Best Of

Hi there! My name is Lauren Bennett and this is my Left 4 Dead Smoker makeup. I've always wanted to recreate my favorite zombies from Left 4 Dead and the Smoker is one of them! It's my first time making an overlapping appliance makeup. I made 3 overlapping face and 2 arm encapsulated silicone appliances, and a silicone tongue. I used aluminum foil previously covered in set silicone in the biggest tumors of the face pieces and in the center of the tongue to cut back on material and reduce weight (I think foam would've been the best option for the face pieces but I've never worked with foam before, still learning!). I also made the tumors on the arms hollow but unfortunately my positive mold broke so I just ran them as flat molds.

I learned everything from SWSCA, especially Bruce Fuller's lessons on multi-piece character makeup and mold making! Very thankful for all of the information here, I learned so much from this project.



Here's a short video of the makeup as well:
https://youtu.be/Nci_la6Z6I4

Makeup by: Lauren Bennett (@soulfirefx)
Photos and Video by: Harrison Webb (@justharson)
Model: Joel Arriola

Thanks and hope you enjoy!

This is my version of Jason Voorhees I made for the movie, Voorhees, Night of the Beast, an indie film, not yet released.  The mask was made with a combination of latex and cold foam.  The body (back, chest, legs)
was made with latex molds mounted onto a zentai suit (generic).  The clothes were bought online (generic) and I shredded and painted them.  I sculpted and ran the mask and all latex overlays, made latex skin to lay over the arms and other areas that needed coverage.  Everything was airbrushed using Tim Gore's Bloodline and Lifeline airbrush paints (I LOVE these paints).  My airbrush did not clog even once.  This entire suit lasted throughout the entire movie through some very brutal fight scenes with a WWE pro wrestler.  They got crazy out there.  I've included a few scene shots, which aren't the best, but fun to see.  The outer mask is a generic, altered and painted using same paints with leather straps added to strengthen it and they looked better.  I did not make the gloves, machete or boots (also generic).  
Actor/model:  James Stokes
Main photo:  David Stowers, rest of photos taken on my phone.

4 Piece silicone prosthetic that I sculpted, tinted, applied and painted. I life casted the models face for a perfect fit, and tinted the silicone to match the skin tone, as well as hand punched eyebrows. He is wearing a bald cap, mask piece, lower lip prosthetic, and a chest piece. All sculpted by me.  instagram: sfx.mua.alayna

Thank you for taking the time to look at some of my work, and making the contest available to enter! I am a completely self taught SpFx Artist so this is a really big opportunity to learn more, and have professional training. All of these are untouched original photos of some of the projects/jobs I have worked on. I am completely self-taught, and make almost all of my pieces in my works. I sculpt, mold, cast, color, facial builds, prosthetic applications, airbrush, wig making/hair laying, and like to say I am a jack of all trades, master of none. 

My first character make-up is an original design taking inspiration from the tales of Mermaids and Sirens. She starts off as a beautiful monarch in the photos, watching her land, and luring unsuspected victims. Then turns into her real self chasing prey and then feasting on her victim. That is an entire face and body make-up. Airbrush, basic make-up, body paints, attaching jewels, and concept/design/make-up all done by me. Was hired by model. 





The next make-up/character has inspiration from the black plague. Make-up attachments/ prosthetics were all hand made by me, as well as application done by me free hand working out of my kit



My last character is an original alien make-up. I made and applied all prosthetics, I used multiple materials to build up face to achieve an alien look (foamed gelatin, etc.) as well as bald cap application, smoothing, and stuffing. Hand painted entire character as well as prosthetics/cap.



For a little treat, here is a link to a music video I did. I helped develop the concept, as well as did all of the make-up for the music video, beauty and SpFx. It was funny to find out on set, I was not allowed to get blood on anything on set, especially when I showed up with a gallon of it, LOL. Had a blast, and worked out of my kit to achieve the burn look. Complete build on face/arm/side of body. I hope you enjoy!




https://youtu.be/jujTmF8tHKI 
Alone by Midnight, Dead weight


Here is an example of a mask/prosthetic I made for a personal cosplay. My inspiration was from The Joker in the new 52 after he got his face ripped off and wired it back on. I sculpted the entire piece, molded it, and casted it using foam gelatin so you could make facial expressions while wearing it. I also changed the mouth from the inspiration because I wanted this to be a functional prosthetic. You could open and close the mouth, smoke, drink, do anything with it on. I hope you like it. I also hand painted it using multiple styles to achieve the final result. Sculpted prosthetic to look like face getting pulled back and I added wires to wrap around the ears and attach to the jaw/face.


Lastly, here is a Tommy Lee Jones 2-face inspired prosthetic I made. Sculpted, molded, casted using silicone so as long as the customer takes care of it, it will last forever! I painted it as well. In this photo I applied the custom prosthetic I made from scratch onto my client. She did not want her neck, arms, or body painted purple to match prosthetic. 

A foam full face prosthetic painted and applied by me. I was inspired by retiles and more amphibious creatures. I applied full body paint and a wig for this design.  Instagram @sfx.mua.alayna

This character was designed and inspired by our great ancestors that walked this earth .  Inspired by Inkan , Aztec and Mayan culture.  I used a variety of paints and hair pieces to create this character and added the model in a “rain “ studio location to give it a more organic feel. I also added moss around the chest piece to resemble greenery and tree life .  I love period pieces  and this piece was very fun to create . Headpiece is by Miss G designs .   

Bald Cap makeup with blue and white Facepaint
All the props are handmade

The whole costume and wig is handmade, and I applied the makeup on myself. I took a few different leather fabrics and made the base with those. Then I made about 20 belts and lots of custom belt buckles and pieces that were used to add to the detail of the costume. I used foam, paints, popsicle sticks, paper, ends of scissors, resin and LOTS of different glues to attach the scissor fingers and details to leather gloves . I cut and styled the wig, then I decided to use Elmer's stick glue to make the cuts on my face because it built up more than latex. Also had to contour my face to look more like Johnny Depp.