The Phantom of the Opera

In The New Era of moving pictures, from 1920-40, much of the social stigmas, such as race, gender and rolls within the acting world were still present at the start of moving making. It was a predominantly white patriarchal industrey. Make up only went as far as grease paints and powder which were taken from the theatre industry. The pioneering Lon Chaney changed that during the creation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), but most notably during The Phantom of the Opera (1925); along with playing Erik in The Phantom, Chaney had the freedom of inventing the physical attributes that made The Phantom so recognisable today, such as the up tilled nose, disfigured teeth, wide mouth and the overall skeletal facial structure. (D. Everett, H. Schechter, p87-p89)

“The methods used for the creation of Erik as well as other characters are still a subject of speculation” on one hand Robert G. Anderson in Face, Forms, Films says that to elongate his face, Chaney used a built-up headpiece which was topped with thin, sparse hair and had tapped back his ears. On the other hand, Rudy Behlmer writes in Film in Review (October 1962) Chaney came up with elongating his face by using cotton wadding and celluloid discs wedged inside his mouth to exaggerate his cheekbones. This tells us that whilst there is evidence that this may be true, it's no substantiated; it also tells us that its speculation as there may of been secrecy surrounding what was used, it also means that due to the amount of time elapsed, there could have been miscommunication between professionals within the industry. (H. Schecter, D. Everett, p.87).  It is suggested that Chaney constructed fuller cheeks with putty and contouring the cheekbones with a darkening agent (e.g. greasepaint, powder); another interpretation is that Chaney wedged cotton wadding colloidal (collodian) disks up inside his mouth to exaggerate the cheekbones. 

The disadvantage of using such materials is that they present major difficulty for both the artist and/or actor it is applied to. Some of the difficulties, with materials such as collodian and cotton wool, fish skin and hooks, could of been uncomfotable, which in turn would mean Chaney could of not been able to film for long periods of time. This also means that the time for application was significantly longer because the materials used, such as the collodian and cotton or spirit gum, which is an adhesive, have longer drying time and layering or applications times.

Chaney wanted to create a skeletal looking character, this meant sunken facial features; it is clear that there are some connections between different sources about how he achieved this look, yet simultaneously, there are some surprising differences.