Working with Reel Twisted FX

Travelling has allowed us to meet some very interesting and exciting people. People from other countries that we built lasting relationships with and people from home as well that we have gotten the opportunity to get to know better and spend time with. I have known Rhonda for close to 4 years now, while Ryan and I travelled in Vietnam we were lucky enough to be in the same area at the same time and became close friends with her and her husband Paul. But this post will not be about our travels or our spouses, it's about Rhonda and the amazing career she built.

Rhonda is a special effects and makeup artist and her work will absolutely floor you. She is extremely talented in every aspect of what she creates, make up for a movie, prosthetic body parts, aliens, masks or realistic silicone creatures has been doing it for over 12 years now. She has worked on films such as Making Monsters, The DoorWay, The Haunt, Culture of Nightmares and also the TV show Star Trek. She has worked with people like Julian Richings (Up on the Cottage Country) or Simu Liu (Kims Connivence) and many more.

She is very passionate about work, what does and it shines through every time when you look at it and see the amount of detail and care that she puts in. The creative challenge of the horror industry is what she loves and is passionate about (remember in my Hiking in Ajijic, she is the rock flipper looking for creepy crawlies). She finds the reward of seeing the final product come to life, whether it is on set working with actors, creating a model for a severed body part or painting.

During her down time besides travelling the world with Paul and their adorable Boston Terrier/Chihuahua mix Messa she paints and does photography. Her inspiration for her comes from nature, the creatures around her and the landscape of the country she is currently in.

As time has progressed Rhonda and I have become very close and are lucky enough to meet up around the world on our travels. When we met in Ajijic, Mexico in March 2022, we had many things we wanted to. Ride horses, hike the mountains, go to Chapala etc, the list was pretty long. One afternoon by the pool over a few glasses of wine, we started discussing her photography and different shoots she wanted to do. One was a Katrina day of the dead and a flower beard, I was instantly on board. Then Rhonda and I set out after Ryan, fed him a few beverages and convinced him to let her put flowers in his beard and paint his face.

I went first, we started in the morning Rhonda painted my face which took her 1.5 hours. When she was done, I could not smile because it would crack the gold teeth she had painted. I had red travellers pants and a bathing suit top that gave her the inspiration for the red flowers and paint.

Photo Credit: Rhonda M.C.

3 hours of shooting later, we went through the grade, a wishing well, cobblestone driveway and the pool. She had enough footage to keep her busy for a few days. Here are some of her final edited pieces below.

Photo Credit: Rhonda M.C.

Photo Credit: Rhonda M.C.

Photo Credit: Rhonda M.C.

Photo Credit: Rhonda M.C.

Photo Credit: Rhonda M.C.

Then came Ryan's turn, he had agreed but we had never committed to a date. After coffee morning Paul had wandered off the pool and Ryan sat up with Rhonda and I playing on his phone. Silly man stuck around too long, next thing he knew Rhonda had her paint out, I was looking at flowers and finding the props for his photo shoot.

This was so much fun, it was an hour and a bit of Rhonda painting his face and then placing flowers all through his beard. This time I got the opportunity to snap a few pictures of Rhonda working her magic on Ryan.

Once his face was painted the task of placing the flowers into his beard began. This took so much patience (on everyone's part), she put him in a lounge chair, he closed his eyes (pretty sure he was napping) and we started putting flowers in his beard with constant giggling.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

Then the shooting started, this lasted maybe an hour and half tops trying to move as quickly as possible so the flowers don't wilt or fall out and to keep Ryan's attention.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

Below are some of her edited final pieces from Ryan's photo shoot.

Photo Credit: Rhonda M.C.

Photo Credit: Rhonda M.C.

Photo Credit: Rhonda M.C.

Photo Credit: Rhonda M.C.

If you would like to see more of Rhonda's work her instagram handle is @reeltwistedfx, her website is www.reeltwistedfx.com or her etsy page is www.etsy.com/ca/shop/reeltwistedfx .

Cheers!

**Please note that all opinions and views expressed in this post are my own, from my own experiences. If you would like to see more pictures follow me on Instagram vikki.gray **