The Character Shop: Bud Lite Water Buffalo

Director Tom Routson of Tool asked us to make a replica of a Water Buffalo. The challenge here was, it had to be made very light, and had to be done very quickly. A saving grace was that it was for a wider action shot, wouldn;t be shot close, and so didn't need to have a high level of finish. Oh, and they didn't have a whole lotta dough on this one. Shocking, I know!

So we took an existing buffalo form that we just had laying around (sometimes ya get lucky!) and made a very large duct tape pattern from it. These patterns were stripped off, and then transferred to lightweight 1/2" thick L-200 foam (the kind of padding found in batting and football helmets). Aside from the hair on the ears, no other fur/hair work was done, or needed. We'd covered the forms with a very thin layer of high PPI foam, giving it a matte texture, and paint did the rest.

The reason for it needing to be light was that it was either going to be swung like a battering ram into a guy, or simply dropped on top of him. Despite its' size, it was light enough for on man to pick it up with one hand. It's also soft enough not to injure anyone if dropped on them. It's a good example of working quick and cheap!