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OREGONIAN
Skeletons, skulls
Portlander specializes in special effects makeup

Makeup artist Larry Day of Southeast Portland poses among some of the lifesize plaster casts that he sculpts to create special effects.

10/31/86
By Ann K. Pedersen
Photos By Bill Murphy
Special writer, The Oregonian

E. Larry Day held a garage sale shortly after his new neighbors moved in. Their eyes opened to dinner plate dimensions as he dragged out coffins, skeletons, skulls, monsters and hideous masks.
The neighbors understand now, and Day doesn't hold garage sales anymore. He's too busy becoming one of the best makeup special effects artists in Portland.
E. Larry Day, of Chimera Studios, calls what he does "makeup and creative effects." Mention makeup to most people and they will think of making someone beautiful -- the "straight and beauty makeup," Day calls it. However, he's most often called upon to make people look beat-up, bloodied and downright frightening.
And he is called upon more and more often. His credits include work with most of the television and film production companies in Portland. Much of his local work is in television commercials, print ads and industrial films, but Day is getting an increasing amount of movie work.
He is making skeletons for a short feature film called "MIA Refund" being produced in Portland by Bob Furlong.
Day and his crew are making molds of each of the skeleton's bones, which will be reproduced in special plastic material.
For a suspense film to be produced in Los Angeles by former Portlander Mark Dyers, Day is making the skeletal remains of burned bodies.
Earlier this year, he was makeup assistant on the made-for-television movie "Penalty Phase," which was shot in Portland and will be shown Nov. 18. Day also has worked on a Home Box Office film and a Hallmark Hall of Fame television movie, both with scenes shot in Oregon.
"Portland is a real hot place right now." Day said. "It's got great locations, and the state Film Commission is wonderful at working with people. To me, the entertainment industry in Portland is just going to boom.".
People with talent and ambition once went to Los Angeles. "Now," Day said, "people are staying here and people from LA are coming up."
The independent production companies that make films in Oregon can call on Day and other local makeup artists, including Kay Lopez, Lee Brumfield, Ken Hoyt and Diane Trapp.
It's nice to be courted by Hollywood, Day said, but he's not keen on working there permanently. In Los Angeles, he said, he would have to specialize in either "straight and beauty" or in special effects makeup. In Portland, he is free to do a little bit of everything.
Day, 27, has been working with makeup and special effects for more than eight years. He had to teach himself much of what he knows, but he had encouragement from his Marshall High School teachers, he said.
It all started with his discovery of a book on stage makeup that contained a recipe for making stage blood. Following the book's illustrations, he tried to make fake scars and burns.
"I'd always wanted to be a veterinarian," Day said, "but now, here's this offbeat field that interests me. And people are going, 'Makeup?' "
A drama teacher suggested he take a makeup class from Vivian Lyman, head of Portland Opera's makeup and wig department.
Lyman taught him the basics of stage and opera makeup. In class; he did the assigned "character" faces on his makeup partner and got Lyman's comments. Then he would lead his amused partner back to the makeup table and add bruises, cuts and burns to her face.
His first paying job was to make a woman into a hunchback for a party. Total fee: $5.
Day was hired to make monsters and other creations for record promotions in the Portland area. For three years, he designed haunted houses for KMJK Radio and KEX Radio.
He continued to work on Portland Opera productions and participated in Portland Cable Access productions, which give citizens a chance to express themselves on public access cable television channels.
Day said he "lucked into the business."
Years ago, television and commercial production in Portland wasn't as organized as it is now. A kid fascinated with makeup could hang around the set, be a gofer and learn, he said. With the growth and increasingly professional demands of the business, it's almost impossible to do that now.
Day said his big break came when Mincey Productions chose him to do the makeup for a children's video called "Wee Sing Together" in 1985.
"John Mincey basically took a chance on us," he said. "A lot of people wouldn't trust somebody from this town to do an extensive makeup job."
Day said makeup professionals need to know the materials, products and chemicals used in state-of the-art special effects makeup, some of which can be hazardous. Day is only half joking when he calls himself a pseudochemist.
His materials are not cheap, and most of the money he earns goes right back into his business
"When you're dropping $300-$400 a pop on molding materials, it's really a pittance when it's all added up," he said. "I'm really lucky to be able to keep going right now."
Sometimes he is criticized for his gory effects, Day said.
"My favorite bloody scenes are not incredibly bloody," he said. "They've been scenes that have been more suspense than anything else. The best effect in the world, if the audience knows that it's an effect, then that ruins the illusion. Then, they're not into the movie, they're watching the movie."

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