LMC: Did you find you got better fast or was it gradual progression as you practiced? 

LR:  I supposedly was one of the fastest to get the certificate- but I also  worked really hard  at it every day  for a year and a half.  So I guess it was a fast gradual progression.  Some people get it right away.  You can see it. Others take forever.   I guess it doesn't matter how long it takes you  as long as you get to where you want to go, right?

LMC: Where do you think you would be if you hadn't taken the course?

LR:  Where do you think you would be if you hadn't taken the course? No one would be asking me to do an interview.  Honestly, if you want to be a makeup effects artist and do this stuff  for a living, taking Dick's course is a must.   If you feel it's too expensive, or you can't learn at home, then just forget  about doing make-up effects and do something else.  Honestly,  what serious artist or inventor would turn down learning under Da Vinci?  What serious basketball player would turn down lessons from Michael Jordan?  Dick Smith is to make-up what these other super achievers  are to their respective fields.  It was very obvious to me that  his course was  the only way to go. The money it  (the course) costs is a pittance.  Not an issue. 

NOW, that being said, there are people who are very successful in the fx business who haven't  taken Dick's course.  Or  began it but didn't finish it because they got a job in effects and learned and became great from working in a shop around  other great artists.  But I would guess that over half owe their careers to his early influence and guidance. 

Another course that is an absolute must is Jordu Schell's online course.  It is a perfect companion to Dick's course.  I learned and continue to learn  amazing stuff from Jordu.

LMC: Talk about Dick in general  His personality;  his character traits.

LR: Wow.  Hasn't it all been said before?  He's an amazing person.  He has touched many people with his generosity.  He's a very hard worker.  He's got a very soft heart.  He is a health fanatic who knows more about nutrition than most physicians.  He has an amazing memory for an 80 year old man. He eats dinner between 6 and 7 so don't call him during these hours.   He can be very intimidating to new people.  I still get a little nervous when I talk to him, perhaps because I have tremendous respect for him or maybe  just  because something in the back of my mind says "Lee, this is too good to be true, he's gonna figure out that you are a waste of his time and hang up"  I know that sounds crazy.  I'm actually getting more comfortable now with the fact that we are good friends and I sort of look at him like a "mentor" - actually, he means more than that to me.  He is like family to me in my mind.   I feel very close to him because of all that he has done for me. He literally changed the course of my life for the better.  And I am not alone in this- I am  one of  many I think. 

I haven't really told anyone this story before in the  fx business,  but you will enjoy it.  Just don't tell anyone.  Michael Key of Make-up Artist magazine threw Dick an 80th birthday dinner and he (Dick)  invited me!  It was very  intimate- only about 20 people, all related to make-up obviously ( Dick talks to so many people when he is here for the makeup trade show that I think he just wanted a few people there).  I was there sitting next to Rick Baker.  Kazuhiru  Tsuji was at the next table.  Steve Johnson to my right.  And guess who the guest of honor was....Linda Blair!  So I got to see Dick and Linda Blair together!!!!   Hal Holbrook and Dixie Carter were there as well (Dick won an Emmy for his makeup on Hal as Mark Twain and they remain friends)  and Mr.  Holbrook in his amazing voice read letters from Max Von Sydow and  Roy Scheider among others wishing Dick well on his birthday.  It was truly the most amazing night of my life to see Dick Smith, Rick Baker and Kazuhiru Tsuji in one room.  The three greatest makeup artists ever in one room!!!!!!  It gives me chills just thinking about it.  Of course my big question of the night was "What the hell am I doing here?!"  Dick even sang a little song for us!  What an amazing gift that Dick gave me to allow me to help celebrate his birthday that night.  I'll never forget it.

LMC: Do you study anatomy?  How do you go about learning the ins and outs of the human form?

LR:   I have studied the face more than overall anatomy.  If I have to do bodies, I of course gather up all of my reference but I'm not at the point where I can name every muscle. There are many guys in the business who can knock out perfect anatomy at will, but  I have done more facial prosthetics and heads.  Most of the bodies I have done have utilized actual body casts.  This business is so specialized that you usually end doing a lot of one thing and less of others. So if they know that "so and so" does great body suits, they are going to call him in on that. 

As far as learning  anatomy , you learn by observing, drawing and sculpting it over and over. And the best way to do it I think  is with a live model.  When we did Scooby Doo, I brought my dog in to model for us.  He sat there very patiently and let us copy his musculature.  I was so proud of him (eyes welling up).

LMC: What tip would you give someone seeking to get into make-up fx?                 

LR: DON'T DO IT!  Just kidding.  No really, DON'T DO IT!  Damn, I hate this question.  The reality of the situation is that the business is in a weird transition right now.   There are double or triple the  artists than there are jobs right now.  I think what I would tell someone who absolutely positively is  as insane as I am is to learn the craft at home .   Set goals in terms of years and don't  be afraid of cgi.  Contact people in the effects business and establish a dialog.  This business is all about contacts .   That seems to me to be the most prudent way to go about it.  I'm not sure that in 10 years you will have to move to Hollywood to do this.  We'll see. The thing is,  there are so many talented people already here.  I'm talking amazing talents that you've never heard of.  Many of them.  Way, way better than me.   Working in a shop is not like doing your monsters at home.  You don't have  control over what you're doing. If you're working for a very big shop, you could be painting hundreds of raptor claws- basically a factory job.  You do not use ANY of your creativity a lot of the time.  You are just doing exactly what someone who may or may not be creative is telling you to do.  And you have to do it very well and very quick.  Does it still sound fun?

Learn mold making or seaming .  It seems like the mold makers have the steadiest jobs. Learn how to be a networker.  It is a very social business.  That is probably the most important skill you can have here.  Be a good bullshitter  but be able to back it up when you need to. 

Get used to the idea that you may  work on movies 6-8 months of the year and the rest of the time you're doing something else. Unless you're as good as Steve Wang.  Then you'll be working a lot!  Actually, if you are into more of the lab tech areas, like mold making and seaming , etc.  You can work pretty steadily I think.  Sculptors are usually one of the first ones in and one of the first ones out.  I try to stay on and do some painting and finishing work usually.

Get really good before you come.  Okay, I may be repeating myself, but this is important.  No one has time to teach you.  Every time  I see Rick Baker and beg him for a job he always says " I don't like how the business is right now, we just don't have time to teach people anymore" or in other  words" get lost kid!"   Seriously, the budgets are tighter and the time frames are tighter so no one can afford for you to mess up a mold or sculpture.  It has to be perfect the first time.  That is really bad news for new people coming in.  But it  is the reality.

BUT, I was able to do it.  I was very lucky.  And if I can do it.....that certainly doesn't mean you can. JUST KIDDING!  Of course you can!  But everything has to work out perfectly for you,   just like it did for me  :  ).

LMC: If you do various other tasks like mold making when you are a sculptor, is there a danger of getting stuck doing work you never intended on specializing in?

LR:  I think there is if you are not very vocal about what you will do and what you won't do. Like I said before, there is no time to teach sculpting.  You have to learn on your own time.  There are other areas that you can be taught.  Like seaming.  Or foam running. They need help and probably would take someone on if they really wanted to learn.

I remember when I first started it was sort of drilled into me that you WILL BE compartmentalized.    I was sculpting, and the sculpting was being put on hold so the supervisor kept telling me that I was going to go help out in the mold department. THE HORROR! I didn't want to yanked out of sculpting forever, so I would basically hide in other areas of the shop  for days until the sculpting work resumed!  It was kind of crazy.  Now I enjoy being thrown into different jobs.  Its keeps you interested and fresh.

LMC: How do you see cgi affecting makeup fx today? 5 years further down the road?

LR: I hate this question too.  I think CGI is great.  It has been used to create some incredible images (The first Jurassic Park still is the best to me).   But I don't want to see all CGI all the time and I'm sure the moviegoing public doesn't either.  At the least, it has had a major psychological impact on practical effects artists. There are quite a few bitter artists out there who endlessly complain about their job ending any day now.  What we do will never go away.  We create creatures and characters. How we do it and what the medium is is bound to change.  The  creature effects shops may not be a good place to find opportunity, but with the digital movie industry just starting, can you be so sure that your home town won't be a good place to be an fx artist?  I think in the future every city will have an fx shop of some sort.  You just kind of have to look bravely ahead and not worry about it. And learn how to use a computer.

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