SPECIAL MAKE-UP FX | ANIMATRONICS | BODY & FACE ART ISSUE 7 Summer 2017 £6.95
IN THIS ISSUE…
TECH SPEC Mixing
>> Ghost in
mediu in A Cure ms for Wellnes s
the Shell How Weta Workshop chief
Richard Taylor and makeup department heads Jane O’Kane and Sarah Rubano brought this anime classic to the big screen
>> Zombie Kings
>> Tutorials
Bondo transfers, body art, essential kit hygiene and sculpting the human arm
The extraordinary makeup FX
creations of Josef Rarach and Vlad Taupesh
>> Ageing the
Adelmans
Frederic Lainé discusses CLSFX’s approach to a half-century of ageing for M. & Mme Adelman
Wolverine: The Final Chapter?
Academy Award winner Joel Harlow on creating the makeup FX for the X-Men character’s swan song in Logan PROSTHETICS
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Summer 2017 Publisher Neill Gorton Editor Lisa Gorton Designer Mike Truscott Artwork Assistant Stuart McDonald Sales Katie Gurney
Welcome
to issue seven of Prosthetics Magazine
Proofreader Mary Loveday
“I saw how many likes you have on Facebook and I have this big movie project we’d love you to do the prosthetics for!”
Contact Prosthetics Magazine 59-61 Killigrew Street, Falmouth, Cornwall, UK. TR11 3PF
…said no producer EVER!! Social media is fascinating and amazing on so many levels. The name says it all: social media - media that’s owned and operated by the individuals in society! Previously the media was a thing that you had to do something exceptional to be noticed by. Getting the attention of the media was a challenge and a skill in itself. Run by moguls or governments, the media wielded great power and that power could be used for good or for evil. The Internet changed all that. It put the media in to the hands of the people and gave us all the power to tap into the world at the touch of a button. That’s got to be a good thing, right?
Email info@prostheticsmagazine.co.uk Subscriptions Subscribe to the magazine and online library at www.prostheticsmagazine.co.uk Cover image Zombie King (personal project) performed by Josef Rarach. Special makeup by Vlad Taupesh, Josef Rarach – FX Creator, image by Ilja Hubálek. Image courtesy of Josef Rarach.
Contributors Our sincere thanks to everyone who provided material for this issue and shared their knowledge so generously, in page order: Rob Mayor, Joe Nazzaro, Siân Richards, Josef Rarach, Stuart Bray, Todd Debreceni, Barrie Gower, Whitley O’Donnell, Nic Langridge, Frederic Lainé and Andrew Sinclair. Content, instructional material and advertised products: The publisher is not responsible for unsolicited material, technical/artistic instruction or materials cited or promoted herein and does not endorse, guarantee, provide assurance of or recommend any products advertised or techniques described. All contents © Prosthetics Magazine (a subsidiary of Neill Gorton Prosthetics Studio Ltd) or published under licence. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any way without prior written permission from the publisher, including for storage and transmission purposes. All rights reserved.
Personally I think the problem with social media is that, as a society, our ability to filter it and put it in context has yet to catch up. Part of our brain is hard wired to believe that something on a screen MUST be true because our television viewing society has believed that for decades! We’re often not sceptical enough to see the manipulations that are happening online every day. I once saw a picture of an artist holding a BAFTA award posted on social media. Underneath many people had lauded praise and given congratulations on them receiving this award. What was interesting however was that the award belonged to someone else for something other than makeup and this artist had never actually won an award themselves, something that was very easy to fact check. The poster of the image never made that clear and the praise and congratulation given in response to it was never corrected. Little white lies, or as they’re now becoming known ‘alternative facts’ are so easy to perpetrate. If challenged that artist might act innocently and rebuff a suggestion of their stealing glory by saying, “… Ah, well I never actually said it was my award!” Ah, but you also didn’t say it wasn’t! Manipulation by omission is still manipulation. Garnering praise and acknowledgement online is proven to be addictive. One cause is dopamine loops. No it’s not a breakfast cereal but a scientific explanation of the kind of chemistry happening in the brain that encourages this behaviour. Google it. It’s an interesting and enlightening read. So I promise that in these pages we’ll only celebrate the real artists, their skills, talents and achievements and will never knowingly print ‘alternative facts’!
Neill Gorton Publisher
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Contents
“…many of our projects just want me acting in the masks and makeup…”
Josef Rarach
06 WORDS OF WISDOM Rob Mayor, co-director of multi-award winning
company Millennium FX sets the scene for this issue
08 BUILDING A BETTER BEAST
Part two of Joe Nazzaro’s tour through Dave and Lou Elsey’s incredible three-decade partnership in screen prosthetics
17 ESSENTIAL KIT HYGIENE London Brush Company founder Siân Richards
on why it’s imperative to keep your brushes and tools scrupulously clean
22 WOLVERINE: THE FINAL CHAPTER?
55 PROSTHETICS TECH SPEC
BGFX’s Barrie Gower gives Neill Gorton an insight into mixing mediums on Jason Isaacs’ makeup in A Cure for Wellness
SHOCK 60 FUTURE Weta Workshop chief Richard Taylor
and makeup department co-heads Jane O’Kane and Sarah Rubano discuss the responsibility of bringing classic anime adventure Ghost in the Shell to the big screen
71 BODY PAINT BASICS
Josef Rarach talks Neill Gorton through the origins of the extraordinary special makeup FX work he and Vlad Taupesh produce at FX Creator Studio in Prague
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Transatlantic educators Stuart Bray and Todd Debreceni illustrate why these marvels of modern makeup have become an industry standard and how to create them
34 ZOMBIE KINGS
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Academy Award winner Joel Harlow talks to Joe Nazzaro about the makeup FX for the X-Men character’s swan song in Logan
45 BONDO TRANSFERS
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Nicola Langridge, body artist and director of the UK’s BodyFactory festival maps out the fundamentals of how to undertake a full body paint
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60 81 AGEING THE ADELMANS Frederic Lainé of CLSFX, Atelier 69 on the company’s
beautiful ageing work that takes two characters through a half-century of married life in M. & Mme Adelman
88 STEP-BY-STEP SCULPTURE: THE HUMAN ARM
Renowned figurative sculptor Andrew Sinclair ARBS takes us through his approach to mastering the arm, one of the most challenging aspects of the human body
THE B-SIDES 96 A new regular spot by Joe Nazzaro examining film and
TV prosthetics that never made it onto the screen. First up: Steve Johnson’s company XFX’s work on Venom for Spider-Man 3
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FOReWORD
Words of Wisdom An industry leader sets the scene for the issue
Rob Mayor, co-director of multi-award winning UK prosthetics company Millennium FX on time-honoured steps towards an industry career
20
years ago, one of my all-time favourite albums was released. It was Radiohead’s ‘OK Computer’ and I remember vividly where I was when I first heard it played on the radio; I was in an aircraft hanger in Hatfield and had just started work on Saving Private Ryan. And, as I sit to write this piece, as fate would have it that film was also the first time I’d ever met this magazine’s creator, Neill Gorton…so cheers! A lot has changed in those 20 years but I think it’s the readily available access of technical knowledge, specialised courses and online tutorials that have opened up the world of prosthetics to people the most. If you know where to look (like this excellent magazine you are reading), fantastic and inspiring reference is more bountiful than ever. For all the technological and educational advances in prosthetics though, the key components required for entering the industry have pretty much stayed the same. As I am often asked “how do I get a job?” (plus I love a good keynote), I’ve alliterated some key points that I feel are relevant as first steps:
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Preparation
Even before you start education, speak to professionals (at trade shows etc.) and actually find out what the industry is like in reality and if you think it suits you. (As a hint: it’s hard work, it’s not glamorous, you won’t get filthy rich and probably won’t hang out on set with film stars.)
Portfolio
Weed out any weak work. It’s quality not quantity that counts. If you’re just starting out, employers will not expect you to have the same skills as a seasoned professional. What they want to see though is that you have the potential to be a worthwhile time investment in regard to training. Lose the blood covered gore, slash wrist appliances / zipper / coke can faces etc.
Personality
On a production it takes a team to create what you see on screen. It can be incredibly stressful and tiring so you need to be able to get on with people. You can be the best artist in the world but if you have the ability to rub everyone up the wrong way…no one will want to hire you.
Patience
You’ll need bundles of it. It takes patience to hone your skills, it takes patience to get where you want to. Sometimes it’s not a straight line and you may need to deviate by
starting in a slightly different department. No skill is wasted though as it helps to understand all the stages of a build.
Pride in your work
Take the same pride in whatever you do, from sweeping the floor to sculpting a makeup. Every process is as important as the next. We all started somewhere; show that you’re not afraid to work hard whatever task you are given and you will be given more opportunities.
Passion
At the end of the day, we all do it because we are passionate about it. This should also be your driving force!
Practice
Technical theory alone will get you so far, but you will only get good at something by actually practising it. Good old fashioned rolling your sleeves up and hours upon hours of practice. It takes a personal sacrifice of time and discipline and can sometimes be incredibly frustrating, but if it’s something you really love it shouldn’t feel like hard work. Even the seasoned pros never stop learning and we are all continually practising our skills to make our artistic-selves better and advance our beloved craft! Rob Mayor Director, Millennium FX
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Beast Bu il di ng a Be t t er
Dave & Lou Elsey discuss their enduringly successful partnership making monsters part 2 of a 2-part FEATURE By Joe Nazzaro Above: Mas Amedda, vice chair of the Galactic Senate, one of many characters the Elseys built for Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith Above Right: Elijah Kelley as the Scarecrow in The Wiz Live!