Far ahead of the Avengers: Age of Ultron DVD/Blu-Ray release (Oct. 2), Marvel’s putting out all the stops to pique fan interest. For many viewers, Paul Bettany’s Vision stood as a highlight. He was a vision to behold, both inside and out. The character will go on to fight in the upcoming Civil War film, which means Bettany is due for a lot more time in the makeup chair.
Makeup-Artist Magazine published the step-by-step process that transformed Bettany into a beet-colored crowd favorite. According to Jeremy Woodhead of Animated Extras, the color planning “was actually the hardest thing to figure out.” The team realized a full-on scarlet hue “would look slightly absurd,” so they ended up with an indeterminate shade that “in some light, looked pink and in others, red.” The light dependence of the shade “necessitated a mix of colors and layers.” Sounds complex, and this was only the beginning.
Otherwise, the team planned early on for a full-body suit but opted for “a muscle suit underneath rather than a full-body prosthetic,” so the makeup team only needed to worry about transforming Bettany’s head and arms. That was enough, for just these two areas alone required Bettany to sit in the make-up chair for two hours. Woodhead also reveals that Bettany’s “delicate features” led them to stray away from heavy facial prosthetics. They limited use to “forehead, back-of-head and neck,” so his face would be free to emote in grand Bettany fashion.
Flickering Myth has a bunch of behind-the-scenes images that show the transformation stages. Bettany’s patience in the makeup chair paid off. Still, the guy didn’t have it as rough as Jennifer Lawrence did while transforming into Mystique for the X-Men movies. JLaw suffered through between three and seven hours, depending on the movie, to transform into her blue-colored mutant character.
(Via ComicBook.com and Makeup Mag)
