Star Trek Creature Creator and Beyond
Barney Burman surrounded by his alien creations
By J. Jekyll
May 2009
Goremaster.com
Barney Burman special effects makeup master and all around gore guru recently took a few moments to answer some GoreMaster questions. As the son of famed makeup artist Tom Burman, Barney has worked to create his own identity in the field. Burman is a founding member of The Proteus Make-up FX Team (formerly Proteus FX) studio. As the artistic director and lead make-up artist of Proteus FX, Burman has accumulated an impressive credits list that includes the TV series Alias, and such films as Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny (2006), Blades of Glory (2007), and Valkyrie (2008). |
|---|
GM: When did you make your decision to enter the field?
BB: When I turned 18 and my parents said “Get out!” lol! Actually it’s hard to say. I figured it was a good way to make money since I grew up around it but even though I was doing it I didn’t really “Decide” to get serious about it until I was close to 30. I had been pursuing an acting career for many years before that and one day I realized that make-up was much more rewarding both artistically and financially than acting had been. And once I had that realization and switched my focus everything began to really take off for me.
GM: What or who inspired you to start? Who was your influence?
BB: Oh man there were so many. Brando. Duvall. De Niro… Oh you mean in make-up? Well, when I was a kid I really wanted to be Lon Chaney. I wanted to make myself up and perform. But in the years after deciding to actually BE a make-up artist I found myself working with many of the greats, Rick Baker, Ve Niell, Greg Cannom, Michele Burke, and of course my dad, Tom Burman. In the early years it was my dad and my brother (Rob Burman, who has his own make-up fx company called Sticks and Stones), and a few others like Steve LaPortte, Rick Stratton and Ed French who really gave me a lot of creative freedom. I learned to sculpt and paint working for those guys.
GM: Favorite early special effects memory – movie scene – book – TV show?
BB: It had to be sitting in wait inside a giant rat suit on the set of Food of the Gods. I was 9 and wanting so badly to be on camera as the rat and the Director kept telling me “After lunch” or “Tomorrow.” Well the day came when I was definitely going to be inside the white rat as it sat ready to attack someone, Marjo Gortner, I think, and would you believe it, it SNOWED that night. So not only was there not supposed to be any snow in the movie but more especially they couldn’t shoot a white rat in the snow! All anyone would have seen would be a nose and two pink eyes. So I hate to dispel the rumor but I never did actually get on camera in that one.
GM: What are your top five special effects movies?
BB: Well the new Star Trek HAS to be one of them. So I’ll say, in no particular order: Star Trek ’09, The 7 faces of Dr. Lao (Brilliant make-up by Bill Tuttle and performance by Tony Randall), Frankenstein (Make-up by Jack Pierce and masterful performance by Boris Karloff), The Elephant Man (again it’s all about the make-up, this time by Christopher Tucker, and performance, John Hurt), and… and… I don’t know, perhaps Aliens? There’s so many good ones to choose from.
GM: What is your favorite makeup special effects scene from a movie? (it doesn’t have to be from one of your movies)
BB: Has to be the transformation in Cat People. It works beautifully and tells the story without ever becoming gratuitous. Of course the fact that my dad did it MAY have something to do with my holding it up as a personal favorite.
GM: Who is your favorite special effects person?
BB: For a favorite I’d have to go back to Lon Chaney. Currently however I don’t think anyone does better work than Rick Baker.
Brain Dead (1990) Front Face View
GM: How did you get started working in the Special Effects industry?
BB: Well through my dad, of course.
GM: Whose current work do you admire?
BB: Well there’s Rick. My dad has done some amazingly lifelike work on Nip/Tuck. Steve Wang blows my mind. Then there’s a lot of really great work by lesser known artists I’ve been finding on the internet on sights like Face Book. Aaron Sims is an AMAZING artist. Aris Kolokontes in Greece, Chet Zar, Gino Acevedo, Dave Elsey, the list goes on.
GM: How have you gotten work in the industry?
BB: Well, in spite of having a famous father, it was kind of tough at first. People didn’t take me seriously for whatever reason (most likely because I didn’t take IT seriously) so I didn’t get hired in the big shops. The guys who did hire me weren’t the kinds of guys who had continuous need of a crew so it was always very sporadic. Eventually I realized that if I wan to make something happen that I need to go out and make it happen myself. So I put my resume and portfolio together and started making cold calls to productions. That’s how I got one of the first jobs after starting Proteus FX. And I think that declaring one’s self and setting off into a specific directions with specific intentions actually moves energy and I started getting calls from people I hadn’t talked to in years who wanted to know if I could make some pieces for them. And those relationships lead to new ones. It’s all a string of events and making connections, new and old and allowing things to unfold. So I’m still sending out resumes and making cold calls and keeping in contact with people just so I can stay fresh in their minds. It takes a lot of work AND it takes a certain amount of relaxing and having the faith that it will all work out.
GM: What was your toughest job?
BB: Hahahha! Easily it has to be Star Trek. The scope of what we did and the time in which we had to do it and the budgetary constraints made it very challenging. But I’m extremely happy I was able to be a part of it and very proud of the work we accomplished. Plus, JJ Abrams is such a fun and exciting energy that even when it was tough I knew it was all going to be worth it. And I saw the movie the other night and it was.
Actor Doug Tait as "Long Face Bar Alien" in Star Trek (2009)
GM: What was your favorite job?
BB: Usually my answer when people ask me that is “This one.” Whichever project I’m working on at the time. And I still haven’t found an exception to that. I’m doing a film called Shuffle and everyone on it thus far has been great to work with and the task set before us is both challenging and exciting. But the ones that stand out as sort of career highs, for one reason or another, are Brain Dead (AKA: Paranoia), Powder, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Dawn of the Dead (2003), Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, Tropic Thunder, and of course, Star Trek, to name but a few.
Foo Fighter's frontman Dave Grohl as "Satan" in Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny (2006)
GM: How do you pick out materials to use for a project? Do you make your own? Are there any brands that you recommend?
BB: I’m always looking at new materials. I’m a big fan of the Gel 10 platinum based silicone so I use that a lot for prosthetics. But each job has it’s own needs and requirements so you need to stay open as to which materials are going to work best for you. Much of it is trial and error and narrowing it down to whatever works.
Dawn of the Dead (2003) Ice Chest Zombie
GM: Are there any new breakthroughs or ideas in the industry that excite you?
BB: Like I said, I like using the silicone but that’s not exactly new, it’s just getting better. And I’m starting to experiment with my own take on Pros Aid transfers, a technique first developed by Christian Tinsley.
GM: What is a current project you are working on? Or what project are you excited about?
BB: I mentioned Shuffle. There’s a series of aging make-ups to be done and I always like that. Then I’ve got a few other things brewing that I can’t really talk about at this time that are VERY cool! All I can say is Zombie and Werewolves!
GM: Do you have advice for a beginner or someone just getting started in the business?
BB: Be tenacious. Get into a shop and start out working for free if that’s what it takes. Do as many short films and student films as you can. If you put half as much time and energy into doing what you want as a doctor or layer does then you will surely achieve it. It’s also good to know your strengths and weaknesses.
GM: What was the best advice/training you ever received?
BB: My brother once told me to make every mold I make better than the last. So I take that and apply it to everything. Whether it’s a mold or a sculpture of casting a piece or applying it. I try to make it better than what I personally had been able to do before.
Visit the Proteus Make-up FX Team website to see more of their incredible work:
| Copyright © 2009 by GoreMaster.com. All Rights Reserved. GoreMaster.com http://www.goremaster.com is a site dedicated to special effects artists, creature creators, makeup gurus and the films, television shows, and theater productions they enhance and make fun! |