Have you ever seen the 1989 movie Batman directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson?

Jack Nicholson plays The Joker. He appears with a white face, green hair, and a stretched smile as the character suffered an acid attack early in the story. Nicholson participated in the overall look of his character. He initially wanted his appearance modeled after the original Batman comics. Have you ever read a Batman comic?

The makeup process took 2 hours. Nick Dudman is credited as the make-up designer for the Joker's "rictus grin." He designed the smile using prosthetics since Jack Nicholson had an allergy to spirit gum, a popular adhesive commonly used in movie makeup and wigs/facial hair. Have you ever used spirit gum?

In one scene, the Joker covers his white face with flesh tone makeup only to wipe and reveal the white. That means the makeup artists had to devise a way to layer white plus flesh colored makeup on Jack Nicholson's face without showing his actual skin color! This was done through an acrylic adhesive with food grade silicone oil applied all over his face so the flesh tone makeup could slide away easily but not the white. Do you think creative problem-solving like this makes you appreciate the work of makeup artists in film?