Tuesday 13 November 2012

GENDER BENDING MAKEUPS


make me a man: Hook


Glenn Close undertook a different sort of character role in this movie with a cameo role as Gutless the pirate.

Christina Smith was makeup supervisor on the movie; Monty Westmore & Adelbert Acevedo were assistant makeup supervisors; Greg Cannom was credited for special makeup.

ARIA



This movie consisted of ten short pieces directed by ten different directors, including Ken Russell, Jean-Luc Godard, Robert Altman, Bruce Beresford, and Nicolas Roeg. Each short uses an aria as soundtrack/sound (Vivaldi, Bach, Wagner), and is an interpretation of the particular aria.

The first segnment – set against Verdi’s ‘Un ballo in maschera’ – is based on the attempted assassination of King Zog of Albania (Theresa Russell) whilst he was visiting the Vienna State Opera house for a performance of Pagliacci in February 1931. The attempt failed because Zog fired back – the only occasion in modern history when a Head of State has personally exchanged fire with potential assassins. No doubt he was better prepared than the average head of state as he is reputed to have survived over fifty-five assassination attempts between 1928 and 1939.

make me a man: Ein Mann Wie EVA



After playing in many of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s movies Eva Mattes gets to look remarkably like him in this movie: a unique portrayal of a unique fimmaker.

Many, many thanks to my friend in Romania for these images: I’d waited in vain for years for this movie to be shown on UK TV.

make me a man: Hedwig & the Angry Inch



Hedwig, born a boy named Hansel in East Berlin, fell in love with an American GI and underwent a sex-change operation in order to marry him and flee to the West: unfortunately nothing worked out quite as it was supposed to. Hedwig met Yitzhak (Miriam Shor) performing as a drag artist in Croatia and Yitzhak is now a member of Hedwig’s band.
Mary Monteforte was the key makeup artist on this movie.

make me a man: Alatriste



Alatriste

I love Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s novels, including the Alatriste series which can be compared to the Musketeer novels but with both self-awareness and awareness of what was to follow for that society. But why someone thought it was possible to turn seven novels into one movie and still retain some any sense of plot, character and continuity escapes me.

The movie follows the lives of veteran soldier Alatriste and his protégé Íñigo Balboa from 1623 until Alatriste’s death in the Battle of Rocroi in 1643. In between spells in the army he becomes involved in various intrigues as an occasional sword-for-hire and makes some dangerous enemies including Fray Emilio Bocanegra (Blanca Portillo), a Dominican friar and president of the Holy Tribunal of the Inquisition.

Blanca Portillo’s head was shaved for the role; Im not sure if this movie was filmed immediately before or immediately after Volver in which she played the cancer-sufferer Agustina.

The makeup
José Luis Pérez was the makeup department head. He was nominated for the Best Makeup and Hairstyles / Mejor maquillaje y peluquería Goya.

gender-bending: Tittybangbang (Don)






Don Peacock (Lucy Montgomery) is a balding, lonely bachelor with bad teeth. He lingers in his grim bedsit, desperate to fulfil his personal fantasy, offering a succession of unwitting and unwilling lady visitors the opportunity to take a golden shower.
Lucy spoke about the makeup process in a publicity interview:
‘The first few times, the prosthetics were fascinating but after a while you just think: “Oh no, here we go again”. But you get such a great reaction when people see you, it’s so worthwhile.’

gender-bending: Palmer’s Pick Up

Various people including Mr Price (Talia Shire) attempt to stop the two dimwitted owners of a struggling haulage company from transporting a huge, mysterious box across the country.
Soo-Jin Yoon was the hair and makeup artist.

make me a man: Warriors of Heaven and Earth


Warriors of Heaven and Earth
In the eight century a Chinese emissary is sent to the Gobi desert to execute a renegade soldier. However, when a caravan transporting a young Buddhist monk with a valuable but mysterious treasure is threatened by both bandits and a Turkic warlord the two warriors must unite to protect the travelers.
Actress Yun Zhou played Jue Hui, the monk, and had her head shaved for the role.

gender-bending: The Year of Living Dangerously


In 1965 a young Australian reporter based in Indonesia must choose between romance and the story that will make his career.
The diminutive photographer Billy Kwan (Linda Hunt) helps him to navigate the political turmoil of Indonesia during the rule of President Sukarno.
Judy Lovell was the makeup artist and special effects makeup artist; Bob McCarron was the special effects makeup artist.

gender-bending fakeovers: Axizi na to dis


From 2006 to 2010 Tatiana Stefanidou presented a Greek talk show Axizi na to dis (Worth Watching). Inevitably when in 201o the show talked about the differences between men and women it gave Tatiana the excuse to punk her colleagues:
‘She was supposed to be a German-Greek TV reporter who was visiting the country and generally created chaos inside the channel trying to get interviews from various well known figures working there.’
Previously in 2009 for a piece on obesity, weight loss problems and the public response to fat people she had done a Tyra and appeared on the show made up to look 139 kilos.


George and Roulis Alahouzos (Alahouzos FX) were responsible for Tatiana’s transformation.
The makeup was a three piece silicone prosthetic (full face and upper/lower lip pieces). George Alahouzos told me: ‘Both jobs [this and the fat makeup] had to be done in a few days (and with very little money) but we loved the challenge these makeups created under pressure.’
I’m grateful to the Alahouzos brothers for allowing me to use some of these images.

gender-bending fakeovers: Jeanette Biedermann




Fakeovers: Experiment Inkognito
Experiment Inkognito is the the latest version of the Anonymous format distributed internationally by Eyeworks. In each episode a celebrity was disguised with prosthetic makeup, and then went incognito.
In the first episode Jeanette Biedermann underwent a radical transformation – changing age, race and gender.
Unfortunately, Jeanette was the only female celebrity featured in the series.Robert Rebele was responsible for the makeup.

celebrity ‘fakeovers’: Vicki Butler-Henderson




UK TV channel Five has commissioned Flame TV to produce Celebrity Swap, a new three part series following two different celebrities each week as they undergo the ultimate makeover: one star couple will swap gender, another age and a third class. They then try to fool close friends or family. The series follows the pilot Gender Swap, which saw Carol Smillie and Shaun Williamson transformed.

TV presenter Vicki Butler-Henderson swaps genders with David Dickinson: she becomes a bald geezer called Bill who goes a driving lesson with her brother. The other two lucky female celebrities are model Melinda Messenger (looking well best her sell-by date) and actress Linda Robson (becoming a very posh lady).

The makeup is in the more than capable hands of Neil Gorton and Vanessa White. Neill claims that: ‘You will see these stars transformed to the point where their own mothers don’t recognise them in close proximity.’ The transformations are extensive especially for Melinda and Vicki: Vicki’s entire head is covered with prosthetics during the makeup application.

A further one-off programme Jordan Gets Even featuring Jordan (Katie Price) has also been filmed and is likely to be shown in early 2005. So far there is no information available on the nature of her transformation (other than Neill Gorton’s claim to have disguised her ‘biggest assets’).

celebrity ‘fakeovers’: Rebecca Loos




UK TV channel Five has commissioned Flame TV to produce a second season of Celebrity Swap, a new four part series following two different celebrities each week as they undergo the ultimate makeover: one star couple will swap gender, another age, another race and a fourth class. They then try to fool close friends or family.
In the first programme Rebecca Loos and Darren Day swap genders. Rebecca becomes the balding builder seen above through an extensive makeup process.
The makeup is once again in the more than capable hands of Neil Gorton and Vanessa White.

gender-bending fakeovers: Change


Change was a Korean ‘fakeover’ show which ran on the SBS network for some thirty-two episodes in 2008. I don’t know if it was part of the Anonymous franchise but it had a lot in common – particularly the role of the presenters egging on the participants through a earpiece.
In one episode actress Kim Ji Ho was transformed into a man.




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