IMATS Toronto 2009 - Pt 2

(For more on IMATS Toronto check out Part 1 of my report)

I want to start by saying that, like Doug Jones and John Alexander, Mike Elizalde is another one of these supremely nice, friendly people that Guillermo Del Toro seems to surround himself with (I'm telling you - there's something in the water on the Hellboy sets... and whatever it is, I want some).
The last event of the Toronto IMATS was Mike's keynote address on Sunday (that's a picture of Mike, on the left, being interviewed by IMATS chief/Make-Up Artist Magazine editor Michael Key at the top of this post ). The keynote addresses are typically less of a speech and more of an interview (vaguely like an episode of Inside The Actor's Studio but without the questionnaire at the end). This one began by showing a demo reel for Spectral which had TONNES of behind the scenes shots of the monsters of Hellboy II - including some fascinating "skinless" views of some of the Troll Market animatronics in motion. Cool side note: Apparently when Spectral’s top animatronics wizard Mark Setrakian isn’t creating movie monsters he works at a robotics lab for the US government. So there’s some cutting edge electronics up there on the screen. Also on the reel were some shots of the Sleestaks from Land Of The Lost that look so cool they've almost convinced me to watch the film, Will Ferrell or no Will Ferrell.

Then the discussion moved onto how Mike got into make-up and effects (in elementary school he used to save blobs of paint on little wax-paper palettes, re-wet it once he got home, and use that as face paint since he couldn't get his hands on the real thing). As an adult, after a stint in the army, he moved out to California and worked as an air-conditioner repair-man in between looking for FX work. One day it turned out that the warehouse next to one of his job sites just happened to belong to Stan Winston Studios. Armed with his ever-present pocket album full of pictures of his work he eagerly knocked on the door. "They were very nice but they told me to come back when I had more practice," Mike said.

Eventually Mike DID get a gig – on a movie called Arena and from there he moved from film to film, befriending people like Steve Wang, who would one day come and do work for Spectral Motion.

What I had not fully realized until listening to Mike's talk, was just how instrumental Guillermo was in Spectral Motion's beginning. Mike Elizalde met Guillermo while working as a make-up artist on Blade II. Guillermo told Mike that if he got his own shop together then Guillermo would hire him on to do the effects for his next film. After a few hiccups along the way that next film eventually turned out to be Hellboy.

The fact that since then, Spectral Motion has gone on to become one of the top runners in the FX make-up field, expanding at a time when many shops are actually downgrading or outright closing, is a major accomplishment. At the IMATS “afterglow” party on Saturday night, where exhibitors and guests were free to mingle and hang out, Michael Key mentioned that make-up really is a field driven almost solely by passion. Very few make-up artists become either rich or famous. We do it because we love it –and Spectral Motion is an excellent example of that. From their small start Mike Elizalde and his team have gone on to create some amazing make-up and creature effects and from the looks of things have a fantastic time doing it. The fact that they are now being recognized as a leader in the field and receiving Oscar nominations and other awards is, I’m sure, just icing on the cake. Keep up the good work guys!

IMATS Toronto 2009 - PT 1

November 21st and 22nd marked the first annual International Make-up Artists Trade-show (IMATS) in Toronto, ON, Canada. Over the last year or so the IMATS have expanded greatly beyond their long-running shows in Pasadena, California and London, England to include a show in Sydney, Australia, and two Canadian shows - an upcoming one in Vancouver and this show in Toronto.
Not only was I excited by the prospect of an IMATS being a lot closer to home than Pasadena but there was the added bonus that one of the scheduled keynote speakers was Mike Elizalde of Spectral Motion!

Personally, I had a fantastic time at the show. This being its first year IMATS Toronto was quite small. If I'd been walking around solely as a spectator it would have been easy to see everything quite quickly (although there were two stages which kept up a steady stream of demos and talks all weekend where one could easily park themselves and just soak in the knowledge) However I was lending a helping hand at the FuseFX booth (literally and figuratively - there was a silicon copy of my hand sitting on the table all weekend) so I had lots to keep me occupied.

One of the coolest things to see was the museum area. The museum is a traditional part of the IMATS, and the Toronto museum, although again very small, was a real treat especially if you happen to be a big fan of the X-Men movies. Most of the pieces for the museum had been donated by Gordon Smith, of FXSmith, so it was 90% props and pre-production art from X-Men and X2: X-Men United.




I was particularly excited to see Nightcrawler's hands, feet, and tail on display. Having made my own version of the movie Nightcrawler outfit to wear for Halloween and SF cons a few years back it was awesome to see the "real" (or should I say "reel"?) thing up close. And now I want to do upgrades! ;)





"X-Men" was more or less the theme for the SFX portion of the show since the challenge for the SFX student competition on Sunday was "mutants" (Saturday's beauty competition revolved around "goth" looks). At the beginning of the competition students were given random prosthetic pieces and had to use these pieces to create a mutant make-up on their model within the alloted time period. Only the most general planning is possible before hand since no one knows what pieces they will be given during the actual competition. Since Spectral Motion had done the make-ups for X-Men 3, Mike Elizalde was the guest judge for the competition.

But more on seeing Mike - and in particular attending his keynote address in Part 2!

Tired of your average Jack O'Lantern?

Carve yourself a Thing In A Jar for Halloween!

You Will Need:

- an empty jar
- enough water to fill the jar
- some yellow food colouring
- 1-2 medium to large potatoes
- a paring knife and/or carving tools
- vegetable peeler
- toothpicks or straight pins
- paper and pen
- cauliflower pieces and/or bits of other white or pale vegetables (optional)

Step 1)

Peel the potato. With the paring knife and other tools carve the potato into the shape of your Thing. For example if you want a three-headed fetal pig for your jar, carve some legs and a little head into your potato. Just make sure it will fit into the mouth of your jar!

It's ok if things look a little wonky, like the legs are mismatched or you accidentally cut a bit off - remember you are making a freakish monstrosity, it's supposed to look misshapen. Re-attach severed or extra limbs with a bit of toothpick (good way to attach those extra pig heads). Insert one end of the toothpick into the limb and the other into the main body of the potato. Same with the bits of cauliflower or other veggies (tiny bits of cauliflower make cool looking "horns")

Be as elaborate or simplistic as you want just remember to BE CAREFUL WITH THE SHARP TOOLS. We don't want there to be any REAL severed limbs in your jar.

Step 2)

Once you have your "Thing" carved, very gently place it inside your jar. Fill the jar with water and add a few drops of yellow food colouring to give that preserving-fluid-look. Stir gently to disperse colouring.

Step 3)

Make up a suitably freakish name for your "Thing" like "Fetal Three-Headed Devil Pig", write a label with said name on it and place jar and label somewhere you can admire your Thing In A Jar.

(Note: Like a Jack O'Lantern, with just water in the jar you sadly won't be able to keep your "Thing" forever. Keep an eye on things and after a few days to a week or so empty out your jar before it gets too gross in there.)

Enjoy and Happy Halloween!



PS. If anyone actually tries this please send pics - it would be great to post a full menagerie of jarred creatures!

When The End Of The World Comes At Least I'll Know What To Wear

Sorry I haven't had a new post for awhile folks but lately I've been running around as though it were the end of the world – literally. I've been designing some post-apocalyptic costumes for a theatrical production and generally just having a grand ol'time. I'm becoming oddly fond of post-apocalyptic costumes.

Reason 1) You get to immerse yourself in a different world.
I suppose technically you get to do that anytime you design costumes or make-up for a project that isn't set in either a contemporary or historical setting but it's especially true for after-the-world-ends type costumes. You have to pay attention to the environment the characters inhabit because a) that's going to dictate the type of clothing they need (ie do they need to stay warm, cool, covered up, etc) and b) what type of materials are available to meet those needs.

For instance say what you want about the film as a whole, but Waterworld is a great example of building clothing with whatever you've got available. The costume designers looked at the traditional clothing of people like the Inuit whose main source of raw materials is the ocean, and from there derived outfits stitched from fish skins, netting, and the intestines of various marine animals (both real and synthetic). They even designed hats and skirts to look like they'd been made with dried jellyfish bodies (although they were in fact made from silk and nylon)

In the production I'm currently working on, the end of the world hits in the near-future at a point where the ozone layer is very weak and the sun very harsh – so we're using a lot of recycled cardboard, fabric scraps, old newspaper, and strips of plastic bags to create our costumes whose primary purpose is to protect the wearers' from the sun. Which brings me to fun reason #2

Reason 2) – Sometimes having a limited budget is a GOOD thing.
In Hellboy II the bedtime story scene depicting the origin of the Golden Army was originally supposed to be shot entirely live-action (a la the prologue in Lord Of The Rings). However when there wasn't enough in the budget to stage such an elaborate scene Guillermo made the decision to use puppets instead of live actors – resulting in a far more visually appealing, unique, and memorable sequence.

It seems a bit counter intuitive – after all if money is no object then you'd think the sky would be the limit as far as dreaming up whatever you wanted. But in fact, that initial limitation forces you to not necessarily go with your first instinct (which may in fact be cliched) and often opens the door to something a little more quirky and original.

Working with no budget on these post-apocalyptic costumes has really opened my eyes to seeing raw materials in just about anything and looking beyond an object's original purpose ( *while rummaging through recycling bins* “The covers of these water-damaged old books still feel really sturdy – let's turn them into flip flops!”). Which I'm sure causes my poor mother nothing but great consternation, since I was already a horrible pack rat to begin with. ;)

Reason 3 – It's OK if it isn't pretty – but you may find it's prettier than you think
The main thing to keep in mind when designing post-apocalyptic clothing is, of course, survival. It doesn't have to look good as long as it protects the wearer and doesn't get in the way. This definitely has it's advantages. I may be a bad costumer but hemming is not my favorite thing to do in the world. If I can get away without doing it, because it adds to the desired “look” that's great.
And for beginners it's nice because it also makes it really hard to make a mistake. Make a boo-boo? Just cheat and say you meant to do it.
At the same time though there is actually far more you can do to add style to such survival gear then may be obvious at first glance. Patchwork, macrame, and other folk craft techniques can all add a little more planned-if-rustic style to things if done with a bit of care.

So long story short – I'm discovering post-apocalyptic costumes hold a lot more fun and possibilities than I used to think. I may never look at a pizza box the same way again. ;)

Dick Smith: "Godfather" of Make-Up

Tonight the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences is hosting a tribute to a wonderful man and a great teacher - legendary make-up artist Dick Smith.

The artist behind such memorable make-ups as those in The Exorcist and The Godfather has been a teacher for many years - first by sharing the techniques he developed with other make-up artists (many of his discoveries are now standard practice in the special effects make-up community) and later by putting together a correspondence course to help teach the next generation. Guillermo himself is one of Dick's former students (along with many, many others).

I've been enrolled in Dick's course for the last several years and I've always found him to be a warm, generous teacher, even when offering criticism. "Well, you really went out on a limb with this one," he said once while we were discussing a particularly ambitious but ultimately unsucessful project of mine, " - and the limb broke. But that's ok, that's how we learn."

Because the course is offered by correspondence all my interactions with Dick were done over the phone. I didn't get a chance to meet him in person until last summer at the International Make-up Artists' Trade Show (IMATS) in Pasadena, California. It was a marvelous treat. The only event during the whole weekend which had a line-up was the one to get into Dick's Q&A session and even then, I think they were pushing the fire regulations to the limit to allow as many people in to see him as they did. Folks were sitting on the floor all around the table Dick and his fellow panelists were sitting at, and it was standing room only at the back (I did get an actual seat, but only because I was warned in advance to line up like an hour and a half before the start of the panel).

It was a wonderful privilege to get to hear some of Dick's stories first hand. Everything from a very funny anecdote about chasing Cassius Clay (soon to be Muhammed Ali) around the boxing ring set of Requiem For a Heavyweight with a spray bottle, in an attempt to make him look sweaty despite the absolute freezing temperature of the arena they were filming in, to a very moving and touching account of his long, long friendship with Sir Lawrence Olivier.

Looking at all the faces, many my age or younger, hanging on every word the rather surreal picture popped into my head of padawan Jedi all gathered round the feet of Yoda eager to hear words of wisdom from an old master of their craft. Please pardon my extreme geekiness - I'm in no way trying to say that Dick resembles a small wrinkled green Muppet - but the sense, in many ways, that we were being taught an oral history was very strong. Hearing it in person was entirely different than reading it or watching a taped interview. It was a little mind blowing to be sitting 10 feet from the man who invented many of the techniques of prosthetic make-up (Dick Smith, for instance, was the first person to apply foam latex appliances in multiple pieces - most artists prior to that had glued large, mask-like single pieces to the actors faces. This is both much harder to do and doesn't move as realistically as overlapping pieces).

It's about 10:30 now, which, when you factor the time difference in means things should just about be getting underway in sunny L.A. I hope the ceremony goes very well and I wish Dick the very best.

Living in the Land Of The Lost

Land Of The Lost comes out tonight and I admit to being torn. On the one hand Spectral Motion handled the special effects make-up on the new film, so we know at least it's gonna look good. I'm loving their dead-on Sleestaks - all the creepy characteristics of the originals (with a few nasty upgrades from the looks of things) without the visible zippers up the backs. (By the way, if you'd like to read more about Spectral's work on the movie the Land Of The Lost film has their press kit release available on their website, with several interesting pages about the Sleestack suits and Chaka's make-up).

Plus it was a lot of fun to catch a glimpse of a Sleestak temple rising from the backlot of Universal Studios when I was in LA last summer for the HBII fan screening.

On the other hand - it's a Will Ferrell movie... I really don't like Will Ferrell movies myself. I just don't think acting like an idiot while speaking as loudly and obnoxiously as possible is all that funny. I usually want to shake him instead of laugh at him. And according to the reviews trickling into Rotten Tomatoes as I write this, Land Of The Lost is shaping up to be like just about every other film Will Ferrell's ever made (if you're on the fence but want to save yourself the time and cash you could always go play with the Will Ferrell Movie Generator instead - you'll get the gist at the very least).

I do have very fond memories of watching reruns of the original show on ABC in the early 80's - although admittedly not very many. For the complete and utter dinosaur nut I was as a small child it was a definite fave. If you're not familiar with the tv show the basic premise is that a forest ranger and his two kids, while on a white-water rafting trip, get sucked into another dimension populated by dinosaurs, ape-men, and a strange race of lizard/insectoid humanoids called the Sleestaks. Years before I ever saw my first Dalek it was the Sleestaks that freaked me out - it didn't matter that they were slow as heck. They always acted like they were being controlled by some giant hive-mind so if they did catch you there was no reasoning with them (at least as far as I remember). In the early 90's ABC produced a very disappointing Land Of The Lost remake and the much more bumbling trio of talking dinosaur-men "Sleestaks" on that show were nowhere near as creepy as the ever anonymous original drones.
The only other scene I remember vividly stuck with me because my 4 year old mind found it pretty darn disturbing at the time. The family finds a map, which they think will lead them home - until they follow it and come across the skeleton of the map-maker next to a river of lava. Their hopes crushed they attempt to retreat back the way they came - and I can't remember what happened next...

A couple years ago I found a couple LotL DVDs for rent at our awesome local video store and just couldn't resist the trip down memory lane - even though I was fully expecting things to be a bit of a trainwreck. I was pleasantly surprised. Sure the actions of the dinosaurs (and the attitudes toward them) are horribly out of date in a post-Jurassic Park world but the stop-motion animation and obvious minature backgrounds still gave me nostalgic warm fuzzies.
And I was astonished to discover that the writers for the series reads like a whos-who of science fiction names. From Star Trek alumni like Walter Koenig, and Tribble-creator David Gerrod who was the season 1 story editor to people like Larry Niven, Ben Bova, and Theodore Sturgeon (!!!)
So for a kids Saturday morning show from the 70's it's pretty obvious they were trying to do the very best with the budget they had. But then again I also love the original Battlestar Galactica, which gives you some idea of how I roll...

It does look like the new movie is trying to pay some homage to the original show but I do think in the end I'm definitely going to pass on seeing this in the theatre. But my curiousity is too great not to check it out when it eventually makes it way to cable tv.

John Alexander - The BPRD's Agent in a Jar

I recently drove down to Motor City Comic-Con in Novi, Michigan, primarily to visit with frequent DelToro collaborator, actor Doug Jones (I'm a HUGE Fan-Sapien, you'll soon discover). While I was there however, I had the great luck and fortune to also get to speak with Doug's fellow Hellboy actor John Alexander.

John played Johann Krauss (along with James Dodd) as well as the Goblin Blacksmith in Hellboy II. But John's list of credits goes far beyond that. Like Doug Jones you've probably seen John's work many, many times and never realized it - everything from aliens in both Men In Black films to a Wheeler and the Cowardly Lion in Return To Oz in 1985. He particularly specializes in ape performances, with major roles in Greystoke: The Legend Of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (as White Eyes, the ape leader), Gorillas In The Mist (as Digit the silver back), and as the title character in Disney's remake of Mighty Joe Young, although he's played ape parts on many other TV shows and movies over the years.

Personally, the credit I really wanted to ask about was a line on his IMDB page listing John as a principal puppeteer on the 1986 version of Little Shop Of Horrors - because, aside from fish-men, my favorite type of monsters are Evil Plants. And my all-time favorite Evil Plant is, indeed, Audrey II from Little Shop.

I wasn't planning on staying in Novi overnight - instead I was staying with a friend who lived about 3 hrs away (she had Hellboy playing when I walked in Friday night - does she know me too well or what?). Thanks to leaving my friend's house a little later than planned and a back-up of cross-border traffic I sadly just missed Doug and John's Q&A session. But, c'est las vie - the last place you want to be cranky and impatient is in front of a border guard...

I found Doug and John's tables side by side not too far inside the entrance to the main convention space, right next to a big section curtained off for those waiting to see Carrie Fisher. In fact I was initially scared that the very long line was for Doug and John (turns out no, that was the line to buy the tickets that then allowed you to get in line to eventually get up to see Princess Leia).

I wanted to surprise Doug, so I got in line for him first (this entry is long enough so my adventures with Doug will have to wait for another day). While Doug had a line of 20 to 30 people all day (at the time I first got in line there were only perhaps 10 people in front of me) I soon noticed that there was no line-up for John. So after speaking with Dougie and collecting the requisite, and much anticipated, Dougie-hugs (no one hugs like Doug Jones) it was very easy to slip over to say "Hi" to John, and ask my Little Shop question.

I wasn't too nervous - DTF regular, Hellmistress (who also does a wonderful job running The Doug Jones Experience) met John Alexander on the HBII set in Budapest and had told me he was a very sweet and nice guy. Which he is - a wonderful gentleman. He's quieter than Doug but get him going and he has fantastic stories to tell.

Like, yes, those are live crabs all over John when he's the Goblin Blacksmith in HBII, and yes, he, and the make-up guys from Spectral were more than a little caught off guard when Guillermo declared that's what was going to not only fill the many baskets and containers on the Goblin's cart, but also be sitting and hanging all over the Goblin's head and shoulders. Even though the crabs were kept on ice when they weren't being used, to slow their metabolism and kept them fresh, several did expire during the shooting and things were pretty manky by the time they were done filming the Goblin's scenes three or four days later.

The Goblin's cart was not as uncomfortable as it seemed either. It was about a 5 hour make-up job - first he'd be fitted with a fibreglass helmet that held the horns, over which would slip the Goblin's skin and the rest of the face pieces. Then the torso was applied. He'd be slipped into the cart when they got on set and the cart would be dressed with crabs just before the cameras would start rolling. In Bethmoora moving around wasn't too hard - the cart is actually propelled by the arm crutches, but on the slopes of the Giant's Causeway John had to be pulled along with cables worked by three guys off-camera - the ground was just too rough and uneven for him to do it himself. I mentioned that that must have been a bit treacherous - if he'd fallen over, strapped as he was into the suit, it definitely wouldn't have been fun and John agreed. They had a few near misses but he managed to stay upright for the most part. He said it reminded him a bit of playing a Wheeler in Return To Oz (evil characters who had wheels for both hands and feet, and chased Dorothy around on all-fours through a broken courtyard).

Johann, meanwhile, was not too bad to move in, but the sensation of constantly having to look, breath, and speak as though your head was wrapped in a heavy scarf (due to the material that made up the neck of Johann's suit, where John's actual face was situated) was not pleasant. Neither was the whirring of gears from the mechanism that made the smoke, and moved the values and gizmos in the helmet.

But what about my Evil Plant? John said that he had indeed worked on Little Shop for a couple days. After finishing Return To Oz a friend who was working on Little Shop asked if John wanted to come over and help them out for a day or two. He helped out with Pod 4, the largest version of the Plant, during the final showdown scene ("Mean Green Mother From Outer Space") - it was John's job to man the vine that shoots the revolver. He said that funnily enough, years later he performed as the killer robot in Zathura and the voice of the robot was performed by Frank Oz - who was also the director of Little Shop (which is yet another reason I love the film - Twoey's a "Muppet Cousin")

It's obvious that John has a great fondness and passion for his ape roles - one of his favorites being Mighty Joe Young. It made me wish I was more an ape-movie afficianado myself - we talked about everything from Congo to George of the Jungle to Tim Burton's disapointing remake of Planet Of The Apes (John told me that they had choreographed the ape movements much more thoroughly, and to be far more ape-like than what actually appeared in the finished film). Make-up junkie that I am, we also talked about all the various FX masters John as worked with. Like Doug, the list is extensive and includes all the big names, from Rick Baker, and Stan Winston, to most recently, the folks at Spectral Motion. BTW - if you're wondering which of John's roles he's most physically recognizable in, it's probably as Jarra in Men In Black II - even though he's still under a tonne of prosthetics there.

It was my great pleasure to be able to speak to John Alexander, not once but several times over the course of the day. If you happen to be at a con where John is a guest I really, really, encourage you to go up and say "Hi" - it's a real treat to get to talk to him, especially if you are, in any way, shape, or form, a film or special effects fan. And, as I said, if you happen to be a fan of ape movies then you are in for an even BIGGER treat - I'm sure he would no doubt happily chat about that topic for hours. Bribing him with Hellboy and DTF buttons helps too ;)

Welcome to Things In Jars! Pickle anyone?

Why "Things In Jars" you ask? Well, this is a fan-blog dedicated to film director, major geek, and all around awesome guy, Guillermo Del Toro (or GDT as his fans have affectionately dubbed him).
(Psst… should you already be a Guillermo Del Toro fan, feel free to skip the next two paragraphs – you already know this stuff.)

Guillermo Del Toro’s the creative mastermind behind the Oscar winning Pan’s Labyrinth, Devil’s Backbone, and two film adaptations of Mike Mignola’s comic Hellboy (oh, and next up he’s got this little movie called The Hobbit). You don't have to watch too many GDT films before it becomes fairly obvious that there are a number of reoccurring motifs he likes to use – one of which happens to be things in jars (Cronos, Devil’s Backbone, and Hellboy all feature shots of preserved specimens of some sort).

I’ve been a fan of Guillermo’s since 2004, after watching the behind the scenes documentary for the original Hellboy (I am a complete and utter DVD extras junkie). I was blown away not only by the unabashed enthusiasm and amazing creativity he brings to his work but also by the affection and dedication he inspires in those who work with him. This mutual respect also extends to his many fans, with whom he has a very close and hands-on relationship (he regularly posts to fan message boards and answers as many fan questions and emails as he can). As I became a bigger and bigger fan myself I eventually joined DelToroFilms.com, Guillermo’s official fansite, and have been a regular ever since - so much so, in fact, that I am now a contributing blogger.

(Ok fans, you can start reading again)

Since, as the old saying goes ‘write what you know’, most of the entries here in Jars will deal with creatures, costumes, or special effects make-up, although everything should somehow relate back to GDT in a six degrees of separation sort of way. The plan is to bring you some fun interviews, articles, and interesting things (both in and out of jars) so I hope you come back and take a peek.

Speaking of interviews … COSPLAYERS – if you have a GDT related costume (including, but certainly not limited to, any characters from the Hellboy films, Blade II, or Pan’s Labyrinth) and would like to be interviewed for this blog please email me at kusanivy AT deltorofilms.com. I’ll send you some questions and happily post any pics or information you’d like to share about your costume(s).