How Loki's Makeup Artist Transforms Him Into Character
The Tiny Makeup Detail You Probably Didn't Notice in Loki That's Crucial to the Storyline
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We don't need to tell you how impressive and realistic prosthetics and special-effects makeup can be. However, that wasn't always the route Noe went. Many of the scrapes, cuts, and gashes that you see on Loki were actually the work of some expert painting and shadowing, courtesy of Noe's background in theatrical makeup.
"We could sculpt and make some cool prosthetics for his arms and glue them down and spend the time, but the reality is there are better ways to do it," Noe said. "A lot of the things I do to Tom, although the materials are adhesives and paint, are two dimensional as opposed to gluing on a prosthetic."
That's not to say prosthetics were never used — they just weren't preferred and weren't always needed given the dark, forgiving lighting of the series. "If we were shooting something like the finale of episode four in broad daylight, those little theatrical tricks of just using highlight and shadow as my base to paint wounds wouldn't work so well because the daylight would be so much more revealing."
Who knew?