I Keep It Underground - Miners & Minors

So I recently had the opportunity to flex my Special Effects muscles with a video shoot for FunnyOrDie.com. The spot was directed by Noah Emmerich, who you'll probably recall as Jim Carrey's best friend in THE TRUMAN SHOW.

The premise was to shoot a low-resolution video that would match the rescue footage of the Chilean Miners that was broadcast the world over. I don't want to spoil it, so here's the video.

New: Unedited Chilean Miner Footage from Noah Emmerich

Additional Credits Include:
Director & Writer: Noah Emmerich

Executive Producer: Dane C Reiley

Producer: Arthur R. Greene

Makeup/SFX: R. Zach Shildwachter

Production Designer: Mac Pohanka

Featuring Rich Giraldo, Javier Marquez, Albert Pero III, Ralphy Guillen, Victor Ramirez & Luis A. Lopez Jr.

Here's some photos of the shoot that include supplies and a better look at my handiwork.

Most of the effects was just mixing up a copious amount of blood which I did with my old school Karo Syrup formula, because of our limited budget. I do wish I would've went with stage blood that wouldn't have been so sticky and a bit easier on the clean-up. The director wanted more of a crazed hunger look, with taunt skin and a dirty look, different than full on Zombie, so interpret the horror of the video as you will.

Another fun thing I was able to do was helping my buddy's wife at her school. She teaches a group of children that are deaf and hearing impaired. I was asked to come into the class and demonstrate some make-up effects just in time for Halloween. I had some left over latex appliances that I bought from the dollar store and brought in my small make-up kit. I wanted to show the kids how they could apply the stuff from the dollar store themselves and not be afraid of doing it themselves. I explained about latex allergies and behind mindful of their subject if they ever put make-up on someone else. I explained that scary movies are really just smoke and mirrors, but they still were apprehensive about fact colliding with fiction.

One kid was picked by the teacher to receive a ninja star that was made to look like it is sticking in the skin. These were all cheap effects you can really find anywhere, but people often gravitate towards masks, often because they're unsure of how to create the effect. It was a simple application, a coating of liquid latex to act as glue, adhering the ninja star, a bit of my foundation to blend the edges and a squirt of fake blood and VOILA!

The other things I did were some paint on cuts, and latex peels which consists of applying a layer of latex to the skin, letting it dry, and picking at it until it resembles sunburn/blisters. The big hit was plain ol' nose putty. The kids had a blast making moles and warts all over their faces. They even gave me one on the forehead. It was a great time and I think they all began to imagine the limitless possibilities for this Halloween. The whole point was to show them fun and realistic things they could do on their own and afford.

I received a message the following day that NONE of the kids washed off their make-up when they came to class the following day. They all wanted to keep it on for as long as they imagined they could make it last. I can only imagine how dinner that previous night went with their families.The other thing the teacher told me was they had to confiscate all the markers from the kids because of me. I was perplexed and asked why. They had taken to drawing tattoos on themselves like me rather than doing their class work. These kids have a bright future.