The History of Special Effects Makeup

Special effects makeup has been an evolving art since the beginning of the 1900's. At this point, cameras could only shoot in black and white, meaning that makeup had to be applied differently to how it is now. 

From research, it is clear that the main materials that were used at the beginning of the industry were putty, mortician's wax, spirit gum and collodion. 

Jack Pierce

"The sole reason for any makeup, and particularly a character makeup, is not to proclaim the skill of the artist or the actor, but to help tell the story. Therefore, makeup must not be obviously 'makeuppy.' This in turn demands that it be supervised by a qualified artist, for the actor, no matter how skilled he may be in the technical detail of applying his makeup, rarely has the right perspective to judge the makeup without bias." --Jack P Pierce

Jack Pierce was seen as a pioneer in special effects makeup. He created creatures for Frankenstein (1931), Dracula (1931), The Mummy (1932) and The Wolf Man (1941). 

To create the head piece for the character (photo on the left), Collodion and cotton were placed in layers. Like we are told to, Pierce researched thoroughly not only into how to create this look but to ensure it was anatomically correct, he read numerous medial and surgical books. He found the different ways a surgeon can cut a skull, chose one, and modelled the creature's head as if it had cut open this way and then closed. It took a total of 6 hours to create this look every time, and an hour and a half to take it off. 

For Dracula, because the film was shot in black and white, colours on the face had to work with this effect, meaning they couldn't apply just ordinary colours like we do now. In order to create the ghostly white effect of the vampire, he painted the face green. It was clear that Pierce had a firm grasp on how to manipulate makeup in front of the black and white camera. 

Pierce had become Universal's head makeup artist, however by the 1940's he was no longer employed by them as makeup was developing rapidly, but he wanted to stick to his traditional techniques. 

Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde

Though uncredited, the genius behind the makeup of this film was Wally Westmore of the infamous Westmore family. 

The actor who played both Jekyll and Hyde was Frederick March. While in the role of Mr. Hyde, he had green makeup on his face (as it was in Black and White), so this gave the appearance of a pale white face. In contrast, while in the role of Dr. Jekyll, he had red makeup on his face in order to look dark and terrifying. This is another example of the manipulation of colours on black and white camera. 

At this point, the use of latex was not widespread nor rigorously tested, however was still used in this movie. With the final stages of transformation into Dr. Jekyll, March had a mask attached with liquid rubber to his face. When it came to taking this mask off, it was ripping his skin off too, and subsequently March had to spend a few weeks in hospital recovering. This shows how developments in safe application and removal of makeup has occurred as this would not happen in the industry by a professional today. 

1930's

The 1930's saw the birth of Foam Latex pieces. Namely in The Wizard of Oz (1939), this was used to create false facial features that were pre-prepared and could easily be glued on in the morning and removed in the evening, and were reusable. This cut down hours of preparation time and meant that there was guaranteed continuity. 

1950's

In the 1950's, sci-fi movies became very popular. This meant that the need for the creation of more abstract or complicated monsters and creatures was needed, pushing the boundaries of makeup even further. 

At this point, rubber suits and latex were imperative to add realism to these creatures. Notable movies in this day were 'The Creature from the Black Lagoon' (1954), 'Invasion of the Saucer Men' (1957) and 'It! The Terror from Beyond Space' (1958). 

In 'The Creature from the Black Lagoon', this creature (pictured left) was a body suit made of moulded sponge rubber. The actor, Ben Chapman, placed himself in a one piece latex suit which then had additional pieces placed on. 

1960's

Movies now were becoming more explicit and terrifying as these were focused on the supernatural, murders and transfiguration. 

One of the most famous movies of this decade is 'The Exorcist' (1973), which is arguably one of the first real horror films that pushed all boundaries and social normalities. 

In this video, you can see the famous makeup artist 'Dick Smith' using readily made prosthetics applied to the face which are then coloured and the relevant textures and materials are added. These techniques are still used today, and it is a technique we even learn in class. He did this for several characters, and the one that interested me the most was the old age makeup for the actor Max Von Sydow. He was 44 years old during this film, however was made to look years older using not only prosthetic applications but old age stipple. It is clear now that over the years, special effects makeup was becoming more and more technical and precise, with the help of creative, pioneering makeup artists like Dick Smith. 

Now

During the 21st Century, blurring the lines between CGI and special effects makeup occurs more and more as more movies are released. The combination of both allows not only a physical look that the actor can work with and use to get into the character, but a realistic one that can be reinforced with CGI. In the movie 'A History of Violence', for a scene where the actor's nose has caved in, a combination of CGI and makeup was used:

This isn't a technique I had known about before this research, and it makes so much more sense as to how this effect is created, as before I was confused as to how a caved in effect was created and made to look realistic. 

References/Sources

Rickitt, R. and Harryhausen, R. (2006) Special effects: The history and technique. United Kingdom: Aurum Press.

AYCYAS.COM., (Dateunknown). Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1931) [viewed November 2015]. Available from: http://www.aycyas.com/jekyllandhyde1931.htm

Hannigan, H., (Date unknown). The Evolution of Horror Movie Makeup and Special Effects [viewed November 2015]. Available from: https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/the-evolution-of-horror-movie-makeup-and-special-effects

Chaos Control Digizine., 2000. Ben Chapman [viewed November 2015]. Available from: http://www.chaoscontrol.com/ben-chapman-interview-with-the-gillman/

Nastasi, A. 2011. Ranking Hollywood's Elderly Makovers from Best to Worst [viewed November 2015]. Available from: http://flavorwire.com/228835/ranking-hollywoods-elderl-makeovers-from-best-to-worst