Birmingham based CMA Moldform Ltd have added the production of the clear, bubble-like helmets for the latest blockbuster film ‘Prometheus’ to their list of film special effects productions. Over the years, CMA has produced numerous special effects for many films including Bond Movies and various TV and theatre productions.
The science fiction film, directed by Ridley Scott, charts a team of explorer’s battle to save the future of the human race and required the expertise of CMA Moldform to develop two types of helmet. The company invested considerable time in Research and Development to establish the correct resin for fully functional, crystal clear, optically clear helmets. The film required CMA to produce two types of helmet- some for long-term use and some that were capable of breaking during filming.
Peter Turnock, Managing Director of CMA said: “some of these helmets had to be capable of breaking or being smashed without harming the actor, and still be of high optical quality. These were produced from a "Smash" resin that had to be kept at a constant temperature to achieve the "breakaway" effects.
We produced over one hundred optically clear helmets that were worn throughout the production.”
CMA Moldform’s successful results required a high specification mould design and material to be employed. The helmets met the requirements of having a high strength, minimal section thickness, to be light in weight and most significantly - to have maximum optical clarity for close-up camera shots.
The family owned business has almost 100 years of experience in the moulding and casting of high quality products. They have been producing Scale Models since 1985 and began Rapid Prototyping in 1990.
CMA Moldform’s Art division has been evolving since 2005, to give shape and form to artistic endeavour and to cater for the ever-increasing variety of high quality, specialist design work that they are asked to produce. Recent projects include a 750 kilo crystal clear puppy, soon to be installed in a town centre location, and several 3m long crystal clear sharks each weighing over 400 kilos.