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April 1, 2006 - Need to add or subtract a few pounds -- or years -- from your leading man or lady? NBC’s Prosthetics Shop, provides the ingenuity behind some of the most creative and convincing stunts and special effects staged in New York City. Recently, the shop has turned Jimmy Fallon into a 400 pound man for “Saturday Night Live,” helped Conan O’Brien play “Apebraham Lincoln,” and provided the Halloween special effects makeup for “The Today Show.”
The network operates a full service prosthetics lab at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, capable of producing all makeup special effects for film, television and HD, from straight prosthetics to mechanics, mold making and life casting. Their effects include robotic arms, blood squirting from limbs, horns growing out of a skull and the complete aging process. The shop also does work for clients outside of NBC.
To turn Jimmy Fallon into a 400 pound man, the shop started with a cast taken of the actor's head, using a material called alginate. They filled the mold with plaster, creating a copy of Fallon's head. The prosthetic was then sculpted with clay and molded to achieve the desired look. Next, the clay was cleaned out, replaced with foamed latex and cooked for three hours. Finally, the appliance was applied to Fallon's face, along with makeup on his arms and hands, and painted to look like his skin. Before long, Fallon had aged 400 years!
A similar technique was used to create an ape face for Conan O'Brien. Once the face was copied, sculpted, applied and painted, the ape hairs were added, a few at a time.
"Our Prosthetics Shop's diverse work on ‘Saturday Night Live’ and ‘Conan’ showcases the depth of creative talent in New York,” Frank Accarrino, Vice President for News & Entertainment Operations at NBC Universal said. “All production customers in the entertainment business are welcome to utilize these amazing artists for any of their projects."
Click here for more information on the Shop.
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