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Makeup and Hair:

Tips and Techniques for Getting the LOTR Look

As we've been discussing costumes it has become obvious that while we're talking costumes... makeup and hair are a part of recreating the look from Lord of the Rings. So, we're opening this section. Problem.... someone is going to have to adopt this section and help organize it if we are going to share the knowledge of all we are discovering.

Makeup / Hair Index

Full pages and sub-sections

Elven Faces
Arwen Makeup
Hobbit Feet
All About Ears
Elven Hair
All About Wigs
Removing Eyebrows
5 O'Clock Shadow
Beard Stubble
Foam Gelatin Recipe

Quick notes

Makeup notes from the official site and interviews
Hobbit Feet - Big Hairy Feet
Chemistry and Lord of the Rings
- Human Blood recipe
- The Dirt recipe
Elven Makeup - new page, includes...
- Elven Braids
- Change your face to match Legolas
Bits on Latex and it's use
How to apply a beard
Hair finds and tips
Skin fun

In Other Sections

Makeup and prosthetic suppliers (in Buy it)
- includes ears and BHF - big hairy feet
Elven Eyes (in Buy it)
- Sample and buying contacts

Makeup notes

The Hobbit ears were made from slip latex, only the Elven ears were gelatin...

from the official web site... these are video interviews:

Sascha Lees: creating hobbit hair
- http://www.lordoftherings.net/media/video/hobbits_1c.html
Hil Irwin: creating hobbit feet
- http://www.lordoftherings.net/media/video/hobbits_1b.html
Vance Hartwell: creating hobbit ears
- http://www.lordoftherings.net/media/video/hobbits_1a.html

Interview details

http://www.theonering.net/scrapbook/group/446

Scan of article from the “Makeup Artist” magazine. About 15 pages of pictures and text. February 2002.
- 'A variety of materials were employed to create Lord of the Rings' diverse character make-ups. Foam latex was used for everything from Hobbit feet to armies of Orcs, Goblins and Uruk-hai, although Lurtz, the lead Uruk-hai, wore silicone prosthetics, as did Gimli the dwarf and various old-age characters.'
- 'Most prosthetics, from Saruman's noses to the Elves' pointed ear tips, were cast in gelatin, which held up well in the mild New Zealand climate - especially after modifying the original recipe. ... "It's exactly the gelatin that people eat, but the recipe we developed makes our pieces as flexible as silicone but extremely durable - they would last a full day's shoot with little maintenance if we kept the actor's blood temperature down. The pieces only slipped or sweated in the really tight studio shoots, under massive amounts of lights. We could not have achieved the level of prosthetics we did, considering our relative skills with foam latex, without gelatin. " '
- '...coloring the gelatin pieces to maintain their fleshlike translucency demanded a deft touch. "We used really fine washes with acrylic paints, as well as some tatooing inks," Acevedo says. "Most pieces were tinted 20% lighter than the actor's skin tone, and we would paint them to match their actual color, once it was applied." '

Hobbit Feet - Big Hairy Feet

CU of hobbit feet
- http://www.fantasyplanet.cz/lotr/picture_show.asp?id=1070&obr_url=../gfx%2Fpictures%5Fclanky%2Flotr%5Fgal%5Fvelky%5F2001%5F12%5F25%5F22%5F40%5F22%2Ejpg
New Article: Making Hobbit Feet Shoes
More ideas on feet --- new page

Chemistry and Lord of the Rings

http://www.theonering.net/perl/newsview/8/1025542836

Review by Smokering from a lecture by Norman Kates (sp?) at the Hamilton Museum in New Zealand, late June 2002. It covers quite a bit on detail and anecdotes on ears and feet as well as .

Hands on Hobbit feet descriptions

Human blood recipe

The recipe from the Norman Kates at Hamilton Museum lecture "chemistry and Lord of the Rings"

One cup of golden syrup
Two teaspoons of red food coloring
One teaspoon of yellow food coloring

The Dirt

The recipe is very close to blood. Can't use local mud because it needs to be sterile. from LOTR: The Making of the Trilogy

Corn syrup, to keep it from drying out
Umber or other "natural earths" - need to match the local color of the mud
Fuller's earth - for goopyness

All buckets of mud had a "sell-by" date and had to be kept in the refrigerator between takes because the sugar will cause it to go bad.

Elven makeup

Check out out separate page! We've got tips on color, techniques and hair braiding
Arwen Makeup Colors

Bits on Latex and it's uses

Warnings - read before you play
- http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LOTR_Costume/message/3153
Body latex
- http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LOTR_Costume/message/3154
- http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LOTR_Costume/message/3159

How to apply a beard

Illustrations, with pictures
- http://www.lederkram.de/elfenohrenanleitung.html#zwergenbart
  - This link is in German, but you may translate using http://babelfish.altavista.com/
- http://www.graftobian.com/theatins.htm
  - scroll to the bottom, less pictures, but in English... read both.
- http://www.tri-dee.com/Ben%20Nye.htm
  - scroll down to how to use latex, just a few quick steps and tips
- http://www.funfolly.com/h/mutips.htm
  - again scroll down to liquid latex for a slightly different method

Fun make up and skin links...

www.skinema.com reviews the complexions from LOTR
- LOTR: FOTR good guys: http://itsb.ucsf.edu/~vcr/Spot17LOTR.html
- LOTR bad guys: http://itsb.ucsf.edu/~vcr/Spot17LOTREvil.html
- TTT: http://itsb.ucsf.edu/~vcr/SpotTwoTowers.html