO & Creative Director of Fractured FX Studios, visited to talk to students about starting a career in the SFX industry, how to create and grow your own FX studio, and the impact CoVid-19 has had (and may have) on the film effects industry. So happy to have Chris Screws and the students of the "Pinson Valley High School Special Effects" Program join us as well, for their first chance to meet the very inspirational Mr. Raleigh. We are proud to be able to work with so many talented people and create something so cool for SFX kids across the country! We were all together apart for this one, making it work!

Such an inspiration to our staff and our students! What a Legend! :D

Actor Dave Bautista’s 1 hour and 20 minute transformation to Drax for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 (2017). The prosthetic transfers were resculpted and fabricated by Legacy Effects. Makeup by Brian Sipe, Rob Pritchard, Jon Moore, and Matt Sprunger. Via: Matt Sprunger

For those that missed it, there was a great makeup demo yesterday our BEAST students were invited to watch online. Awesome application of encapsulated silicone appliances and great use of Pro-Aiir alcohol bodypaints by the Darla Wigley at Wigely FX in Tennessee! Thanks for sharing Chris Screws at Pinson Valley High School. Hopefully we will be seeing more of Darla WIgley in the future for another live demo! :D https://www.facebook.com/showoffsbodyart/videos/10216510962508210/