Getting younger
Darrell Green
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I have found and watched several aging classes but all seem to be for getting older with some rare mentions of beauty makeup. I need to drop about ten years for my current cosplay. It does not need to be sturdy as it will be posed shots not action, not wet and not hot or cold. I just need some down and dirty basics for lift and smooth. Links would be appreciated.
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I'm curious if anyone has good tips for de-aging.
/Chris
My hair will be colored, as will facial hair and I can certainly use the application of the blemish coverage to make an even skin tone. Lighting in this shot is supposed to be low light sunset and washes out the original actors color but I believe I may be able to use a full face base as you mentioned in order to "tan" to the actor's skin tone and get the even tone in the process. Curious if I can find some product similar to the colloidian base mentioned and then full coverage the skin tone (tan in this case) over it, to smooth it further.
I will post any products or processes I use but I think the tape will also be much easier than expected due to this pose containing a bandana. I would hazard a guess that since the upper hair is covered, I might get away with pulling back on my hair with some form of tension similar to using tape. I will try to find a how-to for the tape.
The only thing I have found as a day-of tip is to stay hydrated and avoid diuretics. No specifics yet.
These were my favorites so far:
Kenneth Calhoun @Kenneth Calhoun did a short additional beauty makeup in his process of transfers "https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/tutorials/encapsulated-pros-aide-prosthetics-part-2-demolding-application-beauty-makeup"
and mentioned the other side of the industry being beauty makeups, so I am rewatching that session as well as the aging course with Bill Corso,
https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/tutorials/beauty-age-makeup-from-script-to-screen
Again, Corso's course had mentions of the aging/anti-aging process but the main course was about forward aging. He does a great beauty makeup portion near the beginning of the course but his actress is looking particularly young, even without makeup which is likely why she was used for the forward aging process.
This build's target pose to match is here (below). I think the dark hair, olive to tan skin, bandana, lighting and posture allow me to use all tips listed. If anyone comes across anything, even as a possibility, I am willing to try it and post results. Again, thank you for the guidance.
Good diffused lighting is super important to prevent wrinkles or other forms on the face from casting shadows. Those shadows create visual cues for depth, which can add to a subject's perceived age. Having a good fill light (bounce or otherwise) can help bring up the value of shadows on the face, and visually smoothen things. This is especially important when working with harsh directional lighting. Even on an outdoor shot (as you are targeting) some kind of fill or bounce is usually used, especially for medium shots and close-ups.
/Chris
I'm sure there are some good videos on YouTube about using bounce cards/reflectors/etc to help fill in shadows. Just be aware that many videos may show a reflector/bounce used as a key light, rather than a fill light. And what you need is to reduce normal shadows (coming from light above the subject, like the sun) with a soft fill coming from below, but not enough to cast any new shadows.
/Chris
Stop Motion Animation Part 3: Camera, Lighting & Software
so this is making sense. Thank you.
In this case you are matching against a final photo that has been color corrected and treated, so you'll want to do the same with your photo too. Using the curves and color balance filters in photoshop you can get much closer to the target. I also suggest making your photo layer in photoshop a "smart object" that way any filters applied to it are non-destructive.
/Chris
/Chris
/Chris
1) The skin area must be relaxed before applying the gel patches and/or tape. Stretched or bunched skin that is taped will cause the tape to fold and this creates a very moisturized and deep crease, akin to using rigid collodian, although any large crease will smooth in minutes.
2) For a short time it creates a hyper moisturized area that will form a raised and slightly lightened area. Not as bad but a similar effect to having left your hands in water for too long or wearing rubber gloves for too long. This effect also dissipates in minutes.
3. Smaller coverage areas are best for not creasing.
4. It can be used while napping or sleeping but this highly increases the chance of putting pressure on the tape or causing a fold and thereby a skin crease. If this can instead be done while awake or if you can maintain a face up posture while laying down, you can avoid all creasing.
5. After removing the gel pads and/or tape, wait until the lighter color (and any crease) has dissipated (likely 5 minutes) before applying any oils or sealers. However, you do not need to wait to apply moisturizers and can use them immediately.
And here are my before and after for crows feet on one eye...
This will last approximately 30 minutes to 3 hours depending on the heat and humidity (longer if you use a moisturizer and sealer after) But it drops 10 to 20 years off the eyes in high def photos so for my cosplay hobby, it is magic. With this and the Dermaflage for scars and the Stan Winston toolbox of effects, age is far less a factor for my next cosplay build choice, older and younger.
I was relaxed as possible for this but there is always the possibility some of the wrinkling is due to facial muscles at time of photo.
I can still locate them in the second photo but they no longer cast their own shadows. Again, I have about 30 minutes to 3 hours to get my posing and photos done at this point.
/Chris
After a lifetime of hearing "if I eat that candybar, I will gain 2 pounds" and not understanding they were telling the truth, I finally heard a keto dieter explain it.
The body stores a quantity of carbs as Glycogen. Please excuse if the spelling is off. This is not fat. It is a fast release energy stored as sugars in special cells that require an amount of extra water to maintain the energy in liquid form and quickly deployable.
It is stored in the liver as a concentrate but also throughout the body. It is perfectly normal but causes 1 ounce of candy bar to require several ounces of water in the storage which is why all those stories about gaining more than the candybar weighed were true.
Weightlifters knew about this and one week prior to a competition would diet in a special way to use up these extra glycogen stores which releases all the water used in that type of storage. They call this "Cut Week". This gets rid of the puffiness until further carbs are eaten and the glycogen is replenished. This is why builders look so defined in competition even when they might not be so every day.
So for a short time, I can drop several years off my age by doing this special diet. As it turns out, it is today known as Keto or low carb (only 10 percent or less carbs comparitively) and usually has the greatest affect within the first week of such a diet dropping many more pounds than the amount of actual calories burned.
And here is the funny part. We have all known about this our whole lives but never really knew why. When someone diets and drops a lot of weight quickly, someone else will always say "Well you look great and I hope you keep it up BUT it is probably just water weight." And they are right but why would anyone assume you were dehydrated just because you are dieting? Because there are far too many diet fads and some include purposed dehydration which masks this glycogen loss side affect. This glycogen/keto water loss happens even if you stay hydrated. It is a completely different reason why it really was mostly water weight in that first week.
But my intent is to use it for my benefit. I can lose the puffiness, temporarily, by dropping the carbs a week prior to photos.
Keto groups call this trick "Keto Face". Look it up. It has thousands of examples of before and after photos from all over the world.
So, again, I am not a doctor so I am describing this process only in the aspect that it makes people look years younger during the time carbs are limited in this way. Always consult your physician before drastically changing your diet and be fully aware of all the tips and tricks that Body builders and Keto folks use to not feel blah in week one of cutweek/keto. You feel ill if you don't do it right, so read up before trying.
My personal experience is that it takes about 4 to 7 days to lose all that glycogen weight and puffiness. Now ignoring the full keto program and only paying attention to the facial benefits... I can also attest that even a little bit of cheating and eating carbs brings the bloat back within a day, so plan your photo shoot a week out and don't cheat if you intend to add this anti-aging trick to the total package. I have a feeling this is likely a Hollywood trick as well and my apologies if I have already covered this before but couldn't find it in the thread above.
Your mention of the challenges in self-application and the potential for flawless results when done by a professional is quite insightful. It's also reassuring to know that Dermaflage is a cost-effective and readily available option for individuals who want to address wrinkles and scarring on their own terms.
The only obvious hitch is quantity. These are small tubes meant for personal use on wrinkles and scars. Even though I use them to add ridge scars, warts (just pick a slightly darker than skin tone), and skin folds as well, they are not large enough to use for large area prosthetic work.
For anti aging, it is a dream come true, especially for single pose costume capture photos because it carries a similar luminescence to real flesh.
And always the disclaimer, I don't sell it, I don't own stock and they don't know I exist. Just an end user review.
@Chris Ellerby , I have come up against a cosplay that requires a fuller hair line on the forehead. This character, Bard the Bowman (a re-do for me), does not wear a hat nor helmet in the entirety of his presence in The Hobbit Trilogy (of Peter Jackson's work), where Luke Evans portrays Bard. This means no cheating with a head cover.
I have taken the courses for laying hair and wig working and both would suffice here BUT...
I am attempting a cringey move and would appreciate your interest and assistance in this. You have that twisty thinking that I appreciate.
In the vein of "Getting Younger" for cosplay effects makeup, I have found that I can use my very own hair to create a younger/fuller hairline (maybe only here for Bard), as it is currently much longer than Bard's hair. I see that on the crown and bangs, Bard has his hair pulled back and tied but the remainder of hair falls straight down. I would propose this is extremely similar to the hair style of Qui Gon Jinn.
If I separate this upper hair, in order to pull it back into the tie, I could (first) pull it forward to the facial hair line for the world's greatest comb-over.
And yes, I did this. So, because I already had some level of success in my pilot experiment I now wish to make this reproducible and "sane" as a useful tool for getting a YOUNGER hairline for the final poses.
My initial experiment was highly flawed in the fact that I did NOT lay individual hairs or small batches as would be the correct method. I was going for proof of concept. I sprayed hair spray on my forehead and waited for it to get tacky. I then tipped forward, unbound my bangs and crown and let them hang straight down. I patted the hair into the tack until dry and then lifted all of this back over the top, toward the tie point in the back, as per his hair style.
Oh, big caveat, I had my wife crimp curl my hair first. That type of styling would not be possible after. Bard's hair is kinky to the point of broom head thatch and mine is very fine and straight, so texture and kink had to be done before the comb forward trick.
Points of interest: This leaves a shine that needs to be cleaned from the skin. It is enhanced greatly by powdering the underlying skin with color similar to the hair (balding hair powder products might be quite useful). Any further syling is difficult because the hair spray can be released with water or a light tug. You must be sparing and precise with using water to release strands in order to correct placement or styling.
Two serious benefits arise from using hair spray: 1) availabilty of the product 2) The blessed assurance that it can be washed out in a shower with no damage or loss of my own hair.
So this is where I begin the improvements and request guidance. I now see that I need to precisely apply the adhesive as a writing instrument. I need to be drawing this intended hair line on my forehead (matching the target cosplay) with the actual adhesive. I could get close by tape masking my forehead before spraying on the hairspray and then peeling the tape to create this line. However, hairspray runs and also dries too quickly, leading to my needing to re-apply.
Is there something I can use, possibly, pros-aid, that I can paint this line, neatly and without runs but then remove without removing my hair? A tape perhaps? Is there a hair tape product that won't destroy my own hair during removal, possibly one that is warm water soluble or alcohol? Because I am the subject, there is no question of my following whatever process is necessary. Not like telling someone else, "Don't try to comb that out. It requires this solvent and showering.....etc."
First pics of my hairline, then my finished comb over and finally a ghost comp pic to Bard:
So, not perfect but I don't think it screams COMB-OOOOOVER!!! Any help would be greatly appreciated. I need the hair for Will Turner so destroying it is not an option