Make up, disguises, where to learn?

[Ceros]

After watching the movie "Big Momma's House" I became fascinated with the idea of disguises, and am considering it as a new hobby of mine (because I really do need a new hobby at this point!)

So I was wondering, where would I be able to learn to apply make up and disguises to such an extend that would allow me to change my appearance even half as drastically as Martin Lawrence does in his movie?

[BenThere]

Search Amazon.com or Google for "movie makeup" and you'll find lots of books and articles. The 1993 Clint Eastwood thriller movie "In the line of fire" has another example of extreme-change makeup (I won't spoil the surprise here). "Mrs. Doubtfire" is another movie based on a makeup disguise. I'm sure there are other movies about makeup disguises that I'm not thinking of right now.

[Magnus]

I haven't seen that moive but Mark Alfrey has some very good DVDs that describes the whole process.

Simplified it's something like this:
1. Make a mold of the face or part of the face of person you want to make prosthetics for.
2. Make a plaster cast out of that mold.
3. Apply the new feature with clay.
4. Make yet another mold.
5. Using you new mold and the positive of the old mold (original face) you make a new cast in silicone. You then use and apply it on to the person who you took the original cast from.

You can also buy premade stuff. Maybe this is the easiest place to start.

This is the DVD I was thinking about, his personal website seems to be hacked:
Amazon.com: Mark Alfrey's Prosthetic Make-up for Beginners: None, Mark Alfrey: Movies & TV

I have seen this one and personally can recommend it, even if it is a bit old. The make up a person to look like a mental patient with some mental disability. The end result is very convincing!

Good luck.