Raiders of the Lost Ark: How the Melting Face Scene Was Made

Raiders of the Lost Ark (or Los Cazadores del Arca Perdida if you prefer the Spanish title), has some truly incredible scenes. The giant ball, Indy shooting the swordsman, the discovery of the ark's location… and of course, the melting face.

Raiders won five Academy Awards including Best Visual Effects, and that scene is one of the fundamental pillars of such an award. Now, the question is: How did they do it? If there is one detail to highlight, it is that at first nobody had the slightest idea…

"Don't look, no matter what happens."

The warning from Indiana Jones was blunt: "Don't look, no matter what happens." However, Belloq looked, Dietrich looked, and Toht looked. One head exploded, the other compressed (so to speak), and the other melted to the bone.

This last one is the one we remember best, grotesque and fabulous at the same time. Obviously, cinema was already full of "strong" scenes in 1981, but seeing a head melt like that was a before and after.

Someone had rewritten the great book of special effects, although the process wasn't without difficulties. When Steven Spielberg saw the details in the script, he simply asked: "How are we going to do it? I have no idea." He placed the characters, made them scream… and that was all the people at ILM received.

How Did They Melt Ronald Lacey's Face?

This is when Chris Walas enters the equation, whom we know from Airplane!, The Fly 1 and 2, Scanners, Gremlins, Enemy Mine, Arachnophobia, and many more films.

The first step was obtaining a negative mold of Ronald Lacey's face, an extremely uncomfortable process for all involved. The skull had to be made from a rock that resists extreme heat (leaving enough margin for the skin).

Then Walas prepared a very delicate gelatin formula that melts at a lower than normal temperature. Each layer of gelatin was hand-painted inside the mold, combining different shades, and adding details like veins (some of them made with wool).

When filming the scene, Walas used two huge propane gas heaters, while he "assisted" with a heat gun. Even so, the effect was quite slow, taking about ten minutes.

The most impressive thing is that Walas had only done three or four major tests with his mixtures before filming, and admits he had "a lot of luck".

After the premiere, Walas's phone didn't stop ringing, among those people grateful for the great work, and his colleagues desperate to melt heads in their own projects.

What was Walas's final recommendation? Follow a similar path, but rely on computers to optimize the process.