You need to ask yourself what kind of zombie your looking for.

If the zombie is recently dead they will have gore wounds, maybe some color loss but might otherwise look like a normal person. This is the NIGHT of the LIVING DEAD, and DAWN of the DEAD way. Add contacts and you've also got the SHAUN of the DEAD makeup.

If the zombie has been dead a couple of weeks or months you might have sunken eyes and lots of face makeup. This is the DAY of the DEAD look as well as most of the RETURN of the LIVING DEAD series in which the freshly killed suddenly have a very zombie look.

If the zombie has been dead a century you want to pile on mud and gunk like they did for the zombie on the cover of ZOMBI2. Each has different issues but I would say the first is the easiest.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

Freshly dead, pale, maybe green tinted with a bit of bruising and scrapes. very little gaping wounds or flowing blood.

If that is the case I would not look for zombie makeup so much as how to do various wounds. Put a lot of bruises, and some cuts. Think about what killed each zombie in the first place and make a little story out of the makup. Here's how to do a bruise with other links.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USUPwfZ-lsY&feature=related

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

Below is a list of some of the popular Makeup and Special Effects Makeup books available that may help you with this effect and more! And for more information about filmmaking in general and how to build an actual career in Makeup in the industry, visit http://www.whatireallywanttodo.com.

Good luck!

Make-Up and Costume for Television (Media Manuals) (Media Manuals) (Paperback)
by Jan Musgrove (Author)
Product Details
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Focal Press; 1 edition ( July 18, 2003 )
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0240516605
ISBN-13: 978-0240516608

The Technique of the Professional Make-Up Artist (Paperback)
by Vincent Kehoe (Author)
Product Details
Paperback: 290 pages
Publisher: Focal Press; 1 edition (July 17, 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0240802179
ISBN-13: 978-0240802176

Special Make-Up Effects (Paperback)
by Vincent Kehoe (Author)
Product Details
Paperback: 144 pages
Publisher: Focal Press (January 8, 1991)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0240800990
ISBN-13: 978-0240800998

Stage Makeup: The Actor's Complete Guide to Today's Techniques and Materials (Paperback)
by Laura Thudium (Author)
Product Details
Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: Back Stage Books (April 1, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0823088391
ISBN-13: 978-0823088393

Special Effects Make-Up (Paperback)
by Janus Vinther (Author)
Product Details
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Theatre Arts Book; 1 edition ( October 9, 2003 )
Language: English
ISBN-10: 087830178X
ISBN-13: 978-0878301782

A Complete Guide to Special Effects Makeup: Conceptual Artwork by Japanese Makeup Artists (Paperback)
by Graphic-Sha (Author)
Product Details
Paperback: 136 pages
Publisher: Graphic-Sha ( December 15, 2007 )
Language: English
ISBN-10: 4766118332
ISBN-13: 978-4766118339

Brian Dzyak
Cameraman/Author
IATSE Local 600, SOC
http://www.whatireallywanttodo.com

I want to preface this by stating that I am a professional make-up effects artist.

I think a lot of people look for a quick Halloween store or home made solution. I really really want everyone to know that I don't want to sound pissed off, because I am not, but that I want to emphasize this post is to educate and not condemn.

Effects cost money. If you put latex all over a face, it is flat, so you have wasted your time. If you use latex and tissue, it looks lumpy and does not match the surrounding skin, thus screaming "fake and low budget" and hurts more than it helps. Careful, time consuming work with latex and cotton (rolled medical cotton applied in thin layers and dried in between, not cotton balls) can work but it must be carefully sculpted.

Ideally, you need prosthetics. Prosthetics are constructed a head of time and glued down with high quality medical adhesive so they don't pop off the skin an hour after application. Latex and cotton are going to be hard, so they will peel off the actor if the face is stretched a lot. Prosthetics, if made properly are soft and will move with the actor allowing true range of motion and solid performance.

Make-up effects is really about what you put in to it. If you spend $5 it will look at best like you spend $25. If you put the time and money in then a few hundred bucks can look like thousands or more.

Not to mention painting. I have been known to put 15 layers, very thin washes of color, onto an appliance makeup to make it truly blend with the actor's skin and really fool the audience.

Like I said, this is meant to help, and not discourage or condemn.

The problem with all of these videos online, is they teach you to make zombies that really don't look real or wounds or whatever. Blood should not be bright, a little bit of shading looks like that, and not like a zombie. So on, so forth.

I am happy to consult, as are many other artists, either for free (depending on the depth of work needed) or for a reasonable fee. We also do provide low budget services.

One thing I have found is that distributors are now more than ever very critical and so are audiences, so when you hand over a movie full of latex and tissue covered zombies, they are going to laugh at you. They can't market this product when there are so many better looking ones on the market. You will be lucky if they offer to distribute it for free and offer back end points (that you will never see). I have friends who are distributors and trust me when I say you need real, and I mean real production value to sell a film in today's market.

Mike

making low budget dreams come true