Sy Fy's FACE OFF Season 4 is makin' my Spidey Sense tingle.

A while back I had applied for Sy Fy Channel's 3rd Season of their Special Effects Make-Up Competition Show FACE OFF (Click here to check it out). Unfortunately I wasn't selected. 

*Cue sad violin music and crying clowns* 

I did however find out after emailing my submission that I had little less than a week to submit another video for Season 4! I knew I had to go a bit bigger, and separate myself from the competition, but I was just as limited with my materials as I was my time. Refusing to give in or offer shitty excuses I dug in and did some research into what I could pull off in the short time I had.

I didn't have enough time to sculpt and make an appliance and I didn't have any pre-fabricated. I didn't have any mechanical elements or costumes or anything fancy and store bought. I didn't have gelatin or silicone or other big budget materials. I was really nervous and was racking my brain. What I did have was Liquid Latex. So I decided to turn my weakness into a strength...

Inspiration

I love liquid latex. I still remember the first time I ever got a hold of it. I had a 3 oz bottle made by Fun World that I got from a day after Halloween sale at the local department store. I remember falling in love with that stale cat urine smell of it. Nothing in the world sets me off like that. It's like hearing the buzz of a tattoo gun for those of us that are heavily inked. I also remember not being allowed to have it anymore when I was startled by my mother who came in to check up on me when I was being too quiet and promptly spilled all of those 3 ounces of liquid latex on the carpet. Seems my fx career was dead before it was even born.

Needless to say I love how liquid latex can stretch and peel and bubble and blister and the many ways you can shape it. I would consider it to be to an fx artist what a Sharpie is to a graffiti artist. It's a building block, our training wheels. I knew I had to incorporate it all into something fun, but I wasn't sure what. I wanted it to stretch, to be organic. I was thinking of Rob Bottin's work with John Carpenter's THE THING and the stretchy-ness of it all I researched all the images I could, of tentacles, aliens, rotting fleshing, burns & wounds, going darker and deeper...

I swear this is research...

It was stumbling upon some research that I found my muse. I have a deep affinity for comic books and I knew I had to create something a bit more offbeat then the other submissions. Last time around I did a demon, decent enough, but underwhelming honestly. I completely understand why I was overlooked. I delivered a good Halloween costume at best, not something you could film, add a soundtrack to, and then have people pay to watch. This summer was going to be filled with some of the biggest comic book blockbusters of all times. I wanted to capture that excitement and capitalize on it as well. I may not be the hero you deserve, but I'm the one you're gonna get!

Eureka!

I decided I was going to deliver Spider Man from the Secret Wars story line from the Marvel comics. The black suit of his with the amazing powers is what helped birth Venom and Carnage, possibly the best villains Peter Parker ever had to face. I wanted my make-up to be a character, something that was interactive and had a bit of imagination. I wanted to give my audience some showmanship. It was important to me to show off a bit of my personality and what I could accomplish when pushed into a corner with no time, no money, and no sleep. I'd be perfect for this show.

I decided to used a mixture of liquid latex and black and white acrylic paint. This would be similar to those chuckle-heads you see at sporting events in February with nothing on but a primary color. I decided to paint up my entire upper torso and knowing the pain of having to rip/peel/scrub liquid latex off I decided to shave my arms, arm pits and everything in between. This was no small task for someone that's never had to do that.  Waiting for it all to grow back is also

I first started off with a bit of red and purple make-up to simulate bruising along certain portions of my shoulders, neck and face. I outlined my abdomen and rib cage the way they airbrushed the Spartans of 300, well, as best I could on myself with grease paints and a brush in a tiny bathroom at 3am.

I made small latex tendrils by rubbing together strands of almost dried latex. These would serve as the Alien Symbiote spreading about and infecting me. I added one white contact lens for a bit of dramatic flare. I glued a bald cap down and simply painted over that as well, and then adhered those same tendrils atop of that.

The latex and acrylic paint went on easily, though I wouldn't recommend it to any one with a delicate complexion. Honestly I could have used food dye just the same. Ya live, ya learn. None of the color seeped into my skin and came off with a pull of the latex. I added a touch of black blood to my mouth and let the drool take hold. I honestly love this stuff, just how it looks and shimmers, and it's become a somewhat constant in my fx work as of recently.

So without further delay, here's my submission for Sy Fy's FACE OFF Season 4...

Ideally I would've loved to have had ringing church bells play over my hamming it up for the camera, but I think you can see an honest effort to recreate a million dollar look with a handful of quarters. Again all of this was made up, photographed and edited in less than 6 hours, all by yours truly.

Here's a few photo out-takes to highlight my efforts as I attempted the long clean up process...

What I didn't feature in the video is the massive white Spider logo I painstakingly recreated on my chest. You may see it briefly applied, but I was so sleep deprived you only get what I can give you in the video. I should have just gone to work the next morning dressed in this get-up. In the end I look like I could be a back-up dancer in a MushroomHead video. I'm cool with that. All in all I think I used about $10 worth of materials in a little under 2 hours to complete the final look. I still can't get over doing all this make-up on myself.

I had a blast tinkering with all of this and I cannot begin to thank all the people that helped link this video and spread the word on my efforts, not only for this application, but also my one previous. It's the support of my friends and people that dig what I am doing that keep me going, even if I didn't get picked for Season 4. Or I don't think I was picked. I never did hear anything. My new hope is to connect with new friends and filmmakers and explore the creative process together.

Part of my growth as an artist is dueling with the perception that I am not good enough, that I need more of a budget to do it right, more time, more training, a proper education. I see these as roadblocks in my path and while sometimes I barrel through them, or sneak around, I do have to acknowledge that they are there. It's not easy relying on passion alone. I'll doubt myself far more than anyone else ever could, and because of that I'll probably never appreciate any praise that is given to me, instead deeming it unworthy. And yet I crave external validation for these efforts. I've never met anyone that doesn't like to be appreciated. And so goes my duality of man.

As I seek to overcome that obstacle, I am, above all, compelled to create and share. I just hope what I do finds its proper audience. I just hope to give my creations a loving home.

Shameless Self-Promotion

Digging around some old files I found a make-up effects reel I created with Windows Movie Maker about a year ago. So much of my life has changed in such a very short period of time. I won't dive into specifics, but I feel that it's the hardships that an artist endures that truly shape their work, more so than any skills or tools at their disposal. It's important to take the time to acknowledge those instances in one's life. It's tough trying to think of new ways to promote yourself, especially when you have a penchant for wanting to do everything and then having to teach yourself like I do. I don't have an agent, I'm still working on a portfolio, and this is about the extent of what I could give someone if they asked for a "reel". I'm not quite the best at social media, networking, or even dealing with people in real life. I definitely embody "the only person that can hold you back is you".

In the film and television industry, people tend to hire the same people to do the same job over and over again. Producers don't like surprises and they enjoy working with people that get results, on time and on budget. That's why it's so damn hard to break into the industry. Sure, there may be union hurdles to job, relocating to a major metropolitan city, working 16+ hours a day, and competing against some producer's neighbor's nephew's dog walker for the job, but it's all worth it if you are following your dream.

I do realize I have to stand out with my work, and I have to try even harder than most. I didn't go to some prestigious make-up school. I didn't intern under someone with enough IMDB.com credits to crash your web browser. I don't own a workshop or studio. My parents and family are still trying to figure out why I like playing with make-up. I am largely self-taught, save one course under Carl Paolino at SVA in New York. Having relocated from Brooklyn, NY to Cleveland, Ohio is even a steeper incline to climb in the entertainment industry based on the number of opportunities within the field, though I will do my best anywhere I go.

I thrive on picking up tips & tricks from those kind enough to share with me like Brittney-Jade Colangelo and David Kalahiki, among so many more. I am fueled by my passion to learn more, do more, and create more. It's easy to sell yourself short, to give up and walk away when you feel no one appreciates your efforts. I put my heart and soul into all my art - not because of anything else outside of the simple fact that I must. There's no way around it, I must create. This compulsion is what keeps my head clear and my spirit high. I know I may not be the most talented or refined, but I am trying. It's a journey I walk largely alone, though I gladly welcome any companion.

If you ever have any tips, tricks, advice, anecdotes, secrets, websites, books, videos, tools, special formulas, tutorials, recipes, friends, family, loved ones, or anything else that you feel would help me be a better artist, please send the information my way. I'm not looking for fans, I'm looking to make people proud.

Anyway I uploaded my little artifact to YouTube for your enjoyment.



The video contains my work from:

The Short Film "George"

FunnyOrDie.com

and

The Short Film "Regift Demon".

Click the links to learn more about each project.

Shake what ya' Mama gave ya'

The world of the music video is an odd one and I have bumped into it in my artistic endeavors. It's really interesting to see how cheaply and quickly they throw these things together. Here are some old shots I recently found from a music video I did years ago for Waverly Films. I was the Art Director under the Production Designer Patrick McGowan, whom I had met working on the horror flick UNHOLY. Our challenge was to turn a shitty warehouse space into a shitty medical facility for white-coated lab rats and hot chicks to dance about. While you're more focused on the action, you forget I had to track down medical supplies from almost 3 different rental houses and deal with all the assholes that push numbers and papers about what constitutes a full day rental vs. a half day rental.

What follows is the hot mess I barely remember as:

  Joey Negro's "Make A Move On Me"

The extras in this were spot on. This looks like something out of a B-movie from the '50s. I keep waiting for a man in a gorilla suit to jump in with a cosmic ray gun.

Here you can see the special call-in dials and instruments and all kind of do-dads that sell the scene. Some worked, some didn't, we weren't quite sure what some of them even did, but damn if it didn't look official.

There's a microscope, and a sink and a whatever the hell. I know that's the periodic table. This is all important in selling the mind's eye that this space is real and actually exists. This is all smoke and mirrors. It's a porno set without the sex. It's pretend for grown-ups.

You don't even wanna know what's in that jar. These are all props that seem to be absolutely necessary at the very last minute, not matter what, for whatever odd-ball reason. I've seen it a hundred times before. Now imagine driving around New Jersey, Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx with all this crap bouncing around in your rented cargo van as you go to Home Depot for the 37th time to buy more paint brushes and God knows what else.

One of the running gags was to over-label everything with red printed labels. We literally had them everywhere, advertising the most obvious of the obvious. We manipulated he machinery for close-ups and you as the audience are never the wiser that it barely works at all.

Here's a little behind the scenes shot as the crew sets the action and everyone pretends to be really important. Here you can see and realize that all four walls of this "room are completely removable. We built it so that the whole set could literally move throughout the warehouse, depending on the need for lighting.

So this DJ, Joey Negro, couldn't make it for the video, so this gigantic paper mache mask is meant as his cameo. Of course that got a label too.

Here's the hero of our story; a lowly test subject a the whim of desire and circumstance. A nice guy, but damn if those electrodes didn't keep falling off all damn day. And every time I see this I can't help but think of that one scene at the start of GHOSTBUSTERS.

It was actually kind of cool to see all these different gals gyrate in freezing warehouse, while I pretended to adjust electrodes and whatever. Sadly their efforts were all for not when I heard through the grapevine that the record company thought the gals weren't sexy enough and digitally replaced them.

Waverly Films has gone on to do more music videos, play with puppets, sell Doritos, etc.

Any way, here's the video, you be the judge....








If you're still interested, I worked on these other music videos purely from a production standpoint and had no artistic input whatsoever.

"Give Me Every Little Thing" - The Juan Maclean


"If U Leave" - Musiq Soulchild featuring Mary J. Blige


"Cherry Chocolate Rain" - Tay Zonday

The Devil is in the Details

You may remember a little while back when I worked a short film, "ReGift Demon" for Yellow Line Pictures where I needed to create a classic fire-engine red Devil. You can click here to catch up on the techniques if you missed out.

After making its rounds with a few festivals and screenings, the short is now available for your viewing pleasure on the Internet.

Enjoy the show.





I'm quite pleased with how the look came out; subtle but definitely dynamic without being over the top. You can click here for a listing of the full cast & crew.

What's New to Keep from Feeling Blue

So I haven't had as much time as I wish I had to finish some current art projects or even start some new ones that are swimming in my head. This is especially upsetting with the Season of Halloween upon us. I have to at least promise myself a kick ass costume.

So what's been eating up all my time? Well I wrote a television pilot a while back with a friend based on someone else's idea. It's called ON THE VERGE. It has a cast and most of a crew, but we're still locking down a budget and aim to shoot before the New Year.

Here's a Teaser Promo that I wrote and directed. This is really my first attempt at directing since college, and I'm in no way a film school kid. I hope it does its job enticing you to want to know/learn/watch for more.



Here's another Promo that shows a bit of the characters out in the Big Apple. I wasn't involved in directing this one, but I do make a cameo at the 0:10 mark...