Short 'War'
Last Summer, 2014, I got a delightful email from, whose now a friend of mine, Producer Andrew Oldbury asking if I could help being Head Makeup Artist for upcoming short ‘War’ directed by the lovely Nilesh Bell-Gorsia. Unfortunately being low-budget this was no pay but still an exciting opportunity for a new Artist wanting to gain experience within the industry with possible networking, plus I got to stay with a good friend of mine Jess and her friend Michael for a few days which was lovely!
After agreeing Andrew sent me a script and after reading and getting the general gist of the story I began to dissect the script into parts. Everyone is different in prep but I try to know the story as much as I can so firstly what period is piece set in and where, any flashbacks also from start to finish what period of time does the story play out over, days, weeks, and years even?! Then the characters how many? Who are they to each other? Back story? Some directors can fill this information in for you if you just ask as some directors may have specific images that they want you to work from than others may give you free range, which then it’s your professional call on the design.
The film was shot over the course of three days, starting at 7am finishing around 6pm, with a crew of around 10 we began our first day on the fab location of a rooftop bar in London, the sun was shining and everyone in high spirits. The cast was mainly male, ranging in skin tone which was fantastic for me learning the behaviours of different skin types and tones, something I advise to every artist for I found darker the skin tone the oily the behaviour and men naturally are oiler than ladies so luckily I had ‘Blotting Pads’ at the ready, available at places like Boots and The Body Shop or many Makeup Shops these little rectangle papers are great at just removing excess oil without having to powder so much.
I also had the pleasure to work with gorgeous actress Georgie Rodgers playing Hannah, she was wonderful, and playing a young teenager my design for her was simple and natural, still finding her identity she needed to show certain vulnerability and innocence in her look. As on the first day we was up on a roof in the suns prime time, even though we encouraged plenty of sunscreen Georgie unfortunately got burnt on her chest, now as Day 2 in order of the film is before Day 1’s scenes there is no way any artistic licence can let us get away with sunburn. So I decided to apply ‘No7 Green Corrective Concealer’ to take away some of the redness followed by a ‘No7 matte primer’, this was to help hold on to my ‘Derma Palette’, I LOVE this product, matching the shade to Georgie I managed to remove the sunburn so we wasn’t infringing any continuity errors.
Continuity is so important when it comes to films, especially scenes playing over the ‘Same Day’. There is always leeway if potentially there could be a few hours from one scene to the next so a stray hair or slight change is acceptable but not a full on restyle (Unless they changing their image in the script of course) as that would cause a major continuity error. Continuity can be a headache and I am still really new to the process but I have learnt to appreciate the importance of it, remember to always take photos of each different look, face on, left side, back of head and right side and fill in a face chart, annoying yes but remembering which foundation you used on each character can get confusing from time to time, especially working long days, just to make life easier. As I said I’m still new to this so I’m just trying to pass on what I’m learning as a new Artist, everyone works differently.
On the lovely lead Actor Jordan Bolger who plays Darryl, director Nilesh wanted a few scars on his arm, excitingly this was the first time I got to use ‘Scars Pinky’ a gooey product that is recommended for creating quick scarring effect. As I applied the product I noticed it being a little thick, this I think was due to my experience of the product but as I blended it onto Jordan’s arm I noticed how shiny the product became as it dried. Now some scars have a natural shine but with the glaring sun on the rooftop these just looked fake on camera and up against Jordan’s dark skin tone, so with my ‘Illustrator Palette Flesh Tones’ I toned down the paleness of the scar to match Jordan’s skin tone, followed by some ‘Anti shine’ Which is another product I ADORE for it actually does what it says, which toned them down dramatically, I still wasn’t happy with the final look but due to pushing of time I had to let it go but luckily there was no close ups on the scars.
From this makeup error I wanted to try and find a better scarring tool, after looking on different sites I was working on another film earlier this year where the makeup artist was using scarring solution ‘Collidean’ Once it arrived I fell in love it is the best for creating quick easy scars, so next time someone needs quick scarring job I am at the ready!!!
Overall I had a great time working with the ‘War’ crew, which I’m hoping is due for release very soon so keep your eyes peeled!!