Quentin: Facial Prosthetic Research and Zombie ageing

The Walking Dead: Zombie make up tips

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhB6NYPo2Sw

When researching previous looks for how to create a zombie look from the walking dead I came across this video on YouTube which is created by the Walking dead crew. In the video makeup artist Greg Nicotero who is consulting producer and special EFX makeup and Andy Schoneberg who is special effects makeup artist demonstrate a look that is easy to make with homemade products and products you can buy from a supermarket and is at reasonable value. This is perfect for a student like me if I can't splash out on the cash on all profession special effect products. I found this video very useful and gives me a variety of products I could use myself when creating my own zombie. 

Screen shot of the final point of creating the look

Products used:

• conditioner (greasy hair)
• Latex
• stipple sponge
• white powder
• hair dryer
• instant oatmeal 
• Geletine
• Spatula
• Cosmetic sponge
• Tissue
• Sponges
• Pale base colour
• Mineral oil
• Dark colours for shadowing (black/grey)
• Unnatural green/yellow colour
• Blood (can be made with food colouring and corn syrup) 
• Firm paint brush 

Inside Walking Dead: Bicycle Girl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVHoO2Jd9iM

Short footage of how they created the first zombie ever shown on Screen in the series 'The Walking Dead'. Greg Nicotero talks about the look and application, and then shows footage of the 3 hour process sped up to being shown in 2 and half minutes.

|Make-up in Process|

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http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB
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http://static01.nyt.com/images/2011/10/18/us/
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Quentin:
I feel when researching and looking into clips of the process of how to create looks and the application. I found the videos that were created by the Walking Dead channel which showed the make-up artists creating looks on the actors and the steps of the process. I found the first video I watched at the top extremely helpful when researching how you can create the zombie look because it explained steps of how to create it and also home made products. I feel this research has really helped narrow my idea down and also helped me with the selection of products I will need to complete the look. Also how the video shows how to create lumpy skin with oatmeal and latex which gives me ideas of how to I could try and create my own products with food items which saves money on rather than buying professional all products and the budget being high.


Zombies Progression:

The Walking Dead's walkers are rotting corpses controlled by a brain which manages - somehow - to reanimate itself...

But their bodies are still decomposing.

This is what showrunner Glen Mazzara said about them:
"A walker would not starve to death, but the corpse would continue to rot so over months it would probably rot and fall apart... As we continue from season to season and those months turn into years, we do think that the older walkers would continue to deteriorate. But now we learn that anybody who dies becomes a walker so there would always be new walkers — fresh walkers."

You might assume that technical accuracy on the AMC show would come second to zombies getting smashed with crow bars and crazed survivors shooting aimlessly at each other from abandoned locations. However, the show's producer, Greg Nicotero, wants those corpses to decompose - and he damn well wants them to do so realistically.

Apparenty, he "has the show's makeup team pay special attention to how the zombies' skin has been affected by heat and dehydration, considering that unlike the show's target audience, the undead hordes spend most of their time outside."

Season 1

Season Ones little girl, still has mostly human features however the eyes have changed, a cut on the forehead and a torn up mouth with blood.

Season 2

More evident sores start to appear on the majority of walkers by Season 2. Violently eating a human and covered in blood. Cuts over the body and the eyes are set deeper with again the different eye colour. 

Season 3

Evidently the skin has completely changed colour showing obviously where there is no circulation. Patchy skin with multiple colours,, skin is saggy and wrinkling, no hair and eyebrows. Clothes are very battered, eyes are off colour and deep set, mouth area is deteriorating with a lot of blood on him and his clothes.

Season 4

The zombie here has clearly been around for a while and has turned into more of a skeleton as there's not much left on him. Clothing and majority of his skin had deteriorated away from him. 

information and photos from: http://moviepilot.com/posts/2014/09/23/ever-notice-this-about-the-walking-dead-s-infected-2292085?lt_source=external,manual

As my character Quentin is being set in the Alexandria safe zone which is in Season 5 Quentin could be extremely deteriorated and not much left on him if he has been a zombie for quite a while. However I'm creating Quentin in Season 5 but he is going to be recently bitten so he won't be extremely decomposed like the older zombies. Quentin will averagely been bitten a month to two months prior to him walking into Alexandria Safe Zone therefore he will have characteristics of being human however his skin is a deathly colour, the eyes have changed and also deep set, the face is cut up and covered in blood, his hair is still there however greasy and dirty. 



Make-up Face chart ideas:

Here I experimented with another face chart for my Quentin character. I used elements that were shown in the top video where Greg Nicotero and Andy Schoneberg created a zombie looks such as the oats and latex on the face. I started with contouring the face with a grey/green/tan colour to get the skin colour and then applied products on top however if creating this chart on a person the make-up would go different than creating it on paper. On the face I wanted to use a mix of latex products and geletine to create the scaring and uneven skin. Then over I would apply the skin tone and contour the face, then add colour to he wounded/infected area and then add the blood.