AREA 51 PUTS THE “BIG” INTO BIG PERSONALITIES!
Imagine walking into a packed Formula 1 paddock and suddenly finding yourself face-to-face with a giant Lewis Hamilton, towering above the crowd.
Or turning a corner at festival to discover that Jax Jones has somehow grown a head the size of a small car!
That is the wonderfully surreal world of Area 51’s hugely-popular Bobbleheads – enormous, meticulously crafted 3D caricatures that transform familiar faces into unforgettable live characters.
From Formula 1 champions and global pop stars to rock legends and much-loved fictional characters, Area 51 has turned the art of caricature into a spectacular form of live entertainment. Combining the precision of sculpture with the ingenuity of costume construction, these oversized creations are designed to stop people in their tracks, generate photographs, spark conversations and make sure that whoever is wearing one is unlikely to go unnoticed!
The concept is deceptively simple: take a famous face, exaggerate its most recognisable features, turn it into a huge wearable head and then let it loose amongst the public.
The result is anything but simple.
Area 51 has developed an impressive reputation for creating larger-than-life characters, combining caricature, sculpture, costume design and practical engineering to produce heads that are instantly recognisable from across a crowded venue.
They’ve become one of the company’s signature creations, with examples appearing in everything from major sporting events to music promotions and live entertainment.
And nowhere has the concept been more spectacularly demonstrated than in Formula 1.
RACING A-HEAD WITH FORMULA 1
Area 51 first brought its giant-headed F1 characters to life around the 2017 British Grand Prix at Silverstone, initially creating caricature bobbleheads to represent Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Räikkönen.
The idea proved such a hit that the Warwickshire firm subsequently expanded the collection to encompass the wider F1 field, including the likes of Max Verstappen, Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas.
The brief was clear: in the vast, crowded and visually saturated environment of the motor racing sport, these characters needed to be impossible to miss.
Mission accomplished.
Area 51 sculpted the caricatures after company director Matt Page, an accomplished illustrator himself, produced the original drawings. The characters were then transformed into three-dimensional forms.
The heads were sculpted in clay before being moulded and cast in high-density foam, then painstakingly finished and painted.
They were not merely just giant heads, either. Each character was completed with a replica branded racing suit representing the appropriate driver and team, creating a complete and easily identifiable personality.
And because Area 51 understands that a good promotional character needs to be more than something that simply looks impressive, the head could also be fitted with electronics, microphones and voice systems, allowing the performers inside to interact with audiences and even conduct interviews.
The Formula 1coillection subsequently became part of the travelling F1 roadshow, taking these gigantic personalities to race fans around the world. Area 51 itself describes the characters as designed to stand out in the vast crowds at F1 events and that’s exactly what they did.
JAX JONES GOES LARGE!
The F1 success opened the door to another particularly memorable commission when Area 51 was asked to create a giant caricature of dance music star Jax Jones.
Originally commissioned for the promo video for his hit single, “Breathe”, released in December 2017 with vocals by Ina Wrolsden, the brief was to make the giant head instantly recognisable.
So, Area 51’s craftsmen went back to their workshop housed at the company’s headquarters in North Warwickshire, and began the fundamentals: Matt Page’s caricature was once more sculpted in clay, creating a 3-D interpretation of Jones’s facial features. From there, the form was moulded and cast in high-density foam before being painted and finished with its distinctive hat.
Then came the twist.
The giant Jax Jones head was subsequently customised for the BRIT Awards, with a microphone built into the head and a speaker system worn around the character’s neck on a chunky gold chain.
Suddenly, this wasn’t merely a spectacular photo-op: it could now talk!
And that meant Jax’s enormous alter ego could conduct interviews with the world’s media on the BRITS red carpet, including appearances with presenters like Professor Green and Maya Jama. Jones was reportedly so impressed with the creation that he commissioned another Area 51 bobblehead.
That’s a pretty big endorsement of a big head!
FROM ROCK ROYALTY TO POP ICONS
Jax Jones and Formula may provide two of the best-known examples, but they are far from the only famous faces to receive the Area 51 treatment.
The company’s collection has expanded further into music, entertainment and popular culture, with giant caricature creations, including KISS, whose famous Gene, Ace, Peter and Paul personas were transformed into gargantuan rock ‘n` roll characters. Originally commission for Bestival when it was held on the Isle of Wight, the KISS heads subsequently became available for a myriad of other events, both large and small.
The Area 51 archive also features big-headed interpretations of Freddie Mercury, Michael Jackson, Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust”, Thor plus Mario and Luigi, amongst others.
And there is a particularly strong connection with the music industry, with Area 51’s portfolio including giant caricature heads for artists and performers as diverse as Scissor Sisters and Jax Jones.
It’s an increasingly impressive hall of fame – although this particular hall has very large headroom!
THE ART & ENGINEERING BEHIND THE COMEDY
What makes Area 51’s Bobbleheads particularly effective is beneath the humour lies some very serious craftmanship.
These are not lightweight novelty masks. They are bespoke, wearable three-dimensional sculptures that have to be comfortable enough for a performer to wear while remaining robust enough to survive the demands of live events.
The construction process requires accurate sculpting, mould-making, foam fabrication, painting, finishing, costume integration and, where required, audio and communication systems.
And there is another crucial ingredient: recognition.
A caricature only works if people know who they are looking at.
Area 51’s skill lies in identifying the visual characteristics that make an individual instantly recognisable and exaggerating them without losing the personality of the original subject.
That’s why a Formula 1 fan can spot Verstappen across a crowded paddock, why a music fan immediately recognises Jax Jones and why a rock enthusiast needs no introduction to the giant KISS characters.
The bigger they become, the more recognisable they are.
GIVE YOUR BRAND A HEAD START
Bobbleheads have become another example of the extraordinary breadth of Area 51’s in-house creative capability.
The company already maintains a huge stock of bespoke costumes and characters, ranging from full-size robots and animatronic creatures to giant caricatures, themed ensembles, dance costumes and fantasy characters. But perhaps more importantly, Area 51 can take a client’s idea and develop something entirely new from scratch.
So, whether the requirement is a sporting superstar, a chart-topping musician, a company mascot, a brand ambassador or a completely new and original character, the Area 51 workshop can take the concept from sketch to sculpture, to spectacular live character.
Because sometimes being noticed isn’t enough.
Sometimes you need to make a really big impression!
And if you’re looking for a head start over the competition, Area 51 has got that covered.
Quite literally!
