Robin R. Bottin (born April 1, 1959) is an American visual effects and makeup effects artist. He was born in the Los Angeles suburb of El Monte, California. His father was a foreman for a van and storage company. From an early age he enjoyed a steady stream of old horror films, as well as magazines like Famous Monsters of Filmland. At age 14, he submitted a series of illustrations to makeup artist Rick Baker, who promptly hired him. He worked with Baker on various films but his first big solo break was The Howling, where he was called to create an on screen transformation from man to werewolf. This managed to reach the theatres before his mentor's similar scene in An American Werewolf in London. After begging cinematographer Dean Cundey to introduce him to director John Carpenter, Bottin was hired by Carpenter to create the special makeup effects for his 1980 film The Fog. Additionally, Bottin provided the physical makeup effects and had a small part in the film as Captain Blake. From there, Bottin's reputation grew when he again worked with Carpenter on The Thing. Bottin worked on The Thing seven days a week (including late nights) for a year and five weeks straight.