Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/910903
46 • THE ARTISAN FALL 2017 hose forced steamy heat into it. Chris, one of the guys from the shop, and I applied the make-up and some prosthetic transfers to his chest. I lathered him up with shaving cream and he sat in the sauna. Within 15 minutes, his exposed head was dripping with sweat. Hopefully, his body was doing the same. Chris stepped out of the sauna, and I proceeded to wipe him down with moist hot cloth towels and some 244 fluids. The prosthetic transfers and make-up started to slide off his body. However, once out of the tent, his body and the make-up would start to cool down quickly and removal became slow again. I had to be inside the sauna with Dave so that we could maintain that high body temperature. We sold the idea to pro- duction to get a full-size sauna for removal. They ended up buying two. Overall removal time for Drax was reduced to 70 minutes. Nebula In the first GOTG, to achieve the sleek design for Gamora's half-bio- mech sister Nebula, Karen Gillan shaved her head. For the film's 2016 sequel, the actress didn't want to lose her hair. We hoped she would let us cut her hair to a manageable length. We created Photoshop images of different hair styles that could still work with minimizing the density of her hair. Another key to the hair wrap process is to shave the nape of her neck up to the base of her skull. This would give the make-up artist a clean area to adhere any prosthetics to, as well as keep from adding any thickness to her slender neck. Eventually, a hair style and length was chosen, and the nape of her neck was shaved. Since I was already well underway dealing with Drax and Gamora, we brought in Alexei Dmitriew to spearhead Nebula. Shortly after that, Chris Nelson joined the team. This was definitely going to be one of the most difficult make-ups on this show to pull off, and these two talented artists stepped up to the challenge. One of the first tests involved wrapping her hair, life casting, creating a vacu-form shell that we could adhere to. Basically, trying to recreate a smooth head. This became too problematic. Tina Fabulic, the on-set Legacy hair stylist, returned. After the vacu-form idea didn't work out, both Tina and Alexei wanted to try to layer and swirl her hair, plaster- ing down each layer with Blue Spiker Water Resistant Styling Glue. Tina also dried each layer as she went along, so at the end of it, there were no clips or pins. The result was a hard- shell hair helmet that was very tight to Karen's skull shape. The process took about an hour, but the result was worth it, and now that Karen's mane was dealt with, Alexei and Chris could buckle in for their ride. The Nebula make-up consisted of seven pre-painted sili- cone prosthetics, a bald cap, then top of the head piece, face piece, mechanical eye pieces and a back of neck. She also had a lace eyebrow and an eyelash for her non-robotic side. There are a lot of geometric shapes and straight lines within the make- up design which added to the degree of difficulty in laying down the prosthetics correctly, not to mention that they were stretched over the bulk of Karen's hair. There is a very intricate patterning of colors that both Alexei and Chris also had to tie together between the prosthetics, as well as an aspect of a beauty make-up. Karen's neck had to be based out with PAX paint, then painted to match the rest of the scheme. Also, depending on the costume, there was an upper arm prosthetic used that also carried the same look on her face down into her body. Overall application time for the Nebula make-up was reduced from five hours to 3½ hours, including the hair wrap. Yondu Yondu make-up appears simple, but there is a lot of detail and layering that goes into that vibrant blue that Michael Rooker sports. Scott Stoddard used his artistic eye to oversee the streamlining and recreation of this character. Scott resculpted the "Fin Socket" prosthetic, as well as the criss-cross scars on the right side of his face. John Cherevka recreated the dental prosthetics that finished off Yondu's toothy grin. LuAndra Whitehurst helped push this make-up through. We dipped into the ShowOffs Body Art—ProAiir make-up paints to start off the Yondu make-up. This could be brushed on very quickly once the prosthetics were applied. There were about five to six color passes of other ProAiir or Skin Illustrator make-up to create the depth and vibrancy in Yondu's skin tone. There is a scene in GOTG V2, where all the Ravagers are at the Iron Lotus, a bar and cyber brothel. James Gunn, the director, thought it would be cool to see Yondu shirtless in this scene. He wanted to see part of Yondu's life through scarring on his body. Scott ordered up a bunch of Got Flesh!?! Prosthetic Michael Rooker as Yondu Karen Gillan as Nebula