Special Makeup Effects for Stage and Screen, 3rd Edition

7 Applying and Painting the Prosthetics

Key Points

• ■ Pre-application skin care
• ■ Adhesives
• ■ Application techniques
• ■ Removers
• ■ Removal techniques
• ■ Post-removal skin care

Introduction

The process of applying 3D prosthetic appliances has in many ways come full circle. In the days of what is considered the first modern use of foam latex prosthetic appliances, the 1940s and 1950s, the appliances were made as one piece; they were essentially masks. These one-piece foam appliances continued to be the norm until the late 1960s, when it is believed that iconic makeup artist Dick Smith became the first to employ the use of multiple overlapping appliances to create a complete makeup—on Dustin Hoffman as the 121-year-old Jack Crabb in Little Big Man ...