Syfy details the MastersFX transformation of ‘The Magicians’
Syfy fantasy series “The Magicians” wrapped up April 1, after five seasons and Variety examined the amazing work by MastersFX founder and president Todd Masters and his team on makeup effects.
Sir Effingham (played by Sean Maguire) is half man, half pig, and looking a bit like Benjamin Franklin and special effects coordinator Jason Ward had imagined someone “chunky, or larger, so we could elaborate on the pig aspect. They showed up with [the trim] Sean Maguire,” he chuckles.
Variety notes that series creators Sera Gamble and John McNamara had specific ideas about what they wanted in the show’s seven so-called questing creatures, which, when discovered, must grant the magician a wish that helps fulfill a quest.
Whether working on characters like Lord Fresh (Anthony Ingram), Napster (Lynn Andrews) or Sir Effingham, the process begins by getting the actor into the studio, where body and facial impressions are taken. “We hand-build the prosthetics and creature suits,” Masters says. The team typically has a three- to four-week schedule to work with.
Gamble is effusive about the FX work. “The MastersFX team brings so much creativity, skill, fun and yes — mastery — to the process of creating each new creature, for our little multiverse,” she says.
Masters himself executed the makeup effects for fan-favorite creatures the White Lady (Emma Dumont) and Sir Effingham, designed by MastersFX artists Sarah Pickers-gill and Chris Devitt, respectively.
Noting that the actors had to be able to use their faces as much as possible, Masters says “It’s really easy to build too much out to create the characters…But they’re such amazing actors, the last thing we wanted to do was bury them in rubber.”
Pickersgill’s initial designs for the White Lady were inspired by albino humans and animals: “That was one where we had one concept and knocked the design out of the park,” Masters notes, adding that he’d like to see a spin-off series for the character.
White Lady’s facial prosthetics were simple: a brow piece and a bit around her nose accentuating actor Dumont’s features. Still, Dumont had to come in six weeks early for the body casting process.
“We’re finishing the season and series with Sir Effingham,” he teases, “and it’s going to be fantastic.”
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