Prosthetic makeup

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Prosthetic makeup is the process of using prosthetic sculpting, molding and casting techniques to create advanced cosmetic effects. Prosthetic makeup was revolutionized by Dick Smith in such films as The Godfather.

It was later led by such people as

Tom Savini (Friday the 13th, Dawn of the Dead, Creepshow)
Rob Bottin (The Thing, Total Recall)
Rick Baker (The Nutty Professor, Planet of the Apes, An American Werewolf in London, How the Grinch Stole Christmas)
Screaming Mad George (Predator, Society)
Stan Winston (Jurassic Park, Interview with the Vampire)

One of the most important and essential techniques of prosthetic makeup FX is called "lifecasting" - it is the process of taking a mold of a body part (usually the face) to use as a base for the sculpting of a prosthetic. The material used is alginate, a substance derived from seaweed. A hard shell to support the alginate goes on top, typically made of plaster bandages.

Once a negative mold/life cast has been created, it is promptly filled with a hard sedimentary material called ultracal to make a "positive" mold. The form of the prosthetic is sculpted in clay on top of the negative. The edges of the clay should be made as thin as possible, for the clay is basically a "stand-in" for what will eventually be the foam latex (or silicone, or foam gelatin) prosthetic piece, and only thin edges will blend seamlessly into the face. Along the edges of the mold, "keys" or mold points are sculpted in, to make sure that the 2 pieces of the mold will fit together correctly. nce this second sculpt is completed, a second mold is made. This gives two pieces of a mold - a positive of the face, and a negative of the face with prosthetic sculpted in. The prosthetic material - be it foam latex, gelatine, silicone or similar, is cured within the two part mold - thus creating the beginning of a makeup effect.

One of the hardest parts of prosthetic make-up is keeping the edges as thin as possible. They should be wafer thin so they are easy to blend and cover giving a flawless look.