This can make anyone dead
PUSSSYKATT
L.A. DAILY Staff Writer
YOU WANT somebody to be dead? Matthew Mungle can make that happen. It can be
done uglier than a meat wagon driver can imagine or it can be virtually
bloodless.
You want somebody's face really messed up? Tom Burman will take care of it. You
want somebody's head on a platter? Bari Dreiband-Burman can fill that order,
for the right price. And then she'll show it to just about anyone who asks
nicely.
They are veterans of a booming Hollywood specialty industry, the crossover
field of props and makeup that provides synthetic bodies and body parts for
films and television series such as "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,' "ER,'
"Navy NCIS,' "Six Feet Under' and "Cold Case.'
Tom Burman grew up around his father's prop construction shop and began working
in prosthetic makeup on "Planet of the Apes' in 1967. He said the current
appetite for graphic depictions of death, major injury and surgery on
television has been a boon for everyone in the field, which in the past focused
more on monsters and fantasy figures.
"When I started there were probably six people in the world doing this work
exclusively, and today I would guess there's about 500 people in L.A. alone and
20 studios,' he said.
The Burman Studio in Burbank states its purpose immediately to its visitors. A
glass jar on a shelf opposite the front door holds a man's head and hand
floating in what appears to be formaldehyde. There are 10 Emmys on display,
most of them above a case featuring an assortment of fantasy creatures and
humans in the process of meeting terrible ends.
The back work room is equal parts artist's studio, chemistry lab and
construction site. The materials of the trade range from clay and plaster to
latex, silicone and polyurethane elastemers to gypsum cement. The equipment
includes a band saw, large and small kilns, a common kitchen mixer, test tubes
and a gram scale.
Since last spring, much of the husband-and-wife team's time has been devoted to
"Nip/Tuck,' the FX drama series about a pair of Miami plastic surgeons. The
Burmans and their staff prepare the breast-enhanced torsos and buttocks
awaiting implants. Many episodes call for a replica head of a guest star that
will undergo a facelift or eyelid job performed with convincing dexterity by
actors Dylan Walsh or Julian McMahon.
Their assignments can range from very large -- more than a dozen severed corpse
heads for a "Nip/Tuck' scene in which the doctors' skills are evaluated as they
perform routine procedures on dead subjects -- to very small -- Calista
Flockhart's collagen-puffed lips from an episode of "Ally McBeal.'
Bari, a graduate of California Institute of the Arts and former medical
illustrator, had only a week for the corpse-head episode in which to sculpt and
paint an exact replica of an 82-year-old actress who was too frail to endure
the 20-minute plaster casting procedure.
It is time-consuming work and priced accordingly. TV rates are generally
cheaper than feature film rates because a small screen and video are more
forgiving than blown-up 35mm images. Mungle said a full head made to look like
a specific actor can run about $8,500, while a complete body can be made to
order and then rented to the production company for about $15,000.
Allan Arkush, co-executive producer of "Crossing Jordan,' said Greg Solomon of
John Vulich Optic Nerve Studios in Sun Valley is involved in each episode's
production from the first concept meeting involving the writers, producers and
director. One of the earliest points of discussion is whether the body will be
completely fake or prostheses applied on an actor.
Arkush said when he worked on the hospital drama "St. Elsewhere' about 20 years
ago, they never showed procedures up close. But "Crossing Jordan,' in which
Jill Hennessy plays a coroner, is a far cry from similar circumstances in
"Quincy, M.E.'
"When we first went on the air, we talked a lot with the network about how far
we should go,' he said. "And they said, 'Just don't go any further than "ER.' '
But 'ER,' of course, is different. They !ital!save the people in 'ER.'
"One thing we learned that surprised us was that the audience today really is
interested in this,' Arkush said. "We at first were much more discreet and were
a little squeamish about it, and we found that people were ready for what we
were showing and more.'
Mungle's studio, W.M. Creations Inc. in North Hollywood, has several projects
under way. The staff of eight work routinely on "CSI: Miami' and the new series
"Navy NCIS,' and they are finishing work on a sleeping body double of Mia
Farrow for the play "Fran's Bed,' and aging prosthetics for Robin Williams to
wear in the movie "The House of D.'
The walls of the workshop are arrayed with a who's who of faces preserved in
smooth white plaster: George Clooney, Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks,
Nicolas Cage, Elizabeth Taylor, Tom Cruise, William H. Macy, Laura Linney and
scores of others.
Mungle, who picked up his latest Emmy last month for Macy's prosthetics in the
TNT movie "Door to Door,' said he knew from boyhood that this was the work he
wanted to do someday. He recalls reading how-to books, ordering supplies by
mail and then making himself up and parading outside his local theater for,
say, the latest "Planet of the Apes' sequel.
"You have to understand this was in a population-4,000 town in Oklahoma,' he
said. "So they weren't used to any of this. They thought I was crazy.'
When Mungle started working in the business 25 years ago, he would haul his
sketch books around to studios and production offices. Now, he says, much of
the design approval process is handled by e-mail.
The ability to work faster because of computers and experience has not meant a
more relaxed atmosphere at W.M. Creations, however.
"Everything's needed yesterday,' said Mungle, whose "CSI: Miami' work includes
organs and tissue for those snaky path-of-the-bullet shots. "They always want
it yesterday -- and for no money.'
Mungle believes the current trend toward high body counts on screen is a phase
that will pass, but he expects it will be many years before computer-generated
images are credible enough to phase out the need for prosthetics and lifelike
props.
"Nothing can replace the look of a real person on camera,' he said.
Those interested in breaking into the business can find a small number of
courses at makeup schools that teach rudimentary techniques. You can get some
basic instruction in the book "Special Effects Make-up' by Janus Vinther,
coming out Oct. 31 from Routledge.
The Burmans and Mungle said when interviewing applicants, they look for a
fine-arts background and a solid understanding of human anatomy. They also
should be able to work fast and have a passion for the work to put up with the
long hours.
"We get a lot of portfolios of bloody bodies,' Bari Burman said. "There's no
art in that. You can pour a gallon of blood on anything. It's knowing anatomy.'
Chemistry is an asset as well, Mungle said. "And chemistry with people -- when
to talk to an actor and when not to talk to an actor. That's the worst.'
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