Figure 1: Den of Geek (2009)
A common use of makeup in film is to age a character. the Curious Case of Benjamin Button takes this to the extreme. Not only does the age of the main character change throughout the film, but he ages backwards. On top of this, all of the various stages of age are portrayed by different actors, but they all had to be recognizable as the same person. To solve this problem, the filmmakers used a technique of imposing one actors face on top of another body.Brad Pitt plays the main character. For some sequences, Pitt could play the character directly with the help of makeup and hair styling, but for others his facial features had to be replicated on another actors body (the filmmakers have said that 52 minutes of the 166 minute film font feature any direct footage of Brad Pitt) - FX Guide (2009)
Figure 2: FX Guide (2009)
This was the most obvious at the beginning and end of the film. At the beginning of the film the character is a baby who looks aged. For these sequences, the studio took digital images of Pitt's head and aged them with the computer, rather then taking a digital image of Brad Pitt in makeup to look aged. Still, the expressions of the character during those sequences are modeled exactly after Pitt's performance. To make sure all the actors who portrayed the various stages of Benjamin's
life looked similar, they created prosthetic busts of Brad Pitt in various ages for the actors to wear. For other sequences, Pitt himself had prosthesis and makeup applied to make him look older. There is only a short period of time in the film where Pitt plays himself without effects to make him look older or younger.
Figure 3: Digital Spy (2009)
I also wanted to look into and research Avatar as is uses the same makeup and CGI effects as Benjamin Button. As the makeup department head of Avatar, Tegan worked closely with James Cameron and Weta Digital to create makeup that would work with new technology being used. Her unique skills involving the use of specialized
makeup, lead to the creation of Teagan's virtual makeup lab MoCap FX. There, she created the unique phosphorescent makeup used to capture the amazing images you see in 3D Avatar.
Here is also a walk though video on set with Greg Cammon the head makeup artist for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tQoEJYFjwY
Refrences;
Figure 1: Den of Geek (2009)
http://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/14593/ed-ulbrich-behind-the-extraordinary-visual-effects-of-benjamin-butto
Figure 2: FX Guide (2009)
https://www.fxguide.com/featured/the_curious_case_of_aging_visual_effects/
Figure 3: Digital Spy (2017)
http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/avatar/news/a843698/avatar-sequels-underwater-mo-cap/
Babbage R. Digital spy (2017) Retrieved from :
http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/avatar/news/a843698/avatar-sequels-underwater-mo-cap/
Seymour M. FX Guide (2009) Retrieved from:
https://www.fxguide.com/featured/the_curious_case_of_aging_visual_effects/
Runway, (2010) Retrieved from:
http://www.runwaylive.com/3095-meet-tegan-taylor-the-make-up-artist-behind-avatar.html
Mclean T. (2008) Retrieved from:
http://variety.com/2008/film/awards/creating-the-look-the-curious-case-of-benjamin-button-1117997242/
Rositas111. Greg Cannom - Makeup artist of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) Retrieved from: YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tQoEJYFjwY
