This morning’s Random Object was a Zombie Bombshell. Just as sexy as you can be after death and decay…
Sketch & Coffee, Live! is streamed daily at 5:30am, Texas Time, at the YouTubes
The fun part is how the topic spun out. Sexy monsters aren’t just a 1950s B-movie gimmick. They go back to Greek mythology with the Sirens, Medusa, and on into the tales of succubi bbrides occupyng the sleeping chambers in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. By the time we get to Queen of Outer Space or Attack of the 50-Foot Woman, the sexy monster trope was already centuries old. Later came Morticia Addams, Lily Munster, Samantha Stevens, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, all bringing glamour or humor to the monster role.
I walked through how makeup evolved too. In the early days, they used whatever powders and paints were lying around, sometimes dangerous ones, just to create shadows and scars. Then came hours-long makeup chairs and gruelling days on set. Unsafe and uncomfortable for the actors.
They tried using puppets, prosthetics, and animatronics in the 70s and 80s. By the late 80s and 90s, CGI took over. The werewolf and vampire transitions in Underworld were almost believable, and we all believed those dinosaurs in Jurassic Park were real. Today, the graphics look dated. There has been an attempt to let AI design and implement effects, but the artists and fans alike have argued that it lacks a sense of natural effect. Fans pushed back against too much CGI too.
Now studio artists experiment with AI to help design prosthetics that can be 3D printed to merge it back with practical effects. That synergy of artists creating, computers assisting is the sweet spot.
Click here to watch the Zombie Bombshell episode of Sketch and Coffee, Live!
Also, if you or a teacher friend are in need of a 20-30 minutes lesson on Femme Fatale monsters and movie prosthetics, feel free to use this lesson plan:
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