zombies

[xander171]

Well I am gunna make a short zombie film (which I’m making because I’m currently writing a full length zombie film and want to see what I can do). Not too bothered about how it turns out as I am just making it as a test, I guess. Can anyone give me some tips on zombie make up?

[hollowhead]

Yeah go for it!!!

It depends on what kind of zombies you are aiming to achieve. I am making a 1950's b-movie zombie/alien film soon and i'm just gonna paint the faces green lol to giv it a cheesy look. Use makeup like green/white and just find old clothes and burn them to give them a scruffy look. Its best if you experiment in the zombie department.

[Mommy's Little Monster]

Best thing to do a zombie make-up is to look a pictures of real corpses in different stages of decay.

When we die we loose fluids and therefore begin to look more skeletal. For a basic zombie you'll want to contour the temple hallows, cheek hollows, around the eyes, the sides of the nose and even where the neck meets the head. remember to keep them pale!

Everything else you add is just gravy (sorta, it also deapends how long the person has been dead). It all has to be taken from real life - colour of decomposing flesh, skeletal shape should be more prominent, you might also have to consider how they died. Where they murdered? is there a wound? How would that wound look, 1, 2, 4, 6, 12 months later? Were they dead for a while before they were found? If so the blood may have had time to pool in certain areas of the body (lowest points) so you may have to protray that along with what that would look like as the person decomposed.

In other words zombies are normally thrown together way to quickly because everyone thinks it's an easy effect to pull off, it's not! You should take some time and plan things out, it could be the difference between a cheesy zombie or a really good looking one.

here is a site to get you started

choosedeath.free.fr/

[Misanthropic]

I'm making a zombie short also, but all my zombies are recently dead, so they just look like normal people, but undead ;D

[goriddle]

I think the easiest route is 3d makeup. It is far more difficult to create the illusion of sunken in features with just shading. Basically you need spirit gum (Some people don't like to use spirit gum. This is fine if you don't mind the makeup falling off when you move your face)., latex and grease paints (I am not too picky so I just use the halloween cheapos) and something to add texture. Things like cotton, toilet paper crushed up cereal. These supplies shouldn't total more than $20. Just glue your textures on with spirit gum (don't forget to emulsify), cover them with latex and apply the grease paints. You will have to experiment a little to get the hang of it, but its very easy. This is one of the oldest tricks in the book. This method was used on Karloff to make him up as the mummy.

[CrawlingKaos]

what the hell did Fulci use to make his zombies, looks like clay.

[Mommy's Little Monster]

I'm pretty sure the Fulci zombies were prosthetics, or at least i always assumed as much, i never really bothered to find out.

As for the clay look you can acheive that effect using a product called ultra mud. It's from the same people who make ultra slime (actually the company is called ultra and they make many different kinds of effects compounds). Just apply this stuff to your actor and once it dries it looks like dried baked mud.

[SeanHope]

Spirit Gum always a bad idea, takes too long to become tacky and if you have any movement on the prosthetics you'll peel it off. ProsAide or a Silicone glue or liquid latex (NOT body latex) make for longer lasting and is easier to blend than spirit gum, plus most adhere better and clean-up is easier.

One of the biggest thing about zombies that I've found is eyes are very important. White contact lenses seem to work the best.

If your zombie was burried, they will have caked on make-up depending on the decay it should be peeling off. Don't forget that when a dead thing comes back to life it will begin to show all of the imbalming surgury.

My biggest recomendation is to hire Aputees for your zombies. especially for the zombies that have been beaten on.

One of the biggest mistakes that Zombie films make is they forget that these undead creatures were once living being. I think the first thing you should write up is how each of your zombies died, from car accidents to heart attacks to even cancer. Also remember that mortician slice open the backs of all clothing and normally do not put shoes on the decessed.

I think details are very important otherwise all your zombies will look basically the same. For recently dead zombie I think will be the most difficult to pull off. Riger-Mortis and most of the appeared decay happens within the first 24 hours of someone dying. which is why they put most of the dead in refrigerators and work in 54 degree tempertures when embalming and preparing the body. If something that is dead is walking around in the sun from recently being killing the decay should happen as we are watching the film. Also dead blood tends to turn black and I would think the vein work alone will put each of your zombies in the make-up chair for 6 to 8 hours. Dead blood also makes the body rot faster from the inside out, within a few days time you will basically have walking skeletons.

Of course this depends on how realistic you are going for. If you are looking to impress, I think you should spend a little time getting to know your zombies before you decide to film them.

[goriddle]

I have never had any problems at all with spirit gum. It becomes tacky in seconds after you slap it a little bit. Its no good for holding on appliances for long periods of time, but it has never failed with what I described.

[SeanHope]

of all things the spirit gum! *sigh*
well I'm happy that you have never experiece any problems with it. And since you obviously only shoot for about an hour or so - using Spirit Gum shouldn't be a problem.
Corn Flakes or other cereal applied with spirit gum and then covered in latex (which doesn't breathe) will cause the sweat from the actor to break down the adhesive properties of the spirit gum even quicker. Unless you have super artist skill and very quick hands - you will have your actor in the Make-up chair longer than you can film. Wont last a half a days shoot and will film poorly.

Cutting Corners is always something to keep in mind. What happens when you have cut all your corners and a problem arrives? You don't have anymore corners to cut. By your own admission you have never experience any problems during your shoots and though your movies are marketable you are not serious about make-up or film making. Some of your advice that you have given should be looked at as what not to do or use when making a film.

Spirit Gum is something that is sold to the general public. It's cheap, doesn't work very well, and was created for amataurs make-up artist. It's creation very simply put was to keep non serious special effects artist out of film making. For people making a film or making a living as a make-up artist it's very rare that spirit gum would be recomended as an adhesive - though it has been mostly for hair appliances. The reason it's not recommended is it's not Quick and when it dries it's useless. If you are using latex to cover that face of your actor, how about using the latex as an adhesive for your cereal. Maybe you can set off a couple of fire extinguisher to hide the corn flakes on your zombies faces?

I apologies to everyone else and I will ignore those infantile coments in the future and I certainly dislike stooping to his level. I have felt under attack by goriddle and some of his comments actually make me ill that he is taking low budget film making to the toilet.

[Mommy's Little Monster]

Wow that is harsh! People on this board need to learn how to chillax!!

Different things work for different people at different times. Make-up is one of those things that is easily affected by weather conditions, etc. I have used spirit gum to hold on small appliences and have never had a problem. It also depends on what spirit gum you are using. The one available to the general public might as well be alcohol mixed with ehlmer's glue. If you are using that crap you must not be a very good make-up artist to begin with because you don't take your craft seriously enough (don't start flaming me, i am not talk about anyone in particualar, "you" is meant as a general term). I have spent alot of money on good quality spirt gums, some that would even put pros aide to shame.

So while I wouldn't use spirit gum to glue down a full prosthetic make-up, i sure as hell would not use pros aide to glue down cereal (and yes the cereal thing is a valid point, alot of food stuffs are used when doing special effects). You cannot have a complete kit unless you have both adhesives and you have to have the experience to judge when you should use each one.

[goriddle]

That isn't the only method I have ever used for zombies. I just figured it was appropriate for the project Xander described. Don't judge my work when you haven't seen it, but feel free to author a full critique when the movie comes out. I never cited corn flakes specifically, I actually prefer count chocula so its extra spooky. Sean has a right to be irritated with me. I was a little unfair in that fit I threw about his advice on insurance and I got a little personal when I called him a know it all, but I think it is time to move on.

[xander171]

Well I'm very greatful for all of your advice. But don't argue about your different ideas, everyone has thier own techniques & ideas and i'm sure the idea of this board is to voice those techniques not to argue about them.

[aTomX]

Just for the record, spirit gum was not invented for amateurs. It's been in use by professionals for over 200 years.

We now have other adhesives that work much better for prothestic make-ups, but let's not forget the past.

[SeanHope]

Pine Sap and Mineral Spirits (Spirit Gum) has been used for a little 500 years. It was invented for early theater productions. Yet for the most part almost all of the prosthetics (noses chins mostly) were tied on with a string.

The current version if spirit gum is Pine Sap and Rubbing Alcohol and it's still not ment for putting on Prosthetics. but there are about 20 versions of this spirit gum, which was invented for the express reason for sticking prosthetics on. Pine Sap is very cheap and doesn't work very well. Theatrical Spirit Gum has the addition of Hexsonal in it which makes for better sticking power - Beards and mustashes that have the plastic mesh - it's still the most popular for the theater.

Make-Up artists have been around for few thousand years. But film Make-up Artist and special effects artist haven't been. It's amazing how much things need to be blended and have a longer staying power when doing a film. I certainly do not think we should forget our past. But in this buyer beware market - it's helpful to know whether you are really buying the nastalgic spirit gum formula that didn't work very well. If you are buying a professional grade spirit gum or if it's just pine sap and rubbing alcohol - which you could make yourself. Which ever version of spirit gum you are buying liquid latex (NOT BODY LATEX) will still be the better option for appling latex / foam latex / cotton for blending. If you are going to use latex anyway, might as well use it as your adhesive.