Frankenstein

Prosthetics would see a major turn in the 1930s with the development of new techniques and materials. A trend of horror movies orchestrated that makeup and prosthetics from the theatrical age were left behind for more sophisticated methods. (A. McKenzie, D. Ware, p.113 - p.115)

Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” (1931) film interpretation saw makeup techniques and materials rewritten from the previous era. The leading figure, Jack Pierce, worked for Universal Studios well into the 40s; he pioneered the next 20 years of prosthetics with his living canvas, Boris Karloff. It is said that Pierce approached this task of creating the aesthetics of Frankenstein with “the confidence of ignorance”, it then went on to say “Pierce later revealed how he thought up the Frankenstein look: he had begun by researching into anatomy, ancient and modern burial customs, criminology, electrodynamics and surgery, and discovered that there are just six ways the skull can be cut.” (D. Everett, H. Schechter, p.90)

This indicates that Pierce may not have had full knowledge of materials and techniques that were to be used to create the monster however with the research he did, he had an artistic vision for what the monster ought to look like and extensive knowledge. During this time, appliances were built on the actors, this was because materials were not developed enough to create an appliance that could be attached to the skin.