Lon Chaney on movie makeup

Perhaps no one was better prepared for a career in silent cinema than Lon Chaney (1883–1930). His skills were honed during his childhood, when he learned to communicate with his deaf parents through facial expression, pantomime, and sign language. Famous as the “Man of a Thousand Faces,” his macabre and memorable characterizations became cinematic classics. These roles included the horrifying but endearing protagonist in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), a role that required him to wear a 50-pound hump on his back, a fleshy covering over one eye, and prosthetics that grossly exaggerated his cheekbones, nose, and lips; the acid-scarred Erik in The Phantom of the Opera (1925); a vampire (and a police inspector) in London After Midnight (1927); and an armless knife thrower in The Unknown (1927). A major aspect of these roles was his amazing makeup, which Chaney was a master of in Hollywood. He developed this talent because he thought his own features were too ordinary for a star performer, and movie makeup was the subject he addressed for Britannica in its new 14th Edition (1929). An excerpt follows.

The need of make-up in motion pictures was evident from the beginning, but few of the principles of stage make-up could be applied to the new art. Actors found that the make-up of the stage appeared in films in a vastly different way. Red, orange and brown photograph as black or nearly so; blue, pink, yellow and mauve photograph as white. Pink cheeks became a dirty grey, gold fillings in teeth appeared as black specks; freckles “picked up” more black than the eye could see; disguises applied after the stage fashion became, under the merciless eye of the camera, ludicrous. Actors, in experimenting with different colours, found that pinks with bluish tones photographed better, and today some stars use a make-up that appears purple. Women, especially, found that applying the laws of photography to their make-up enabled them to correct defects in their faces. For instance, many actresses paint the upper eyelids green, which photographs as a light grey, and tends to make eyes that protrude slightly recede. Double chins can be partly obliterated by a tint of red, which, photographing in a darker tone than the rest of the face, places the offending chin in an apparent shadow. Red under the nose casts an optical shadow, and various colours are used about the eyes to make them appear as desired on the films.

These first make-ups, of course, were achieved by the use of the grease-paint and powder of the stage. But on the stage such make-up is worn only a short time; in films the actor has to wear it all day. Perspiration, dust and great activity before the camera made necessary frequent renewals of the grease-paint make-up. Cosmeticians began experimenting to find combinations that would last longer. Liquid make-up was devised, in which the colouring pigment was suspended in a solution containing a gelatin-like material. This make-up was found to require less patching or repairing. Later a gelatinous make-up was developed, containing materials rich in violet, which requires less light to photograph. The invention of the panchromatic film gave a greater latitude to the camera in dealing with colours, thus permitting the natural face to be filmed, and eliminating the “straight” make-up, which is designed to allow the face to be more readily photographed. To-day men use little or no make-up for “straights,” and women use a make-up which tends to bring out the good points of their faces and hide the poor ones, but in both cases the make-up is much simpler than ever before. With a knowledge of the fundamentals of stage and screen make-up and the many possibilities in the use of various paints and pigments, it remains for every screen actor to study the anatomy of his own face in order to appear “natural” before the searching close-up of the camera. The following instructions should be kept in mind for practical make-up.

Materials Used.—The necessities for make-up are: cold cream; grease-paint or liquid “ground” colours, graded from No. 1, a very light pink, to No. 13, a very dark brown, with No. 14, lavender, and No. 15, white; lining pencils, in black, brown, grey, blue, green and red; powder, ranging from white to olive; rouge and lipsticks, in four shades of red; starch or aluminium powder for whitening hair, also liquid colourings and brilliantine; nose putty; plasto, or undertaker’s wax, for building up face, and collodion or “new skin” for scars; gutta-percha, black wax and white enamel for teeth; spirit gum and crêpe hair. Straight or Foundation Make-up.—Apply cold cream, then wipe it off, to fill pores. Put on “ground” colour, grease-paint or liquid, and spread evenly, fading to nothing at nape of neck. After make-up for eyes, nose, etc., suggested below, powder thoroughly with lighter shade than “ground” paint, as it darkens when dry. To remove the entire make-up, apply plenty of cold cream and wipe off with towel. The Eyes.—Shading is done with blue or violet lining pencils for soft shadows. Some use reds or grey-greens to shade blue or grey eyes. Black can be used, but with extreme caution, shading gradually to the eyebrows. For the eyelashes, women especially use mascara or sometimes a heavy black grease-paint. The Nose.—A broad nose may be narrowed by drawing a high-light down the ridge of the nose with light paint, shading with red at the sides to determine the contour. Small nostrils are widened by inserting red around the edges, and large ones can be narrowed by high-lighting the same way. The Lips.—Work the “ground” colour well into the edges and reshape with lip rouge, making corners come to a point. A small mouth can be enlarged by extending the red beyond the corners, and vice versa. Hints on Character Make-up.—Shaping the nose, building up cheek-bones, blotting out the eyebrows and making the eyelids heavy can best be accomplished by the use of putty or plasto wax. To puff out the face, cotton wool is often inserted between the teeth and the cheeks. This material is also used for making bags under the eyes. Cut into a crescent shape, affix with spirit gum and paint over, mixing a little olive oil with the paint. To broaden the nose, negro style, cut three-eighth inch ends of two rubber cigar holders and insert into nostrils. For scars, brush on collodion, which draws the skin; apply a second coat for deeper scars. To remove, add more collodion to soften the scar, then peel it off. For very old age, a thin coat of putty can be applied to the face and lines graved into it with a sharp point for criss-crossing deep wrinkles. Trace the lines with red water-colours. Do not line the eyes. Make shadows with colour a little darker than the foundation, and where face would sink the most make the shadow darkest, always keeping the anatomy of the face in mind.

For Chinese make-up use bits of library mending tissue to draw back the corners of the eyes, thus giving a slant to them. Cover with the “ground” colour, and then paint the eyebrows with an upward tilt. A number of light black lines downward from the inner corners of the eyes and upward from the outer corners accentuate the slant.

False teeth can be made by fitting dental rubber over the natural teeth, carving the sort of teeth wanted on this and painting with tooth enamel. False beards should be made with crêpe hair a little lighter than the natural hair. Comb out well, press in a book, cut off a straight edge, and after applying spirit gum on the face attach the straight edge to the face, and trim with scissors to the required shape. To grey the hair, apply starch or aluminium powder. The latter is better but much harder to wash out. “Polished brass” bronze powder, sold by paint stores, will “blonde” a brunette.