Under the Skin of Science Fiction
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fandom
Some people might be wowing over Avatar and the blue-skinned peeps, but in the world of science fiction, I always dug what lurked underneath a whole lot more. Adding to the skin is tricky -- trying to make a hideous scar, a bald noggin, or a blue tinge look realistic always seemed a lot trickier than revealing what was trapped beneath the surface -- the robotic limbs ripping through torn flesh, or even the illusion of skin that masked some other sort of ugly truth. So, while others might muse over the distinct details given to James Cameron's blue-skinned avatars, I can't help but stare at the image to the right from the upcoming Bruce Willis movie Surrogates. (Check out the larger version at Arrow in the Head.) My eyes keep following the teeth as they become hidden under the lips, the whites of the eye usually obscured by the eyelid. I imagine my attraction is due to the fact that while we may not all be robots underneath our skin, take away that outer layer and suddenly we look a little alien.
But still, there's something much cooler about revealing a piece of metallic hardware rather than a human's musculature -- whether it's the cold, hard metal of Terminator, or even special sunglasses revealing the aliens in They Live!
What's your favorite inhuman revelation, where the skin hides something unexpected?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-27-2009 @ 3:19PM
ppk said...
My attraction to this kind of effect is always to stare at the seem between the skin and whatever else is under... the optical illusion of making it look like the skin is on top of the prosthetic is amazing to me since I know that the prosthetic is on top
How about Edger (eger) in MIB or Dr Jenning in Howard the Duck for man transforms into deformity because of monster underneath.
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8-28-2009 @ 9:55AM
Sharon E. Dreyer said...
Thanks for sharing this great article! Over the years I've learned that many people don't even know there is a difference between a cyborg and an android. Both are fascinating and may be reality as our technology progressives.
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