Blood and guts

May 10, 2007 7:55 AM

Help me parlay my love of gore into a career.

So I'm the kind of girl who cuts her finger or picks off a scab and insists on showing other people. The other day I flossed a little too thoroughly, and soon there was blood all over my teeth. I was fascinated, but my husband did not share my happiness.

I've also always been intrigued by horror movie gore. I've had some luck re-creating looks at home (I'm great at bruises and vampire bites), but I want to learn to do this as a trade. I'm looking for schools in New York City that would offer some sort of certification or degree in special effects make-up. I've found individual courses (there's one at Tisch), but no program. I've Googled without much luck. Any ideas?

posted by Evangeline to education (6 comments total)

Okay, it's not in NYC, but if you can travel to Pennsylvania, you can learn from Tom Savini himself.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:00 AM on May 10, 2007

Taking the one at Tisch wouuld probably lead to more ideas -- Tisch leads to lots of contacts.

If you want to learn some basics for free, try to get on a Troma film -- trade labor for learning.
posted by Bookhouse at 8:30 AM on May 10, 2007

Taking the one at Tisch wouuld probably lead to more ideas -- Tisch leads to lots of contacts.

And if you can get a class taught by Benevides, you'll be in for a grand (and educational) time.

If you want to learn some basics for free, try to get on a Troma film -- trade labor for learning.

Most definitely. In general, once you have even a basic basis for effects knowledge, people will be extremely glad to have you help out. (Of course, you'll be working for free for a while. ;))

You'll probably learn more on "the job" than you will in class. After you've got those fundamentals down, hire yourself out to student films.

....

That Savini course sounds awesome, by the way.
posted by Sticherbeast at 8:37 AM on May 10, 2007

Thanks for everything so far. The Savini course does sound incredible, but I don't think I can relocate (Mr. Evangeline would be very sad). I think the Tisch class might be the best option.

On a side note, when browsing the Savini course schedule, I noticed there were a couple of classes in animatronics. I'm wondering what technical skills are required for this class, 'cause that doesn't sound like something I'd be very good at.
posted by Evangeline at 8:47 AM on May 10, 2007

A friend of mine learned to do prosthetic makeup at home, and ended up doing some work on a low budget movie. Not sure if she got paid for it or not.

In NYC, you could probably do a pretty good business doing custom makeup for photoshoots and people who want a fun costume for the night. You will probably need to learn how to do non-gore makeup also to really get much business.

Word of mouth and a good portfolio will probably get you more work than a certificate or degree.
posted by yohko at 10:43 AM on May 10, 2007

I taught myself how to make prosthetic makeup for fun, and afterwards found this book, which would've really accelerated my learning process.

In addition to your kit of makeup, consider getting some moulage (I got mine from Nasco), a double boiler, some plaster of paris, and some liquid latex and go to town.
posted by plinth at 1:59 PM on May 10, 2007