Rabbit Organs SPFX
Creating the rabbit organs taught me how liquid latex behaves in different contexts. I tested out how it operates on a hard plastic surface, with different colors added, stretched over polyester stuffing, and glued together using it's own sticky nature. Where makeup artists mostly use liquid latex as a sort of "second skin" when doing makeup SPFX, I used liquid latex's naturally glossy and stretchy properties to create life-like organs inside a rabbit pelt.
​
My main reference video was this organ, created by "Monster Tutorials" on youtube:
https://youtu.be/tQAd0rcGaaY?si=EEJSopxpXHn_FeIS
​
I used his method of creating a kidney using liquid latex and polyester stuffing and applied that process to the other organs I made as well. ​
First test using liquid latex and experimenting with colors
The colors needed to be darker and more organic.
Using the layering/drying technique of the liquid latex, I was able to create small patches of plastic fabric to then stretch and form to make the organs.
First test using liquid latex and experimenting with colors
Step 1
Discovering how liquid latex behaves
I began by coloring the liquid latex to see how it would respond to food coloring and then once I darkened the color enough, I went on to see how many times I needed to repeat thew process of layering and drying the latex. Creating each piece on a hard piece of plastic really helped to transfer the glossy texture onto the liquid latex skin and ended up making the final organs and intestines the right texture I needed.
Step 2
Testing different transparencies
In working with the liquid latex, I had a color that I liked for the kidney and I just had to figure out how many layers of the colored liquid latex needed to be added to achieve the correct texture to stretch over the polyester stuffing, one, so that it wouldn't break when stretched, and two, so that it would hide the texture of the stuffing beneath.
​
Making sure the color was right each time, I prepped pieces of stretchy liquid latex skin, slightly reinforced on each edge so that I could seal it after I stretched it over the stuffing.
In between each layer, I used a hair dryer to speed up the process a little bit.
Since the brush left a texture on the "skin", my goal became to layer it enough that the brush patterns overlapped and made it less visible.
Making sure the color was right each time, I prepped pieces of stretchy liquid latex skin, slightly reinforced on each edge so that I could seal it after I stretched it over the stuffing.
The first one's skin was too thick and acted too much like paper on the soft stuffing. It didn't stretch the way I needed it to, but the others had just the right amount of stretch and thinness, as you can see here.
I added a little bit of thin red string to add veins to some of the organs.
I darkened the color of the liquid latex and made sure to leave lighter spots mixed in with the darker layers so it would be slightly see-through.
The first one's skin was too thick and acted too much like paper on the soft stuffing. It didn't stretch the way I needed it to, but the others had just the right amount of stretch and thinness, as you can see here.
Step 3
Making the organ shape
In these tests, I focused on forming the polyester stuffing so that it was the shape of a large bean, with a slight divot in the middle. i stretched the latex skin around each form and sealed it like it was plastic wrap. it stuck to itself really well and I only needed to add a bit of extra latex glue of the same color to make the final seal on each organ.
​
​
Step 4
Putting it all together
Taking the rabbit pelt into consideration, I decided to make duplicates of the intestines and a few other types of organs and stack them on top of each other so that the whole inside could be removed from the pelt if necessary. Since each organ would be covered in blood and still needed proper lighting on set to make them more realistic, I didn't bother with making the colors look so perfect.
José, our art director, sourced the rabbit pelt for us to use as a part of the rabbit prop. All of the small organs I created had to be able to fit inside.
Packing the organs together into the rabbit pelt really brought the whole prop together.
I was so proud of how it turned out! Once the fake blood was added and it was placed into the environment on set that the rest of the art team had worked on, it looked fantastic.
José, our art director, sourced the rabbit pelt for us to use as a part of the rabbit prop. All of the small organs I created had to be able to fit inside.