Featured Effects Artists of GoreMaster
Gino Acevedo
http://www.wetaworkshop.co.nz/
Weta Worshop’s Senior Prosthetics Supervisor and Visual Creature Effects Art Director, Gino Acevedo originally hails from Arizona and has been working for the most part of his professional life in Los Angeles. He is a special effects technician with particular skill in special make-up, prosthetics and air brushing. Gino has worked on such projects as the Alien series (1979-97),
Godzilla (1998), Men in Black (1997) and The Nutty Professor (1996).
Gino oversaw all the special makeup requirements that Weta Workshop provided for The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-03). This included hundreds and hundreds of noses, ears and feet as well as the countless full facial and full body make-up appliances for all of Middle-earth's non human inhabitants. Seven of the nine leads in the films wore some form of prosthetic appliance- a huge undertaking to say the least!
In addition, Gino oversaw the paint designs of all the films' creatures, including Gollum, and was directly involved in bringing the many digital creatures and characters to life.
David Ayres
www.myspace.com/davidaayres
David Ayres is a professional movie make-up EFX Artist whose myriad professional credits include such movies as Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Buck Rogers, Battlestar: Galactica, The Hills Have Eyes, Mrs. Doubtfire, Empire Of The Ants (he sculpted and helped fabricate giant 6 foot ants). Having been Make-up Director for Rawhide's Halloween Ghostown 2001 and 2002, and also been involved with The New Hollowell's Haunted Hotel for Ghostown 2002, David is currently the class Instructor for Movie Make-up Magic's Prosthetic Class: Make-A-Face and The Advanced Class. He is also author of a How To Make Latex Masks manual.
Rick Baker
(December 8, 1950)
Baker's first professional job was as an assistant to Dick Smith on the film The Exorcist (1973). He received the inaugural Academy Award for Makeup for his work on An American Werewolf in London (1981). Subsequently, Baker has been nominated nine more times with five additional Oscars, both records in his field. Baker claims that his work on Harry and the Hendersons (1987) is one of his proudest achievements.
Rob Bottin
(April 1, 1959)
At age 14, he submitted a series of illustrations to makeup artist Rick Baker, who promptly hired him. He worked with Baker on various films but his first big solo break was The Howling (1981), where he was called to create an on screen transformation from man to werewolf. This managed to reach the theatres before his mentor's (Rick Baker) similar scene in An American Werewolf in London (1981).
Bottin was hired by John Carpenter to create the special makeup effects for his 1980 film The Fog. Additionally, Bottin provided the physical makeup effects and had a small part in the film as Captain Blake.
From there, Bottin's reputation grew when he again worked with Carpenter on The Thing (1982). Bottin worked on The Thing seven days a week (including late nights) for a year and five months straight, making himself so ill in the process that John Carpenter had him admitted to a hospital when production was complete.
From The Thing, Bottin worked on such films as RoboCop (1987), Total Recall (1990), Se7en (1997), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) and Fight Club (1999).
Greg Cannom
http://www.dracstudios.com/
Greg Cannom has been nominated for eight Academy Awards and has won three times. He is noted for his expertise in creating age makeups has worked on such films as The Howling (1981), The Lost Boys (1987), Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Titanic (old Rose makeup effects) (1997), Van Helsing (2004), and most recently The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008).
John Chambers
(September 12 1923 - August 25, 2001)
His work became known worldwide in the Planet of the Apes series (1968-73), for which he won a special Academy Award. Chambers also created the pointed ears worn by Leonard Nimoy in the original Star Trek (1966-69) television series.
Lon Chaney, Sr.
(April 1, 1883 - August 26,1930)
http://www.lonchaney.com
Lon Chaney is known as “the man of a thousand faces.” His incredible ability to contort his face and use of makeup prosthetics allowed him to create some of the most memorable movie monsters on film. Films: The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), The Phantom of the Opera (1925), London After Midnight (1927)
Mike Elizalde
(1960- Sinaloa, Mazatlan MX)
http://www.spectralmotion.com/
The first company Mike Elizalde worked in the film industry was John Beuchler's MMI on a film called Arena (1989) and it was there that he met Steve Wang and Screaming Mad George, among other prominent figures in the make-up effects industry.
After Arena, he left MMI to go to work for David Miller. The first thing he worked on with him was a film called Gnaw! Food of the Gods II (1989). As he worked with David he was given more and more responsibility, to the point where he became head make-up artist. He went to work for Todd Masters on a Nightmare (1989). Later went to work for Amalgamated Dynamics for a while. He did a show called The Santa Clause (1994). Mike was the main designer of the animatronic reindeer. That was his first big assignment, as far as being in charge of all the design work and the mechanics. Mike credits Alec Gillis and Thom Woodruff for putting a lot of trust in him.
After he left ADI, he went to work for Steve Johnson's XFX Inc. for a while. Mr. Elizalde designed her eyes for Sil in Species (1995). What made this special was they wanted necticating membranes as well as primary lids all in the same mechanism. It was a pretty tall order. It was a very fulfilling assignment. When we took that puppet to set, and everybody saw the eyes rolling and opening they were pretty impressed. It was a fantastic experience for all of us. Steve was so proud of us. Mr. Elizalde says this was of the highlights of his career.
After he left Steve Johnson's, he went to Rick Baker's. The first project that he worked on there was Batman Forever (1995). After Batman Forever, he worked on The Nutty Professor (1996), and then Men In Black (1997) and Mighty Joe Young (1998). He has also created effects for the Hellboy (2004-08) films.
Mike’s Spectral Motion came about as a special effects company with the ultimate goal to be doing their own character designs for films. As time has progressed, they are designing and releasing model kits as well.
Stuart Freeborn
( September 5, 1914 - London, England)
See article highlighting Freeborn’s work
A British motion picture make-up artist, perhaps best known for his work on the original Star Wars trilogy.
He created the make-up for all of the characters, including Yoda, whom he supposedly based on his own face and that of Albert Einstein. Freeborn was also the make-up artist on Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, where he created the humans/apes for the "Dawn of Man" sequence. He worked on Kubrick's Dr.Strangelove, handling Peter Sellers' multiple lead roles. He worked with Sellers in several other films, including Heavens Above!, Mr. Topaze, and Soft Beds Hard Battles.
His wife Kay assisted her husband on several occasions; their son Graham was also a prolific make-up artist before his untimely death in 1986.
Alec Gillis
(1959-) Phoenix, AZ
http://www.studioadi.com/
Alec is an award winning special effects creator who is partnered with Tom Woodruff Jr. in Amalgamated Dynamics Inc. He has worked on such films as Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984), The Santa Clause film series (1994-2006), Jumanji (1995), Hollow Man (2000), Bedazzled (2000), and Panic Room (2002).
Kelcey Fry
http://www.lipspink.com/
Kelcey is a talented makeup artist and long time instructor for Joe Blasco School of Makeup and Special Effects. She has worked as makeup department head and makeup artist on many projects including Vanilla Sky (2001), Something Gotta Give (2003), Epic Movie (2007), The Pirates of the Carribean film series (2003-06), Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) and currently working on the Riches (2007-08)television series.
Tony Gardner
(1965 – Cleveland, Ohio)
His first professional job was for Rick Baker on Michael Jackson's "Thriller." Gardner appeared in the video as the hobbling zombie whose arm falls off.
Gardner was investigated by the Arizona State Police and Missing Persons bureau for effects work done on Three Kings (1999) involving a bullet traveling through a soldier's body.
Arizona State Police originally believed that bullets had been fired through a real human cadaver and filmed with a high speed camera. The Missing Person's division thought that the "cadaver" was obtained by taking a homeless person off of the streets of Phoenix, Arizona. Eventually, Tony had to write a disclaimer describing how he had achieved the sequences with makeup effects technology so that Warner Brothers could hand or fax the disclaimer out to all of the people flooding their offices with inquiries. Oddly enough, this was not an unfamiliar situation for Tony Gardner, as his work was investigated by FBI agents in Los Angeles several years earlier when a film lab called the police after viewing his work on an earlier film project.
Matthew Mungle
(October, 26 1956)
http://www.matthewwmungle.com/
Matthew’s career was launched on low-budget projects that taught him to think fast on his feet, however, his first major success was with Edward Scissorhands, starring Johnny Depp, in 1990. Bram Stoker’s Dracula followed in 1992, earning Matthew his first Academy Award. In 1993, Schindler’s List earned him his second nomination and the aging of James Woods in Ghosts Of Mississippi in 1996 gave him yet another Oscar nod.
Aging has been one of Matthew’s strongest calling cards and one that has proved to be exceptionally challenging. His fascination with taking someone young and making them old, prompted him to research more viable methods, such as gelatin, which was first used in the 1930’s but later abandoned when the hot lights caused it to melt. With today’s less intense lighting and faster film speed, Matthew has given new life to the nearly-translucent substance, which when applied correctly looks and moves like real skin.
Ve Neill
(1951, Riverside, California USA)
http://www.vesfavoritebrushes.com/index.htm
Her early career as a rock 'n roll stylist, Neill began to develop her skills as a designer and makeup artist. Specializing in concept, design and execution, Neill entered the film industry and discovered a talent for extreme fantasy makeup. These unique skills put her in the forefront of the early 80's film extravaganzas.
Neill created space travelers for the first Star Trek (1979) film and for the hit comedy Galaxy Quest (1999), rock ' n roll vampires for Joel Schumacher's The Lost Boys (1987) and visions of the Afterlife for Tim Burton's wacky comedy Beetlejuice (1988). In addition, she turned Johnny Depp into a scissors wielding anti-hero for Edward Scissorhands (1990), Robin Williams into a Scottish nanny for Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Martin Landau into horror king Bela Lugosi for Ed Wood (1994) and a slew of dirty, drunken, barnacle encrusted camp Pirates that everyone adores for the Pirates if the Caribbean (2003-2007)series. She has also turned Johnny Depp into the infamous Butcher Barber of Fleet Street for the film musical Sweeney Todd (2007).
Over the course of her thirty-year career, Neill has won three Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards, two Saturn Awards, a BAFTA Award, Local 706 Best Character Makep Award and the first Artist to be awarded Hollywood Foreign Press “Makeup Artist of the Year”Award. That is a total of 19 international nominations for her creative and innovative makeups. She recently added “Pirates of the Caribbean” to her list of creations for which she was awarded the the BAFTA (British Academy Award) and another Oscar nomination.
Greg Nicotero
(March 15, 1963)
http://www.knbefxgroup.com/index.html
In 1988, along with Robert Kurtzman and Howard Berger, he formed K.N.B. EFX Group, a special effects studio which has gone on to work on over 400 film and television projects. K.N.B. has won numerous awards, including an Emmy Award in 2001 for their work on the 2000 Sci Fi Channel miniseries Frank Herbert's Dune and they were awarded an Academy Award in 2006 for achievement in makeup for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Nicotero learned the trade of special effects from Tom Savini, award-winning special effects and makeup artist, and helped on films by director George A. Romero. While working on the film Day of the Dead (1985), he had come to meet future KNB EFX Group partner, Howard Berger. He had begun his career working in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but later relocated to Hollywood.
Benjamin Emmet Nye, Sr.
(January 12, 1907 – February 9, 1986)
http://www.bennye.com/
MakeUpMania.com interview with Ben Nye’s son Dana Nye
Developed a line of makeup used in theater, film and television. Mr. Nye worked as makeup artist and later department head in many film and television projects. Just to name a few titles in this man’s long career: The Fly (1958), Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959), The Lost World (1960), The Green Hornet TV Series (1966-67), BatMan TV series (1966-67).
Jack Pierce
(May 5,1889 Greece - July 19, 1968)
http://www.jackpierce.com/
Mr. Pierce was a legendary monster maker during the golden era of the 1930s and 1940s for Universal Studios. He developed the original makeup for Boris Karloff’s monster in Frankenstein (1931), and the Mummy (1932). He also created Lon Chaney Jr’s look for the Wolfman (1941)
Mark Rappaport’s Creature Effects, Inc.
Makeup, Creature and Puppet Fabrication
http://www.creaturefxinc.com/
Creature Effects, Inc. is an independently owned business that produces animatronics and makeup effects for film and television. The company was founded by Mark Rappaport in 1990 after many years of creating puppets and makeup for other effects houses. Mark’s experience producing effects for ILM, Chris Walas, KNB, Stan Winston and running the creature shop for the independent branch of Paramount Pictures known as Full Moon Pruductions gave him the expertise to generate outstanding effects through his own facility.
Located in Los Angeles, adjacent to Universal Studios, Creature Effects, Inc. has supported feature films for all of the major studios and had traveled crew around the world to puppeteer, manage effects and apply makeup. Mark has managed extensive, multi-million dollar projects requiring crews of 50-100 technicians, as well as commercial assignments with limited funds and rapid turn around. Feature film projects include: I Am Legend, 300, Scary Movie 2 and The Last Samurai. Creature Effects creates much more than creature make-ups and puppets. We have extensive inventory of ultra-realistic human baby and animal puppets that we have created over the years. Our designers create innovative conceptual artwork, sculpture and mechanisms to bring the visions of directors and producers to life.
Tom Savini
(November 3, 1946 - )
www.savini.com/
Mr. Savini is an American actor, stunt man, director and award-winning special effects and makeup artist. He is known for his work on the Living Dead films directed by George A. Romero, as well as Friday the 13th, Creepshow (1982), The Burning (1981), The Prowler (1981), and Maniac (1980). He directed the 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead. Though officially retired from special effects, he has continued to direct, produce and star in several movies. Savini has been known to refer movie make-up effects projects to graduates of his school.
Savini runs the Special Effects Make-Up and Digital Film Programs at the Douglas Education Center in Monessen, Pennsylvania and is the author of several books on special effects including Grande Illusions I and II (1983, 1994) and Bizarro! (1984), detailing the production and mechanical workings of many of his famous film effects. He is also associated with other books in the horror genre including Book of the Dead for which he wrote the foreword. Savini is an associate of Dick Smith, who incorporates an advanced professional make-up seminar into the last semester of the program. Among other projects, Smith is known for his groundbreaking work in The Exorcist. Until 2006, every Halloween season, Savini hosted TerrorMania, a haunted house-type attraction. First located in Monessen, TerrorMania was relocated to the Century III Mall in 2005.
Dick Smith
(June 26, 1922 - )
http://www.dicksmithmake-up.com/
Smith pioneered the method of applying prosthetics made from foam latex in small pieces as opposed to the standard of applying a latex mask as one solid piece. Smith's technique allowed the actor to have a wide range of facial expressions, making the makeup appear more natural. Despite initial criticism from many professional makeup artists at the time, Smith's makeup techniques proved to be superior. Today, the standard of applying prosthetics are those that Smith invented. He is known for his work on such films as Little Big Man (1970), The Godfather (1972), The Exorcist (1973), Taxi Driver (1976), and Scanners (1981). He won an Academy Award for Makeup for his work on Amadeus (old Salieri makeup) (1984).
Patrick Tatopoulos
(Paris, France)
http://www.tatopoulosstudios.net/
A renowned French-Greek production designer, who lives and works in the United States. His designs have appeared in numerous box office hit motion pictures, including Underworld (2003), I, Robot (2004), The Chronicles of Riddick (2004), Independence Day (1996), Stargate (1994), Godzilla (1998), Stuart Little (1999), I Am Legend (2007), and Live Free or Die Hard (2007).
Christian Tinsley
(1974- )
http://www.tinsleytransfers.com/
Won Oscar for Technical Achievement Award 2008
for the creation of the transfer techniques for creating and applying 2D and 3D makeup known as "Tinsley Transfers".
Christian developed and implemented a new process known as a “prosthetic transfer.” This ingenious idea was created during the filming of The Passion of the Christ (2004). He has also worked as makeup artist on such films as Pearl Harbor (2001), No Country for Old Men (2007) and I Am Legend (2007)
William Tuttle
(April 12, 1912 – July 27, 2007)
A longtime head of the makeup department at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Mr. Tuttle worked on more than 300 films. He won an honorary Oscar in 1965 for his work on 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, the first makeup artist to receive the award. He also went on to create award winning make-ups for such films as Young Frankenstein (1974), Logan’s Run (1976), The Fury (1978), and Love at First Bite (1979). Tuttle also designed the Morlock creatures for the 1960 film The Time Machine. Mr. Tuttle developed his own makeup line, Custom Color Cosmetics, which is still manufactured.
The Westmore Family
http://www.westmoreacademy.com/
The Westmore Family -- George Westmore and his six sons, Monte, Ern, Perc, Wally, Bud, and Frank "changed the face of Hollywood, literally", according to a Hollywood Walk of Fame spokeswoman.
George Westmore opened the very first make-up department at Selig Studios in 1917.
Ern Westmore became the first make-up artist recipient of the Academy Cup in 1931 for his work on Cimarron.
Monte wowed Hollywood with his styling skills on movie epic Gone with the Wind (1939)
And when Paul Muni won the Best Actor Oscar for The Story of Louis Pasteur in 1936, he thanked only one person, Perc Westmore, in his acceptance speech.
Other family claims to fame include Bud Westmore's molded foam rubber suit in The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) and his make-up expertise on TV show The Munsters (1964-66) and youngest brother Frank's work on cult show Kung Fu (1972-75), for which he became the first Westmore to receive an Emmy Award.
Monte's son, Michael, received an Oscar and a British Academy Award nomination in 1986 for his artistry on Mask. He has also picked up nine Emmy statuettes and an impressive 42 Emmy nominations over the course of his career. He holds the record for more Emmy nominations than any other make-up artist.
Chris Walas
(1955- )
Mr. Walas is a special effects artist and film director. His main body of work is with special effects in a wide variety of movies from science fiction to action-adventure. His work on The Fly (1986) led to his directorial debut on The Fly II (1989). He also won an Academy Award for Special Effects Make-up on The Fly (1986) and is well known for his creation of the Gremlins (1984). Mr. Walas also created special effects films such as Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Star Wars Episode III Return of the Jedi (1983), Arachnophobia (1990)
Steve Wang
(Taiwan)
www.myspace.com/stevewangfx
As a veteran makeup artist and creature designer, Steve has worked with fellow veterans before him including Stan Winston, Rick Baker and Dick Smith.
He has received great praise for his two film adaptations of the manga superhero, Guyver (The Guyver and Guyver: Dark Hero). Another project which drew attention to him was the direct to video movie, Drive, which starred Mark Dacascos & Kadeem Hardison. He also made independent films such as Kung Fu Rascals, based on a series of 8 mm short films he did years before. He and his brother Michael Wang, an award winning commercials director, have recently been hired to work on "Kamen Rider Dragon Knight" (an adaptation of Kamen Rider Ryuki), a second attempt at reviving Masked Rider and the Kamen Rider franchise in the United States. They will write, produce, and direct as the "The Wang Brothers."
Stan Winston
(April 7, 1946 – June 15, 2008)
http://www.stanwinstonstudio.com/
Mr. Winston was an American visual effects supervisor, make-up artist, and film director. He was best known for his work in the Terminator (1984-2003) series, the Jurassic Park (1993-2001) series, Aliens (1986), the Predator (1987-90) series, and Edward Scissorhands (1990). He won a total of four Academy Awards for his work.
Tom Woodruff Jr.
(born 1959, Williamsport, Pennsylvania, USA)
http://www.studioadi.com/
Partner with Alec Gillis in the special effects company Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc. He has created special effects for The Terminator (1984), Aliens (1986), Leviathan (1989), Wolf (1994), Mortal Combat (1995), Demolition Man (1993), and AVP: Alien vs Predator (2004). Mr. Woodruff is also credited as an actor playing creatures in several films including Pumpkinhead (1989), Lead Alien in Alien 3 (1992), and Lead Primate Creature in Evolution (2001).
