- Blood Red Eyes - J Durham
Screen vampire make-up designs employ special eye effects to create drama. This can be done with CGI and is sometimes started off in the make-up department using different special effects contact lenses.
Popular Vampire Looks
Changing the look of a healthy human eye is something that strikes everyone: Seeing a clouded, bloody or non-human eye in a regular face produces an immediate response from most people. This has been used to create different styles of vampire.
- The 1979 Salem's Lot TV mini series featured a gruesome vampire with a blood-ringed, glowing yellow iris; a look created from traditional special effects make-up and reminiscent of Nosferatu. These eyes looked bulbous, diseased and completely dehumanized. This is a perfect vampire make-up for a horrifying monster.
- The 1980's saw vampires become a little more cosy and a lot more human with films like The Lost Boys (1987, Joel Schumacher). This trend carried on to the popular Buffy and Angel series' of the 1990's created by Joss Whedon. Big, black lenses which give the effect of huge pupils are perfect for this look. Cat's eyes were also utilised by vampire creators during this time. The look is strong, dangerous and animalistic but intriguing not repelling. A similar but subtler approach with the eyes can be seen in Let the Right one In (2008, Thomas Alfredson).
- The modern, teen-glamor vampire eye look showcased in Twilight (2008 Catherine, Hardwicke) and is now seen in popular teen drama such as TV series The Vampire Diaries (2009). Here, vampire eyes pay tribute to the age of digital coloring and airbrushed magazine shoots. They are simply larger than life, intensely colored and beguiling. Bright blue and green could aid this look for a party, teamed with magically sparkling eye make-up for true Twilight fans.
Risk Assessment for Theatrical Contact Lenses
For anything involving the eyes, the ultimate risk undertaken is that of blindness. It is very important to consider this seriously whether buying contact lenses for a party, or working in a make-up department where they are part of a special effects arsenal.
Before any special effects work is undertaken, make-up artists must have personal professional liability insurance in place. Each production company should also be insured separately. If a claim ever needs to be made, failure to have carried out proper risk assessment may result in the insurance refusing to pay. Carrying out risk assessment for every activity is part of basic professional conduct.
Taking a starting point from the most serious risk being blindness, the following contra-indications are important to be aware of:
- Known allergies to contact lenses.
- History of eye infections and conjunctivitis.
- Sensitivity or known allergies that affect eye comfort including hay fever.
The following factors must also be taken in to account when doing a risk assessment for eye effects involving contact lenses.
- Length of time the lenses are required to be worn.
- General comfort and confidence with lenses.
- Other make-up that will be applied around the eye; this needs to be designed with lenses in mind.
- Existing eyesight problems.
If in doubt about any of these, a qualified optician must be consulted.
Health and Safety for Make-up Contact Lenses
Consult an optician before wearing contact lenses, or before ordering them for a production.
- Only buy contact lenses from a reputable source.
- Regular make-up artists should never put lenses in to an actor's eyes. This must be done but a trained designer, optometrist or by the actor themselves following instruction from an optician.
- Vampire make-up can get messy; keep sticky or chalky substances such as fake blood and white Aquacolor away from eyes when wearing contact lenses.
- Stock up with solution so that lenses stay moist and get cleaned well.
- Store contact lenses according to manufacturers guidelines.
- Remove lenses immediately if eyes become very red, there is pain, intense itching or if vision becomes impaired.
Tips for Better Vampire Make-up With Contact Lenses
Make-up around the eyes can be used to highlight the effect of the lens:
- Subtly red rimmed eyes are easy to create with color pencils or shadow and make eyes look sickly and fevered.
- Clean mascara and cake eyeliner highlights a modern vampire eye. This is a good make-up for glamorous rather than horrifying Halloween party looks.
- Occasionally screen vampire eyes turn blood red and if in doubt about styles, red can be horrifyingly teamed with both a natural or monstrous overall vampire make-up.
Contact lenses are a more complicated part of special effects make-up than color or fake blood. However, if proper procedures are followed they can be one of the most effective ways to create a stunning make-up effect. With modern vampire make-up relying so much on simplicity and clean precision, contact lenses are one of the best ways to fabricate an understated yet completely chilling monster. Vampire contact lenses are the new fake fangs.
Shefali Choudhury - Writer and visual artist, spent 10 years in professional makeup artistry from beauty to blood effects.
