Old Age makeup

Andrew Jackson · September 18, 2006

I've been looking around for awhile on the net for a tutorial/tips on doing old-age makeup. In my film, I'm wanting to do a dissolve from an older man into a younger man's face (representing the two are the same person). I really want the eyes/nose to be the same, so the only way I can think of doing this is through make-up.

Over the summer I actually got some materials to do prosthetics. I bought some casting latex, ultracal, clay, etc., but I never got time to mess with it. I'm not sure if I would use it here or not, but I'm pretty lost on exactly how to do this. There are some websites I found, but I don't think it would look that good on close-ups. A good example of what I want is in the movie Jackass, where they put the old age make-up on the characters...I think this looks good and I would be happy with a result like that. Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Andrew

Hugh Thomson · September 19, 2006

Step by step aging tutorial

This should help. Be warned though: latex make-up is very fuggen hard to pull off.

I don't know if this will help or not, but it's the best "How to..." guide that I've found on the net.

Make-up FX

There's a step by step process showing how to make masks and whatnot. It tells you what to use, how to bake it and everything. It's a very complicated process by the looks of it. I've tried a few things. All of my stuff looks really, really naff.

Good luck.

Hugh Thomson · September 19, 2006

Oh yeah. Please, whatever you do, don't make it anything like Once Upon a Time in America.

The age reveal/seamless passage of time/transition just smoked hogan. Just thinking about the scene with the mirror and the string symphony playing Yesterday makes me cringe. Sergio Leone's done some cool stuff, but that film isn't one of them. Too many of those WTF moments.

The midnight frisbee ninjas that hang out under the bridge? WTF?

If you haven't seen the movie, I probably sound like a bit of a loony, but if you have seen it, you know what I'm talking about.

Andrew Jackson · September 22, 2006

thanks for the tutorial. It looks pretty good. I'm afraid that the old age effect won't look convincing. There is always actually going after an older actor, but I don't want to really deal with getting an older actor because I'm going to have to do some ADR, and I'm afraid he might not have the patience for that...

Jon-Hebert Barto · September 23, 2006

Get someone else to perform for the ADR. Why not? I've done make-up alot. If you can get an older actor, do it.

If you must: Being serious here, find someone who looks "haggard". An alchoholic/smoker for example. Powder their hair. Put on a clear, thin finish of latex over lightly brushed base (slightly lighter in tone to their natural flesh). Let set. Get the actor to smile and frown and open/close eyes hard. Nothing else until filming. No talking. Powder over soft..and blow dry a little to remove "pancake" look. Good for B&W with filters. Test with yellow and red. But this still might suck....TEST,TEST,TEST. It would be well worth it to hire a kid from the theatre dept. of a local Arts high school to do this for you. Cheap, and they will try hard.

But I'd still hire an older person and get someone else to do the ADR, you could find an amazing voice for it. Makeup takes a certain talent to pull off. If you don't have it, don't try it. Let someone who knows what they are doing perform the makeup. Saves on major headaches, trust me.

Go to the monsterlab and look around for advice....

OR........................

Use the materials you already have to make a negative of your actor ( a half face cast). Then, cast a positive using it to sculpt a three piece appliance (nose, chin, forehead down to cheeks). Once you have a mold you can bake multiple pieces in foam latex. (it can be smelly at first..) This way if one tears, replacement is at hand. Find someone who can do this for you, it will look pretty pro for a student film. Not that expensive, especialy if you find someone with their own materials.

I'd help you but I'm pretty busy.( and we probably live 1000 miles apart )Someone around you will know what to do. Find them. Go to costume stores and ask around, etc.

Andrew Jackson · September 25, 2006

So, where do you live :P

Anyways, thanks for the reply. I'm just going to be dealing with a kid that I don't know well on that day too. If I used make-up it would probably be on someone I knew and someone that knew acting - got some theater friends. Anyways, I'll give it some serious thought, and some testing.

Max Jacoby · September 25, 2006

Now here's a really excentric idea: how about getting an actual real-life make-up artist?

Andrew Jackson · September 29, 2006

ah, that would be nice, but I have no money and I'm in an area that doesn't have many of them....actually, I've been talking to people over myspace/facebook/on my campus and no one knows any.