Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1058399
THE ARTISAN FALL 2018 • 47 THIS WAS MY SECOND TIME WORKING for Barry Jenkins. Much was the same as it was for Moonlight; the ever- present feeling that I'm involved in telling a story so beautiful and real, but so seemingly untold through film. Watching the actors, watching Barry direct, remembering what it was like to work on the tiny production of Moonlight, how it felt to realize that lives had been touched or even changed because of it, how it felt to win Best Picture, showing up to work and seeing some of the same crew members from Moonlight. Each day I started work literally overcome with emotion, which wasn't totally ideal, but in retrospect, I hope it worked to inform the make-up in some way. With hair and make-up, Barry doesn't like to see things—he likes to feel things. In my experience, it's never been as simple as throwing a cut on someone's face or gluing on a mustache. He'll notice it and that's distracting even if the execution is flawless. Every make-up look has to be fully integrated into these charac- ters. It's a sense of authenticity that can't be achieved based on period accuracy alone. I created huge mood boards for the trailer that I looked at every day to make sure I was in the right world. I pulled images from street photographers and Black films from the late 1960s and early 1970s. I wanted every moment to appear undone and effortless, but perfectly executed in terms of correc- tive period-appropriate make-up. This was a different experience than Moonlight because we had physically so much more make-up at play here. I airbrushed over everyone's tattoos daily, using alcohol-based European Body Art colors, and buffed in Tahitian hair oil as a Beale Street TALKING D O N I E L L A D AV E Y | MAKE-UP A N D K E N N E T H W A L K E R J O U R N E Y M A N H A I R S T Y L I S T A N D D E P A R T M E N T H E A D H A I R B Y D O N I E L L A D A V E Y D E P A R T M E N T H E A D M A K E - U P K E N N E T H W A L K E R | HAIR A BOOK WRITTEN BY JAMES BALDWIN, a screenplay written and directed by Barry Jenkins, If Beale Street Could Talk is a 1950s story taking place in Harlem about the Rivers and the Hunt families in the same socioeconomic positions and a story about their children. The film stars Regina King (Sharon Rivers), KiKi Layne (Tish Rivers), Stephan James (Fonny Hunt), Colman Domingo (Joseph Rivers), as well as many other incredible cast members. The Rivers, a very happy laid-back family, and the Hunt family with their father, a regular guy, the mother and her daughters wanting to be something they were not. The Hunt girls wore their hair pressed and curled while Aunjanue Ellis (Mrs. Hunt) wore wigs that fit the period. I like using products that were used during that time: Dixie Peach hair dressing pomade, Opress pressing cream, my old fashion electric stove, pressing combs and curling irons but used contemporary conditioners. I kept the Rivers family simple by using products of the period and Regina and her daughters wore their hair period appropriate, with the exception of when we went to Puerto Rico where I had a wig for Regina. When she went to Puerto Rico to try to save her future son-in-law, we fluffed her up a bit as she arrived at the airport with her hair done, sunglasses and scarf on her head (very Hollywood), followed by her evening look when she goes to the club to meet her son-in-law's accuser. For this look, I had created a wig for her and as she's dressing into this world with her green and gold lamé dress, she's torn between wearing her own hair or the wig and she puts it on, takes it off about three times on camera and I see the wig cap start to tear! I'm freaking out but CONTINUED ON PAGE 49 CONTINUED ON PAGE 49