Dan Crawley Daniel J Crawley , often credited simply as Dan Crawley , is a special effects and make - up effects technician and artist from Winfield , Illinois . As a lab technician with Makeup & Effects Laboratories ( M . E . L . ) , Crawley painted and fabricated costumes for the Hirogen characters on . More recently , as part of Film Illusions , he was a Key Technician on ' s . As an employee of M . E . L . , Crawley also worked on television series such as " The Drew Carey Show " ( on which Diedrich Bader was a regular ) and " The Norm Show " . He worked on several films for the studio , as well , including prop work on " Ghosts of Mars " ( starring Joanna Cassidy and Rosemary Forsyth ) , " The Time Machine " ( written by John Logan ) , and " Adaptation " ( featuring Jim Beaver and Gregory Itzin ) . Later , Crawley was hired by Optic Nerve Studios to work as a mold technician on the cult television shows " Angel " and " Buffy the Vampire Slayer " . He then became a fabricator on " Buffy " as part of Crisis FX , a studio he also worked with on the cult science fiction series " Firefly " ( starring Ron Glass ) , on films such as " The Ring " ( featuring Shannon Cochran and Richard Lineback ) and " The Last Samurai " ( co - written by John Logan ) , and on several commercials ( including spots for Terminex and Capital One ) . Prior to 2009 ' s " Star Trek " , Crawley worked with Film Illusions on several other films . The first of these was " The Chronicles of Riddick " , which , like " Star Trek " , featured Karl Urban in the cast ( as well as Roger R . Cross ) . His other film credits with the studio include the production of specialty costumes for " Superman Returns " ( directed by Bryan Singer and featuring Frank Langella ) and " Fantastic Four " and its sequel , " 4 : Rise of the Silver Surfer " . Crawley also worked with Film Illusions on three commercials and as a painter and lab technician for Disneyland Tokyo . He was a key technician for the studio on the upcoming " G . I . Joe : The Rise of Cobra " ( starring Rachel Nichols ) , as well . Crawley has worked with The Burman Studio as a silicone seamer on several projects , including " Threshold " , the short - lived science fiction series which starred TNG ' s Brent Spiner and which was produced by André Bormanis and David Livingston and executive produced by Brannon Braga and Mike Sussman . He also worked with The Burman Studio on the Emmy Award - winning TV movie " Something the Lord Made " , the television series " Nip / Tuck " , " Invasion " , " Grey ' s Anatomy " , and " Huff " ( the latter of which featured Anton Yelchin ) , a commercial for Verizon Wireless , and the film " Awake " ( which starred Christopher McDonald ) . For the studio Captive Audience , Crawley was a lab technician on the acclaimed film " Syriana " , which starred David Clennon , Robert Foxworth , and DS9 regular Alexander Siddig . He later worked with Captive Audience on such films as " The Exorcism of Emily Rose " , ' s " Apocalypto " , and Paramount Pictures ' upcoming " The Curious Case of Benjamin Button " ( featuring Spencer Daniels ) . Crawley ' s other film credits include " The Core " ( starring Bruce Greenwood and Alfre Woodard ) , " Hairspray " ( featuring Paul Dooley ) , " Species : The Awakening " ( starring Ben Cross and Dominic Keating ) , and " Watchmen " ( starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan , Matt Frewer , and Stephen McHattie ) . His additional TV credits include " The Shield " for and " Medium " , and he also did make - up for such events as Wizard World Chicago 2007 , Wizard World Los Angeles 2008 , the Lionsgate panel at San Diego Comic Con 2007 , and several of the annual Playboy Mansion Halloween parties . Crawley is currently owner and chief technician of After Midnight Studios , which specializes in the design and fabrication of realistic special make - up effects , creature effects , costumes , props , and animatronics for film , television , commercials , and print . After Midnight Studios has worked on several projects thus far , including the horror film " Dead and Gone " and the short films " September 12th " and " In Twilight ' s Shadow " .