Summary
- Behind-the-scenes Polaroids from the original Buffy makeup department offer insight into the show’s charm.
- Practical FX, not CGI, grounded the series and allowed actors to fully immerse themselves in their roles.
- Maintaining the gritty, crafty spirit of practical makeup effects is crucial to capturing the essence of Buffy in the reboot.
A stack of old 90s Polaroids from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer makeup department has fans feeling more excited than ever for the upcoming Hulu reboot. The new series, penned by Nora and Lilla Zuckerman, will continue the Slayer’s legacy with a fresh lead and a more modern tone. Sarah Michelle Gellar is even set to reprise her role as Buffy in a recurring capacity, perhaps in a mentor role for a brand new slayer.
However, if the creative team wants to recapture the original’s spark, they might want to take a long, hard look at the behind-the-scenes photos making the rounds on Reddit. What the OG Buffy special effects makeup department—led by the brilliant John Vulich—was able to accomplish on a shoestring network TV budget could offer some key insight into what fans actually love about Buffy.
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On-Set Polaroids: Buffy The Vampire Slayer Behind-the-Scenes Gold
In a recent post on Reddit titled simply “Makeup Department”, fans were treated to a delightful peek behind the scenes of Sunnydale. A stack of vintage Polaroids taken by the show’s FX and makeup artists has been unearthed, and they’re everything a Buffy diehard could hope for: creepy, hilarious, nostalgic, and oozing with the charm that made the show a hit in the first place.
These are not polished press shots or official promotional stills. These are working photos, typically used as continuity references for the artists. They’re scrappy, grimy, annotated with marker scrawls, and feature many of the show’s most iconic characters in their impressive prosthetic getups.
The collection includes:
- James Marsters in his Spike look with “we’re dead” scrawled across his chest (added not for an episode, but for a team Halloween party)
- Alyson Hannigan in a full face of prosthetics as VampWillow
- David Boreanaz posing as Angel, who one fan remarked looks just like Pedro Pascal’s cousin with that moustache
- Juliet Landau looking like a serene broken doll as Vampire-mode Drusilla
- Doug Jones as one of Hush’s terrifying Gentlemen, complete with menacing grin and silver teeth
- Seth Green as the werewolf Oz, in one of the more goofy, but still lovable, makeup transformations
- Mark Metcalf in his Master makeup, caught in glorious horror
- George Hertzberg posing stoically in full cyber-demon gear as Adam
- And many more
The Practical FX That Defined Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Visual Identity
What these photos highlight isn’t just nostalgia. They underscore what made Buffy special: the deeply inventive departments—including the FX makeup team—working with a scrappy hustle. On a modest WB/UPN budget, the show consistently pulled off impressive, often iconic creature designs that, even if imperfect, are still beloved by fans today.
Without the benefit of expensive post-production CGI, the effects had to be camera-ready on set. The team leaned heavily on latex, foam, airbrushing, and practical gags. Every vamp face was custom-sculpted. Demon designs involved complex molds, animatronic facial pieces, and sometimes puppeteering.
The result was a world that felt alive and tactile. The Gentlemen weren’t enhanced with digital tricks—they were eerie because they existed. Oz’s werewolf transformation relied on old-school layering and time-consuming hairwork. These effects grounded the fantasy in reality, giving the audience something to believe in. The post-processing didn’t smooth out the edges or blur the imperfections. It was raw and sometimes imperfect, but honestly, along with Joss Whedon’s storytelling, it’s what made the series feel so human.
Buffy Reboot Lessons: Fans and Actors Benefit From Real and Raw Over CGI Facetune
The reboot might be aiming for something sleek and modern—but if it ditches this gritty, crafty spirit, it risks losing what gave Buffy its soul. The FX team didn’t just apply makeup; they helped shape characters and tone. Fans don’t want overly polished, soulless creatures that look like they belong in a video game cutscene. There’s something endearing and immersive about watching a rubbery demon flail around a high school hallway. That slight camp, that edge of the uncanny—it’s what made Buffy so fun.
Even more importantly, practical FX have a direct impact on the actors themselves. When performers are surrounded by real, tangible monsters and practical magic effects, it adds a layer of reality to their performances and reactions. They’re not acting opposite a tennis ball on a green screen; they’re immersed in the same weird, wonderful world the audience sees. And it shows. Whether it’s James Marsters snarling through a prosthetic vampire brow or Juliet Landau twitching behind cracked porcelain face paint, the makeup lets the actors play. And when the cast is having fun, so are we.
At the heart of this effort was special effects makeup supervisor John Vulich, co-founder of Optic Nerve Studios. In an archived 2003 interview with CityofAngel, Vulich also talked about how practical makeup effects can help immerse the actors in their own roles. “I think somehow, it’s like you’re wearing the disguise, and I think it’s another one of those elements that you see what makeup can do is kind of free somebody up to not be themselves,” Vulich explained, in reference to Alyson Hannigan transforming into Vampire Willow.
When practical FX are used right, they’re not a limitation—they’re the heart of the aesthetic. The weight of a costume, the twitch of a real animatronic, the blood that oozes liquid rather than pixels? That’s what sells horror and humor side by side. A modern Buffy that leans too hard on CGI risks flattening the weird, wonderful spirit of the original.
A note to the Buffy reboot production team: Let the prosthetic seams show. Let the fake blood flow. And let your monsters be monsters, not digital effects.
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