How do you bring Marvel Comic characters from the printed page to the silver screen for movies like X-Men? Who creates Wolverine, Mystique, Sabretooth and Nightcrawler and brings them alive?

The X-Men Master: Gordon Smith Exhibition opens Friday August 17th on the 4th floor of the TIFF Bell Light Box. The exhibition is free and totally fascinating. The X-Men Master: Gordon Smith Exhibit showcases Ontario native Gordon Smith’s 30-year career in special effects and makeup design. Gordon Smith made his mark internationally for his innovative special effects and make up work for the major box office hits X-Men and its sequel X2.

At the X-Men Master: Gordon Smith you will see some of Smith’s most important contributions to the industry, including artifacts of seven well-known X-Men characters. There are pieces from Gordon Smith’s studio, including video accompaniments, sketches and photographs. See Mystique, the  full-size replica of the most memorable blue-skinned, distinctly underdressed shape shifter. On display are the blades utilized to create Wolverine’s retractable claws. There is a collapsible Senator Kelly dummy head used to create special effects.  The exposition also has the feral strongman Sabretooth, the long-tailed Nightcrawler, and Toad.

In celebration of this new exhibition, TIFF is currently showing screenings of the first two X-Men films, featuring Smith’s groundbreaking work. A full tour of the exhibition will take you 20 to 40 minutes and will certainly give you a good feel as to what actors and makeup artists have to go through to create spectacular film interpretations of the original Marvel Comic characters.

myETVmedia had a lot of fun talking with Gordon Smith at the exhibit where he revealed some of his toughest challenges. Can Mystique wear the costume and still take a bathroom break on her own? Check out the interview here and see the exhibit on till March.

-Christophe Chanel