University Times

Makeup artist Greg Lightner’s self-applied “Jawless Zombie,” which was inspired by a horror movie character, impressed the Syfy network’s “Face Off” producers.

By day Pitt staff member Greg Lightner leads a quiet life as a lab prep director in biological sciences: supervising undergraduates, assisting instructors in lab preparation, providing technical support for the department’s computer equipment.

After work, however, Lightner indulges his lifelong passion to bring monsters and ghouls “to life” as a self-taught makeup artist specializing in stage and traditional makeup, as well as special effects.

Today, he probably is best known for a recent appearance as one of 14 contestants on season 2 of the popular SyFy channel program “Face Off,” which airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m.

Lightner applies “pre-ghoulish” foundation on the set of “Face Off” for the show’s “Return to Oz” competition.

Although he was eliminated from the competition in this season’s first episode, Lightner calls the time spent in the Hollywood dream factory invaluable. “I was disappointed. I wanted to go further. But I would not trade the experience for anything in the  world. I met amazing people, I had an amazing experience, I had my name out there. I got exposure,” he said, including about 500 new “friends” on his Facebook page just since the show’s Jan. 7 airing.

Lightner’s shark bite makeup for “Corpsing,” a feature film shot by New-York-based 72nd Films production company. Lightner served as lead makeup artist/visual effects artist on the film, set to be released in the coming months.

Earlier this month he was recognized by a gas station attendant. “She said, ‘Hey, Mr. Celebrity. Aren’t you that guy from that makeup show?’ I even had to sign autographs for her and three other people,” Lightner said.

What began as a pastime derived from a lonely childhood following the exploits of the mutant X-Men characters in Marvel comic books and later watching TV chiller movies hosted by Elvira, evolved into using elaborate makeup at Halloween — “It completely started just for myself; I just wanted to look cool for Halloween” — and then into part-time work as makeup supervisor for Kennywood’s annual Fright Nights scarefest.

(In fact, it was through his Kennywood work that Lightner got his job at Pitt. One of the scarefest actors told Lightner there was a full-time position open in her lab.)

A concept sketch for The Bogeyman character in the Rage of the Stage Players production of “Twisted Monologues.” The play was performed in June 2010 at the Studio Theatre in the Cathedral of Learning. “It always starts with a sketch for me. Or an idea, then a sketch. Sometimes it starts as a doodle that turns into an idea that turns into a sketch,” Lightner joked. “So there really is some planning in my work.”

Lightner’s fascination with the theatrical started at a very young age. “As a kid, I often found myself just playing by myself, doing all kinds of imaginary and crazy things. I drew a lot and I spent a lot of time reading,” said Lightner, who during his high school days earned a certificate in fine arts from the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in advertising and public relations summa cum laude at Point Park University in 2008, then worked in nonprofit marketing for a year after graduation, but “hated every second of it,” he said.

A “zombie walk” at Monroeville Mall in 2008 was a turning point for Lightner. The makeup he did for himself and a friend commanded a lot of attention, which made him realize he was good enough at the craft to go out in public with it and perhaps, ultimately, to build a career. “I guess we made quite a good impression. We could not walk two feet without somebody saying, ‘Stop, I have to get a picture of you,’” he said.

Lightner executes his sketch for The Bogeyman on the actor.

Following that event, new-found fans of his work began to contact him via his MySpace page. He decided he needed to expand his repertoire beyond creating zombies, so he answered an ad for a makeup artist and joined the Rage of the Stage Players, working as the head makeup artist for four of their productions. Three of the productions were performed at Pitt: two in the Studio Theatre and one in the Henry Heymann Theatre.

The Bogeyman’s completed face.

In the last two years, Lightner also has done makeup for a soon-to-be-released feature horror film called “Corpsing” and a music video by Antoniette Costa, set to hit the airwaves in February, as well as more traditional makeup for weddings. In the process he has built up an extensive portfolio of zombies, bogeymen, demons and brides.

But it was his “Jawless Zombie” character, inspired by a “puppet head” character from the movie “Dawn of the Dead,” that caught the eye of the “Face Off” producers.

“The show found me on Facebook. I was shocked. They asked me to put together a short film of me applying the makeup. And they wanted samples from my portfolio,” Lightner said.

Lightner’s Zombie Boy tattoo re-creation for a client, Halloween 2011.

That was back in February. In March he was asked to meet with casting agents in New York. “They wanted to know about my family background, how did I get into this, what my specialties are, what materials I like using,” he said.

In April Lightner learned he was one of the 40 finalists and had to go to Los Angeles for a week. “In L.A. we were all sequestered inside the hotel. They took our phones, no TV, no radio, no pens or paper. They didn’t want us to be able to practice or to be inspired by anything we saw,” Lightner explained.

The auditioning contestants also were given a 562-question psych test and were asked to demonstrate putting original makeup on themselves within a set timeframe.

Lightner in full makeup for the 2008 “Zombie Walk” at Monroeville Mall.

In May he was asked to fly to Philadelphia to be interviewed by a psychologist. “I guess that’s so they know you’re not batty and going to kill somebody on the show,” he said.

When weeks went by without a call. Lightner assumed he hadn’t made the final cut. “I was a little disappointed in that. But I said: ‘Well, I gave it a try, I got top 40, I can put that on my resume.’”

Then, on the last day of July he got the call: “Greg, you’re on the show.”

“I was kind of in disbelief. I was floored, and then a little scared,” he acknowledged.

In September he flew out to Los Angeles, grateful that his Pitt colleagues enabled him to miss a month of work while the show was taping.

“The first day there we were blindfolded and taken by limos to an undisclosed location because they wanted it to be a big reveal when we met each other,” Lightner said. But the surprise reactions diminished when the show’s director asked them to repeat the “surprise” scene two more times.

That was one of several things he learned about the TV industry, Lightner said. “We were all used to being part of a working crew and we all felt that we should be there trying to help out, and then to be treated totally differently as the cast, as actors. It’s just weird,” he said.

Lightner as he looks in “real life.”

“It’s completely different watching the show from being on it. You know, they say you have 18 hours to complete this makeup — well, that’s true, but that clock is ticking all the time. If we have to go to the bathroom, if we have to eat, if they stop you to do interviews with you, that clock is still running,” Lightner explained of the pressure on the performers. “Altogether we figured we really had about 11 workable hours.”

In the house where the cast stayed between shoots things were different, more relaxed, he said. “Almost all of us bonded immediately. There was some trash-talking during the competition, but really we all helped each other out. I already knew a few people when I got there from my connections in the ‘makeup world,’ but I also made other friends. We became like a family, and I’m sure we’re going to stay in touch.”

The entire season 2 of “Face Off” was shot by the end of December, and Lightner returned to be on the show’s finale. “I know who won, but don’t ask me, because if I tell you it’s a $75,000 fine,” he said, referring to terms of the 72-page contract contestants signed.

To see more of Lightner’s work, go to his Facebook page, www.facebook.com/LightkoStudios.

—Peter Hart