Wearing a mask--putting on another face--embodies a fundamental human fantasy of inhabiting other bodies and experiencing other lives. In this extensively illustrated book, Thomas Morawetz explores how the creation of transformational makeup for theatre, movies, and television fulfills this fantasy of self-transformation and satisfies the human desire to become "the other." Morawetz begins by discussing the cultural role of fantasies of transformation and what these fantasies reveal about questions of personal identity. He next turns to professional makeup artists and describes their background, training, careers, and especially the techniques they use to create their art. Then, with numerous before-during-and-after photos of transformational makeups from popular and little-known shows and movies, ads, and artist's demos and portfolios, he reveals the art and imagination that go into six kinds of mask-making--representing demons, depicting aliens, inventing disguises, transforming actors into different (older, heavier, disfigured) versions of themselves, and creating historical or mythological characters.
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"This book is entirely unique, very well written, dramatic, and, at the same time, philosophical. It is likely to appeal to a very large audience, including anybody interested in the visual arts, in film, in theater, in philosophical problems of transformation, and in the unconscious generally." -Melvin R. Lansky, M.D., UCLA Medical School and Los Angeles Psychoanalytic Institute
Review
This book is entirely unique, very well written, dramatic, and, at the same time, philosophical. It is likely to appeal to a very large audience, including anybody interested in the visual arts, in film, in theater, in philosophical problems of transformation, and in the unconscious generally. (Melvin R. Lansky, M.D., UCLA Medical School and Los Angeles Psychoanalytic Institute )
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating look at appearance and identity,
This review is from: Making Faces, Playing God: Identity and the Art of Transformational Makeup (Hardcover)
I'm a fan of several actors who have performed in prosthetics, and I was extremely excited to find this book. The psychology of physical transformation fascinates me.The author intelligently explores the role of physical transformation in myths and fiction and how we as an audience and a society view transformation, willing and unwilling. He also shows the practical and psychological side of actually designing, applying, and wearing transformative makeup. He explores several different aspects of makeup artistry, and how each of these transformations affects the audience and the performer. Some of the most interesting parts of the book for me was the exploration of willing versus unwilling transformation fantasies -- the horror of looking into the mirror one morning and seeing a giant cockroach, as opposed to the fantasy of shapeshifting at will, escaping consequences, seeing how people treat you when you're wearing another face. He touches on this last part from the actor's perspective as well -- imagine the psychological effect of working with fellow actors and crew who never see your real face, who wouldn't recognise you if they saw you out of makeup. I've heard actors speak about this disconcerting feeling, and it's one of the most interesting aspects of prosthetic acting, in my opinion. I was hoping for more exploration of the effect of prosthetics on the actor, and the craft of performing in prosthetics, rather than this book's true focus on the audience, and by extension, society. But the questions this book raised had me talking incessantly for a week, to anyone who would listen. It costs more money than I'd usually feel good about spending, but in this case I think it's worth it.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
not what I thought it was going to be,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Making Faces, Playing God: Identity and the Art of Transformational Makeup (Paperback)
I thought this book was going to give some suggestions on the how to make the faces but instead it focused on the psycology of the art of making faces. It has a lot of good images, but no advice on how to do this kind of special affects makeup. I guess I need to just chalk it up as a lesson learned to read the descriptions better before I buy.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Celluloid Illusions,
By "fariss16" (Utica,KY. USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Making Faces, Playing God: Identity and the Art of Transformational Makeup (Hardcover)
Anyone with an interest in the field of makeup SPX will find and gain knowledge that this book offers.Every page is a joy.You'll read each article again and again unlocking unlimited possibilities towards gaining your own personal goals.This book alone will give encouragement and birth to future artists in this field.Need I say more,you must add this book to your library.It's a must and seeing is believeing.*Don't give it a second thought!*
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