Do you recall that there is a pattern to follow when hand laying facial hair? Do you recall that there is a pattern to follow for ventilating hair? Well, there is for punching hair, too, with the front hairline being the last to go in. Otherwise, already punched hairs will be in the way when you put in more; the needle must be inserted at the angle at which you want the hair to lie or else you’ll have a head of hair standing on end, straight up.
To save yourself a considerable amount of time, however, consider hand laying the body of the hair (if it’s on a head) with adhesive and only punching the hairline at an inch or so (2.5 cm) beyond.
1. Pull a small amount of hair from the drawing mats (yes, they’ll come in handy here, too); about 2 inches (5 cm) from the root end of the hair, bend it into a loop and hold it between your thumb and index finger.
2. Holding the needle in your other hand, snag a hair or five and simply inject the needle into the surface, just deep enough for the hairs to remain embedded. Angle the needle to give the hair a "growing" direction.
3. As you move closer to the outer hairline, switch to a lighter hair color. You can also angle the hair direction slightly to help blend lines so the hair "growth" appears to be more random. By the time you reach the hairline, you should be punching only one hair at a time because only one hair grows out of each follicle. For this you will also need to be snagging each hair very near the end so it will be punched into the surface, leaving only a single hair strand sticking out.
4. If you feel that there are too many hairs making up your hairline, you can pull hair out (and punch it back in) to give you the best look.
Can you do facial hair by punching? Sure. What about beard stubble? Absolutely. Ordinarily, for beard stubble you need to use real hair or crepe hair cut into very tiny pieces, the size of shaved whiskers, and attached with adhesive to achieve the unshaved look. Before describing the punched stubble technique, here’s how
to do that. This can be done to an appliance, mask, or dummy or directly onto an actor’s face. No poking or stabbing is involved.
1. Make sure the surface is dean; if the skin beneath the stubble will be visible, use transparent liquid makeup, preferably alcohol-based foundation and color such as Temptu, WM Creations, or Skin Illustrator ®. (You might use whatever you choose so long as it is not an oil-based makeup; that will inhibit the adhesive from working properly.)
2. Choose the hair color or colors you want to use, cut tiny pieces onto a flat surface you can control, such as a piece of palette paper.
3. Working in small sections at a time so you don’t waste adhesive, cover a small area with adhesive (Pros-Aide ® is great for doing this; it dries sticky and is clear when dry, so you know when it’s okay to apply the hair).
4. Use a dry rouge brush or similar brush; you probably won’t want to use a good brush for this, or at least not one you’ll use for rouge or other makeup again, because it’ll be full of tiny bits of hair. Dab the brush into the cut hair. The brush will be a surprisingly effective pickup tool. Carefully transfer the hair to the face. Spread the hairs evenly to avoid clumps that will look fake. A second brush would be good for this.
This might not be the best way to do beard stubble, but if it doesn’t have to read believably in a tight close-up, it will be fine. This technique should also read well in almost every theater environment, from intimate to substantial.
In his outstanding "how-to" book Grand Illusions II, Tom Savini talks about threading a hypodermic needle with a long strand of hair and punching it in loops into the face or facial part of an appliance, until the entire area of beard growth is punched. Then either insert small, sharp scissors into each loop (this could take a while) and cut them individually or take hair clippers or an electric beard trimmer and shave off the tops of the loops, leaving the face with beard stubble just like the real thing! Brilliant!
Another method that I will discuss in a bit more detail in the next chapter is using an electrostatic flocking device. You can use real hair, not just flocking, and you can use it on a real person, not just masks, dummies, and prosthetics. The drawback is that electrostatic flocking guns (they look nothing like a gun, per se) are rather expensive to purchase and are somewhat difficult to find for rental (see the appendix at the back of this book).
A company in Lawrence, Massachusetts, called National Fiber Technology (NFT), specializes in the manufacture of custom – made hair, wigs, and fur fabrics for the entertainment industry, including TV commercials, theme parks, movies, theater, opera, taxidermists, special effects, costumes, mascots, museums, and
 |
ballet. And, though much of what NFT makes and sells could be considered the domain of costumers and wardrobe people, there’s definitely an overlap area that spills over into the realm of makeup effects and hair and makeup. NFT is a terrific resource that has saved my bacon more than once. Put them on speed dial.
From this chapter you should now have a better understanding of:
■ The types and varieties of hair
■ The tools and materials needed to create postiche
■ Wefted wigs and knotted wigs
■ Laying on hair
■ Ventilating hair
■ Punching hair
This page intentionally left blank
■ How to make Pros-Aide® bondo or Cabo patch
■ Uses of plastic bald cap material
■ How to make and apply a bald cap
■ Simple buildup of ears and nose
■ Tuplast
■ Sculpting with nose and scar wax
■ Making rigid collodion scars
■ Airbrush stipple
■ Brush spatter/stipple
■ 3D transfers
■ Stencil tattoos and paint accents
■ Electrostatic hair flocking
■ Applying wrinkle/age stipple
■ Creating trauma, wounds, and bruises
■ How to create a nosebleed on demand
■ Creating burns, blisters, and skin diseases
■ Using skin: safe silicone and gelatin
Wow, that’s a lot of stuff to cover, so let’s get to it!
In addition to the prosthetics covered throughout the rest of this book, there are other materials that can be used both in conjunction with and separately from prosthetic appliances. Just as a wig can be used without any other makeup or makeup effects, a rigid collodion scar, airbrush tattoo, or any of the items described in the Objectives can be used separately or in combination to create character and creature makeup that is still considered special makeup effects. Some of the items and techniques that are the focus of this chapter have been mentioned already earlier in this book—for example, bondo.
What you will also find about this chapter is that is it less detailed in many ways than the previous chapters. Not because I’m running out of steam—no way. I’d happily keep going if I didn’t have to be concerned with page count. No, this chapter is less detailed because this is not the focus of the book; this chapter is supplemental and could even have been part of the DVD. Some of the topics in this chapter are beautifully covered in the Makeup Designory (MUD) book Character Makeup, by Paul Thompson.