Warning! Fake blood/wounds/scars

Money Heist

Actor with special fx make-up: Matt Kuter

Director: Felicia Mills

I began by asking the actor what make-up he is okay with so I do not make him uncomfortable, he tells me he does not want any products near his eye. I told him I can work with that, with this particular look I think making the eyes a deeper shade could have shown the fight outcome better but I focused on other areas of the face such as the cheek and I think it still gave a good effect of the character being beaten up.

I speak with the director to ask about context and whether there is anything specific she wants with the look and I was asked on the day in that moment, I had to think on my feet and was not able to create a plan, however I did think about the placement of bruises on his face and how they might look when he has been, I thought back to movie and Tv shows I have seen and worked from there.

I mix different colours such as, pink, purple, red and blue for the fresh bruises, once I was happy I began blending with a small round clean fluffy brush. I used a dark purple shade to show exactly where he had been hit, blended that and then used a light brown around the purple, to show its been there for some time.

I added some fake blood but did not want go overboard so after discussing with the director we decided to focus mostly on his nose and slight splatter on his jawline. To make sure there was no residue of the fake blood in the actors mouth, I put a cotton round half in his mouth and pulled it away.

I noticed I took the make-up too far out, it began looking less like a brusise, this happened because of how much I was blending it. To fix this I removed some of it with make-up remover and blended with a large fluffy brush.

Overall, I am happy with how this turned out considering it was my first go at special fx makeup. I liked that the bruises was fresh but the added detail of a bruise that had began fading over time was apparent. Next time I would add a bruise to the nose because that is where he had blood coming from and I think it would've been effective, showing that he had been punched there. What I learned from this specifically was that sometimes I'll need think on my feet and think quickly, I handled the situation well and really thought about what i was doing each time I was adding something to the actors face.

Special Fx in film

Sfx make-up began being used in the 1920's. Lon Chaney (actor and make-up artist), created his own character make-up for his movies. Sfx make-up became more popular during the 1930's. Jack pierce worked on movies such as, the mummy (1932), The wolfman and Bride of Frankenstein, he used cotton and spirit gum which is a technique still used today. When looking at creating scars I have seen a similar technique but instead of using spirit gum, you can use latex and this is a technique I will using in an upcoming student project. In the 1980's cgi was being used more.

In the wizard of oz (1939), the main make-up artist of the movie was Jack Dawn. The original actor to play the tin man had to give up the role after struggling with shortness of breath and cramps, as his symptoms got worse, it was discovered the reason behind it was the aluminum dust on his lungs. The makeup artists moved from spray to paste however this did not stop the next actor from getting an eye infection. In addition the actor playing the lion could only eat his food like a drink through a straw because the latex foam they used was not flexible.

Looking at movies from older days I could see that actor's would have to spend several hours in the make-up chair, so a lot of patience would be required but in recent years I can see that those hours are becoming less and less and of course every movie requires a different amount of make-up and effects, however, I do personally think it is because of CGI being used as well as make-up. So actors are spending less time in the chair. In addition 3D printing can be used to create prosthetics therefore cutting more time down.

In movies now, we are more aware of harmful products, and there are things in place such as patch tests to help prevent any harm to actors, make-up is hardly ever used just by itself for movies, visual effects are usually added in addition. It is important to carry out risk assessments and be aware of how to properly handle specific products, to protect your actor and yourself.

Prosthetics-

Creating something that you can apply to the actor. They can be made using, foam latex, gelatine or silicone (which is the one most commonly used). They are applied using a skin safe glue and removed with with a remover.

Sfx-

Something you can create on the actor's skin with a product. for example, using latex to create more wrinkles on an actor's skin for an old age effect.

Life casting- Using silicone to make a mould of the actor's face. This helps make prosthetics that fit the actor's face.

3D printing - Used to create prosthetics.

Airbrushing - Applying fine layers of paint onto the skin.

Sfx make-up vs CGI

sfx makeup

CGI

Lights, camera, massacre

Cast:

Fraya Stuart - Faith Bethell

Chase Harrington - Felicia Mills

Miriam Thornton - Emily Bannister (myself)

Mason Jackson - Jamie parry

Finn Warren - Matt Kuter

Chloe Thomas - Charlotte Rich

Jacob Duce - Alex

I met with the director/ actor of the movie, Faith Bethell to discuss what kind of special fx and make-up she wanted. At this current time the script is not yet finished but told me her vision for the characters. The story is about a woman who kidnaps people who make her angry and torments them, making them into her puppets. She already has two who have been her puppets for roughly 4 years. She kidnaps a work colleague who is smug and makes fun of her work. The character attempts an escape and fails.

Fraya Stuart (Faith Bethell) - This character is going to start the movie, with neat hair and make-up. As the story develops her make-up and hair becomes messy and heavy.

Chloe Thomas (Charlotte Rich) - At the beginning of the movie, the character is working for a movie studio so I think glam make-up would work best, keep her looking as flawless as possible, I think it would help show a dramatic transformation through the movie. Once this character has been kidnapped she is going to have a fresh cut, a nail being pulled off her finger, a bone sticking out of her leg and stitches after the bone is broken by Fraya.

Finn Warren (Matt Kuter) - This character is one of Fraya's puppets who throughout will have scars, older permanent ones and stiches across his mouth, additionally on his wrist.

Mason Jackson (Jamie Parry) - The same as the other puppet but a scar over his eye.

Using scar wax for the first time

What I noticed as I removed the make-up, adding blood to see full effect.

Scar wax trial 2

Research:

Fx cuts -

Watching this video, I learned there are three products you can use to create cuts, these are, latex, silicone and wax. The most realistic looking one is silicone and for this you need to make sure there is no make on the actor's skin, so if I were to use this method I would start by asking the actor if they have applied any make-up and then I would apply some micellar water to a cotton pad and wipe across the actor's face, just to make sure there's no residue. To create the cut you need to make sure the lines are curved and meet. I think this method would be most effective for the characters, Mason and Finn because they have more permanent scars. The next method is latex. The final method shown is scar wax, again you need to work on bare skin and mould into a rectangular shape. When blending into skin with fingers it is important to watch out for bumps. Once the shape has been blended you can start the cut in a straight line in the middle. Next step is to powder the wax and then apply neccessary amount of paint and powder once more. I am likely to use this method for all the actors except the puppet characters as they will have fresher wounds.

Bruises -

From this video I learned I need to keep in my mind the different stages of a bruise, so, if its an instant one it will start red and then 1-2 days later it will have red, blue and purple colour, after 5-10 days it will become a green, yellow and brown colour. It is important for me to remember this as there is only one character in a scene who has a fresh bruise, on her eye, so as well as using the red paint I could also use some red eyeshadow to pack on top of the paint to really make it stand out, because with the paint, it needs to powdered for it to stick and not move around and the powder can be very noticeable/or make the colour more fade. To create the bruise I need to use the stippling technique using a sponge or brush, this is used for texture and the look of broken capillaries, it is very simple as all you ned to do is tap onto the skin a few times with the desired colours but it is important to not use a lot of product....

Scars -

Depending on the scar it can be created different ways.

Youtube videos looked at:

https://youtu.be/ElAqAhDNdCQ?si=DzAi0QAWkKzUN1Eb (different ways to use latex)

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zLvzB3fIjWc (Latex wound)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baXjKHL_Odw&t=116s (FX cuts)

https://youtu.be/DY_sHJA15VE?si=u1oJkd7ByHGY25_q

https://youtu.be/S9JfmCNjwTk?si=azkCpW01x01iU1XG

https://youtu.be/9oIWmoLoAtE?feature=shared

Health and safety:

Puppet make-up

For the puppets make-up, the director has told me she wants them to get worse and worse as the movie progresses. They are going to have, scars on their face, and their mouths sewn together. To create scars, I am going to use liquid latex, using a technique from the above examples.

To create the look of stitching on their mouths, I am going to use scar wax, I will then use a needle and black string to sew onto the wax and create that look and then finally apply to the actor's skin by blending in with my fingers. I will apply foundation to the wax to make sure it blends nicely with their skin tone and powder to make sure it stays there. The scar wax I think would give the most realistic effect, I just need to make sure the foundation does match their skin to avoid it looking obvious that its make-up.

Applying puppet makeup

Referring back to my designs, I started by creating a scar/bruise on the puppets eyebrows, by using scar wax, foundation and then redness and a little bit of purple, I would say this was the longest part to do. I then usesd a mascara wand to ,mess up their eyebrows to help that effect. With a mascara wand, I dipped it in the fake blood and rolled it in random areas of the face gently, so I would not irritate their skin with the bristles. As I was on a time pressure, I could on create stitching on the wrist for one actor and had to scarp doing stitching on their mouths. I got some scar wax and measured it against the actors wrist to make sure it was big enough, with a needle, I began so sewing which I found quite difficult. The wound on the neck did not work completely, I was only able to create one hole, possibly because the latex was not dry enough.

All together I think the makeup turned out well considering I had to scrap some parts, looking back I think it would've been more effective to use cotton and latex for the scar on their eyebrow because with added blood I think it would've really shown how horrible faith's character is and all the blood on their face being because of the torture they have endured. In addition the needle I was using to make the stitching should've been smaller because the larger one was creating big holes that would sometimes tear the wax apart. The latex on their neck did not work completely I think because the latex was not dry so next time I would try and have a hairdryer on hand. The latex was visible so I would definitely add so foundation over to hide it.

Stitching on wrist

Scar wax and eyeshadow for bruise

Using latex technique to create wound on skin

How it looked on screen

I like how it looks, especially the stitching because it does look sewn and swollen, however, the way the actor is moving his wrist, is breaking up the wax which is visible and clear. This tells me perhaps I needed to spend more time blending the wax or to tell the actor and director to not move their wrist like that.

Creating the pulling off of the nail

This was very simple, I added a thin layer of scar wax across their nail, tidied the edges with a metal spatula and added the fake blood and finally placed the nail on top. On screen you cannot see the blood that well so I would definitely use a thicker, darker red for it to be seen from the angle they had filmed it. Additionally the press on nail was pressed to hard onto the wax so I was told it was difficult to pull off effectively. This would be good to keep in mind if I ever need to do that again, I lightly press it and test it out.

The final result of the nail review:

On film, you could not see much of the nail, for a second you can see some blood, I really would have liked a darker blood colour but I think it still worked for this movie.

youtube.com/shorts/qxYw2_23lTg

Eye bruise with scar wax

I decided to make this a swollen bruise, so used scar wax to begina nd created a semi circle shape. I began blending and the wax split in the middle. I should've tried adding more wax to that area so it was equal swollenness, instead I carried on and began adding red, as this was a fresh bruise and a little bit of purple around the outside to add some dimension. I do not liek the bumpyness of the wax so I'm going to work on using wax more often and spending more time blending.

Close up of bruise on film

The lighting really helps with colours and seeing that it is a fresh bruise. You can see it is slightly swollen.

2nd bruise

This time worked better because the wax blended into the skin better, the first time I do not think I powdered after the foundation so the eyeshadow applied better. I would have preferred using a paint palette so I could include extra fine details but the bruise came across well on camera. This bruise definitely didn't match the first bruise I did but I think it looked better, next time working on a film I will make sure I keep the make-up the same by keeping a photo of the look previously.

Creating an open would with latex and cotton

The final result of the open wound review:

Step by step of an open wound using cotton and latex (video at the end)

1.) Begin by assembling products needed.

2.) use a paintbrush or sponge (better option) and apply latex to skin in desired shape but only focusing on one side at a time because you dont want the other side to dry.

3.) Break up some cotton wool and apply to the latex. After that apply the latex on top, moving in an upward motion. I blended the edges downward to blend into the skin. I repeated this process until I was happy with how it was looking.

4.) Repeating step 3 again but with other side, making sure each end is connected.

5.) Applied foundation to make it the same skin tone as my hand. Powder at the end.

6.) Applied pink and red tones inside the wound and around the outside of the wound.

7.) Used some purple tones for more bruised effect.

8.) Began adding the fake blood, filling the whole area.

Extra photos

Review

I am really happy with the final outcome on screen. I did not get to do everything I had planned or designed for the characters, reason being because of time, we had only spent 1.5 days filming so I had to work quickly which meant losing the stitching on the mouths for the puppets but I did get to do it for one of the actor's on their wrist. We could have had more time if I had taken note of how long it would have taken to apply each step. I think I could added more finer details such as veins to the wrist and open wound if I had been able to find our missing paint palette, but I did add some eyeshadow which helped. I found creating an open wound with cotton and latex difficult at first but I began breaking apart the cotton from the cotton round the second time around (my hand) and it blended a lot better. I would have preferred a deeper, thicker fake blood for some of the wounds, such as the open wounds but there was still a good effect with the lights when looking at the videos. I found adding a layer of red and purple eyeshadow in the open wound (hand) was a really good base before adding the fake blood. Additionally making sure the skin around any cuts or wounds were red because of the irritation to give a realistic effect. This specific technique I think is definitely good for showing something coming out of the skin. I got to work closely with the director during this project, beginning the whole process by discussing what kind of scars,cuts or wounds that she wanted in her movie. Later on I asked more specifically about each character to create a design I could follow on the day of filming. I learned things can change quickly on set so its important to be prepared and ready to adapt. From the footage I have seen, I am happy with what I did and I have been able to learn and use many techniques.

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