Jason Baird has created movie magic for decades — making monsters, mermaids and drastic transformations for the big screen.
Now his work on the film Elvis, transforming Austin Butler and Tom Hanks, has been recognised at the highest level with an Oscar nomination in the Best Makeup and Hair Styling category.
"It's surreal. I can't lie though, it feels pretty damn good," Baird said.
Baird has worked in prosthetic makeup and special effects from his Gold Coast studio for 30 years, on films including Thor: Ragnarok, Aquaman, Kong — Skull Island and the Matrix trilogy.
"You've got to put in a lot of hard work in your career to even get yourself in a position where someone's going to offer you a film like this [Elvis]," Baird said.
Creating Elvis and Tom Parker
Baird said the huge physical changes required to turn Austin Butler into Elvis and Tom Hanks into Tom Parker were the "pinnacle of prosthetic artistry".
"[It's] making someone look believable with lots and lots of silicon glued to their face."
He said making Butler an ageing Elvis was a monstrous feat.
"He had five incarnations of weight gain then prosthetic skins over that to blend through his neck," Baird said.
"His cheekbones were altered, his jawbones were altered, his chin was altered.
"[There were] multiple different levels of pale skin, there were six different variations of the wig."
Baird said the prosthetics and makeup for Hanks were "equally as complex", with multiple pieces used for different stages of the movie.
"He had four different fat suits that we altered throughout the 30 years of the film's story," Baird said.
Hair and makeup team
The Elvis hair and makeup team has already snagged wins at the BAFTA and Critics' Choice awards.
Baird is listed alongside Mark Coulier and Aldo Signoretti for the Best Makeup and Hairstyling Oscar, but he said the size of the full team involved was much bigger.
"It's in the hundreds — the prosthetics team, the hair team, the lab crews that are running all the appliances and tweaking wigs … artists on the ground."
For Baird, it's the career he dreamed of as a kid.
"I knew I wanted to do this when I was 11. I knew I loved monster films, I knew I loved films, I knew I loved puppets, I knew I loved makeup.
"From that point on, I just had a quest to do it for a living. The light never dimmed, it never got old, it never got boring for me.
"It just gets more exciting."
Elvis nominations at the Oscars
It's one of eight Oscars the film Elvis is nominated for, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, Best Film Editing and Best Sound.
The film, which was shot, produced and edited on the Gold Coast, has already picked up several gongs this awards season.
Other Australians nominated for Academy Awards include Cate Blanchett for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
Queensland film student Lachlan Pendragon is nominated for Best Short Film (animated).
