Twi'lek makeup

We're thinking of having a Twi'lek character in our next movie, and I apologize if this has been asked before, but what are the best methods for skin makeup and creating lekku?
Thanks!

 

WARNING - LONG POST



If I may offer my input...

The Twi'lek character can be done in one of two basic ways. The cheap way or the expensive one.

For the sake of all we'll go with the cheap way. I always tend to assume everyone is as broke as we are when it comes to these things. LOL

First thing is first. You'll need a pair of panty hose. Don't give me that look. You can either go buy a new pair or get an old pair from your Wife, Mother, Sister, Aunt...whoever. As long as they are in resonably good shape they will do. If they ask why you need them...just smile.

You'll take the hose and stuff them with cotton batting material that you can obtain at your local sewing supply store. Make sure to stuff each leg of the panty hose to where the legs are thicker at the thigh area and thinner at the toe area. The "panty" area of the panty hose is what you will use to put on the head of your actor/actress. Go ahead and fit it and make any adjustments needed. Then secure any extra material with a stitch or two of thread.

Now comes the hard part. Liquid Latex. This stuff runs about 12-15 bucks for 1 Quart. You will want to buy two. Liquid Latex can be found in a generic peachy kind of flesh tone or in translucent. The latter is ususally cheaper and more readily available. You can pigment the Latex in the bottle by adding several drops of any color Latex house paint. You will take your pigmented Liquid Latex and begin coating the legs of the now stuffed panty hose. These will become your "Lekku". Start with one side and go over your painted side with a blow dryer. You really want to work on one leg at a time. Completely finish one before doing the other. Trust me on this. Each leg will take several coats. Once all is dry rub each leg with a nice dose of talcum powder then wipe off the excess. This will keep one leg from sticking to the other once the other is done.

Next on your shopping list is a bald cap, spirit gum, and some make-up remover. The first two items are available either at your local Theatrical Supply store or on-line. It should run you no more than 10 bucks for the two. The make-up remover you can find at any Wal-Mart. Now get ready cause the next step of the process will take about an hour or more. Hope your actor/actress is really good at keeping still.

You'll apply the bald cap according to the instructions supplied with it. A piece of advice though, coat your actor/actress hairline near the edges of the bald cap with WATER based lubricant of some kind. Don't use Vasaline as it eats through latex. This makes it alot easier to get off later. with the bald cap in place you can now place your "lekku wig" on the actor/actress. Once in place you can begin securing it by using more Liquid Latex to coat the "panty" area and the forehead. The object here is to make as seamless a blend between the "wig" and the face as possible. Keep in mind that you want to steer clear of the eyes as much as possible. Liquid Latex uses Ammonia as a drying agent and the fumes can sting the eyes. You will also want to make sure your work space is well ventillated. Once you're done attaching the "wig" you should a have a reasonably good looking Twi'lek.

But that's not all. Next is Make-Up. You will want the color of the "Lekku/Forehead" to match the skin tone of the actor/actress as closely as possible. Regular off the shelf make-up tends not to adhere well to Latex. You will need a make-up called "grease paint". Ben Nye is a great supplier of this theatrical make-up and it can be had at most costume shops or online from their website. Once the make-up is applied either by hand or by airbrush you will need to "set" it with a setting powder also available through Ben Nye. Now just add the costume to your actor/actress, position the Lekku and you're ready to film.

Your labor breakdown is as follows...

4-5 days to construct the headpiece
1-2 hrs to attach and make-up the subject
??? hrs film time/re-shoots
1-2 hrs clean-up

Your cost breakdown should be...

$0-3 Pantyhose
$24-30 Liquid La

 

Wow, in-depth. Thanks!

 

Anytime. Feel free to PM me if I can help further. Best of luck to you!

 

Out of curiosity, what is the expensive way?

 

ROFL...I knew someone would ask that.

The expensive way requires the use of things like Dental Alginate, Ultra Cal 30, and plaster bandages to make a copy of the the head/neck/shoulders of the actor/actress. This makes what is commonly refered to in the art world as a "bust".

Then you start with the "bust" and use clay (some recommend Platasine Clay) to sculpt the Lekku (you'll need to construct some type of armature for these) and other facial features onto the "bust".Once done you again go back to your Ultra Cal 30 and the like and begin pulling molds off the new features. These "prosthetic" pieces will be cast using either a hot foam or cold foam Latex rubber system. The quantaties needed are generaly very cost prohibitive for the "newbie" make-up artist to use as it requires alot of trial and error. Mostly error. LOL

Once usuable copies have been molded you then detail them out with grease paints and the like. Then you get your actor/actress to sit in a chair for anywhere from 3-5hrs to apply the prosthetics and complete the final make-up.

The great thing about this way is that the pieces are entirely reusable if put on and removed correctly and you get hyper-realisim in detail. Well done make-up in this fashion can even pass the scrutiny of the human eye up close if done precisely. Foam rubber will even move with the actor/actress facial expressions if applied well.

The big drawback though is cost and time. These techniques require MUCH practice to get right. If you wish to follow this path then I suggest checking out AMAZON.COM and do a search for books on the topic there. They have many great works on the subject and go into far more detail than I'm sure I could ever post here.

Hope this helps.