Zombies! HELP!

horrorshockpictures

horrorshockpictures

Active member
OK guys,

so I need to know what you guys suggest to make a zombie in a close up frame show his skin rotted and coming off the face. Like chunks of skins falling off the face.
 
Latex-coated tissue?

But, honestly...I'd buy a nice roaster chicken and peel the skin off and use that. Icky skin, with a layer of fat underneath. Gross. Yecch.

Or maybe a pig...the pores might look better.

Either way, you can eat the rest...something you can't do with a box of Kleenex and a bottle of latex.
 
GenJerDan said:
Latex-coated tissue?
But, honestly...I'd buy a nice roaster chicken and peel the skin off and use that. Icky skin, with a layer of fat underneath. Gross. Yecch.
Or maybe a pig...the pores might look better.
Either way, you can eat the rest...something you can't do with a box of Kleenex and a bottle of latex.
Click to expand...

That's gonna smelllll.

Ask Jack Daniel Stanley, he did a HorrorFest film called "Shed" (zombie), he might be able to point you in the right direction.
 
Stinky is good. It helps the actor playing the zombie make awful faces to go along with the makeup.

And, of course, any "normal" actors who get close to the zombie will be even more horrified.

:)
 
Good points. Except, my friend decided to use barbecue sauce for zombie blood once, we were all nauseous by the end of the day.
 
Latex is it.
Go to your local costume shop. you can get a bottle of liquid latex for about $3-$5
Take some kleenex (you can also use cloth) rip it into irregualr jagged pieces larger than you want the skin flaps to be (they'll shrink). Coat the skin in liquid latex and then stick the kleenex pieces on. Once dry you can then coat both sides of the kleenex in more latex to make it nice and rubbery. Once the latex is dry it will take makeup just like skin. You can also apply the latex to the skin and rub it a bit to pebble it up a bit and give the rest of the skin a rough texture. When you put makeup on it you can use dark makeup with light highlights to accentuate the gross texture.

try to keep the areas that flex during talking free of latex as the movement will lift it. Just below the corner of each mouth it flexes alot between the cheek and chin and will lift so I find I dont put anything there in solid sheets.
 
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maybe some software that will do the trick?

This is one of the last effects you'd want to do as a Visual Effect. Practicle all the way mate.
 
It takes ILM a team of 1000s and multi million dollar budgets to make a half assed cgi mummy. And they had a team of programmers and technical directors to tune the bones and skin systems.

A VFX shot like this would be planned out by the VFX supervisor and Director and shot to their technical specifications. It would NOT be someone trying to retrofit CGI make-up onto random hand held footage shot on a home camcorder. Even doing a homebrew version would take planning...if you already had the CGI skills to matchmove.
 
On the cheap end I used gelatine and makup check out Zombiecountry.com
I was there make up guy they had no money I mean NO Money I did them a favor and I think it looks pretty cool.
Good luck boys
 
I do zombies in this way:

I use latex but no tissues. first, stretch the actor's skin tight and apply a thin layer of latex,(use a hairdryer to speed up the drying process)

when it is dry, release the skin and it will wrinkle up, making the skin look dead- like. apply this to all appropriate areas.

powder the face with baby powder to stop it sticking.

now for gashes and rot.

get a skewer and poke a hole in the latex, being careful of the actor's face, widen this hole and begin cutting it with sharp scissors. now you have a gash. do as many of these as you like.

for rotting skin, you can:

Blisters: rub the latex hard with a finger and the friction should rub it off, now you have a blister.

Peeling Flesh: cut a VERY messy upside down 'v' shape in the latex, curl it down to look like it's going to drop off. put more latex in the revealed area and make it look more messy.


COLOURING:

tone the face using cream make up in yellow, blue or white tones, depending on the zombie. for the gashes, paint the inside black, and the edges dark red. when they are dry, fill them with blood and let it dribble gorily down the face.(apply this last so you can do the other bits first)

for the blisters, paint the inside puss coloured and the edges dark red. to simulate pus put som rich moisturiser in too.

for the peeling skin, paint the revealed area a fleshy red. don't forget to paint the peeling skin too. NOW apply the blood to the gashes and the torn-peeling skin appropriately.

REMEMBER: do NOT rub your face later. you'd be surprised how many people do that!!!

hope this helped.
 
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