It's…Beautiful! A Look at How Film Makeup Has Impacted Cinema

Image Courtesy: Vanity Fair

Many films are created with the goal of being as realistic as possible. However, films that are highly fictional can risk placing the realism of each scene, character, and world at stake. But you see, just because something isn’t real doesn’t mean it can’t look real. Artists who have worked on films such as Avatar, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Dune have never seen the likes of the creatures they were tasked to create.

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Nevertheless, they did so seamlessly through the use of film makeup. Film makeup can often be overlooked for more “important things” such as plot and cinematography, but it can also be pivotal to producing a quality film. The production of horror movies over the years, for example, has shifted from relying on corn syrup and food coloring for blood to using computer-generated imagery (CGI) for more realistic results. Furthermore, if Freddy Krueger was without his scarred and burned appearance, A Nightmare on Elm Street wouldn’t be as effective in scaring its viewers. Thus, making film makeup is just as important as any other facet of production.

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The human eye is quite a powerful thing. The visible light which we are able to see depicts vast differences in color and is hard to replicate. For this reason, theaters have ever-evolving screens available such as IMAX and 4DX. It is extremely difficult to place what humans see every day onto a screen and to do so effectively takes much more than a high-tech camera. This is where film makeup comes in. When you watch a fight in a movie, you want to see the effects of the fight on the characters, whether it be blood, bruising, or gore. The level of difficulty that goes into creating not only creatures, monsters, and beings, but hyper-realistic injuries, is immense. It can require wax molding, cosmetics, prosthetics, and special effects in addition to hours of work so the audience can marvel at how real something fictional looks.

To put the level of difficulty of molding these characters into perspective, it would take two hours to complete Voldemort’s makeup, three hours for Freddy Krueger’s, and six and a half hours for Vladimir Harkonnens. These also weren’t one-person jobs, as most required two or more people to compete effectively. This would have to be done before every filming session and does not account for the removal of makeup which likely took hours as well. With that being said, it is quite clear who the unsung heroes of cinema truly are.

Image Courtesy: Looper

The realism of each creature or being that appears in cinema tends to have a lasting impact on viewers, as one may think “Wow, the Na'vi in Avatar looked so real. Is that what aliens look like?”. Makeup artists can turn fiction into reality in the minds of viewers and, when done well, can alter minds for a lifetime. So, next time you find yourself in a comfy red seat, chewing on some popcorn, and watching a new movie, think about the amount of work that goes into every second and take a moment to acknowledge how beautiful it is.

Strike Out,

Writer: Lucas Zaret

Editor: Jayna O

Graphic Designer: Laura Pellini

Tallahassee