Special effects artist Collier Wilmes paints the finishing touches on your worst nightmare.
Writer: Dan Ray
Photos: Duane Tinkey
Collier Wilmes couldn’t find any Godzilla toys when he was growing up in one of Iowa’s poorest counties. So he started making his own. Now he lives in Des Moines and works as a special effects and makeup artist for movies like the ones he obsessed over as a kid.
“That lack of access bolstered my imagination and my creativity,” he said. “Since I couldn’t have a Godzilla toy, I made my own out of pipe cleaners or paper or cardboard or whatever I could get my hands on.”
Since then, Wilmes has upgraded his materials. His typical process for creating a mask or bust — his main artforms — starts with an idea he sketches before adapting into a life-size clay sculpture over an armature. That becomes a mold for casting the final piece, which he paints and covers in artificial hair. At its quickest, the entire process takes about two weeks.
One of his favorite projects is Bob, a bust he originally created as a mask for a short film he wanted to direct. The idea was to create a modern Frankenstein monster inspired by genetic engineering.
With genetic engineering, Wilmes said, “you can’t predict how the actual organism’s anatomy and biology will respond. I wanted to make something that looked like it was menacing, like the body was rejecting itself.”
This year, Wilmes submitted Bob to the 2024 Creature Making Contest at the Stan Winston School of Character Arts, named for one of Wilmes’ childhood heroes and the Oscar-winning special effects artist behind movies like “The Terminator,” “Jurassic Park” and “Iron Man.” Wilmes was so sure he wouldn’t win the contest that he didn’t check the website until his girlfriend reminded him about it.
“She was pestering me: ‘Oh, what happened to that contest?’ So I go on the site, and I see the winner. ‘Oh. I won. Huh,’” he said. “I had a moment of silence of just letting it sink in. I refreshed the page. I remember being like, ‘Did I check it wrong?’”
Other than Bob, Wilmes listed a Beach Goon mask he sculpted for Trick or Treat Studios and a Bigfoot mask as some of his favorite pieces he’s made so far. He said Bigfoot was his earliest gateway to horror movies because of his father’s connection to the character.
“My dad would antagonize me as a kid,” Wilmes recalled. “He’d be like, ‘I’m gonna leave you in the woods, tie you to a tree and wait for Bigfoot to come and get ya, boy.’ … It was cruel and unusual in the moment but ultimately led to what I do.”
Bigfoot also led Wilmes to his girlfriend. They connected through fan meetups surrounding a podcast called “The Squatchers Lounge.”
Besides Bigfoot and Godzilla, some of Wilmes’ favorite characters are Pumpkinhead, Predator and Father Lankester Merrin from “The Exorcist.” While he appreciates a good gory effect, what excites him most is character-driven. “The most disturbing thing I’ve ever seen in a movie was in the middle of a Godzilla rampage in Tokyo,” he said. “It cuts away to a mother cradling her children saying, ‘It’s OK, honey. Don’t worry, we’ll be with your father soon.’ You can infer the meaning behind that in postwar Japan.”
For his own character work, Wilmes hopes to revisit the idea of Bob’s original film storyline about genetic engineering. But his dream project involves a life-size, animatronic Bigfoot suit.
“I owe a lot to that character,” he said.
To keep up with Wilmes or order a custom piece, follow him on Instagram at @collier.art1330 or Patreon.
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