Tips & Tricks FACE FALLING OFF - LIQUID LATEX??

Hi... i want to film a scene where this girl's skin starts to fall off and she doesn't know why. What can i use as believable fake skin that is safe to apply? Would Liquid LAtex work?

Also... I want to do some other stuff with liquid latex but have no experience with it... A friend told me you just apply it to soemthign with a brush and then it takes the form of that thing.... pretty sweet.... is it this simple though?

 

Yeah, I think liquid latex would be ideal for what you want. It's hard to tell you exactly how to do it without more details, but the easiest way to find out is to buy some and just play with it and go from there. It's pretty safe as far as chemicals go. The only thing is that it smells pretty strong when it's so close to your face, so leave a door or window open, and if you put it on right under your eyes, keep your eyes closed cuz the fumes will burn until it starts to dry.

Some things that will get you going in the right direction: You can embed some kleenex in the latex to give it thickness, strength, and texture. Also, buy some makeup to make it match your skin color. I bought some regular drug store foundation and a burn wheel from Ben Nye (the pink blended with the foundation worked well for me), and some latex makeup sponges for blending. KY Jelly is also good for gooey 'Brundel Fly'-type grossness.

Hope that helps!

 

You could always use facepaint and paint like her cheeks red. Then apply the liquid laytex over all the red. Then when you "pull her face off" you have red stuff behind it to give it a neat effect of...raw flesh.

 

Well a big upside and a big downside to this whole this is that my film has to be black and white.... Its for a film class and we have to shoot it 16,, B&W.... so the color of the latex just has to be close, it doens't have to be great... I was thinking about painting her face all black then putting the flesh tone latex over it.

The thing is this... will the latex look very smooth? Like... will my actress look like she is made oout of plastic? if so, will make-up (as suggested before) fix this? or will she just look like a plastic doll who now has makeup on?

 

I'm going to assume you're a college film student, but in the interests of not exposing our 18-under crowd, PM me and I can link you to my source for the stuff. The pictures on the site are NSFW, but do express very well the way that LL applies to skin.

 

Whether you are just using liquid latex or covering it with make-up, to get rid of any shine, use powder. Also, liquid latex comes in white which dries clear or in flesh tone which retains the color when dry.

 

You need to be carfule with latex. To much contact with the stuff when it is drying can be hazardous. So I have heard (go check around the Discovery Chanels Myth Busters site)

 

ehh... If you're talking about the Goldfinger myth, that was because they covered every inch of him in latex. Putting it on your face is harmless.

 

I use it constantly and I have never had a single adverse reaction.

 

Yea that was the one. I was just making shure ever one was aware of that. Better safe then sorry if you ask me.

 

Uh, I thought that was a girl that the covered in gold paint, not liquid latex!

 

They painted Jamie head to toe in a latex-based gold paint. A later episode they did the same to Adam.

The myth came from the woman who was painted gold in Goldfinger. But it was Jamie that they painted on the show.

 

Without having to go the expensive or 18 and over route go to your nearest party or hobby store. They should have a product called SUPER HI-FLOAT. It's used as a coating for latex balloons, and it's just a cheaper way to get alot of liquid latex cheap. I used it on halloween for zombie face falling off/apart look and it worked great it dries clear so you can paint or color it before hand make wounds or boils if you like. If you have the patience to work at it slowly you can do amazing stuff with it. Also if you can't find the stuff near you head to a floral shop and ask them nicely for a few ounces. This is the inexpensive route.

 

EEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWW!!! lol!

Dude, you put Hi-Float on your face?? That's frickin' hilarious. I work at Factory Card and Party Outlet, so I'm always cleaning up blobs that got on the counter. It's this goopy glue that we use to extend the life of latex balloons. It's obviously not meant for skin contact, so I dunno if it's the best thing for you to put on your face, but when you're talking about balloons, kids are a given, so I'm sure it's non-toxic, but I don't know for sure.

Still. Very weird. lol

Oh, and if you come to my store, I'll give you a big blob of it.

 

I missed the MythBusters reference in that previous post. That's why I was confused! I did see that particular show, though.

 

I looked at the jug of Hi-Float. It says it's non-toxic, non-corrosive, non-flammable, biodegradable, etc. It's not latex-based though. It's a water-soluble plastic.

 

make-up is an expensive art that requires a lot of practice.

Do you want the skin to actually flake-off onscreen? Or just have before and after shots? If the former--you're probablly best talking to a CGI person. For the latter, there have been a number of good suggestions here.

Reactions to latex are usually the result of LOTS of exposure. Dr.s in particular have to be careful because of all the gloves. Most of the "Burning" sensations are because Liquid Latex contains ammonia (hence the smell too). Someone didn't listen to his make-up artist who was applying a large nose&forehead prosthetic and inhaled deeply while it was being put on. The result was... unpleasant and messy. And he ruined the prosthetic.

Ben Nye is a good hypo-allergenic brand. Don't use the drug-store make-up unless you have nothing better available. Water-soluble face paints like Krylon are a lot easier to learn with and can be cheaper.

As with all arts, practice, practice, practice. Be preparred to spend LOTS of time.

Oh, don't put any expensive brushes into latex.

Good luck