Science Fiction Filme) First of all, I would like to thank you for your time in doing this interview. Many movie maniacs know the films you’ve been involved in. Could you please tell us what you did before you came into the film business? Why did you choose the path of working in make-up/VFX?
Mark Viniello) Working in movies and making monsters has literally been a lifelong obsession for me. But growing up on the East Coast, it seemed like Hollywood was in a distant galaxy.
SFF) Before we get to your fantastic work in the field of film (but not only there), a question first: Where does your love of make-up come from?
M.V.) My mother tragically died a week after I was born. My father moved us to live with his mother. My grandmother came to this country from Italy in 1919. She grew up in NYC through the Great Depression, WWII, etc. But she loved going to the movies and the glitz and glamor of Old Hollywood. We would watch old black-and-white movies together on TV, and she would tell me the actors’ real names. One of her favorite actors was a silent screen movie actor named Lon Chaney Sr., who was dubbed by the press as The Man of a Thousand Faces. I was fascinated that the same person could make himself look so vastly different from film to film.
SFF) What was the first film you worked on, and how did you get the job?
M.V.) The very first film I worked on was in 1993. It was Love Is a Gun, and it starred Eric Roberts, Kelly Preston, and R. Lee Ermey. When I first arrived in California, I sent my résumé to about 20 make-up FX shops, and only one got back to me. That was Mark Shostrom, whom I had read about in magazines like Fangoria years earlier. It was his film, and he hired me to help him with the build. Love Is a Gun was my first professional job on a movie set and my first credit—and they misspelled my name!
SFF) I love movies a lot. One of my very first experiences was ALIEN and JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS. Is there any special event or movie that made you think, “Alright, I want to do the same thing”? Do you have any personal idols or favorite movies in your business?
M.V.) Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein was one of my earliest memories. That film will always be near and dear to my heart. The original King Kong, the 1976 remake (which my father took me to see in the theater), Star Wars, and the one that really blew me away: An American Werewolf in London.
My idols included Lon Chaney Sr., Jack Pierce, Dick Smith, John Chambers, and most especially Rick Baker.
SFF) I’m a teacher for children with special needs and have done this for nearly 20 years. I know my job because I want to do it, I’m enthusiastic, and I have several qualifications to work with kids. What is your opinion about education to become an expert in your field? Is there any requirement or talent needed besides enthusiasm?
M.V.) I was—and am—far from the most artistically skilled compared to my colleagues. This quote from Calvin Coolidge sums up what I believe is necessary for success in any field:
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”
While I wasn’t the most talented, I would outwork anybody.
SFF) You are active in so many areas of SFX/VFX. Which ones do you prefer?
M.V.) I love and respect all areas of what could be called “special FX,” but I am most comfortable on set making something practical for the camera.
SFF) What is the difference between a foam runner, a foam technician, and a foam lab supervisor?
M.V.) All of those terms are interchangeable, actually. The Foam Lab Supervisor is the foam latex department head. Foam latex has been the go-to material for prosthetic make-up since the late 1930s. It can be a tricky material to work with, and I discovered early in my career that I had an aptitude for it and enjoyed the process. I still do, and I run batches of foam to this day.
SFF) You have worked for many SFX companies such as Stan Winston Studio, Amalgamated Dynamics Inc., Steve Johnson’s Edge FX, and more. In 2004, you founded Artistic Innovation Studios, Inc. Why did you take this step?
M.V.) As the industry began to shift, smaller FX shops were opening and taking on larger chunks of film work. Not all of them had the infrastructure to invest in and maintain a proper foam room—you need A/C, mixers, ovens, scales, dehumidifiers, etc. So I thought I could be a resource and provide an off-premises foam-running service, which I am still operating to this day. This also allowed me to take on the entire FX build on some smaller films.
SFF) You were commissioned to supervise creature construction for the series STRANGER THINGS and other films. With projects like these, which have now achieved pop-culture status, isn’t the pressure particularly high?
M.V.) With every project, you try to do the best possible work and exceed anything you’ve done previously. As my colleague Dan Rebert said, “Todd Masters is not our boss. Al Ball is not our boss…the work is the boss.”
In 2015, I started working for Mike and Mary Elizalde’s company, Spectral Motion. One of the first projects I was in charge of was an “Untitled Duffer Bros. Project” for Netflix. The scripts were wonderful and engaging, but there’s no way to predict the success or impact of any project. You just try to do the best work possible within the confines of budget and schedule. The massive success of Stranger Things caught everyone by surprise.
SFF) In addition to your work with make-up and effects, you have also appeared in many films in costume as a puppeteer. How should we imagine such work? How do you prepare for it?
M.V.) You have to love bringing monsters to life and understand movement, pantomime, and how to perform for the camera. You should be somewhat athletic, possess excellent endurance, and not have even a little claustrophobia. I always looked at the great creature-costume performers who came before me for inspiration. Studying animal movement and behavior is also very critical.
SFF) In JURASSIC PARK III, you were basically the Pteranodon. What were the difficulties?
M.V.) That was the hardest yet most rewarding costume I ever performed in. I was completely sealed in the suit, had a small screen connected to the camera feed, and two tubes—one to feed me oxygen, the other to expel CO₂. The position was very uncomfortable, and after about eight hours it became excruciating. It weighed about 125 lbs and was very hard on my lower back. Stan Winston hired a personal trainer months beforehand to train John Rosengrant and me. The motors were so strong I had to fight the torque so it wouldn’t throw me off balance.
SFF) What did you play in THE LORD OF THE RINGS, and what was that experience like?
M.V.) I had been in contact with Richard Taylor since around 1997–1998. I visited Weta Workshop in Wellington and later worked there during a Christmas break from Stan Winston while still committed to Jurassic Park III and A.I.: Artificial Intelligence. I spent weeks in the foam room and rang in the new millennium there—during the Y2K scare. I was 29, single, and ready for adventure. LOTR was one of those projects you knew would be special.
SFF) Let’s move on to the early Spider-Man films. Can you describe your work?
M.V.) I was contacted by Tom Woodruff Jr. and Alec Gillis to help in the foam room making the muscle suits and 3D web patterns on the costume. The webs were made of foam latex cast in aluminum molds—something new for me.
SFF) What do you think about the 1990s era of effects?
M.V.) The ’90s were really the height of that wave before CGI dominance. I feel incredibly lucky to have entered the business at that time. Now I share stories from films I worked on that inspired the next generation of FX artists.
SFF) CGI today—curse or blessing?
M.V.) Both. Overuse can hurt storytelling, but without CGI we wouldn’t have films like Jurassic Park. The challenge is knowing how to use practical and digital effects together for the benefit of the story.
SFF) After many years, how do you see your work creatively?
M.V.) It’s another color in the filmmaker’s palette. It must serve the story and creative vision. If the work lives on beyond the film’s release, that’s always a bonus.
SFF) Final question: What was the most difficult effect you worked on?
M.V.) Probably the Pteranodon costume—hiding the human form and making it feel like a real animal.
SFF) Dear Mr. Viniello, thank you very much for taking the time to do this interview, and I wish you all the best for your future filmmaking.
M.V.) Thank you—this was a fun trip down memory lane!