The Return of Dr. Saw Bones – FX Pickup Shooting for G.H.O.S.T.
Todd A. Britt, resident makeup guru and spiritual leader of the Mutantville makeup department has a set of appliances he enjoys torturing me with. They were originally created for a rather involved vampire makeup from a previous project. When used by themselves they tend to make me look like an exaggerated Jay Leno or perhaps Bette Midler’s Winifred ‘Winnie’ Sanderson from Hocus Pocus, ie a big warted nosed witch. Ever since I knocked out a large chunk of oone of his front teeth in C For Chaos, Todd has been looking for the right opportunity to strike can. This weekend he found it.
Now typically ole Johnny B stays behind the camera unless the role calls for some danger stunts we don’t want to endanger our actors with or an uncomfortable mask. That said, I felt like Todd has really pulled it together for this project despite a shaky start and was obliged to indulge him with this character makeup.
Now this time he wanted me to shave my beard only on the chin, Liev Schreiber style, which I did. The idea was for the chin appliance to fit on the clean shaven area. Unfortunately, someone’s math was off with the shaving which was expanding twice. Ultimately Todd decided that I’d survived latex directly on the edge of my remaining beard line. Sweet mother was this painful to get off, that is if you consider having your beard plucked one hair at a time painful. There was also some lovely latex in the nostril.
By now it should comes as no surprise to anyone that it was an amazingly successful shoot. We this unbelievable cast of giving artists we really can’t go wrong. It’s gratifying to see some of the cast proper, coming back to lend a hand on the pickup shoots or fill a role as an extra in disguise. We also made a few new friends who just found there way to the magical kingdom of Mutantville.
It was cold and a bit uncomfortable but once again everyone pulled together and we made our day. Todd A. Britt and Sylvia Burris provided some rather remarkable battle damaged makeups which I wish I could share. At last, we can’t let that cat of the bag just yet. I have posted some snaps on the Face Book gallery so be sure to swing by and check those out.
Remember this above all else Mutantville Players, Johnny Brento loves ya!
With it comes to making films with your partners there really is nothing more important than keeping the lines of communication open. Film making is stressful. The more the folks sharing the load communicate, the more things will magically fall into place when you’re on the set.
