cost of creature design/make-up/effects?

[Randall_Oelerich]

Anybody have any guidelines on what sort of cost would be involved in hiring a special effects company to create the special effects makeup and mask for a creature? Think Freddy Kruger type skin and such, although of course my story's creature would not be Kruger, but same level of skin and face alteration required. I am wondering how expensive that would be, if I could even considering possibly producing my own script when done, or if the creature SFX would make indie production prohibitive.

Alternatively, is this something I could perhaps learn to do myself, given that I have a strong background as an artist, including working with clay, clay sculpture, painting, drawing? I have a few years before I would possible indie produce it, time to learn and play with making creature masks and prosthetics. But if not too expensive it would of course be better perhaps to outsource it to those more specialized.
~randall

 

[braw]

For Freddy style makeup done the "right" way, you're looking at several thousand dollars. From a reputable shop/artist, probably closer to double digit thousands. This really depends on the complexity of the makeup, and how many times the prosthetic will need to be applied.

It is certainly possible to find a newer makeup artist fresh out of school who is very talented to do it for much less. You do get what you pay for, and experience reads much better on the screen.

I would say if you're character is a Freddy, where his presence makes the movie, you would really be better off to hire a professional.

As for your own talent, that's not something I can judge. I would of course recommend looking into it. At the very least you will have a better understanding of what goes into making such things. If you're dead serious about making things yourself, I would highly recommend getting Dick Smith's course.

http://www.dicksmithmake-up.com/enter.htm

 

[Jim H]

Anybody have any guidelines on what sort of cost would be involved in hiring a special effects company to create the special effects makeup and mask for a creature? Think Freddy Kruger type skin and such, although of course my story's creature would not be Kruger, but same level of skin and face alteration required. I am wondering how expensive that would be, if I could even considering possibly producing my own script when done, or if the creature SFX would make indie production prohibitive.

Alternatively, is this something I could perhaps learn to do myself, given that I have a strong background as an artist, including working with clay, clay sculpture, painting, drawing? I have a few years before I would possible indie produce it, time to learn and play with making creature masks and prosthetics. But if not too expensive it would of course be better perhaps to outsource it to those more specialized.
~randall

I'm not extremely experienced with makeup, but there's a few questions you need to ask when considering something like this.

Will the character be shown like Freddy in Nightmare part 1, or more like Freddy in the later films? In the first film, he's always in darkness and shadow - you really NEVER get that clear of a look at the makeup. You don't need nearly as complex of makeup if you can hide it most of the time.

Second, how much facial movement do you need? Does he need to be able to talk with good lip synching? You might consider hiring someone to make a one piece mask, if not. Depending on the look, this can be effective - and cost could certainly be under $1000, depending.

I've also seen full head coverage latext masks of Freddy made by fans that are actually quite good - and these can be pulled on and pulled off, and thus don't need as much hands on as a multi piece prosthetic effect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2pDR907Ldc

And yeah, I'd say if you have a few years, you can certainly learn the basics. Ever see Peter Jackson's first film, Bad Taste? He himself did the makeup effects work (didn't have the money to hire anybody) - cooked the alien heads in his mom's oven, if memory serves! And the makeup is generally quite good too, both in terms of the aliens and the gore effects work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtPYTfS8Kuw

 

[Blaine]

Anybody have any guidelines on what sort of cost would be involved in hiring a special effects company to create the special effects makeup and mask for a creature? Think Freddy Kruger type skin and such, although of course my story's creature would not be Kruger, but same level of skin and face alteration required. I am wondering how expensive that would be, if I could even considering possibly producing my own script when done, or if the creature SFX would make indie production prohibitive.

Alternatively, is this something I could perhaps learn to do myself, given that I have a strong background as an artist, including working with clay, clay sculpture, painting, drawing? I have a few years before I would possible indie produce it, time to learn and play with making creature masks and prosthetics. But if not too expensive it would of course be better perhaps to outsource it to those more specialized.
~randall

Wow, that depends so much on who you have do it and their experience level. I'm guessing someone competent with a background in this, $3000 at a minimum. You'd probably hire a separate fx makeup artist, maybe not.

If you're looking to try it yourself you might want to check this book out. You'll find out pretty quickly whether or not you have a knack for it. If you do, you might find a new career for yourself. If not, it's gonna cost you.

 

[Nektonic]

I don't know anything about your creature besides the fact that it is, well, a creature. It will differ from person to person and situation to situation, but I've always been a fan of the "less is more" tradition in terms of horror films. Think Jaws, Alien/Aliens, Signs, Dog Soldiers, The Mist, etc... those types of approaches to creatures always seemed more effective to me. The less we see the more we fear because we don't have a clear enough answer as to what the creature actually is.

So if I were you and were trying to do a creature feature on the cheap, I'd learn about prosthetics and makeup, and then would find a talented up and comer who can do the effect for a reasonable amount. Also, saving the reveal of the creature until later in the film not only adds to the tension and mystery, but also will save money since you won't have to recreate the effects until those final scenes. The earlier shots of the creature can be quick cuts of the creature in shadow or moving through the forest obscured by the foliage in the foreground.

As I previously mentioned, the low budget flick Dog Soldiers by Neil Marshall has a scene that is really smartly edited to ramp up the frenetic terror of the scene while also covering up the limited budget of the film's werewolf effects. A fun little horror/action film to check out if you haven't already.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixS3elT4dZ0&feature=related

Oh, and Bad Taste kicks a**.

 

[smokeybear]

3k minimim definatly not. If you give me more of a description of what you want I could give you a good rough estimate. the effect your looking for seems to be quite cheaper than what you think,as long as you do it right.

 

[Blaine]

Yeah, that probably was a little high. The $3K included two custom made masks, a monster head (for decapitation scene) several custom made prosthetic wounds, a blood pump with 2 gallons of blood and a special safety appliance for a garroting scene.