Masters of Make Up Effects - A Century of Practical Magic An interview with authors Howard Berger & Marshall Julius

Masters of Makeup Effects: A Century of Practical Magic details the rich history of the legendary characters and creatures created by make-up effects. This new release provides a fantastic reveal into this fascinating aspect of the entertainment industry. I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy and to interview the authors; Howard Berger, an Oscar-winning Special Effects Make-Up Artist with over 800 feature film and television credits, and Marshall Julius, a well known film critic, blogger, broadcaster and author.

James: Congratulations on the book! The pictures and contributions from the iconic makeup effects professionals were mind blowing and very eye opening. The passion comes through 100%.

Howard: Passion is key when it comes to makeup, and special effects. Especially on set. I’m the complete opposite to most people. I’m trying to accomplish an objective where we’re trying to make someone feel a certain way as opposed to just seeing something on screen.

James: And I think that’s what’s really coming through is that you’re trying to elicit a feeling.

Howard: Right

James: How important is what you do and what you contribute to the film or TV series?

Howard: Well, I think it’s very vital. I mean, as I think everybody that contributes is important. So, you know, I work very closely with the costume designer, and the cinematographer. As far as the relationship with the actor, we start the actors day, and we finish the actors day. So we spend more time with actors than anybody does. I always feel like we create 50% of the character with them, and then they take it from there. On The Amazing Spider Man 2, we handled all Jamie Foxx’s makeup and Electro’s. Jamie was the most professional, easygoing, greatest guy. And he was in on the ride, you know, and for the ride. So that really makes a difference, if you are going to do a big makeup or some sort of, you know, labor intensive sort of work on an actor, they have to be in on it.

James: What’s the mindset you need as a MakeUp Effects professional to work in such a large collaborative effort such as film or TV?

Howard: I have to be production friendly. I gotta get this done. So it’s a mix. You know a good makeup artist will understand it’s not about them. You have to look at the big picture, it’s about everyone standing on set, and how this is going to end up. And ultimately, you know what your director’s vision is. So that’s really what it is. Sometimes you might not do something that you personally like and agree with that decision. But you’re there to service the vision of the director. I just feel like everything that you do is so important for the storytelling process.

James: So this actually leads me to the next question. What’s the goal? Are you trying to make something that’s memorable, terrifying or disturbing?

Howard: Well, I think for me, it’s more about creating something that is memorable, because I always use the analogy that we can come up with the coolest, scariest, you know, horrifying thing in the world. But if the filmmakers don’t utilize it properly within the context of the film, it doesn’t mean anything, it doesn’t work.

James: Interesting. Can you give an example?

Howard: Sure, let’s talk about Alien from Ridley Scott. It’s ultimately a guy in a rubber suit. But Ridley knows how to shoot it. He knows how to light it, it’s always wet, it’s always dripping, the sound effects, you know, and he puts it into an environment that is very, very frightening. Now, if you took that same creature, and he was walking around Disneyland, you wouldn’t be scared. So I guess to answer your question, for me it’s about being memorable, but being memorable within the context of the movie.

James: That makes a lot of sense. As I was going through the book I was amazed at the amount of detail each person put into their creations. So my next question, because I’m always wondering about this and Marshall, please weigh in on this as well; Do people within your industry share their secrets? Is it a collaborative society that you exist within?

Howard: We’re pretty much all very friendly and collaborative now, and we share a lot.

James: Wow.

Marshall: Oh, there’s competition, but it’s friendly competition.

Howard: We’re not out vying, like for the same jobs anymore. There’s plenty of work for everybody. And we all kind of have a good niche

Marshall: I think it would be difficult not to, especially now.

James: What do you mean by that?

Howard: Productions have accelerated periods of pre-production these days, you know, when you’re working on a show. So, you know, 10 years ago maybe you had six months of pre-production whereas today you have six weeks. So, things have changed. There’ll be times actually where we share a lot of things.

James: Like what, specifically?

Howard: Life casts. If we have to do makeup on an actor, you know, the first stage is to have his life cast. So we know it’s custom fit. But sometimes the actors might not be available, or they don’t want to do it again, because they hadn’t done it, you know, a year or two ago. So, we’ll reach out to all our friends to see if they have one.

Marshall: That spirit of collaboration is very consistent in Howard’s generation.

Howard: It is, and, you know, that’s kind of my concern about the up and comers is that they don’t share enough. And they look at it as a competition, because they come from the world of competition via the reality show ‘Face Off’ or from schools.

James: Is the new generation of Make Up Effects professionals really that much different from the last one?

Howard: In some way it’s very different.

Marshall: Social media has shed a lot of light on Makeup Effects. Some of it has been great and some not so much.

Howard: None of us had any of that when we were learning and starting our careers. We just did it and learned from one another. On top of the fact you had somebody like Dick Smith, who was, you know, the godfather of makeup, who did the Exorcist and Little Big Man and won an Oscar. And he always shared his secrets.

So I mean, I have a book sitting right here that’s my book of knowledge. It’s Dick Smith’s ‘Do It Yourself Monster MakeUp Handbook’. It’s filled with all the letters and notes that Dick Smith sent me when I was like 14 all the way to when I was probably 25 years old. Anytime I had a question. I’m like, How do I do this, you know, down to the blood formula that I got when I was like 13 years old from Dick Smith. And it’s the blood formula, or a version of that we’ve used here for the last 35 years.

Marshall: A lot of people that told great Dick Smith stories, and the next generation of people that we interviewed, all said similar things about Howard. He’ll have aspiring Makeup Effects people come into his office, show them around, give them advice and take a look at their work. He’ll make sure he’s accessible. That’s how Howard has been passing it on.

Howard: And that’s how I hope it continues. I hope the up and comers today will be as generous with their time with the generation after them.

James: You know, that’s incredible. There aren’t many aspects of the entertainment industry where people make themselves available to that degree to those aspiring to make it.

Marshall: That’s why the MakeUp Effects community is so special. This book celebrates not just their work, but also many of the individuals who make the community as great as it is!

James: So how did you get started? And why did you get started?

Marshall: I think for me why I felt like this was going to be my path in life was because of how fascinated I was by monsters and monster movies, you know? From seeing The Man of 1000 Faces with James Cagney to the original Planet of the Apes. Those movies really pushed it for me and then discovering, you know, the classic monsters like Frankenstein’s monster, to the Creature from the Black Lagoon and the Wolfman. And then I fell into the world of the Japanese monsters. Mostly Godzilla. Oh, yeah. It was like Godzilla. What is this thing? And I remember seeing it, when I was in nursery school, and I saw the model kit at a friend of mine’s house and I’m like, what is that? And he’s like, that’s Godzilla.

Marshall: I mean, who doesn’t love Godzilla?

Howard: I had many options, but I didn’t want them. I wanted this to be my one and only option professionally and it has been for 40 years.

James: 40 years!?!

Howard: Yeah, and it’s been great. You know, I love it. I wake up every morning at 5 am and I’m like “Okay, I’m ready to go to work!”.And I always have a really, really a lot of fun. Yeah, it’s all I really care about is having fun, because I know I can do the job.

James: Last question: Where do you want to see the makeup industry go in the next 20 to 30 years?

Howard: It’s got to be about the people, the amazing community, that wants to continue the collaborative nature, the accessibility, the high standards set by the previous generation. It’s about the filmmaking experience. But with that said, the filmmaking experience has changed quite a bit. And it’s not, it’s not as I want to say it’s not as magical, but you have to make the magic for yourself, you’re not going to get it from production. Which is unfortunate. And it’s, you know, ultimately, as you know, James, it’s the bottom line.

James: That was definitely a different answer than I expected.

Howard: Really?

James: Yeah, I thought you would have said that new technologies would replace old but what I feel you are saying is that as much as technology will change, the magic of what you and others like you do has to remain. And that all depends on the people, not the technology.

Howard: Exactly!

James: Ok, I’ve got one very last question. I promise, this is it.

Marshall (laughing): You’ve said that before.

James: This is it! How do you want this book to affect people? Do you want to inspire future MakeUp Effects pros?

Howard: I want people to read the book and have a deep appreciation for the old way of doing things, the old school. And maybe there will be a return to using those methods. I mean, you know, after Jurassic Park, everybody thought it was all going to be computer generated effects. But then, you know, people just realized actually, that unlike computer generated effects, or JUST computer generated effects, that there has to be at the very least, a marriage between practical and computer generated stuff. I want people who read the book to push the boundaries with new technology while not forgetting about the techniques and methods used that helped bring the entertainment industry to where it is today.

Keep an eye out for ‘Masters of Make-Up Effects: A Century of Practical Magic’ which is scheduled to come out in September.

By James Gavsie
How, Who Would Win Podcast
Twitter @jamesgavsie