Bake-Offs and Eyeballs

I went to the Oscar Bake-Off last Saturday-it was the first time I've ever gone! It seems weird that I would never have attended, but I was glad to finally get to go. They did close the doors to the makeup and hair general public a few years back because a bunch of effects shop hooligans showed up and pilfered the bar and petit-fours in their foam and plaster covered fatigues and stinky work shirts! I know you guys have clean duds at home! It's too bad that it was closed because it was exciting and a real social event at the lovely Motion Picture Academy. My brother-in-law was in the Final Seven for Jonah Hex-we are all so proud of him! He seemed so calm describing the very uncomfortable understucture of the prostheticthat Josh Brolin wore for the duration of shooting-of course, its not his first foray into Oscar territory. He was nominated in 2005 for "Passion Of The Christ" and he won a technical achievement Oscar for his invention of prosthetic transfers-many copy them but there is nothing like the original(I've been using them since he started making them which was well before I met Husband,btw) and I've done my comparison shopping. Everyone who spoke was interesting and the questions were pointed with some surprising answers. It made for a great afternoon, especially since I was invited by the talented veteran hairstylist Janis Clark(department head on "Glee") and we have fun together. After the short clips were shown, we had a chance to mingle with old and new friends and congratulate the finalists on their incredible achievements. Janis has been a member of the Academy for more than 15 years. She cast her votes right there over the hummus and tea sandwiches-such pressure! She had a tough decision this year. We found out this past Tuesday that the nominees are;
Barney's Version-Adrien Morot
The Way Back- Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk, and Yolanda Toussieng
The Wolfman- Rick Baker and Dave Elsey
Adrien Morot highlights from Barney's Version were that he had only 6 weeks to prep it, 2 hours 15 minutes to apply each day and that included a handlaid beard on Paul Giamatti because the lace beards inhibited his acting. He used silicone on most actors but gelatin on Rosamund Pike which was a beautifully subtle age makeup. If you haven't seen it, sit through it just to see the makeups. Thumbs up, adrien! We hate you...;)
The Way Back seemed to be a tremendous undertaking physically for Ed Henriques, Greg Funk, and Yolanda Toussieng. They shot in all climates-extreme heat, freezing cold-mountains, flats, deserts, and absolutely tons of deterioration makeup and hair challenges starting with baldheads in the Siberian prison and Russian tattoos ending 1600 miles later in India with burns, bugbites, frostbite, exposure, and sunstroke. Incredible work! Breathtaking. A must see!
Rick Baker's and Dave Elsey's The Wolfman! The work was stupenous, eery, very well executed and fun to watch. Anything Rick touches is gold, of course. If you like classic monster films-don't miss it.
Can't wait to see who the winner is on February 27th, 2011!

Most recent question from a friend of mine-Who do I use for lens teching?
I had her contact Cristina Patterson Ceret at Professional Vision Care in Sherman Oaks. She has made contacts for all my projects and is very talented as well as a real team player. Also, Professional Vision Care has a great website for reference material. Check it out at provisioncare.com. Cristina has a bounty of talented lens technicians on hand to help with your production. Dr. Stacy Sumner, who is my actual eye doctor, is one of three doctors available for actors to have proper check-ups and fittings for your productions. Cristina can make you anything from subtle corneal contacts that simply change the color of the eye, to full scleral lenses that represent burned eyes, alien transformations, or piercing vampire eyeballs. Check them out.
EKM