Burns

   In this weeks session of SFX we was taught how to create first, second and third degree burns by using gelatine.

1. First degree: sunburn, oven burn ect. When creating first degree burns, keep in mind that you don't want the colour to be too pigmented on the skin. You want the persons natural skin texture and tone to show though the colour. First degree burns are normally the types of burn to create a stencil effect on the skin, as the person why of been wearing clothes and will create a harsh, definitive line.
2. Second degree: textured skin with no hard edges. Blistering is more likely to appear on the skin and have some form of a shine to it. Lots of different tones and ranges in colour to second degree burns.
3. Third degree: no hard edges of colour with interesting texture inside of the burn. Extremely deep so will include a lot of different colour ranges and depth to the burn/skin.

Gelatine:

1. take a small section of gelatine and place in microwave for around 15 seconds or until melted
2. unlike latex, you can use gelatine straight onto the skin and it's less likely for people to have a reaction to it
3. is a good adhesive for onto the skin
4. also good for continuity as you can place gelatine into moulds, however make sure you use something like vaseline around the mould to stop it from sticking to the mould

Method:

1. start by melting the gelatine in microwave until melted
2. before placing it onto skin test on your own to make sure it isn't too hot to handle
3. once cool enough, place onto skin using a palette knife and smooth onto skin in the shape you desire
4. keep working the product and building it up and smooth the sides down as you go to stop raised edges and making it look less realistic
5. once it starts to get tacky, you can dap the knife over the gelatine to create raised skin and different types of texture. This is extremely important if you're creating a second or third degree burn
6. set gelatine with a hairdryer on the COLD setting of your hairdryer as you don't want to melt the gelatine again 
7. powder the skin to take away any tackiness and shine to the skin
8. start painting your burn in light layers of colour, always building up to the darkest colour you wish to go with your wound
9. as important as it was to add texture to the gelatine/burn, it's just as important to show that texture with the colouring. So in any dents or raised areas of your burn add shadows and highlights to your burn to make it seem more realistic
10. lastly, you can add more special effect products into the burn/wound by using wound filler ect to make it even more realistic and gross

    Looking back at my burn, I can see that I needed to do so much more to the wound in order to make it look more realistic. In future I will smooth the edges a lot more either using witch hazel or while the gelatine is still workable, I also would use a lighter hand when going in with colour and get more of a variety of tones and colours in my burn as it seemed quite flat in colour. Another additional effect I wish I could of played around with was the other wound fillers to make the wound seem like it had puss and infected.