AN EVENING WITH... GÖRAN LUNDSTRÖM

Göran works on the Penguin makeup for "The Batman" by Matt Reeves. Makeup designed by Mike Marino

The Challenge of "House of Gucci": Jared Leto's transformation into Paolo Gucci is one of the most talked-about of the decade. How did you manage to maintain the expressiveness of such a methodical actor under such dense prosthetic pieces without the character losing his human "spark"?

- Göran: I feel that it's a lot thanks to Jared that gives my makeup that extra push into reality. He was extremely good at conveying natural expressions and using the makeup in a way I haven't seen much before with lots of micro expressions. I designed the makeup in a way where it would move the best and not cover up any area close to his eyes, which is usually difficult to paint realistically. I made the prosthetic very soft, and thin around the mouth, and painted it with lots of imperfections, blemishes and sun damaged skin. It needed to hold up next to actor's like Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons who's faces have a lot of character. I don't shy away from putting lots of colors on my silicone pieces. 

"Border" and Disturbing Realism: In Border , makeup was at the heart of the film. What was the biggest challenge in designing a look that had to be "inhuman" but at the same time everyday and believable under the natural light of the Swedish landscapes?

- Göran: The greatest challenge for me was to not try to impress with the makeups for Border. Their faces needed to feel real, but odd, so I tried my best not to bring too much attention to them. Instead of looking at trolls, I added subtle animal features and, for Tina, I chose to give her face male attributes instead of trying to design some sort of creature. A lot of times as designers we tend to elevate a look or create something that gives us some personal emotional satisfaction. On Border I tried to make sure I didn't fall for that pay off, and instead just tried to sculpt something that felt mundane and not that exciting. The real effect then happens when you put everything together in a real environment and it looks different, but still feels real.

Alien: Romulus and Practical Effects: We've recently seen a resurgence of practical effects in the Alien saga. As someone who advocates for the tangible, what does a practical effect bring to the set that CGI can never convey to the actor during filming?

- Göran: Practical effects bring the real illussion to set and with it comes real emotional reactions to what people see. If it's done fully it puts the actors in the reality of their scenes and it helps them feel what their characters are expected to feel. With a creature makeup like the Offspring, that Legacy Effects designed and built, it creates a true present visual for the actors to experience the threat that their characters are supposed to experience. It's similar when you do a makeup like The Penguin in The Batman. It puts the actor Colin Farrel in the physical transformation of his character, but also his co-actors get to act with a visually complete character out of the script.

Redesigning Dracula: In The Last Voyage of the Demeter , you presented a much more animalistic and terrifying version of Dracula. How did you work with Javier Botet to merge his incredible physical ability with your prosthetics and create such organic and terrifying movement?

- Göran: Javier is one of nicest and most unique looking creature performers/ actors in the business. Our challenge wasn't that dissimilar to what I had to do on Border. Identifying what we want to feel when seeing the creature was the first task. Javier's unique silhuette makes for a different type of monster so we didn't want to bulk him up or limit him. Relatively early on we abandoned the idea of a big, imposing, powerful looking monster. And instead embraced the idea of an akward, gaunt, more pathetic looking, desperate creature. Equally dangerous, but the threat wasn't necessarily physical strength and size, but more the audience not understanding what this creature really was capable off. Making the unpredictability the threat, even though this Dracula relatively quickly turned out to be deadly!.

"Border" by Ali Abbasi / Eva Melander ©Meta Film Stockholm

The Science of Translucency: You're a master at silicone painting. What do you look for in the color layers so that a prosthesis doesn't absorb light in a "dead" way, but rather shines and reacts like living tissue?

- Göran: This is a question a lot of us have very different ways of dealing with, and my way keeps changing as well. There's a few things to keep in mind when making silicone prosthetics - the opacity of the prosthetic, the color tone and the vibrancy of the colors. How I choose translucency depends on a number of factors, too translucent and it will read too grey and the paint job will float on top, too opaque and it will look like a makeup and reflect light in a certain painted way. Finding the sweet spot is crucial but that choice also depends on what your paint job on top is going to be. As opposed to a lot of other artists I use a lot of paint when applying my pieces. I add quite a lot of layers of colors and textures. My thinking is to paint the pieces in such a natural way that it convinces people that it has to be real. A lot of silicone makeups to me looks too safe and too bland. But silicone also lacks the undertones that real skin has, so I always prefer to exaggerate the coloration of my makeups to compensate for that. Most of that doesn't necessarily show up on camera but it adds something in certain lights. I tend to tint my pieces slightly on the light side of the actors own flesh tone and I've started experimenting with making the flesh tone a tad more vibrant as well. With all the layers of colors that go on it tends to dull down the tone of the pieces and more vibrancy could compensate for that. I also stay away from using many of the alcohol based makeup pallettes that are commonly used as they have too much white mixed into them. 

Sculpture and 3D: In your Stockholm studio, how do you balance the use of digital tools (3D design, printing) with traditional clay modeling? Has some of the "magic" been lost in this technological process?

- Göran: Digital tools are used as a part of the process by most artists in our industry today, both 2D and 3D tools like Photoshop, Zbrush, Nomad Sculpt, Mudbox or Blender. Some try to utilize them more to push the technology and some use them as just another tool. In the end it's just preference. 

Both traditional techniques and digital have their pros and cons. For myself I find that the slower speed of traditional sculpting seems to let artistic decisions marinate and mature better. Something gets lost for me when doing something purely digitally, and the tactile reality of fingers touching clay seems to channel feelings better when you're also looking at a real object in real light. Sculpting/ modeling is about feeling, and there's a lot of psychology to how each artist channels those emotions and get in the creative zone.

Digital modeling has a speed that is impressive, lots of time you can move quicker than you could with clay. But it still needs to be 3D printed once it's finished, and often you have to see it printed out just to find mistakes in the form that are hard to detect on a screen since it's only in virtual 3D. Mechanical objects are clearly easier to achieve using digital tools.

"Ronja Rövardotter"  ©Netflix

"Ronja Rövardotter"  ©Netflix

The Legacy of the Greats: You've always shown admiration for figures like Rick Baker. What do you think is the most important lesson from the "old school" that new FX artists should never forget?

- Göran: Knowing the history of our craft is important for new artists. Our craft evolved from people's ideas, not from big coorporations. Someone saw a flaw in a way they were doing something and came up with a new technique or improvement that eventually changed way we do things. Prosaide transfers is a very good example. Christian Tinsley pushed that idea of flat prosthetics that vere applied almost like a sticker very fast. He made it from a thicker version of tinted prosaide. Today it's commonplace and a very common technique for applying quick wounds and scars.

Everyone should know who Dick Smith was and the enormous contributions he made to the craft of makeup effects. Without him our industry wouldn't be so open to sharing "trade secrets" and so many tricks and techniques we still use came from his brilliant mind. Rick Baker became the rock star of makeup FX when it blew up in the early 80's. He popularized makeup effects and he's still considered the best ever in our industry and the reason that so many of my generation chose to become makeup FX artists.

The Ultimate Advice: For an artist reading this from Spain who wants to cross borders like you did: Is it more important to have a portfolio full of monsters or to demonstrate an absolute ability to recreate human reality?

- Göran: I think searching success, fame or an international career is detrimental to doing great work. The only reason anyone ever becomes successful in any industry is, and should be, having a strong passion to learn, excel and to become as good as they can. That takes time and dedication. The best artists I know do this because they love to do the work. Most of us don't do it for attention or validation. Every chance to learn and every challenge should be treasured. When it comes to a portfolio what will give anyone the most work are showing personal projects. Work that showcases your full abilities, without the assistance of others. Variety is important. So no blood and gore, but a mix between realistic makeups to realistic creature/ fantasy makeups. Being competent in different techniques is very useful since it will make you more hirable. But passion for the art is number one.

Paolo Gucci makeup on Jared Leto for "House of Gucci".

Talking to Göran Lundström is to understand that special effects aren't about deceiving the eye, but about convincing the heart. His humility, despite being at the top of the industry, and his passion for every pore of skin he sculpts, make him an enduring icon. Thank you, Göran, for reminding us that behind every great character is an artist who dared to dream with their hands.

You can follow their incredible processes and see the work of their team on Effektstudion and Instagram , Imdb .

See you at the next Makeup Artist shoot.