If the eyes are a gateway to the soul then they are also the highway to hell, giving horror film makers the opportunity to transform sinister and gruesome character ideas into living nightmares. Colour contact lenses are now a staple for horror film success, creating an added air of evil.
In Hollywood, artist and designer Kevin Carter spends hours creating bespoke colour contact lenses used in blockbuster films. Hand crafted with thin brushes and coloured dye, his highly impressive lenses have been used in films like Evil Dead, Resident Evil and Fright Night 2:
“Artistic contact lenses really have the power to transform faces,’ says Kevin. “I loved the ‘Friday the 13th’ movies and Freddy Krueger in ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ and stuff like that,” he says.
“What stood out in my head when it came to special-effects lenses were the contact lenses that vampires wore in the movies that made their eyes so bright and vivid.
“I love horror films so a lot of my own designs are quite scary and creepy – I look at a blank lens and try to imagine something bizarre.
Kevin’s lenses range from giving the impression of being possessed by the devil, ‘hell’s teeth’ and ‘Black Sclera’, which bring back memories of the evil space odyssey, Event Horizon:
“I often work from the designs of make-up artists who come to me with an order. When I was growing up I had a real interest in special effects and wanted to be a make-up artist but I started to work for my dad’s contact lens business.
“I’m now lucky enough to combine these two specialisms and get to do cool work on big films.”
Special-effect contact lenses aren’t a recent development. Morton Greenspoon, a pioneer of theatrical lenses, has provided special-effect contact lenses to the film industry since the 1950s. He provided Michael Jackson’s famous ‘Thriller’ lenses and received an Academy Award nomination for his work on Bram Stoker’s Dracula. He also recently worked on the Twilight Saga.
British horror film maker, Bloody Cuts, use a range of make-up techniques to create terrifying characters, and will be using Eyesbright.com colour contact lenses in their upcoming films. Their dark, gritty filmmaking style is becoming hugely popular, with films like ‘Suckablood’ and ‘Don’t Move’ bringing thousands of YouTube hits:
“We needed lenses for our most recent film, in order to create a ‘possessed’ look for one of our characters.
“We’ve previously used more ‘off-the-shelf’ contact lenses and we’re always concerned about the quality, whereas with Eyesbright we have every confidence that our actors are going to be comfortable and safe when wearing them, while providing the required look,” says Ben Franklin, creator and producer of Bloody Cuts.
Ben says that crafting a horror film costume involves meticulous attention to detail and use of highly trained special effects artists:
“We’re supported in a big way by Millennium FX and its owner Neill Gorton. They’re a big team of amazing special fx artists, whose skill and experience is pretty much second to none.
“Simplicity is key. From Freddie’s striped jumper to Michael Myers’ boiler suit, they’re instantly recognisable and probably cost next to nothing to buy and make.”
Colour contact lenses aren’t just useful for film producers; they can also inspire a truly amazing Halloween outfit. Your costume could be transformed with a set of haunting colour contact lenses, whether you go for Evil Dead Zombie lenses or a Natalie Portman inspired Black Swan look.
“The secret for creating a winning look is less is more; if you don’t have the budget, show less of your monster. And if you do have the budget, make sure you put in as much thought into the costume and overall look, as you do the makeup,” says Ben.
The True Blood series has set a real trend for the popular black, white and yellow special-effect scleral contact lenses, with the Twilight Saga making red and amber contacts popular too. Eyesbright.com even stocks Louis De Point Du Lac lenses, made famous by the epic 90s film ‘Interview with a Vampire’.
Halloween isn’t far away so it could be time to start thinking about some inspiring costume ideas; using a striking set of colour contact lenses is sure to evoke evil.
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