American Cinematographer - September 1936 - 13

September,

1936 *

American Cinematographer

375

Make-up
that is
Sculpture-like
by
William Stull, A.S C.

face built up with putty or wax is mask-like-expression¬
less.

For successful contour-correcting screen make-up, an

absolutely new material is necessary.
so that the natural
move

the

built-on

should

not

usage,

nor melted

it

should

be

make-up

cracked

or

into normal
collapsed

by ordinarily

provide

It must be flexible,

movement of the facial

a

skin-like

by

high

muscles will

expressions.
ordinary

temperatures.

texture

for

the

It

rough
And

overlying

make-up which blends it with the rest of the face.
This seems like an impossible order-but Dawn has ac¬
tually

developed

such

a

material.

After

many

years

of

exhaustive research, he has created a material which looks
and feels like human skin, which may be used in a micro¬
scopically
which

thin

coating,

is shock-proof,

or

modelled

heat-proof,

half-an-inch

thick,

moisture-proof - and

flexible.

With it, our thin actor's cheeks can be filled out,

and

receding

the

forehead

built

forward

so

that

at

all

angles the camera sees a full face and a high brow. More¬
over, when the actor moves his expression muscles, the
expression

is

reflected

on

the

surface

of

the

make-up:

when he smiles, the built-up cheeks also smile-and smile
naturally. When he wrinkles his forehead in thought, the
artificial brow reproduces the natural wrinkles,
if the
"heavy's" Sunday punch lands on the forehead
up nose, for that matter) , no harm is done.
is hot and the temperature soars,

(or a builtIf the stage

the make-up does not

melt or run, and a special sub-coating can be applied to
absorb perspiration.
The first step in applying this three-dimensional make¬
up is to take an accurate cast of the player's head.

While

Dawn and his staff have worked out certain improvements
in the technique of cast-making, this is done in substan¬
tially the usual manner.
curate

This cast is a miscroscopically ac¬

reproduction of the player's head and face,

plete in every detail.

com¬

Lionel Barrymore made up as Andrew
in the picture, "The Gorgeous Hussy."

Using this cast as a basis, everything

Jackson

except the final minute details of a make-up can be worked
out at leisure, without having to keep the actor for hours
in

the make-up room.

built-up

foreheads,

ahead of time.

On this, too, headpieces, such as

noses,

and

the

like,

can

be

made

When, later, they are fitted to the actor,

they must invariably prove a perfect fit.
Then-either on the cast or upon

the

player's actual

face-Dawn or his assistants begin to model a new char¬
acter. The material used for this is a special preparation,
the result of Dawn's many years of research.

It looks like

flesh-colored dough, and it is spread on the face much as
a plasterer spreads plaster on a wall.

When the desired

contour has been roughly approximated, Dawn models the
final detail exactly as a sculptor would finish a clay figure.

Where only a thin coating
pound,

but in

liquid form,

is

required, the same com¬

is used, and may be brushed

on as desired.
The result is uncanny: it looks exactly like natural skin,
and even feels like it.

When a normal make-up is applied

over it, neither the eye nor the lens can detect any trace
of artifice.
To work with this new preparation, Dawn found it nec¬
essary to evolve a completely new group of auxiliary prep¬
arations.

To hold

the

molded headpieces in place, some
Continued on page 380
American Cinematographer - September 1936

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