The special effects work of John Knolls special effects team has certainly raised the bar in believability of a fictitious character. His Industrial Light and Magic team created Davy Jones for Disneys Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Mans Chest. In this sequel, Bill Nighy is the actor who portrays Davy Jones movements and voice. He wears a dark grey motion capture suit, and two motion capture cameras were used as opposed to the 16 needed in the past. The process of Computer Generated Imaging (CGI) then morphed the actor into a convincing depiction of a cursed pirated who because he lives underwater, he literally becomes a creature of the sea.
This special effects makeup of this film was fascinating to watch and it really does trick your eye into thinking Jones is real. But does this mean that special effects artists need to trade in their brushes for a computer mouse any time soon? The answer is thankfullyno!
There will always be a need for makeup artist to a pply their special skills to film, television, or theatre. There is one living character on the Flying Dutchman, actor Stellan Skarsgrd, who plays Bootstrap Billhe had wonderful live barnacles protruding from his face.
By the other side of the coin Michael Chiklis was transformed into Fantastic Four super hero The Thing through a time consuming and detailed process.
Sixty pounds (27 kg) of latex, it was hellish. said Chiklis. But he did the project because of the potential the movie had to being a franchise. It's employment potentially for 10 years. It gets your name out there in an international context that puts you on all those lists that you must be on as an actor in order to get Movies green lit. Thats why he was willing to go through the hellish process of being the hulking Thing for the film.
Then on the other hand, I understand that Bill Nighy was disappointed that he didnt have to wear the pirate costume for any of the film shooting. Just the grey motion capture suitso he didnt have to endure the heavy makeup appliances or masks required in the pastbut it didnt let him play act in costume as if he were Davy Jones either. This is testament to Nighy's acting abilities, because he gives a terrific performance as the character.
Although Industrial Light and Magic will always strive to wow audiences with the newest visual effects, the basic need for the human factor helps ground the movie experience. E.g. the whole last three Star Wars Movies were visually incredible but fell far short of the first three films that had real characters, actors in suits and makeup interacting with each other. Otherwise we have a movie that is not much more than a video game, lacking our own ability to control the plot.
I think makeup special effects wizard Rick Baker put it best when he said I still think a marriage between the two techniques is the best way to go. They each have their strong points. Baker is absolutely right! Its important to move forward and push techniques to new limits and respect the place that both technologies have in this field. So as with most professions the integration of computer knowledge creates advantages with a mixture of honing in on physical skills of makeup effects. Baker also says I do all my design work on the computer now. Its like my favorite tool. I can do so much more and it frees me up so much more because I can save it anywhere down the line, so Im not afraid to screw it up. Perfecting bloods, latex appliances, and skin blends will have a place within the movie making world. Thank goodness there are many movie makers who simply cant afford expensive visual effects in the first place.
That fact harkens makeup artists back to the days when makeup artists have to use their problem solving skills and creativity to create physically realistic effects. This is the fun in special effect making. Creating something that audiences say to themse lves wow! or gross! or just smile.
Article Citations
Interview with Creature Creator, Rick Baker From Rebecca Murray, Your Guide to Hollywood Movies. http://Movies.about.com/cs/interviews/a/baker050304.htm
Michael Chiklis a bigger Thing in Fantastic Four, By Christy Lemire http://www.theage.com.au/news/film/bigger-thing-michael-chiklis/2005/07/10/1120934121205.html
J.M. Jeffrey is the founder of http://www.goremaster.com an online community dedicated to special effects makeup artists and fans of all levels.
Author:: J.M. Jeffrey
Keywords:: special effects makeup, makeup artists, Movies, science fiction, Action
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