Anthropology and

Hollywood
Anthropology 1020
Daniel Hill

Saturday, November 26, 16

The planet of the apes

The 1968 movie Planet of the Apes is a
curious movie on what it would be like if
Earth was ruled by apes. For the time, it
was a revolutionary movie that peeked the
interest of the public by its unique story line
and its outstanding makeup skills, by
transforming human actors/actresses into
great apes. Now a days CGI has eliminated
the excessive use of makeup and can create
these incredible looks. But what would it
take to create the effects without a
computer, just the use of makeup?
Saturday, November 26, 16

So...
What does it take
to become an
ape?

Saturday, November 26, 16

In order to create the apes presented in the movie

there are a variety of different elements that we need
to address to achieve this makeup magic. The apes
presented in the movie show biological signs that are
not seen in any ape ever alive, for example bipedalism,
because of that we will be comparing homo sapiens,
apes that actually exist, and these apes in the movie.
Since we are comparing two different species (and
fantasy apes) there are a lot of variations, however Ill
be focusing on three major elements.

Saturday, November 26, 16

1st: The bone structure in the faces are

completely different in apes and humans.
2nd: There is a different hair/fur texture in
humans and apes.
3rd: The body structure is similar but there are
differences in how they stand and walk.

Before we go into the steps of creating the

look lets compare modern day apes and homo
sapiens.
Saturday, November 26, 16

Comparing
Skulls
The Human Skull
The human face has evolved to
be a very beautiful structure
to incase our brains. As you can
see there is a round occipital
bone, smooth partial ridges,
flat face, smaller uniform teeth,
wide eye sockets and a very
slight curve in the zygomatic
bones.

Saturday, November 26, 16

Ape skull
The ape skull is an angular
master piece. As you can see
the zygomatic bones are vary
pronounced, the face is
narrower, the teeth are various
in size and shape, the canine
teeth are vary large, it has a
large crest bone running on the
top of the head, the mouth is
pushed forward creating a
facial pragmatism, and there is
a large brow bone that
protrudes outwards.

Saturday, November 26, 16

Comparing Faces
Humans
-The nose is relatively small and
curves outward.
-The brow ridge is flat.
-Teeth are inside the mouth,
smaller lips.
-Facial hair is on the brows, eye
lids, around the mouth, neck,
checks, and the top of the head.
-Ears are smaller and placed by
the mastoid process.

Saturday, November 26, 16

Apes
-The fur surrounds and frames
the entire face.
-Nose is flat and very wide.
-Very small lips, teeth reside in
the mouth
-Smaller ears.
-Very strong, pronounced brow
ridge.
-Mouth is pushed forward still
showing facial pragmatism.
-Eyes are small, resembles human
eyes.
-Strong cheeks.

Saturday, November 26, 16

Lets begin the makeup

steps to create our
fantasy apes!

Saturday, November 26, 16

Step 1. Creating Bone

Structure
In order to create the bone structure of an ape
on a human we need to reshape the entire face.
This can be achieved by creating a latex mask
over the face, a bald cap over the head to attach
bones like the sagittal crest. So what features
does this latex mask need?
1st we need to create larger zygomatic bones
to have larger check bones.
2nd the jaw needs to extend outward, this will
create more facial pragmatism.
3rd the nose needs to be flat and wide.
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3rd a stronger brow

ridge. This is needed to
create a defined brow,
also to diminish the
humans forehead.
4th prosthetic teeth
will need to be molded
to create the variety of
teeth that apes have
that we do not.
5th we will need to
add a sagittal crest
down the middle of the
head to create a more
ape like head shape.
This will also come into
play when adding fur.
Saturday, November 26, 16

Step 2. The skin and fur.

Humans and apes come in a variety of tonal ranges and
fur color. This is where the makeup artist can get
creative and pick ape like tonal colors and fur colors.
For fur you can use wool fiber hair to glue on and
around the face.
For skin colors you want to use browns, grays, blacks,
and more neutral tones. A alcohol based makeup is
required since youll be painting on top of latex and not
skin.

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A finished prosthetic mask with fur and skin

color/texture.
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Step 3. The body

structure.
The body structure between apes and humans are
significantly different. However for Hollywood movies we
can not restructure the entire human body. If we were
going to try and do that we would need to create
different phalanges, larger lliumes, and a completely
different shaped pelvis and sacrum.
Instead of recreating the entire body if the person
portraying an ape changes their body language by
slouching forward, bending the knees, you can achieve
the illusion of a different body shape.
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And there you have it! By following these steps

you can achieve the 1968 version of apes from
the cult classic film Planet of the Apes.

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References
Ape http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sxOswSTDLJQ/TDec76BoJ1I/
AAAAAAAAAPU/f3A_4RCUctc/s1600/GreatApes01.jpg
Prosthetic photo with hair and makeup http://cdn.shopify.com/s/
files/1/0248/6858/products/CS_FO011XL_large.jpg?v=1377962973
Prosthetic photo https://www.yourprops.com/movieprops/default/
yp578cf7c5d43b02.68683264/Planet-of-the-Apes-deluxeprosthetic-gorilla-mask-1.jpg
Schaffner, F. J. (Director). (1968). Planet of the Apes [Motion picture
on DVD]. USA: Twentieth Century Fox.

Saturday, November 26, 16