Makeup effects artist Todd Debreceni explains why special FX makeup must be planned in pre-production, and what goes wrong when it is left to the shoot.
It’s relatively easy to tell someone to do something a certain way, but not as easy for that someone to actually take it to heart, because if they haven’t experienced it for themselves, the lesson doesn’t always register and goes unheeded and unlearned. I think that’s true of most life lessons. The following are some effects makeup tips and tricks, as well as some unsolicited advice.
Often times an artist will be asked to come up with something off-the-cuff – a makeup effect that wasn’t part of the original plan but one that the makeup artist must find an immediate solution for, nonetheless. Let me repeat my mantra for you: Pre-production, Pre-production, Pre-production. Or, repeated another way: Planning, Planning, Planning. I think it’s better to have a variety of things with you that you think you’ll never need than to pack ultra light and wind up not having a hat to pull a rabbit out of when asked to do so mere minutes before the camera rolls.
For example, I heard a story from Charles Porlier about Quentin Tarantino deciding to change the way Daryl Hannah’s character would die in Kill Bill – not by getting her throat slashed as was originally planned, but by having her one good eye gouged out and left for dead in the desert. However, this information was given to the artist, Howard Berger an hour before the shot was to take place. Howard must’ve thought, “Where am I going to get an eyeball that matches Daryl Hannah’s in less than an hour?” Perhaps he had a pair of blue eyes hanging out in one of his kit’s drawers… Nope. What he did have was a tube of ProPoxy. By mixing it and rolling it around into a nice eyeball shape and then smoothing it with 99% alcohol, he had his plucked eyeball. Some latex drips for veins and muscle, painted and lubed up with KY jelly blood, it was ready to shoot in less than an hour – and Howard looked like a hero.
Obviously, you need to be on the right page in the first place in order to anticipate what kinds of contingencies you may need to be prepared for. If you are working on a period romantic comedy that is a character study about love and family, you probably won’t be asked to come up with a quick and dirty blood splatter application. You need to know your script and what is being shot on any given day.
There are some materials you may want to have in your kit that could be come in handy for fast repairs or to create a fast custom effect or prop. In addition to little gems like Loctite Super Glue Gel, thermosetting plastics (polymer clay) like Fimo and Super Sculpy, and two-part epoxy putties such as the aforementioned ProPoxy and Bond-Aid, FastSteel, Repairitquik, Quikplastik, plus other epoxy putties can be godsends to an effects artist. They can be used to create fast press-molds, as well as for fabricating teeth, bones, screws and nails for impalement rigs, etc. (you have to avoid undercuts, of course!). The detail may not be ideal, but you’ve done it in a pinch. Some of the epoxy putties are not particularly skin-friendly, so it is advisable
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