The passionate ones do it because they love it, pure and simple. The financial rewards, if any, aren’t that important to them because they just love what they do. They’re often not the most talented to begin with, but their passion and dedication to learn their craft drive them to improve with everything they do. Given the choice of hiring someone with great talent and an indifferent attitude or someone with mediocre talent and a burning passion, I’d hire the latter. There’s no substitute for passion.
The passionate artist will listen and learn and strive to improve everything he or she does. The passionate artist will pore over every page of this book, learning new techniques and sucking up the information. But that passion can easily transform into one of the above, and it only takes passion to fizzle out a little for the passionate to become lazy. Equally, with just a nudge, passion can go the other way and become perfectionism.
You can probably tell that I’d consider myself passionate about makeup. My particular niche is prosthetics, and I’ve had the pleasure of a 20-year career in my chosen field. Sometimes the passion for it wanes—usually around 3:00 a. m. on a night shoot; it’s cold and raining and I’ve forgotten to bring waterproofs—but mostly I maintain my passion. More recently I’ve found a way to keep that passion for makeup alive through teaching. Having a passion is great, but having the opportunity of sharing it is wonderful, and seeing other passionate people develop and improve through that sharing is, frankly, magical. Maybe one day one of my former students will have the honor, after their own 20-year career, to be writing the foreword to another book on makeup written by another passionate man.
—Neill Gorton, 2008
For the better part of my adult life I’ve been working in music, theater, film, and television; I’ve worn numerous hats, worked on some terrific shows with very talented people, and loved almost every minute of it. All in all, I’ve been very fortunate. Special makeup effects are the most fun I’ve had professionally, in large part because of the incredible artists and craftsmen (both male and female) who work in this astonishing field. I have never met or gotten to know more amazing, open, sharing, and supportive artists, and I want to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation to them as well as to my family and friends who supported, encouraged, contributed to, and assisted with the writing and compiling of this book.
I’m sure I could have gotten it done even without their help—eventually, and probably not nearly as well—but I’m sure glad I didn’t have to try to write this book this without the incredible counsel and contributions of Neill Gorton, Dave Parvin, Matthew Mungle, and Mark Alfrey. I am deeply indebted to you guys. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!
I am no less thankful and indebted for the support, friendship, and contributions of (in no particular order) Christopher Tucker, Dave Elsey and Rebecca Hunt, Miles Teves, Jordu Schell, Todd McIntosh, Mike Smithson, Alison and Will Chilen, Diane Woodhouse, Christien Tinsley and Tinsley Transfers, John Wilbanks, Robert Hubbard, Pixologic, Inc., Elliot Summons, Kris Martins Costa, Jamie Salmon, John Schoonraad, Brian Landis Folkins, Brian Wade, Nicole Feil, Kelly Rooney, Russell Pearsall, Kevin Kirkpatrick, Mark Garbarino, Vittorio Sodano, John Vulich and Optic Nerve Studios, Thea and FX Warehouse, Dr. Eugene F. Fairbanks, MD, Ed McCormick and EnvironMolds, Phyllis Brownbridge-Somers and WM Creations, Sharon Britt and Whip Mix Corporation, Justin Neill and the lads at Mould Life, Diana Ben-Kiki, Rob Whitehead, Matt Pilley, Chris Guarino, Brad Frikkars and Smooth-On, Tom Savini, Claire Greene, Ron Root, Jordan McDonald, Tess Fondie, Nick Sugar, Brian Walker Smith, Gernot Minke, Kenny Meyers, Chase Heilman, Mike Sisbarro and Silicones Inc., Gil Mosko and GM Foam, Meredith Faragosa and Price-Driscoll, Luke Pammant, Brandon McMenamin, Janelle D’Ambrosio, Kelsey Rich, Phil Martin, Terry Milligan, Don & Ellen Long, Tom Flanagan, Lisa DiMichelle, and John Dunsmoor. A very special thank you also to Cara Anderson at Elsevier and Focal Press for getting the ball rolling for me, and to my editor Michele Cronin for her help and encouragement through some of the most difficult fun I’ve ever had.
To my tolerant and understanding wife Donna, thank you for being your incredible musical self, for indulging my creative bent, and for not divorcing me for my tendency to stink up the joint and leave corpses and body parts lying around the house. To borrow a line from Ralph Kramden, "Baby, you’re the greatest!" Thanks also to my parents Ted and Lois and my sister Amy for their unconditional support and encouragement and for "looking the other way" all these years after their son and big brother decided to go into show business instead of becoming a plastic surgeon. I love you very much!
To Travis, Ryan, and Dylan: If you can dream it, you can do it. Don’t ever stop believing!