{"id":441,"date":"2026-05-21T20:38:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T20:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=441"},"modified":"2026-05-21T20:38:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T20:38:14","slug":"how-fallout-chad-powers-and-stranger-things-makeup-and-vfx-artists-went-all-in-on-prosthetics-and-transformations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=441","title":{"rendered":"How \u2018Fallout,\u2019 \u2018Chad Powers and \u2018Stranger Things\u2019 Makeup and VFX Artists Went all in on Prosthetics and Transformations"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tThis season, makeup artists have transformed actors using everything from sublime touches to complete prosthetics. Underneath it all, no matter how many hours and prosthetic pieces, they have one common goal: to preserve the actor\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Choose Your Own Adventure\u2019 Movie in the Works From \u2018Ready or Not\u2019 Directors Radio Silence<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tFor Prime Video\u2019s \u201cFallout,\u201d Walton Goggins returns as the Ghoul, a character for which prosthetic department head Jake Gerber used nine silicon pieces. The very first application took five hours, but for Season 2, Gerber managed to reduce the transformation time to under two-and-a-half hours.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe missing nose and scar tissue that define the character were relatively easy to achieve. However, Johnny Pemberton\u2019s Thaddeus proved to be more challenging because it required a subtle transformation. \u201cIt was three pieces: a forehead with a receding hairline and two sides of the face,\u201dGerber says.\u201dWith the Ghoul, Walton\u2019s face is entirely covered, with the exception of his eyelids and his ears. If there is a misalignment on something, it\u2019s not quite as noticeable with the Ghoul. With Thaddeus, if it\u2019s off slightly, it\u2019s bad. If you\u2019re off by a millimeter, it can affect the whole look of everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThis season also features Ghoul kids, who run around doing Thaddeus\u2019 bidding. These also proved to be a challenge for Gerber \u2013 not so much with their makeup, but with labor laws. Children are legally only allowed to work for eight hours a day. \u201cWe had to get everything on them in no more than 45 minutes \u2013 usually half an hour,\u201d he says, noting they doubled up, using twice as many makeup artists to improve speed.\u201dWe had to engineer it, so it\u2019d be taken off quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOn the sublime side was Hulu\u2019s \u201cChad Powers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSpecial makeup effects designer Vincent Van Dyke and makeup department head Alexei Dmitriew teamed up to transform Glen Powell, who leads the series as Russ Holliday, a hotshot quarterback whose college football career crumbles when he makes mistake in the national title game. Eight years later, Russ makes a last-chance gambit to resurrect his football dreams by disguising himself as Chad Powers, a talented oddball who walks on to the struggling South Georgia Catfish team.<\/p>\n

\n\tVan Dyke created \u201cdisguise makeup,\u201d but had to be sure that under any look he created, he couldn\u2019t lose Powell. That gave the makeup artist a parameter with what he had to work with, at least from a design perspective.<\/p>\n

\n\tVan Dyke, along with showrunner Michael Waldron, were determined not to depict disguise makeup as someone putting on a mask or ripping a mask off. It was an opportunity to show the process and craft, and they wanted to do it properly \u2013 especially since Chad would be applying the disguise on-screen. \u201cMichael wanted it to be what we do. [In the show] Chad\u2019s delivering these pieces to Fox for a Michael Mann movie, and all of a sudden, he takes them and puts them on,\u201d Dmitriew says. \u201cThe process is very true to what we do, even when they\u2019re applying it in the episodes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThat process began with four to five plaster head castings of Powell, which served as an exploration process for Van Dyke.\u201dIt was a Mr. Potato Head process where you can take off the mullet from option A, and put it on option C,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\n\tOnce that was decided, the next challenge was coming up with something production friendly; there wasn\u2019t enough time during the production day for Powell to sit in the makeup chair for five hours.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe transformation took just under an hour and consisted of a full custom lace, dentures, a forehead piece, a nose and cheek piece, as well as appliances to the upper lip. There were also lace eyebrows and a mustache.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe airbrushed and added some freckles and little things that make it come to life and create a realistic skin tone for Chad,\u2019 says Dmitriew.<\/p>\n

Read more Kate Bush Wins First Film Award for Directorial Debut: \u2018How Wonderful!\u2019 (EXCLUSIVE)<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tOn the opposite side of transformation was Netflix\u2019s massive overhaul for \u201cStranger Things.\u201d Jamie Campbell Bower returned as Vecna. terrorizing Hawkins, Ind. The last time audiences saw him at the end of Season 4, he had been shot at numerous times and set alight.<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter speaking with showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer, makeup effects department head Barrie Gower knew they could only go in one direction with the character. \u201cVecna 2.0\u201d as he was nicknamed, needed to be bigger, more menacing and more of a threat.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThey described him as \u2018Vecna on steroids,\u2019and as if the essence and power of the upside down was literally pumping through him,\u201dsays Gower.<\/p>\n

\n\tWith Vecna\u2019s overall appearance, there was more negative space from what his body had been through. He also needed the ability to extend his arms and use them as weapons. Vecna 2.0 required a crossover with the VFX team.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe spoke with Betsy Paterson, the VFX producer, and the VFX team, about what we would bring to the table this season, what would be great for Jamie\u2019s performance, and what wouldn\u2019t hinder them when they then go into post-production,\u201d Gower adds. Then, the teams created head and shoulder prosthetics. \u201cWe kept his right arm, because that was going to be very important for a lot of his performance, where he touched other characters or to give him a lot of dexterity,\u201dhe says.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn season 4, Vecna had a mechanical left hand with large aluminum finger extensions. Gower wanted to keep those extended fingers, allowing for a \u201csense of spatial awareness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn addition, a special catsuit was made from Lycra with Vecna\u2019s pattern digitally printed over it, as a reference for color and textures.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnother big change came as Gower jumped on the 3D printing bandwagon \u2013 the technology had improved significantly since the last season.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHis head, shoulder and arm consisted of classical sculpture with plasticine and clay, but we had lots of overlapping vines,\u201d he says. \u201cWe were able to sculpt, scan, 3D print and incorporate those into the sculpture, and you could get a much higher definition to the sculpture.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn blending traditional and state-of-the-art techniques, Gower could print 3D spikes and horns, and glue those into his makeup. \u201cIt was less extensive, but it was almost more complicated,\u2019 says Gower. \u201cWe ended up with about 11 or 12 overlapping pieces over his head and shoulder, and his on his arms. He had new contact lenses and dentures. We dialed everything up to 11.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Yale,\u2019 \u2018Tender\u2019 and \u2018American Flake\u2019 Among Dances With Films: LA\u2019s 2026 Line-Up (EXCLUSIVE)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How “Fallout,” “Chad Powers” and “Stranger Things” Makeup and VFX artists went all in on prosthetics and transformations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":440,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[217],"tags":[468,469,193],"class_list":["post-441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artisans","tag-chad-powers","tag-fallout","tag-stranger-things"],"yoast_head":"\nHow \u2018Fallout,\u2019 \u2018Chad Powers and \u2018Stranger Things\u2019 Makeup and VFX Artists Went all in on Prosthetics and Transformations - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=441\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How \u2018Fallout,\u2019 \u2018Chad Powers and \u2018Stranger Things\u2019 Makeup and VFX Artists Went all in on Prosthetics and Transformations - 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