MMMM….MMMM…Toasty!

BSG BBQ – Gary in action.

A few months back, Gary and I appropriated Dorth’s patio to shoot elements for the BSG direct to DVD movie “The Plan”. Since Gary had made the decision to more graphically drive home the destruction of the colonies this time around, we called our good pals at KNB Makeup Effects for a hand. Greg Nicotero, head honcho at KNB joyfully allowed us all the crispy critters we could carry from his football field sized makeup lab in the Valley. Note the sweet little  family unit we set up. Heart warming!

Honey? I’d like to have a few friends over for a cook out. Dorth looks on, as Gary tip-toes through the terror.

Something Wicked This Way Comes!

With Halloween on the way, standby by for more makeup articles and the further adventures of that ghoulish duo, Cag ‘n Drex!

Lal

“I have observed that in most species there is a primal instinct to perpetuate themselves. Until now I have been the last of my kind. If I would be damaged or destroyed, I will be lost forever. But if I am successful with the creation of Lal, my continuance is assured. I understand the risk, sir. And I am prepared to accept the responsibility.“

– Data

The Next Generation makeup lab was a hole in the wall. It wasn’t even in the wall. It was a shack cobbled together on the stage behind 8 and 9. You know that footage of Persis Khambatta getting her raven locks shorn by Fred Phillips for TMP? That’s the shack… and I loved it. Who would ever guess? Big TV production… the makeup lab would have to be in a flashy setup on the Paramount lot… wouldn’t it? Nope… makeup artists are an interesting breed. Life is a cross between the army, and the circus. You go where the job is, and you set up your camp… wherever that may be.  I’ve made people up using the toilet as a makeup chair and with light coming from a single unshaded bulb. I’ve made actors up in the middle of the woods, in a speeding car, in an airplane, a swamp, and a kitchen… so making molds, sculpting, and running foam latex in a shack could be seen as a step up in some cases. You got out, and you got under, and if there are no amenities… like electricity, you made electricity… no water? You brought it with you. You learned to be self contained and self sufficient. You thought ahead and you thought on your feet. A Shack? I love it!

Mike and Jerry! We had a lot of fun! Look how Mike is wearing a small smile. That’s his makeup face. I’ve never seen him lose his cool. Not once not ever. That’s Jerry on the right. I still have to tell you about when Jerry, as a makeup infatuated kid, accidentally stole the face off of Abraham Lincoln at Disneyland. You don’t know what it’s like to have hot mouse breath on your neck.

Mike Westmore, Jerry Quist, and I laughed a lot. All three of us tended toward the boisterous, all while making aliens happen. We’d scream and laugh, and even sing songs. This could be a problem, as our “Dogpatch” style shack was on a soundstage. Someone else’s soundstage. Not even Star Trek.  Before I knew what “Wayne’s World” was, we were interrupting Garth and Wayne trying to get the shot.  The “Wayne’s World” soundguy had a wig-wag light put on our makeup lab work bench. It helped a little, but not  being allowed to laugh makes laughing more uncontrollable.

Word came down through Mike that an impending script had Data build his own progeny. It was called “The Offspring“. The idea was that it would start life as an androgynous mannequin. It would be golden and featureless, akin to a giant Academy Award. The face and pectoral adornment seemed straight forward. The question was the approach to erasing the actor’s naughty bits. The first thought was a foam latex pair of skin tight shorts which would be blended into the actors skin. I thought that it was important to maintain the musculature structure of the buttocks and the anatomy of the lower abdomen. A foam pair of shorts would effectively erase that. Since I had an opinion, it became my task, that along with the overall application of the head to toe makeup.

Mike sculpted Lal’s face and robo pecs. What a funny little face! Oddly sweet!  I snapped these shots outside between the soundstages.

Ultimately we would create a sort of foam G-string that would just barely cover the genitalia and fill in the butt-crack (Yes I get paid to do this!). Undoubtedly it would be easiest if casting would provide us with a woman with little or no breasts. No such luck in that respect. We ended up with Leonard Crofoot, who had an ample unit needing to be bound. The poor guy. Once glued in, there was no peein’ nor makin’ any doody! No way, no how! Remember that since I would be putting the makeup on all by my lonesome, the application would take about five hours, add to that a fifteen hour shooting day! You heard me, skippy! No facilities for about twenty hours!

Deadlier Years – The Makeup Magic Of Kevin Haney

(Above left) Andy Bray, who plays Chekov in the New Voyages fan films, and the real article, Walter Koenig. (Right) Walter and Andy face off. Walter has been “youthened” by makeup master Kevin Haney for the middle stages of Chekov’s aging transformation.

Sometimes the best work of the year can be seen in a fan film. Witness Kevin Haney’s jaw dropping makeups for the Star Trek New Voyage’s episode, “To Serve All My Days”. The aging virus which manifested itself in the original Star Trek series episode, “The Deadly Years”, spared Ensign Chekov, but it turns out to have been a temporary reprieve. 

James Cawley, John Carrigan, and I were looking for a way to get Walter Koenig involved in a New Voyages episode. Carrigan hit on an ingenious idea:  make Chekov’s reaction to the “Deadly Years” virus merely delayed. As Chekov begins to age,  hand off from Andy Bray to Walter  during the course of the aging transformation.

Getting Walter involved hinged on two things: A good script, and state of the art aging makeup. I contacted Dorothy Fontana, and she was enthusiastic, so Doc John and I hired her to write the script. As far as the makeup, I knew just the guy… my old friend, Academy Award winner Kevin Haney. Kevin and I both started our careers together working with makeup master Dick Smith. In my opinion, Kevin is one of the all time best character guys in the world, plus he’s a big original series fan. I had enlisted Kevin for an earlier New Voyages episode called ”In Harm’s Way”, where he masterfully recreated Captain Pike’s radiation burns on actor Kurt Carly. Kevin love the idea, and we were off and running.

The following pictorial illustrates the various stages of age makeup for Walter. Unfortunately Kevin, due to the hard driving schedule, did not take any step by step shots of the makeups going on. I’ll provide a brief commentary. Kevin, if I go wrong, let me know.

(Above and below) First stage makeups on Walter required a “youthening” effect. This was accomplished through color and the use of what are commonly referred to as “beauty bands”…  a theatrical version of a facelift. Two pieces of latex are glued to either side of the actor’s face just in front of the ears. These are attached to a band which is pulled to the top of the head and tightens the actors face.

(Above) This stage of the makeup is fairly close to Walter’s actual appearance. Some old age stipple (also known as “stretch latex”) was used under the eyes to emphasize crepeieness, and the shiny full wig was switched out for a duller and lower volume version.

(Above) A full stretch latex application and a beautiful paint job really drives the point home in this stage of the transformation, but the most amazing is yet to come.

(Above) In this stage of the makeup, Kevin has applied side of the face foam latex appliances with pronounced nasal labial folds and beautifully sculpted crow’s feet. A wrap around neck appliance finished the effect.

(Above) In the final stage  makeup (which in Fontana’s original script leads to the death of the character), Kevin has added a very fine hair piece, a forehead appliance, a chin piece, and an upper lip. An absolutely stunning transformation, light years beyond the makeups in the original ‘Deadly Years” episode.

This sort of makeup is an enormous amount of work, not just in prep, but the actual application of the makeups are grueling. It is a cross between performance art and an athletic event. Kevin Haney created Academy Award winning caliber makeups for “To Serve All My Days”. Thank you my brother… some how, some way, some day, I’ll repay you for your generosity and kindness… and thank you Walter, we know full well that this sort of a makeup is an ordeal. You are a trooper.

If you want to get a better idea of how an appliance makeup works, visit the Dick Smith Retrospect on the Drex Files here -http://drexfiles.wordpress.com/2009/06/21/dick-smith-retrospect/

If you would like to view the episode, tune in here -  http://startreknewvoyages.com/

The Stockholm Syndrome

Ever hear of the Stockholm Syndrome. It’s where hostages fall in love with their captors.

I was a makeup artist for 13 years. I’ve inflicted more pain and suffering on well meaning human beings than any truckload of producers combined. I’ve owned actors. If I am your makup artist on a prosthetic heavy show like Star Trek you belong to me. I will shadow you for 17 hours and never leave you alone. I’ll stick a brush up your nose, and paint adhesives right up to your eyeballs and I won’t let you rest. I will stipple your face in between scenes when you’re trying to rehearse your lines. I won’t let you eat anything that doesn’t go through a straw. Sometimes you’re not allowed to pee. Sometimes you’re blind. I’m your worst nightmare. I’m the police, I’m your own personal devil, I’m that monkey on your back.

You’ll fall in love with me. I become your mommy. I wipe your nose, I rub your shoulders. I take you into the shower and wash you like a little baby. I help you dress in the morning and undress in the evening. I run lines with you. I give you feedback on your performance. I help you decide who you are, and how to play it. I transform you. I make you free. I’m part of your character. I’m the angel only you can see. I’m always there to dust you off and help you through. I tell you you’re great. I give you answers. I empower you.

The Official Cag n’ Drex Makeup Timeline

No kidding, this is what life was like as a makeup artist!  It was drawn up by Anthony Fredrickson… the same Anthony Fredrickson from the Trek art department. He was our lab manager.

My makeup days are well behind me now, but I often miss working with my buddy John Caglione! We had some incredible adventures and gigantic laughs! (Below) That’s me tacking the lace down on Ted Danson’s wig from “Three Men and a Little Lady. John did an amazing sculpt on this. One of my favorites.

(Bottom left) As you can imagine, Halloween around us was  wild. That’s me and John about to take undue advantage at a local Halloween costume contest. (Bottom right) Final touches.

Dick Smith Retrospect

(Above) I realized to my surprise that many of you know very little about Dick Smith. I hope to remedy that today.

Dick Smith practically invented special effects makeup as we know it. He founded the NBC makeup department in NYC in the late 1940’s, at a time when New York was a hotbed of live drama. It was a baptism of fire, and an incredible learning experience for Dick, who honed his talent for character makeup there. Little did anyone realize what a profound effect that would have on the art of makeup, and the generations of makeup artists who would follow in his footsteps.

“One of the biggest thrills in film making is helping an actor achieve a character. In all of my experience, I cannot think of anything else that comes close to the excitement of this art form. ” – Dick Smith

(Above) Notable gallery of Dick Smith makeups .  Top, L-R – Linda Blair in “The Exorcist”. Hal Holbrook in “Mark Twain, Tonight!”.  Possession makeup from “The Heretic”. Mayhem makeup from “The Sentinel”. Bottom, L-R – Fred Gwynne from “Arsenic and Old Lace”, an appliance beauty makeup for Dorothy Gray Cosmetics (Probably the first and last time a beauty makeup was done with prosthetics, says Smith), Max von Sydow as Father Merrin, in “The Exorcist”, and Jack Palance as Mr. Hyde, from “Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”.

TNG Makeup

There aren’t too many shots of me back on TNG doing makeup, and this is probably the only one I have ever seen.  Being on TNG was unforgetable. A high point was putting on all of Patrick Stewart’s old age makeups for Inner Light, which earned us an Emmy nomination. I have some interesting fun stories about Patrick which I will relate in an upcoming entry.

Aside from the best cast I ever worked with, Mike Westmore made working on TNG sheer fun. See this picture? See how Mike is wearing a little smile? Mike always wore that smile when he was doing  makeup. He is just a delight, and a dear, dear man. If you know anything about the Westmores of Hollywood, you know that the family practically invented Hollywood makeup. At one time there was a Westmore as head of makeup at every major studio in town. During the golden age, most big stars would not do a film without a Westmore. It’s a fascinating story, and if you are interested find a book called “The Westmore’s of Hollywood”.

Mike told me a funny anecdote about his uncle Bud.  Bud was apprenticing on a very early Tarzan movie, and on that particular film Cheetah the chimp was played by a male ape. Bud’s job was to take a wet sponge and burnt cork, and use it to black out the chimps “water works” so that they would not show up on the big screen. After about a week of that, whenever Bud walked on stage, Cheetah would scamper over excitedly, take the cork and sponge out of Bud’s pocket and hand it to him. Monkey like!

The Devil Made Me Do It

A skip and a jump up the front steps, open my mailbox… hmmmm… what’s this? No return address! Open it up… blood runs cold! What the hell?! What the hell indeed!

Makeup Explosion!

We were in hog heaven! Caglione & Drexler had made the jump to Hollywood from the East Coast and made it well.  (Left) The Cagney-esque and brutish Flattop. (Right) Icon Dustin Hoffman as Mumbles wearing those confused rubber lips on top of his already mischievious demeanor. Bill Forsythe was a punk in and out of makeup and was always looking to stir us up. He was being exactly who he needed to be, to be this guy Flattop, and we knew that. We handed it back pretty good ourselves. Bill appreciated that. He liked that we were the boys from Brooklyn. I think he counted on it.

Make ‘em Laugh Revisited

Remember that entry a little ways back called “Make ‘em laugh”? I was on location in North Carolina working on Michael Mann’s Manhunter?  The situation was tense.  The UPM went home over the weekend, and never came back. The teamsters were on the verge of mutiny. It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. Then our buddy Jon Landau came in to take charge. Jon is one of the best producers we ever worked for. Sharp, tough, funny. He went on to produce Dick Tracy, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Titanic, and the upcoming Avatar… an Oscar winner. To make a long story short, he came in early one morning, asked to be made up as a clown, and waded into battle saving the production. No one he dealt with could keep a straight face, or stay angry.  (For the full story: http://drexfiles.wordpress.com/2009/02/08/make-em-laugh/)

Guess what? I received an E-mail from Jon. He sent me a picture, and by the gods it really DID happen!

The Shoulders of Giants

Employees are the rungs on the ladder to success… step on them - Ferengi Rule of Aquisition.

As you can see, the silliness did not start in the art department. This is in our San Fernando Valley makeup lab, at the height of shooting Dick Tracy. The man-mountain is brilliant sculptor Greg Smith.