Missing Limbs

Missing limbs research:

In ‘older’ versions of film and TV shows, missing limb effects were usually created via green screens.

For example: in 1994’s film Forrest Gump, the actor wore green stockings and filmed most of his scenes

in front of a green screen. In post production, the background was added and the end of the leg was

"neatened up" by digital artists, frame by frame.

An example from Forrest Gump: when Lt. Dan is in the hospital after losing his legs, he's lying in a bed

with the stumps covered with bandages. This effect was created by simply cutting holes in the mattress

and adding fake stumps onto his knees.

Similarly, in The Deer Hunter, John Savage hid his legs in the base of his wheelchair so that he appeared to have had them

amputated.

However, this wasn’t always the case as Lon Chaney worked on films where he would play a role with

missing arms or legs and he would do it by hiding the limbs by physical means.

If the arms or legs were supposed to be missing and they were going to create this effect physically,

without the use of a green screen, they would have the actors bend their arm/leg and place a ‘wrap’

around them to hold them in place. They would also usually have costumes cut in order to help enhance

the effect.

The missing limb effects would usually only appear in gory horror / thriller films and TV shows, sometimes

action movies and dramas too. This could include fingers, toes, legs, arms, hands and feet.

Missing Arm: (was only shown how to do it with a black background)

To begin with, map out the area of where you want the skin to look ‘torn up’ with the gelatine.
Next, shade around the edges with red, going in with purple and brown to deepen the effect.
Go over the gelatine with red, brown and purple, covering everything.
Then , go around the edges with a brown.
To soften out the edges of the gelatine, go over them with fake blood.

References:

Edited: 04/02/2021