A Hand To Hold.
A short, proof of concept film.
A Hand To Hold is a comedy horror with lots heavy sfx and prosthetic makeup.
A man dies suddenly while playing a game of Chess. He hates to lose and then, strangely, his wife Moria gets ill. She gets sicker and sicker while growing a grotesque creature from her hand. This dark comedy is full of whacky characters and is awash with blood and guts.
Written by Eliza Powers and Directed by Philip Clyde-Smith and starring
Frances Barber and Murray McArthur with a cameo from Jimmy Tarbuck.
You can watch the trailer below.
I was makeup designer and head of department on this project. I designed every character's look as well as all the prosthetics, including 40 litres of edible fake blood and a bucket of giblets. I sculpted, moulded and cast all the prosthetics used on the actors and was on set supervisor and lead Makeup artist. I pulled together a great makeup team to help with the applications.
It’s all in the prep.
I always start by doing comprehensive face charts for all the major characters and getting them agreed with the director before any of my shoots.