Showing on a 2018 episode of NPR’s “Contemporary Air,” Jones defined to host Terry Gross the original variations within the elaborate make-up he wore in “Labyrinth” and in “Water.” In each instances, his head used to be supplied with elaborate facial and cranial prosthetics, which have been, in flip, equipped with mechanical servos to turn on his eyes, ears, and gills. Jones in an instant identified the fun juxtaposition of taking part in a monster — a creature that possibly has enhanced senses — whilst having his personal very human senses seriously restricted. Whilst in complete make-up and dress, Jones continuously calls for helpers and guides to lend a hand him on set. In his phrases:
“Any creature swimsuit that I have worn over the past 31 years hampers your eyesight, your listening to. You principally develop into a nursing house affected person; you want assist getting round. The irony of this is normally you might be taking part in a being that has superhuman power, [but] you want assist strolling to the set.”
For “The Form of Water,” Jones wore an over-the-head masks that used to be combined together with his precise face. The one a part of Jones’ face that used to be visual used to be his lips. The “fish” eye items had been like dressed in shades, and the nature sported gills that up his neck and up the perimeters of his head. The gills could be moved by way of far flung, and, as Jones explains, the interior gill mechanisms had been situated proper subsequent to his ears.
“My imaginative and prescient used to be very impaired and my listening to — my ears had been lined with latex foam rubber. And the gills had been proper subsequent to my ears as neatly, and so they had been robotically operated. So I might listen [mechanical noises] in my ears as a scene is progressing, so that you roughly need to blot that out.”