By Augusta Okon
The history or origin of prosthetics make up (special effects make up) in the second largest movie producing body in the world (Nollywood) is laced with a chequered past. In common parlance, prosthetics make up is also referred to as FX prosthesis or special effects make up and involves using sculpting, moulding and casting techniques alongside make up, to create and achieve the desired look for the character(s) designated in the script.
The use of prosthetics make up has revolutionized the art of storytelling via film as a result of its transformative power. Through it, various facial and body transformations have been achieved; from horrendous facial scars, slit throats, compound fractures, living dead/ undead characters, to more complex transformations resulting in mythical creatures, animals, aliens, monsters, body duplication, among others.
The end goal of prosthetics make up is to create “realistic” characters that the audience will find “believable” which the application of the usual beauty make up won’t achieve. Before delving into its origin in Nollywood, let’s take a look from where it all began, i.e. in ‘Hollywood’.
History of Special Effects (Prosthetics) Make Up In Hollywood
Before the 1930’s, the use of make-up artists to enhance actors’ features was uncommon. Back then, actors applied makeup to fit whatever role they had been paid to play. According to Jeffries Jones, they used spirit gum, fish skin, cotton, gelatine, greasepaints, collodion, cheese cloth, clay, fullers earth, various putties, pastes and wax, gutta percha, crepe hair and latex.
Actor Lon Chaney (1883–1930), popularly referred to as “the man of a thousand faces” was known for his superb ability to transform himself into characters he played using wax, false teeth, grease paint, cotton wool, tissue paper and latex. He stood out from his colleagues as he dared to be different. In The Phantom of the Opera (1925), he created a ghoulish appearance by building up his forehead and cheekbones with layers of mortician’s wax and fish skin. Wire insertions were used to create a turned-up nose which gaped his nostrils. Furthermore, he used black grease paint on his eye sockets to create a frightening skull like feature. Other movies such as The Unknown (1927), The Hunch Back of Notre Dame (1923), made him arguably the first great master of special effects make up.
By the 1930’s, foam latex was introduced which was way better than wax because it didn’t crack. It was first used in the film “The wizard of Oz” (1931) prequel to which the usual cotton, wax and latex were in vogue. Jack Pierce became the next big thing to happen in the industry in the 1930’s and 1940’s following Chaney’s death in 1930. He was a makeup artist and the use of prosthetics make up to create the famous character “Frankenstein” on actor Boris Karloff in the movie “Bride of Frankenstein, and other movies such as Wolf Man, The Mummy (1932) where he created a decaying priest, earned him great respect and admiration in the movie Industry.
Interestingly, the head of Frankenstein was made up of layers of cotton wool, lead based paint, stipple latex was used on Boris skin while the skin texture was created using paper. The process took six hours to create. As more films were being produced, makeup artists began to try out various ways of transforming actors into the characters in the scripts using different materials.
By 1954, the first full pull over Head Mask was used in the movie “The Mad Magician”. The movie “The Fly” (1958) about a hybrid monster; half human and half fly played by David ‘Al’ Hedison with Ben Nye as the makeup artist and his assistant, Dick Smith, began to expand the frontiers of special effects make up. The first horror film with special effects make up was Blood Fest in 1963 by makeup artist Hershell Gordon Lewis.
Another iconic figure who arose was John Chamber, notably for the movie “The Planet of the Apes” (1968). He is reputed to have revolutionised the use of prosthetics make up in films. In 1970, Dick Smith created 121 year old Jack Crabb on actor Dustin Hoffman for the movie “Little Big Man”. The makeup was created out of foam latex and comprised fourteen separate pieces, including hands and eyelids. It was the first film to use multiple piece facial prosthetics.
Dick Smith has also been regarded as the father of modern prosthetics make up. Other movies in the 1970’s that used special effects make up include but not limited to; Day of Blood (1971), The God Father (1972), The Exorcist (1973), The God Father 2 (1974), Dawn of the dead (1978), Zombi (1979) among others.
Improved Prosthetics make up techniques were seen in the 80’s as evidenced in the Oscar winning movie for Best Make up “American Werewolf in London” (1981). The werewolf character was created by Rick Baker. Other movies in the 80’s such as Friday the 13th (1980), Cannibal Holocaust (1980), The Thing (1982), Creep Show (1982), Amadeus (1984), Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), used prosthetic make up.
The Mission (1986) had a full wax body made for the scene at the waterfall. The Fly (1986), Aliens (1986), Evil dead 2(1987), Hell Raiser (1987) also embraced the use of Prosthetics make up. Kevin Yagher (Child’s Play 1988) is also noted for his works on body replication. He raised the bar in the prosthetics make up field with the creation of fake heads for Tim Burton’s film “Sleep Hollow”.
The 90’s witnessed the old age make up and body transformation boom. Actor Robin Williams was transformed into a female house keeper in the film “Mrs Doubt fire “(1993). Gordon J. Smith was the first to use Plat.gel 10 in prosthetics make up flawlessly turning actor Brad Pitt into an aged man in the 1994 film “Legends of the fall”. The Nutty Professor (1996) saw Eddie Murphy being transformed into a fat man. Actor Martin Lawrence was transformed into an aged woman in the movie “Big Momma’s House.”
Dick Smith’s process of multiple over lapping appliance pieces is still the industry standard for applying complex make up, whether in foam latex, gelatine or silicone. It has since been improved on by the likes of Neill Gorton (Doctor Who, Bloody cuts), Stan Winston (Predator 1 &2, Terminator 2, Jurassic Park), Rick Baker (An American Werewolf in London, Planet of the Apes), Ve Neill (Mrs Doubt fire, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End), Adrien Morot (Silence of the lambs, The Hunger Games, Joe Biasco (The Terminator 1984) among others.
Overtime, various special effects make up products have flooded the market and there has been great improvement in the techniques used in creating realistic characters. As it stands, realistic characters can now be created via prosthetics make up as evidenced in films such as; The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Pan’s Labyrinth, X- Men 2000, Planet of the Apes, Lord of the Rings trilogy, Harry Potter franchise, Pirates of The Caribbean franchise, World War Z, Darkest Hour, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Pan’s Labyrinth, Monster, Darkest Hour, The Whale, The Shape of Water, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3, Train to Busan, Saw Franchise, Prey, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Deadpool and Wolverine, Alien: Romulus, among others.
History of Special Effects Make Up (Prosthetics) In Nollywood
The emergence of the Home Video Industry (Nollywood) in 1992 and subsequent movies that followed in droves, gave rise to the establishment of the makeup department by Dagogo Reeves Diminas, Dr. Emmanuel Dike Nwachukwu and the late Felicia Mayford.
There was no internet facility in the country during the 90’s, hence, these makeup artists in trying to create simple effects as envisaged by the script writer had to rely on their creative skills by sourcing locally for materials from the market and creatively producing something that could pass as the desired effect. It was a case of ‘trial and error’.
According to Dagogo. D (personal communication, October 19, 2019), makeup artists engaged in the use of street juvenile make up (i.e. everyday make up) and to create marks on the face and body used black, red and white eye pencil. White shoe polish was used to create the grey effect on the hair and sometimes white baby powder with a little water sprinkled on the hair created a more lasting effect of an older look.
Victor Afrigold who attended the prestigious Cinema make up school Los Angeles, states that “charcoal was used to create bad broken tooth, white powder was applied on the face and body to create a ghostly effect, while garri and starching materials were used for creating wounds. Tomatoes and blood tonic served as blood and any agent that looked like blood. Native chalk served as make up, clay for wounds and burns alongside cotton wool, school glue or gum”. (V. Afrigold, personal communication, October 13, 2019).
Dago Reeves Diminas in order to create wounds, used food colouring mixed with a little bit of oil from which he prepared a solution. He used nail hardener those days to apply beard on the skin because it was light and white. Furthermore, he used cotton wool and a special material “putty” to create wounds and created painting materials from galarium paint.
Dagogo Reeves Diminas was the most sought after and highest paid makeup artist at that time, who revolutionized the industry in the 90’s into the millennium before he left the shores of the country in 2013. His ability to transform characters first stemmed from relying on his creative skills before reading books on prosthetics make up then recreating what he saw, and buying materials from Balogun market and the former Tejuosho market to produce homemade materials that would make his makeup effects more believable.
Filmmakers were very much interested in trying out different creative skills and they paid him well for it. Opa Williams paid him Fifteen thousand naira (N15,000) for “Last Believer” and Eighteen thousand Naira (N18,000) for the movie “Onome”. The effect of the falling of the brick on Uche Osotule’s head in Onome cost about five thousand naira (N5,000) to recreate and it was convincing alongside the makeup. This was the first time they could see physical effects on set. The iconic Amaka Igwe (late), Chico Ejiro (late), Tade Ogidan, Zeb Ejiro, among others, paid him well to work on set with them.
Some makeup artists who later turned ‘Pro’ were trained by Dagogo Reeves Diminas under his 13 Fatman & Associates business, such as Ifeanyi Uzoka (Bandana), Soibifaa, and Periwinkle (Perekeme Odon). Award winning Gabriel Okorie a.k.a. Gabazzini was another special effects makeup artist who did well in the terrain and trained under Dagogo Reeves Diminas for four years before setting up Gabazzini creations.
Home videos that have deployed special effects make up at various levels include but not limited to; End of the Wicked, Igodo, Oracle, Sakobi, Agbara Nla 3, Last Burial, Karishika, Blood Money, Diamond Ring, Occultic Destroyer, Witches, Koto Aiye, Egwonga the deadly god, Demons in the land, Feast of Horror and Juju, Land of Witches, Kingdom of Rituals, Haunted Souls, The Strange Village, Dead but Alive, Black Forest, Haunted Night, Kingdom of Rivers, The Cannibals, The Young Boy and The Monster, Beauty and The Beast among others.
In fact, it was (and still is) common to watch home videos that deal with the supernatural (black magic), the occult, ritual killing, strange creatures and see the attempt to make them look real using special effects make up. However, the results are still unconvincing due to various challenges faced by special effects makeup artists such as; the unavailability of special effects make up products/expensive cost of same, hence the resort to alternative local improvisation, the expertise level of the artist, lack of the filmmaker having a separate budget for special effects make up, and rushed jobs on set due to the short window designated for the production stage, among others.
Veteran Perekeme Odon who still practices the transformative art with over 100 movies in his kitty, once stated the challenge his contemporaries faced in an interview with Olapeju Shuaib in 2005 thus “we (do not) even have one theatrical makeup store in this country (Nigeria), where we can buy makeup materials, we have to import them. So, what do you expect? Only few people can practice. So, what it means is that you (do not) have materials, you have to import. In the absence of local industries or alternatives, majority of us improvise. Sometimes we use raw eggs to have age effect on a face. It depends on our application. Do you believe that sometimes, Nigerian makeup artists do aging without using those things they call Latex? Sometimes we use eye pencil only”.
However, this challenge has been solved by one of the best in the prosthetics make up turf in Nigeria, Lola Maja Okojevah (The Figurine: Araromire, October 1 fame) who set up the first special effects make up store called “The SFX Store” in 2016 to cater for filmmakers in West Africa.
According to Dagogo. D (personal communication, October 19, 2019) “when we first of all began, we were experimenting. Some were not real but a lot were real because people were not so much aware of make up like they are now”. As the industry progressed into the new millennium and the rekindling of the cinematic experience in the country, the New Nollywood (as dubbed in some quarters) emerged and alongside it, a new set of makeup artists specializing in special effects make up, sprung up.
The internet gave access to acquiring knowledge from YouTube videos about prosthetics make up, access to purchase online reading materials on the subject, access to train in foreign make up schools, all unveiling a deeper insight into the workings and dynamics of prosthetics make up.
As of the time of carrying out this research in 2019 (with some content updated in 2025), Hakeem Onilogbo was the new kid on the block, the new sheriff in town. He was the rave of the moment and in 2025, he still is. He doesn’t totally rely on buying prosthetics materials but rather creates same at home.
Hakeem states “I used sculpt gel as a starter but to get the original sculpt gel in Nigeria was so hard, so I created it on my own with homemade stuff. We see a lot of improvements from different makeup artists due to the accessibility of few materials and the help of the internet” (H. Onilogbo, personal communication, October 13, 2019).
In creating prosthetics, he uses silicone, gelatine, latex foam where available. Presently, age old makeup, burns, wounds, scars, scarification, body transformations, decapitation of heads, body replication, deformities, knife stabs, bullet wounds, corpses, living dead, realistic mask, eyes, teeth, transforming of characters gender, patients with terminal illness are still being created by a few of special effects makeup artists in the industry especially Hakeem. He transformed Kolawole Ajeyemi into a 157-year-old man in seven hours for Femi Adebayo’s movie, Seven doors.
His retinue of prosthetics make up for movies include but not limited to: A Soldier’s Story 1 & 2, Tatu, King of Boys, Make Room, Disguise, Esohe, Oloibiri, Slow Country, Surulere, Iya Ibadan, Strange Creature, Oshimili, Creepy, Atiye, Damaged (produced by Akeem Adeyemi), The House on the Mission Hill, Mask, Cupid, Breathless, A Trip to Forgiveness, Boycott, Fate, Scream, Survival of Jelili, Crossed Path, Omambala, Lugard, The Milkmaid, Omo Ghetto: The Saga, Ijogbon, Anikulapo, Gangs of Lagos, Shanty Town, Jagun Jagun, Lisabi, Oloture 2 : The Journey, Beast of Two Worlds (Ajakaju), Anikulapo / Rise of the Sceptre, A Tribe called Judah, She Must Be Obeyed, Olola — Aginju, Shanty Town, Ijakumo, Blood Sisters, Jajuda Baba Ola (JBO), Olugbeja Olorun, Aye Meji, oke agba, Ale kan pere, St. James, Tokunbo, Seven Doors, among others.
The special effects make up sector also boasts of having powerful creatives such as; Feyisayo Oyebisi, Omowunmi Okungbure, Carina Ojoko, Abisoye (Abisoyecirce), Thelma Ozy Smith, Cynthia Nk’iru Isaiah, Dennis Make Up, Juliet Okoli, Aniekan Udoh, Amaka Aibemesi, Jane Richards, Francisca Otaigbe, Nemy Toons effects, among others, with a good number of them showing off their works on various social media platforms particularly Instagram.
Apart from previously mentioned movies wherein the artists deployed special effects make up, application of same can also be seen in movies such as The Meeting, Ojuju, The Duplex, The Grave Dust, King Invincible, Torn, Alvina, Haunted House, The Exorcism of Alu, Manifestation, Ratnik, Brotherhood, The Trade, House of Ga’a, Ile Owo, Ajosepo among others. To acquire the relevant skills to become a special effects makeup artist or to further hone same, trainings by Pro SFX makeup artists such as Abisoye (Abisoyecirce), Feyisayo Oyebisi, and a 4 weeks program offered by Del –York Creative Academy surely helps and is commendable.
As long as the art of filmmaking exists, there will always be stories to tell and with the increasing number of special effects makeup artists creating certain characters/looks, the question regarding how realistic and believable these are to the viewing audience still remains.
Regardless of the flaws, we celebrate our special effects make up pioneers (the past) and the present for defying all odds to contribute their creative quota to Nollywood. The future? We look forward to an array of stunning, flawless, realistic and believable characters…until then.
Augusta Òkon is a Film adaptation advocate, story teller, Film Critic, lawyer, and author. She has served as member of the screening panel for AMAA, Inshort International Film Festival and Jury member Lekki International Film Festival.
