Special report by Hana Younes | @HanaYounes
This year the Middle East Film and Comic Convention is bigger and better than ever, once again gathering creative minds from all corners of the industry to share their knowledge and skills with future generations. I decided to take advantage of my free time and sit in on one of the many workshops offered throughout the day and see what kind of knowledge I could absorb, checking myself into the SFX Workshop hosted by resident professional Mary Samele.
The workshop began with a simple introduction into the SFX industry and we got to know a little bit about Ms Samele’s experience as a professional makeup artist and SFX artist. We then began with the main topic of the workshop: how to create a basic SFX burn makeup. An SFX burn can fall into 3 categories depending on severity (much like real burns) with the mildest and least complex being 1st degree (a cigarette burn being a good example) and the worst and most complex being 3rd degree (which I like to call the Anakin Skywalker Treatment). With a volunteer we got to see a demonstration from Ms Samele and her translator/assistant Nico (dressed up as a convincing Edward Scissorhands) on the steps to creating a realistic burn. These involved first the application of latex and its manipulation for texture/open wounds, the gradual build-up of light paint to dark paint; and a final application of gel and liquid fake blood to complete the look.
NOTE: I can now vouch that watching multiple seasons of Face Off will not help you when doing the real thing, even with an SFX basic like burns I was daunted by the practical part of the workshop and decided to hang back and observe with my camera for a while. Later on I was convinced by an (excellent) Tonks cosplayer to give her some burns to add to her look and as she patiently waited for me to decide on a burn type (I finally decided to try a cigarette burn) I eventually managed to create something less like a burn and more like an infected bite mark – proof that in this case practice trumps theory (or watching a TV show). Coincidentally my bite marks worked great with her character (what with her fictional husband being a werewolf and all) so I ended up not doing too badly, and had a lot of fun ‘maiming’ someone with the patient guidance of Ms Samele and her team. Now that I’ve had a turn I’m already on the lookout for the next SFX workshop, which will be hosted by Reem Abdulla from Moving Reflection Production on Saturday at 2pm.
Be sure to stop by if you’re interested in trying SFX makeup or any of the other excellent workshops they have going on, there’s a lot to learn and a lot of industry professionals are there to pass on some of their experience.
For more info on Mary Samele and her team, check out her website, YouTube channel or Facebook.
