God, I love flash…it brings out colors but washes out the detail and de-warmth’s everything. I decided to go into 2 photos and add back the warmth using a warmify button and I found the major clue to what we consider “weathering”. John Carpenter, Dean Cundey and Don Post have all stated that the mask was not just all white; it had a bluish tint to it for photographic reasons. A pure, white objects reflects light, especially movie lighting sources; the objects will look like white blurs. We’re talking about film stock and not a digital source.
Below are pics of the original hero mask from Halloween and Halloween II. These picture were taken while Dick Warlock still owned it.
In the first picture with flash; which will bring out the deepest of colors, we can see a blue tint weathering to the mask; look closer on the neck and you will see a blue line, the natural latex colors are muted and the coveralls look blue. Check out the bottom part of the mask, you can see dry rot and that color never changes (Yellow) which means you’re seeing true colors.
After the warmify button is added, look what it does; the blue tint weathering looks darker, the mask gives off a yellowish appearance, the natural latex color pops thru the mask, the hair goes to the correct color and the mask looks just like it did for filming under the lights and the coveralls look green.
I’m gonna have to go with a blueish tint was added to the mask, no black weathering unless you call dirt and oils from a person hands as that.
Dick has stated several things: The mask has never been re-painted and also he said the mask has ZERO blue in it.
I will say this, some of the shapes on the cheeks match up to a couple shots I have; also if you watch the part when he kills the young girl, kinda jumps up from the bottom, take a look at that scene as well.
I asked Dick about this via email a while back, and he told me he hadn’t recalled it ever being repainted. When I showed him proof that it must have, he didn’t respond.
As for the weathering, I have no opinion on the color used.
I don’t know…he’s had possession of it, why would he say otherwise? If it has been re-painted, some of the lip marks match up perfectly with shots I have also so do the cheek blemishes.
this blue paint idea could also explain something else, ben tramer. Maybe the Tramer mask was painted blue but never overpainted with white because they were not happy with the look, eyecuts or something of that matter so it became ben tramers mask?
Very interesting read and the pics are great. I know a fair bit about colour correcting as it is part of my job. Yes it makes a massive difference in the look of an image and the elements within an image. Most images I see have the white balance out and that makes thing look wrong in colour. Most of the time it is yellow light from incandescent lighting that does it. putting the blue back in, cools the image down and bring the white back to white and visa versa for cooler lit shots. It’s hard to really tell from the pics as little changes can have a big effect on colour. I mean with a few changes I could make you see green in the mask, doesn’t mean it’s there though. Thanks for sharing.
How’d I miss this? Cool post Billy… a lot of mystery with this bad boy! I really think that all the different opinions, and beliefs concerning this mask is what makes it so special! And the most significant piece of the mysterious puzzle is the fact that it’s not around anymore to physically inspect for ourselves. Again… cool post man!
My thoughts are that blue was never used at all on the Hero. Many artists here may actually be thinking the same thing I am. When you paint a white mask and then weather it with blacks and grays and then apply a sealant, it can sometimes create a blue hue on the blacks. I have noticed this with sealants in the past. It also fades the detail a bit and you often have to go back and touch it up or darken spots that are washed out. This could have easily happened with the Hero as I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if some type of clear finish was applied.
