As a subset of cosplay, makeup transformations are often powerful fantasies. People suppress their own identities and temporarily take on new roles that are somehow stronger, sexier, or more dynamic than themselves. But it doesn’t always work out that way. Take the latest video by YouTube makeup wizard Katelyn Galloway, known to her followers as Kiki G. Galloway recently morphed into Parks And Recreation libertarian and man’s man Ron Swanson, a character who exudes no small amount of authority in his own right. For her latest project, Galloway has chosen to transform into perhaps the most powerless character in television history: Buster Bluth, the hapless, hook-handed mama’s boy who served as the Bluth family’s answer to Fredo Corleone on Arrested Development.
As played by Tony Hale, the gullible, naive Buster is a collection of weird habits, strange obsessions, and nervous tics. As delightful as his antics are, it is doubtful many people would really want to be him or live his life. Nevertheless, here is Galloway remaking herself in the image of the most pitiful of the Bluths.
The transformation, in all honesty, is astounding. The effect is enhanced by the use of time-lapse photography. Galloway first changes her own eye color with tinted contact lenses, instantly achieving Buster’s soulful, doleful puppy dog gaze. Then, it’s time to hide her own, blonde hair beneath a bald cap and daub on some Buster-ish fuzz hair in its place. From there, the artist basically paints Buster’s face onto her own head, using shading and contouring, especially around the nose and chin, to make herself into a credible doppelgänger for Hale’s character. But the performance here does not stop at makeup. To become Buster, one must think as Buster, who operates from a core of deep-seeded childhood trauma. It’s amazing how, over the course of this video, Galloway takes on the personality and mannerisms of the character. By the end, she’s even tucking her chin in, just the way he does. It’s not all bad being Buster, though. Look how happy he appears at the end when he finally gets that juice box.
[via Laughing Squid]