My previous two posts (post one/post two) from the archives were work I did for the Season 5 Episode of Angel, Life of the Party. It might surprise you that I have even more work that I did for this fifth episode in the season. Actually, I have yet to share with you the bulk of the work I did on that episode. I am unsure why this particular episode resulted in so much work for me, but it did. This time around, I am sharing all seventeen background demon masks that I made.
This is where I usually mention that all this work is a collaboration of many talented artists and technicians and that I was one of many who brought this thing to life. But this time around, this statement is not correct. While the parts and pieces were from previous work from multiple shops, I designed, assembled, fabricated, painted, and finished all these masks. At first, I did do some quick design work on paper for these, but that was soon abandoned, and I was given free rein to create a bunch of masks as quickly as I could.
I have shared some of these before, but that was at least twelve years ago, and this master image has been part of my portfolio for many years. I went back and cleaned up, readjusted, and got all the photos looking a lot better. Digital camera technology from over twenty years ago didn't always produce the best archival images. Thankfully, they are still good enough. I was given a large box of parts and pieces, a few starting mask forms, and a couple days to get all the work done. I have very good memories of making and painting these. Unfortunately, as with a lot of my work at this time, it was mocked, and I was bullied by those senior to me at the shop. Here are the seventeen background masks that I made for this episode.
I am told, as I have never watched this episode, that NONE of these masks can be seen at any time on the show. While I could very easily verify this, I have yet to take the time to check. Not that I could do anything about it now, and knowing for sure that they ended up on the cutting room floor does not add anything to my life. While these demons had silly names at the shop, they never had official names. I think it is best that the old names fade away and we simply appreciate the monsters as they are. Here are some close-up images of some of the masks.
Lastly, an image I have never shared! This is one of a couple of photos of the background masks being worn by extras on set for filming. Wardrobe always made the more unusual choices regarding what the monster wore. At one point, we started pointing this out in our design work by putting the monsters and demons in button-ups, sweaters, sensible slacks, a belt, and nice shoes. These attempts to point out some of our concerns went over everyone's heads.
That's all for another exciting week on the blog. See you back here on Monday! Until then...
