A Gross and Gruesome Display of Artistry: Special Effects – a Highlight of the Saratoga Film Showcase

SARATOGA SPRINGS — It was disgusting. It was horrifying. It was a shocking display of violence that any sane person would hope to never see in their life. But the crowd loved it.

The Saratoga Film Showcase’s special effects panel and demonstration, held at Saratoga Arts on Jan. 24, was a highlight of the three-day festival.

The discussion about all things hair and makeup on film sets included Clifton Park resident Annemarie Bradley, an Oscar-winning hairstylist who has worked with Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman, and Lucy Liu, among others; Jackie Hughes, a Hudson Valley-based makeup artist who specializes in horror films (among them, “Terrifier 2,” which earned nearly $16 million at the box office); and RJ Young, a special makeup effects artist from Upstate New York.

It was Young who both grossed out and delighted the audience with a live demonstration of his work (thankfully, the fake blood squirting out of his volunteer subject’s facial wound didn’t make it into the crowd).

Below is a condensed and edited transcript of the panel discussion, which included talk of everything from Lucy Liu’s latest project to a 16-foot-long flesh tunnel womb.

Spencer Sherry (moderator): What is something that you find that directors sometimes aren’t aware of, that maybe you would like them to have a little bit more knowledge of before they call you and ask you to do an effect?

Annemarie Bradley: How much time it actually takes… A lot of times, they wrote something, but they don’t exactly have a vision of how they want that to happen. So, when you tell them, ‘It’s okay, this is great, and we can make anything happen, but sometimes it takes a long time,’ and they don’t really have the time or want to make the time. So, a lot of communication goes into that. I always tell people, it’s like boiling water. Just because you want it doesn’t mean it’s going to boil right away.

SS: What are some things that are more expensive than people think that they are? And then what are some things that are maybe a little bit more accessible?

RJ Young: Well, for example, the prosthetic that I have on [the volunteer subject’s] face is a foam latex piece. That’s usually a lot cheaper than, say, a lot of people now use silicone, which is a lot more translucent on the face. You don’t have to paint it as much in so many layers. But that is expensive. Silicone is a lot more expensive than foam latex. In the next month or so, I have to make a 16-foot-long flesh tunnel womb. The budget that they gave me is really low, not enough for what they want. They showed me an artist’s drawing of what they want. I’m like, well, the budget that you give me, you’re not going to get exactly that, by any means, but I try to make it out and make it as best as I can. I usually end up fabricating a lot of stuff out of foam, like the flesh tunnel would be mostly made out of foam and spray foam, mattress foam, stuff like that. And you just paint it and just add as much as you can to it, to make it look as organic as it can.

Jackie Hughes: I do a lot of low-budget things where I kind of get hired as the triple team of beauty, hair, makeup and effects. So that’s when they’re really trying to stretch a budget. But most of the time, I’m the first effects person that they’ve worked with. I was just recently on something, and I told them that blood is not cheap. Good blood is not cheap, especially if you want to spray it on everything and get it up and not have it stain… This production didn’t believe me. They showed up with a gallon of blood that was like 30 bucks when I told them I wanted a $200 gallon. And then I showed up with eight different types of my own personal blood, just to prove to them, you go use that and watch all of my expensive blood actually work. It’s things you don’t realize. Some blood has to be mouth safe. Some of it has to be safe if it gets in your eyes. Some has to dry. Some has to drip. Some has to come out of carpet.

SS: Where do you get your inspirations and pictures from?

JH: I have my friends and family, when they get injured, take pictures. People get really excited if you show up to a set and you’re like, ‘I have real reference pictures,’ they’ll always pull up some crazy gashed head thing that they did to themselves years ago. But Spencer’s favorite story that I’ve told is I was talking to a boy on Tinder, and he sliced his hand open at work. I was like, ‘Can you send me the picture?’ He did and then he stopped responding.

SS: Do [actors] call you when they book a job? Do they leverage that in their contract and say, ‘I’ll do a movie but I’m bringing Annemarie with me?’

AB: Yeah. I’m going to start a job with Lucy Liu that’s called “Superfakes” and it’s starting February 2 filming, and she asked me in August and invited me to come to her home and just talk about the movie and [she] wanted to make sure that I’m not busy or that I’m not going to take another job before that job happens. That’s normally how it happens. And if it’s someone new, it’s a recommendation from either another actor or a makeup artist that’s worked with them before, sometimes a producer.

SS: Is there anything that you haven’t gotten to play with yet or build, that you’re just waiting for someone out there to write a thing as an excuse to do it?

RJ: I would like to do a werewolf transformation at some point.

AB: I would like to do a really fun period piece. I could be the department head and design all the hair.

JH: I so badly want to break into sci-fi… I also want to make a mermaid tail.