We’re so lucky they filmed Lord of the Rings when they did. Twenty years later, they would’ve had Viggo Mortensen riding a green bike that they CGI into a horse because that’s better for some reason.
This simple feeling… is beyond Disney’s comprehension.
I fully believe Viggo Mortensen would’ve brought his own damn horse before riding on a green abomination
So of course I love makeup, if you couldn’t tell. But not only do I love your normal everyday makeup, I love love love special effect makeup. I love making people look like zombies and giving them realistic wounds for haunted hayrides etc… I would like to know if you guys would be interested in tutorials on some special effect makeup and a review of the products I use?? If you are, like or reblog this and I will dedicate a section of my blog for solely special effect makeup.
Hi! I don’t update as often as I used to because I don’t dye my hair as often as I used to. Scrolling allllll the way back to the beginning of this blog, my hair was just below shoulder length. It’s now almost 7 years later and my hair is below my butt (and I get annoyed that I accidentally sit on it constantly). Instead of 2-3 hours, it takes me 6 hours to dye it now, so I just can’t be bothered doing something new every month. But, I’ve been wanting to do this color scheme for a while and I’m really excited to share this one. We have a hibiscus bush in front of our house that produces this really gorgeous flowers, and I decided I wanted to be one. Naturally, the day I take photos, there were no flowers for me to decorate my hair with…
The secret to this rainbow was doing a bottom and top layer with orange -> pink -> purple gradient and a layer in the middle of yellow -> green -> blue. When your hair dries and naturally separates, bits of the middle layer peek through. I was slightly concerned that I might have some muddying where green touches pink when washing, but no issues of that so far and I’ve been rocking this color for a month now.
Manic Panic: Psychedlic Sunset Electric Banana Electric Lizard Atomic Turquoise Pravana: Violet Special Effects: Atomic Pink
I suck at keeping up with multiple social media channels at once, but the good news is I haven’t died and I’m still dying regularly. ;) This is my latest rainbow.
Manic Panic: Electric Banana Psychedlic Sunset Electric Lizard Atomic Turquoise Pravana: Violet Special Effects: Atomic Pink
[ID: stimboard containing 8 gifs and one still image in the center. the center image is of lagoona blue from the monster high web series.
the top left gif is of someone diving into a pool through a yellow inflatable tube. the top center gif is of someone’s hand in blue special effects makeup to look like a fish with webbing between the fingers. the top right gif is an underwater reef with coral and fish swimming by.
the middle left gif is of a model walking down a runway wearing a tight purple dress that is bedazzled with starfish designs. the middle right gif is of a housekey with a clear holographic shell cover on it.
the bottom left gif is an underwater reef with coral and fish swimming by. the bottom middle gif is of a gold necklace with a shell locket charm sitting on a plate and someone closing it. the bottom right gif is of waves coming in and out of a show in animal crossing with a star piece on the sand.
there is a dni banner at the bottom with a pink background with a blue star overlay. There are images of zombie misa from chulip shaking her head from side to side on each end. The text on the banner reads: dni if terf, truscum/transmed, lgbt-phobic, racist, antisemitic, map/nomap, proshipper, ddlg/kink, or discourse blog, thank you!!“ end ID]
For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to watch somewhere around 50 Christmas and Christmas-adjacent silent films from before 1920 to put together a playlist for you all. So, I hope you enjoy!
I chose these twelve as a representative selection. My general criteria were:
Christmas should be central to the story
The plot should be novel to a modern viewer or something a modern viewer would be surprised to see so early on film
The list on the whole should have a variety of settings and narrative structures
Two quick presentation notes: 1. Some of the videos have music and some don’t, so you may want to check your volume level. 2. The intertitles for some of these films are not in English, so be sure you have captions turned on for English translations.
Short and sweet, this film sees children put to bed by their nanny on Christmas Eve and Santa Claus coming down the chimbley to fill their dutifully hung stockings. Director G.A. Smith used his own patented technique of double exposure to show Santa’s arrival without cutting away from the children’s room. Santa Claus might not pack the punch of a Méliès trick film, but it’s a fun novelty and is purportedly the first appearance of Santa Claus on film.
The Christmas Angel follows an impoverished girl driven into the city to beg on a snowy winter night. First she’s chased away from a church by more seasoned beggars; then she’s thrown out of a poultry seller and harassed by police. On the verge of falling asleep in the snow, a rag-and-bone man rouses her and offers her help. Later, the girl passes out beside a road but is luckily spotted by a wealthy couple on a car ride. When they learn of her plight, they bring her home along with food and gifts.
Though not as fantastical as some of Méliès’ more famous works, The Christmas Angel is still highly stylized (and stylish) and features special effects that photograph beautifully. It’s also worth noting that the version of the film included here is the American cut. The original French cut, titled Détresse et Charité (Distress and Charity), did not include the sequence with the wealthy couple and instead ends with the girl dying in the snow.
Directed by Edwin S. Porter for Edison Manufacturing Company
This is the first time the poem “Twas the Night Before Christmas” was put on film. Loosely following the poem, we see Santa Claus prepare for his yearly trek while a middle-class family prepares for his visit. When Santa heads out, we are treated to an extended panning sequence with a fully painted backdrop for a mini Santa and his reindeer to glide across. When Santa arrives at the family home, he chaotically dumps presents and decorations around their living room and makes a large, decorated tree appear out of thin air. (Across many of the movies I watched to put this post together, this seems to be a favored scenario for the jolly fat man around this time–and it’s delightful.) The family then wakes to find their gifts and the film closes with Santa directly wishing us a Merry Christmas.
Directed by J. Searle Dawley and Edwin S. Porter for Edison Manufacturing Company
Even at the risk of this list being too Edison heavy, I couldn’t leave this great short out. While walking with his mother, a rich little boy encounters a poor little girl alone in the cold. They take her home to play and warm up. When the boy learns that the girl doesn’t believe in Santa because apparently Santa doesn’t visit poor children, he hatches a scheme. On Christmas Eve, the boy has a stake out near the fireplace and takes Santa hostage, tying him up and holding him at gunpoint. The boy then forces Santa to visit the girl–going so far as shimmying down the chimney himself to let Santa in the front door. When the girl wakes up to a beautifully decorated tree, new toys, and a full stocking, she can finally believe in Santa Claus. While I’m generally not so into stories about supposedly benevolent rich people, I do love the implications this story has on how Santa Claus works and I also find the means with which the boy gets his way hilarious.
This entry is a three-for, which I hope you’ll excuse, but I couldn’t decide which Cretinetti Christmas to share! Cretinetti, the comedic persona of filmmaker Andre Deed, is an absolute agent of chaos.
In the 1909 film, Cretinetti attempts to bring a tree home for a Christmas party. The destruction escalates wildly, culminating in an entire building falling to pieces.
If you can believe it, the stakes are even higher in the 1910 film, when Cretinetti can’t resist sneaking out of bed on Christmas Eve to snack on the candy decorating the tree. When Santa sees what Cretinetti has done, he chides him and takes him back to his workshop, which is apparently in heaven. Destruction ensues. Cretinetti then proceeds to cause havoc for Saint Peter, annoying god so much that he calls the devil to come get Cretinetti. Cretinetti is then chased to hell where demons try to cook him alive. Thankfully, spoiler alert, it was all a bad dream and he wakes up on Christmas morning with a terrible stomach ache.
The 1911 film returns to localized chaos. Cretinetti has a run-in with a mail carrier and his Christmas packages get mixed up with one of the carrier’s parcels. The parcel contains three bottles of ether which then begin to emit gasses in the middle of the family Christmas party.
I wasn’t familiar with Cretinetti before reviewing films for this list, but I’m definitely going to seek out more of Deed’s movies. Each of these films had well-executed chaotic slapstick; over-the-top in all the right ways.
Produced by Cricks & Martin Films for Clarke, Nickolls, & Coombs Confectionery
To start, if you’re not sure what a Christmas cracker is, it’s a colorfully decorated paper tube that makes a cracking noise as you pull it open. Inside the tube is a paper hat, a joke, and/or a small toy. It’s a traditional part of UK Christmas celebrations.
This short starts as a documentary of the workers at Clarke, Nickolls, & Coombs constructing the crackers. It’s a fun thought that as early as 1910, people were interested in watching how mass-produced consumer goods were made. It’s also fun to see these skilled workers ply their trade so deftly (even though I’m sure wages and working conditions were less than ideal). The film ends with a family celebrating around a Christmas tree topped with a functional giant cracker.
Directed by J. Searle Dawley for Edison Films Manufacturing Company
There are so so so many film adaptations of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol made before 1920 that it was hard to choose which one to include on this list. In the end I chose this 1910 version for its economy of storytelling, fluid use of special effects, and for Marc McDermott’s great performance as Scrooge.
Directed by Gilbert M. Anderson (Broncho Billy) for The Essanay Film Manufacturing Company
Gilbert M. Anderson was an incredibly prolific and popular filmmaker and star of early American film, particularly in his role as Broncho Billy. As was typical for Anderson, he’s pulling triple duty on Broncho Billy’s Christmas Dinner as the star, director, and producer. The film features a simple and heartwarming story.
On Christmas, Billy comes across a young woman in peril as her horses got startled and are now pulling her cart along wildly. Billy manages to wrangle the horses and in gratitude she invites him to Christmas dinner at her parents’ home. Unfortunately, her father happens to be the sheriff. But, all is well, as it turns out that Broncho Billy’s been given a pardon and the sheriff welcomes him to the table gladly.
The enduring appeal of outlaws or criminals getting into the Christmas spirit is fascinating to me and it’s cool to see such an early instance of the story!
Produced by Société Générale des Cinématographes Éclipse
In all honesty, this is the least Christmassy of all the films I included here, but its style and novelty stood out. The sets, costuming, and production design are lush. It might also be one of the weirdest Christmas stories I’ve even encountered.
After Lord Othberg passes away, the conniving Otto plans to assassinate the baby prince in order to inherit the lordship himself. He poisons the baby, but the princess prays for her baby brother to come back to life as her Christmas gift. An angel appears to her and they summon Jesus, who resurrects her baby brother. Of course, they then place the revivified baby in the castle’s nativity scene, to the joy of all but Otto.
Directed by Van Dyke Brooke for Vitagraph Company of America
With a more classic Christmassy story, Ida’s Christmas tells us of a family who are facing hard times. Ida (played by a very small Dolores Costello) has her eyes on a pricey doll. Meanwhile, her mother seeks out employment with a wealthy family. The matriarch of the wealthy family overhears Ida’s wish and decides to buy the doll for her as a surprise. Later, Ida is distraught to find that the doll has been purchased but comes across a wallet that someone has dropped. She considers taking the money, but chases down the owner instead. The old man gives her some reward money for returning the wallet. Ida rushes to see if she can buy the doll, but has second thoughts when she thinks about how much her family could use the money. She arrives home with the money just in time for a Santa-esque old man to show up bearing packages and an assurance that the wealthy family has work for her father. The film ends with the family celebrating an unexpectedly Merry Christmas.
It’s a sweet story that hits so many beats of what we now consider traditional Christmas tales.
Fair warning, if you thought The Princess’s XMas Gift was odd, you might need to ready yourself for this one. Stop-motion virtuoso Władysław Starewicz (Ladislas Starevich) spins a tale about a tiny ornament of Santa/Ded Moroz coming to life on Christmas and going out into the wild to bring Christmas joy to creatures small and smaller, including a frog and a ladybug. Starewicz’s animation is as impeccable as ever and the short is imaginative and quirky.
How do filmmakers create a big explosion? UC Santa Barbara researcher Theodore Kim explains how his software creates the smoke effects seen in many Hollywood films.
Scuttle flew back to Ariel and informed her of the dastardly deed Ursula had done. Ariel dove into the ocean after the ship, swimming as fast as she could without her powerful tail, Sebastian swam for the sea queen’s help, and Scuttle and Flounder gathered every creature they could to stall the wedding.
Max growled at her.
Max whimpered and retreated.
Vanessa reached the end of the aisle to a bewitched Eric, and the ceremony began. SQUAWK!
Suddenly, a flock of gulls and pelicans descended on the woman, picking at her hair, tugging at her dress and veil, and the ceremony descended into chaos as sea creatures flopped onto the deck, all attacking the bride.
Just then, Ariel reached the hull of the ship and began to climb.
Scuttle went in for the final attack on the bride.
Scuttle yanked.The shell necklace crashed to the deck, shattering, and the light within it floated toward Ariel.
But it was too late… the sun had reached the horizon. The third sunset had come.
Ursula dragged Ariel down into the depths, leaving Eric horrorstruck.
—
Triton blasted the contract, but to no avail.
And so, Triton took the place of her youngest daughter, the crown falling from her head, the trident falling from fingers, as she withered into one of Ursula’s seaweed creatures.
“At last, it’s miiiiine… .”
Ursula cries out in pain as a harpoon strikes her. She whips around to see Eric, having thrown it at her.
Flotsam and Jetsam easily capture the prince, holding him under water as Ursula aims the trident at him.
And Ursula’s blast instead hit the eels.
“N o ! ! !”
Ariel quickly swam Eric back to the ship and to air and urged him to get back to shore, but he refused. Suddenly, the entire sea around them began to roll and tumble fearfully as a massive Ursula emerged from the depths, now the size of a Kraken.
The waves rolled and circled around her, creating a maelstrom and flinging Ariel and Eric to the depths.
The maelstrom surged around them, dragging shipwrecks from the depths of the sea, jagged and broken circling around the Sea Witch. Ursula aimed her trident at them.
Ursula was suddenly skewered by the bow of a wrecked ship, the momentum from the maelstrom of her own making propelling it through her.
And the Sea Witch was no more, her desire for power becoming her own undoing. And the sea became still at its surface once more.
Meanwhile, beneath the sea, in Ursula’s cavern, the withered souls returned to their original state, and Queen Triton took up her crown and trident once again. But her heart ached, for she saw how heartbroken her daughter was to be separated from the Prince and the land.
—
Eric had refused to move from the shore since he had washed up there, determined to wait for the love of his life, without knowing whether he would ever be able to see her again.
Triton summoned the magic of her trident and the current began to twist around Ariel.
Our wonderful special effects lead Pat has a fun breakdown video of one of the more complicated vines effects featured in Mystery Skulls Animated- The Future! Take a look and enjoy!
