The Development and Promotion of Prosthetic Make—up Technology in China’s Film—television Industry

周博

【Abstract】In China with rapid development of economy， science and technology， the boost of film-television industry promotes the development of Prosthetic Make-up technology in this industry. This paper describes the development process of Prosthetic Make-up technology in Chinas film-television industry and conducts analysis and discussion on the development of Prosthetic Make-up at home and abroad， so as to propose solutions for the development of Prosthetic Make-up technology in Chinas film-television industry.

【Keywords】Chinas film-television industry； Prosthetic Make-up

Film-television industry， as a comprehensive art， is the media of information dissemination and is essential for peoples amusement and study. It constantly absorbs the essence from other subject during development process. Therefore， it is also the product of science and technology after developing to a certain level. Due to high comprehensiveness and technical requirements for production in film-television industry， a new technology subject appears——Prosthetic Make-up.

With social progress and improvement of material life， peoples pursuit in spiritual level also changes. Under the premise of meeting peoples basic living demand， surreal roles gradually become a new star in film and television works. Since surreal roles enjoy special modeling characteristics and personality characteristics that other ordinary roles lack， surreal roles， in today of rapid economic development， are created into different attractive images with the expanding of human thinking， welcomed by a large number of audiences. This paper， through analysis and research on surreal roles in film and television works， including， development process， classification of roles， existence value， image analysis， design process， craft production and etc， tries to pave the way for creative design of surreal roles and the proposal of a new theory.

Throughout the design of surreal role images in film and television works at home and abroad， they are of different styles and quality. Many film and television works lack a special theme and thought. However， an excellent surreal role image which can also resonate with the public always depends on strong story background， certain cultural connotation， clear image characteristics， combination of design elements and the sense of harmony for color matching. Since these image characteristics are interactive and inter-constraint， and different images come from mutual transformation， reference， and recombination， therefore， the design of surreal roles should also follow certain discipline. As a consequence， this paper， by conducting clear analysis and research on the surreal roles in the cases of film and television works， proposes a new thinking and method for design.endprint

Prosthetic Make-up has developed for a long time at abroad. In 1930s， Buck， an artist in New York， invented a latex mask for the whole face by the means of sculpture， which was the milestone of Prosthetic Make-up. As for the images in previous movies， such as the bloody head cut off in Execution of Queen Mary， the Hunchback of Notre Dame in Notre Dame de Paris and etc which made people surprised and amazed. Actually， the real sense of modern Prosthetic Make-up boomed in 1980s when the most famous Prosthetic Make-up master was Dick·Smith， known by people because of his innovative Prosthetic Make-up technology. Its Dick that Americas Prosthetic Make-up developed in a rapid speed.

1. The development process of Chinas Prosthetic Make-up technology

The old China film base in Shanghai was the first one to use Prosthetic Make-up technology in China. After the founding of the new China， in order to promote the development of film and television industry， Changchun Film Studio sent a group of students to the Soviet Union to study professional Prosthetic Make-up technology who later became the dominant force of Chinas film industry， such as， Wang Xizhong， Liu Bingkui， Sun Huangkui and etc. At the same time， Changchun Film Studio also established the first Prosthetic Studio. Later， Beijing Film Studio and Bayi Film Studio that mainly shot movie about wars constantly formed their own Prosthetic Make-up system. Under the background of reform and opening up， with the development of society and the improvement of peoples living standard， film and television industry also achieved great progress. However， due to the reform and limitation of film and television industry in last century， Chinas Prosthetic Make-up technology developed slowly， leading to a huge gap with foreign film technology. However， there were also some impressive classic film images， such as the images of demons and ghosts in Journey to the West made by Wang Xizhong， the images in Four Generations under One Roof and Yongzheng Dynasty made by Liu Binkui. Wang Xizhong， a leading person in Prosthetic Make-up circle， later built a Prosthetic Studio in Beijing Film Studio. However， after short development， almost all the studios were closed. With limited talents， Chinas Prosthetic Make-up industry was in a critical situation. In recent years， with the development of global film and television industry， China follows the path of world tightly. Domestic films begin to pay attention to Prosthetic Make-up technology by introducing in advanced teams and technology. Domestic work teams also develop prosperously and a series of excellent domestic films appear successively， such as Painted Skin 2， new Journey to the West， A Chinese Odyssey and etc， which play an essential role in promoting the development of Chinas film industry and Prosthetic Make-up technology. At present， the creation modes of surreal role images in China has gradually followed the pace of foreign countries. A group of designers are cultivated to be engaged in the prototype design of relevant games， animation and etc； besides， some new occupations appear， including CG animation in film and television industry as well as Prosthetic Make-up artists， with the hope to enhance the level of Chinas animation film works.endprint

2. Comparative analysis on domestic and foreign Prosthetic Make-up technology

Different from ordinary make-up， Prosthetic Make-up technology should belong to special effect department， such as， artificial limb， special effect modeling， simulation animals， robots and etc， which need professional Prosthetic Make-up man to conduct artistic innovation and technology production. Prosthetic Make-up technology covers a relatively wide fields， including：Prosthetic Make-up， special effect props， setting， clothes and mechanical props and etc； manufacturing process involves mold acquisition， moulding， mold making， modification， coloring， hair making， artificial limbs making and etc； modeling process includes wound make-up， old age make-up， special modeling make-up and etc. It is extremely complex， containing a series of subjects， that is， aesthetics， anthroposomatology， anatomy， sculptor， clothing science， chromatology， chemistry， engineering and so on. Therefore， Prosthetic Make-up can be called an industry depending the development of science and technology.

Since there are advanced technology， free development of culture， and strong creativity and divergent thinking among people in foreign countries， many excellent works appear in early time， such as， The Frankenstein Chronicles with the first surreal role in film industry， The Abyss about a story of the adventure in deep sea， directed by James·Cameron in his early age in 1980s， Tales From The Crypt， a TV play， as well as the legendary film Star Trek Into Darkness series. The creation of all these surreal roles has close relationship with the promotion of Prosthetic Make-up technology. The first latex mask for the whole face made by sculpture is invented by Buck， an artist in New York. At the same time， America famous Prosthetic Make-up master Dick·Smith is known by people just because of his excellent Prosthetic make-up work. In order to pursue more real make-up effect， he changes the ordinary method of sticking the artificial skin； instead， he begins to produce partial artificial skin to deal with different demand.

Under the double pressure between computer special effects and foreign team， domestic prosthetic make-up masters struggle to live and make progress in the hardship. The use of material and technology is relatively traditional in China， while in the world， the material and technology have been changed. As for some new materials at abroad， they can not only be re-used but also leave out many steps in producing process compared with China. Besides， the chemical materials of different types are more safe， moderate and practical. However， they are of high price and special ingredients， making many domestic special effect team hard to engage in it. In China， there are few people working in this industry and the applicable industries is relatively narrow， while in foreign countries， there are about 10， 000 staff in this industry， with teams coordinating in the whole producing process and Prosthetic make-up is applied into various industries， such as film and television， advertisement， game， exhibition and etc. In addition， due to the support by the government and the large investment make Prosthetic Make-up technology at abroad develop dramatically， producing many excellent film and television works， such as， Star Wars， The Lord of the Rings， Harry Potter， Avatar， The Hobbit and etc. Through the TV program of Prosthetic Make-up competition called FACE OFF， many outstanding Prosthetic Make-up men are discovered. All there works and development modes deserve our study and reference. The good news is that with the booming of film and television industry， many work teams in China of certain scale are established. The Make-up Professional Committee of China Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers also conducts the examination of the professional certificate for Prosthetic Make-up artists since 2013.endprint

Conclusion：Prosthetic Make-up technology， featured by reality and perceptual intuition， brings the best visual perception for audience. It is not only the outcome by combining different subjects， science and technology， but also the reflection of artistic designing and aesthetics， pursing the combination between art in modeling and technology. It caters audiences psychological demand， of vital importance in promoting the development of film and television market. Living in a word of diversification and globalization， film-television industry exceeds the difference of national boundaries， race and culture. Under this complex background， we should conduct self-examination to achieve self-progress and self-creation， and integrate traditional element and culture into innovative field with the purpose of improving Chinas Prosthetic Make-up level.

References：

[1]Vincent·J-R etc.The skill of professional makeup man[M].China Film Press；2009；20-21.

[2]Conceptua Special effect seminar.Skills of special modeling[M].Sharp Point Publishing；2009；34-40.

[3]Zhong Dafeng，Shu Xiaoming.Chinese film history[M].China Radio and TV Press；2007；80-83.

[4]Zheng Yaling，Hu Bin.Foreign film history[M].China Radio Film & TV Press； 2007；10-15.

[5]Yi Lijing.Interview record of Chinese directors[M].Guangxi Normal University Press；2009.endprint