CARISSA MARSH
A&E Editor
Every year, Halloween conjures up childhood memories of painted faces and homemade costumes, and with Oct. 31 right around the corner, students are busy picking out the perfect ensemble. Some of the best ideas come from the horror films of today and yesteryear, and no one knows better how to make a monster come to life than Jamie Kelman.
Kelman is a twice-Emmy nominated special effects and prosthetic make-up guru who lives in Halloween town 365 days of the year. Kelman creates horrific characters for movies and television with the flick of his wrist, crafting three-dimensional make-up changes as opposed to doing traditional beauty make-up.
Kelman’s transformations have been featured in shows such as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Nip/Tuck” and even the “X-Files.” He has also worked on numerous films including “Collateral,” “Planet of the Apes,” “Men in Black 2 “and “The Ring” series.
“It’s a dream come true to work on a horror movie that people say is their favorite movie,” Kelman said of “The Ring,” which he said is the only film he has worked on that actually freaked him out. Kelman worked on the dead girl from the well, using waterproof make-up of course.
While most are frightened by the creatures Kelman creates — as they should be — he sees it in a different light.
“There’s definitely an aesthetic beauty to it, even in the grotesque,” he said.
Most recently, Kelman worked on the blood spiller “Rest Stop,” the first straight-to-DVD release from the new “Raw Feed” branded series from Warner Home Video. Released Oct. 17 in both rated and unrated versions, the DVD boasts the typical gore one would expect, but Kelman said he enjoyed the creative challenge of trying to do something different.
“I’m personally not content to show people the same thing they’ve seen a million times,” he said.
The film is about a young couple that is terrorized by a psychotic killer on a cross-country road trip.
“It was a lot of fun, but it was a very tight schedule,” Kelman said. “It was a tight budget movie that we all tried our hardest to make look like a big budget movie.”
Kelman said there are certain constraints put on the creative process when working on a movie like “Rest Stop” that has a short production schedule.
“You get to refine certain things on a big budget movie,” he said. “There was no time to test anything so basically things had to work. I had to rely on my skills.”
Fortunately for Kelman, horror films have a fail-safe for mistakes.
“With the bloody things it’s a little more forgiving,” he explained, because you can just cover errors with more blood.
In the film, one character gets his ear shot off. Kelman had to sculpt the wound onto the actor’s head using synthetic flesh made of a platinum-based silicone that is skin-friendly.
According to Kelman, applying special effects make-up is part science.
“You are working with materials that are on the leading edge of technology,” he said. “We use what they use in the medical and dental industries.”
Kelman realizes he is a “total space invader” while doing an actor’s make-up, but said he knows how it feels as he is his own creative guinea pig.
Though Kelman has done his fair share of guts and gore, his true passion is monsters.
“I love creating characters. I love seeing these beings come to life in classic Frankenstein style,” he said. “The second layer of paint is where it all starts blending together and the character comes to life.”
Kelman said he has been a fan of the fantasy and science fiction since he was a child and he fell in love with horror movies and creatures when he was a teen.
He dedicated his time to learning as much as he could about special effects make-up, even using his Long Island basement as a kind of creative laboratory.
Kelman quickly got his first professional job at the ripe age of 16 as a make-up effects assistant on a TV show called “Monsters.”
After attending New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Kelman moved to Hollywood. Two months later he began working in a major make-up effects lab as an assistant and has since worked with big name talents in the movie industry.
While much of his resume consists of bloody thrillers, he has also worked on lighter movies like “Click,” “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” and “Cat in the Hat.” In a way, those films are more closely related to what he would eventually like to accomplish.
“I’d like to create something like ET or Yoda, that has some influence,” he said. “I think I’d like to be remembered for a Yoda and not for making someone bleed.”
Kelman said that anyone could create special effects looks at home with simple components from the grocery store. Even homemade blood is an easy task.
“You can make it by the gallon real cheap. I’ve mixed 55 gallon drums,” said Kelman, who mixed three for the war movie “WindTalkers.”
Without a tinge of disappointment, in the end, one statement sums up Kelman’s life:
“For me, everyday is Halloween.”
10-26-2006
