Guardians of the Galaxy Movie: Find Out How Zoe Saldana's Stunning Look Was Made [EXCLUSIVE]
When it comes to the iconic characters onscreen in comic book movies, the look is everything. And Marvel's latest blockbuster film is no different.
The final big film of the summer, "Guardians of the Galaxy", will unspool in theaters around the world on Friday. The film not only features a plethora of fantastical visual and animation effects, but also has some prominent makeup effects.
The man behind the major makeup effects in the movie, especially the alien skin applied to Latina superstar actress Zoe Saldana, is David White. White began his career in the film industry at the age of 19 when he took on the role of assistant to makeup effects artist Nick Maley in the 1982 film "The Keep," directed by Michael Mann. He then moved onto work for creature effects designer Lyle Conway on "Return to Oz" (1983) as a sculptor. Since then, he has accumulated close to 30 credits working as a makeup artist in the industry and his work includes such films as "Little Shop of Horrors," "Frankenstein" (1994), "Rock DJ," "In Bruges," "La Vie en Rose," Ridley Scott's "Kingdom of Heaven" and Tony Scott's "Spy Game."
He was also involved in such major blockbusters as "The Da Vinci Code," Ridley Scott's "Robin Hood," "Captain America: The First Avenger" and "Snow White and the Huntsman."
White recently spoke with Latin Post about the process of working on "Guardians of the Galaxy," as well as his experience working with Saldana and WWE star Dave Bautista, better known as "Batista."
Latin Post: What were the greatest challenges on the project?
David White: The fact that most of the aliens are all different. It was like doing 10 movies at one time. All very different paint and application needs, and different materials uses.
LP: Most memorable scene to put together?
DW: I love the prison and everything that resided in it.
LP: How was this production different from other ones you have worked on?
DW: Only as far as the quantity of product, and the many different kinds of creatures and prosthetics. But it was a massive logistical situation, involving a prosthetic crew of over 100. And [there were] over 40 application artists.
LP: What were the major surprises for you while working on this film?
DW: I don't like surprises, so I do my [best] to avoid them. [But there were] none that I can recall! If there was one, I would have remembered it.
LP: How long did the makeup usually take to put together?
DW: If you apply on an actor, anything from half an hour to four hours. [It's] all down to who's playing what [character].
LP: What was the experience of working with the cast, especially Zoe Saldana, Chris Pratt and Dave Bautista?
DW: Zoe and David were total professionals, lovely, lovely people.
LP: And Chris Pratt?
DW: I wasn't involved with Chris' make-up, but he seemed really nice.
LP: What inspired you to get into this business and do makeup effects? What do you enjoy most about this career?
DW: A strange and unstoppable need to create new and amazing creatures and characters and what I consider things of great artistic beauty.
LP: What is your next project?
DW: There are one or two possibilities out there. I'm excited and that's a good sign.
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