Wednesday, October 27, 2010

"Step 7: Add some blood and you're done!"



Just a quick in-progress photo of some zombie makeup testing - I wanted to try making an oozing sore (yes, I know, there must be absolutely nothing worth watching on TV tonight).  I did an initial layer of white glue on my cheek - white glue is the poor man's alternative to latex makeup* - and after it had dried down a bit, tore open a hole.  Then I curled back the edges of the hole, and added on some more glue to build up the depth.  I think I'll try for some more depth when this is dry, but it's not a bad proof-of-concept:  just add some red to the interior to create the effect of an open wound, maybe judiciously drip in some some pus as per yesterday's posting, and voilà.

And what is everyone else doing with their evenings?
- Sid

* The down side of white glue versus liquid latex is slower drying time, so I'll be getting up quite early on Friday morning to go into makeup, as they say in Hollywood.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Celebrity Skin.



Just finished the first phase of distressing my zombie costume (if a suit and shirt really qualifies as a "costume".)  I chopped one arm of the jacket off short, split the shoulder seam, ripped a pocket, tore up one of the pant legs, and judiciously smeared various areas with alizarin crimson, which I hope will dry down to a sufficiently russet blood-red.  I also did a diluted red which I poured down one leg from a tear in the pants, and soaked the right jacket cuff in the same diluted mix for the sake of variety.  We'll see how it looks tomorrow in what I expect to be muted daylight.

There's still some work to do. I need to tear the shirt sleeve off at the same approximate level as the jacket sleeve, but that will be fairly straightforward.  At least now the better part of the blood is finished, and that will be nice and dry for Friday.  The down side is that since I was doing all of this in the bathroom, my tub ended up looking like a serial killer had been at work.  (Perhaps a positive sign, under the circumstances.)

I've also been doing research into zombie skin.  To my surprise, people seem to feel that zombie skin is a lot lighter than I expected, at least in the case of Caucasian zombies.  (Zombies of other ethnic derivations tend to slope off toward a sort of dark slate colour, with a bluish tint.)  So I've done some minor tests with a white cream makeup base that I then colour with green, it doesn't look too bad, and I like the idea of contrasting the green hue with blood-red.  During my homeward commute, I also gave some thought to using hand lotion as pus - probably a good thing that I don't discuss these little brainstorms with the other people on the bus.

And the smiling blonde woman?  Ah.  Allow me to introduce Sheri Moon Zombie, Rob Zombie's wife - Mrs. Zombie, if you will.  Trust me, if you do a Google™ search for "zombie", eventually you say to yourself, "Okay, why does this woman keep showing up?  Milla Jovovich, I get that, no problem, but who is this Californian blonde type?"  Still, it's good to see that some women still adopt their husband's last name when they get married, I appreciate that sort of adherence to traditional values.
- Sid

Postscript: back from the gym, and the places where I used the diluted red looks too much like paint when they dry down.  Fortunately, I've got some time before Friday to fine-tune things.  I may either break into my actual fake blood, or perhaps see if baby oil darkens it down sufficiently to look gory again.  The good news is that the undiluted crimson looks not too bad, although different lighting may change my opinion.


P.S.  December 12. 2010:  I have no idea why - the title, perhaps? - but as with one or two previous entries this one has turned into an absolute spam magnet, and comments are now disabled for this posting.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Zombies R Us.


We have met the enemy and he is us.
- Walt Kelley, Pogo
You are now one of the living dead! Enjoy!
- Zombieplace.com zombie makeup tutorial.
It has literally been decades since I last participated in Hallowe'en, but due to the gentle but threatening pressure being exerted by Suki, our company's "employee engagement" manager, I've decided that a wise man would show up next Friday wearing something other than the usual casual garb allowed at the end of the week.

But wearing what, exactly?  After a bit of careful consideration, I decided that going as a zombie was probably the simplest option.  After all, zombies are just people, albeit dead ones, and as such are unhampered by silliness like fairy wings, clown shoes or ungainly mascot heads.  When you think about it, a zombie costume is basically comprised of torn clothing, bloodstains, and decaying flesh - seems simple enough.

The Internet is thick with helpful suggestions on how to look like a zombie, to the point that a neutral observer might be concerned about our society as whole, this can't be healthy.  One of those helpful suggestions is that as creatures that have risen from the grave, many zombies are actually quite well dressed.  After all, no one ever get buried in t-shirt and jeans.  (Although now that it's come to my awareness, I may put something in my will about that...)  This doesn't rule out casual zombie-wear, due to the "tell two friends" aspect of zombie creation-by-consumption, but it provides a good starting point.

In preparation, I did some simple prosthetic testing during the week, and frankly I was astonished at the ease with which white glue and toilet paper can be converted into a fairly ghastly head wound.  I also have ambitious plans to take advantage of an existing surgical depression in my skull to inset a piece of visible bone (white cardboard or plastic) with torn skin flaps around it.  I'm even planning to shave off my beard and mustache for the event - much easier to do makeup that way.
 
So out I went this afternoon to do shopping for my costume.  I purchased some green, black and white makeup, so I can dull down and brighten up the green for decaying flesh with shadows and highlights as necessary, I’ve got some fake blood for the wounds, and for around the mouth and on the clothes, and I managed to walk into the Salvation Army and randomly pick a $20 tan suit* off the rack that actually fits me just about perfectly.  In fact, if there weren’t a couple of stains on it, I’d be able to wear it to work on Thursday instead of Friday.  However, since there are some existing marks on the fabric, I can sacrifice it to the holiday with a clear conscience – tear one sleeve off short, that sort of thing.  I also purchased a dental appliance for that snaggly zombie look.

And there we are - wish me luck.  I need to do some prep work over the next five days, make some fake skin for the head wounds, distress my suit and so on, and I'll certainly be posting some photos of the results next weekend.  Now if I can just find those glasses with the one shattered lens that I've been hanging onto for years to use as a prop...
- Sid

* It had to be a tan suit because blood and grave dirt and so on wouldn’t show up as well on black, you see. Planning, it's all planning.