Howling III: The Marsupials (1987) was filmed entirely in director Philippe Mora's native Australia. The already low budget film had another problem: the fact Australia didn't really have a seasoned special effects artist scene, unlike the USA, UK or Japan. Australia wouldn't get a heavy FX scene until Farscape was made in the country a decade later!
To realize Howling III's various creatures, Mora turned to Bob McCarron, one of the few notable makeup artists in Australia at the time. McCarron had already provided the elaborate boar puppet and some facial prosthetics for Russell Mulcahy's Razorback (1984).
One highlight of McCarron's work is the 'were-thylacine' (it's clunky I know) that Max Fairchild transforms into. Facial prosthetics were made for Fairchild's early stages of transformation, as well as a rudimentary 'change o head' puppet. The final suit seems to consist of a bodysuit with fur applied, as well as sculpted taloned gloves, and a thylacine mask with mechanisms allowing the jaws to open and close. I love that they remembered to keep the stripes and small ears that the real thylacines had.
A24 has released Beauty of the Beast, a “transformation manual” by special effects makeup artist Emily Schubert (Super Dark Times, Good Time). Priced at $44, the 8x11 book features an embossed gloss-laminated softcover.
It contains 180 pages of step-by-step instructions recreating for key looks, including alive, dead, young, old, bald, hairy, bony, and bloody; along with a primer on essential skills like creating a scar, removing tattoos, faking swat, covering pimples, applying a bald cap, applying a prosthetic; and more.
More than a makeup book, Beauty of the Beast is a transformation manual by special effects makeup artist Emily Schubert. Learn how to create a scar, remove a tattoo, and make someone look decades younger—or like a corpse. Based on Schubert’s years of experience in the film industry, this book is both a crash course in the world of SFX makeup and a portal into how you can manipulate the human face to tell a story.
From the archives today on the blog - The mighty Lorne Hulk/Thing/Monster that I designed and worked on from the fifth season of Angel. Sharing loads of images, designs, and thoughts: https://christopherburdett.blogspot.com/2024/04/from-archives-lorne-hulk-thing-angel.html #makeupeffects #specialeffectsmakeup #angel #buffythevampireslayer
Some of the more impressive, albeit sparsely shown makeup effects in Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf (1985) which had its special effects overseen by Jack Bricker.
I'm not sure who was responsible for the much more wolf-like werewolf mask that is only seen in brief close-up shots. And there is the little gargoyle puppet, based on the same sculpt as the static gargoyle mounted on Stirba's staff prop.
On the blog, looking back at the "No Face" ghost that I designed and painted for season 5 of Angel. RAWR #makeupeffects #angel #ghost #specialeffectsmakeup #makeupartist #fxmakeup