Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1123465
40 • THE ARTISAN SPRING 2019 partner. We collaborated on every character, every look and every change. We had a lot of moments when we'd first read the script and saw something like 'elves' and wondered, 'What does that mean?' We'd ask Cary and Patrick, 'How elfie do you want to go?' I think they knew exactly what they wanted, but they wanted us to fight for our vision, so they didn't give a lot of direction in the early stages. We researched, put up pictures, edited and re-edited until we came up with what we believed they were going for. When we showed those, they'd typically say, "Cool, that's great." They trusted us to come up with the right things—they knew we got their aesthetic and liked the way we inter- preted their vision. It was a lot of work creating all of the different looks, but we didn't have all of the designs locked down way in advance. They unfolded organically as we went along, emerging as we got one or two episodes in. I create best in the moment, and it's so freeing to have all of the research you can imagine at the push of a button on the internet. In the past when you had to go to the library, you had to plan a bit more. For Annie's 'regular' look, I wanted her hair to be quite raw and not look as if she washes and fixes it all the time. The goal was to stay basic and still attractive but never 'done' since she had so many other looks that were heavily done up. I always wanted her to stay blonde through the whole thing since I thought it would be too jarring for the eye if she was in multiple hair colors. The inspiration for Emma and Julia's look in the elf world came from Viking warriors—strong and hard-living, yet always emphasizing their natural beauty. I achieved that look with extensions, wigs, hairpieces and fabrics. The doctors, Azumi Fujita and James Mantleray, were a lot of fun to design. Nerds in a general way can be very sexy! James wears a toupee and you also see him bald. The darkness and denseness of his hair is in the same family as Azuki's. Her hair style was inspired by the Japanese artist and designer Rei Kawakubo, which was a note from Cary. All of the other lab characters unfolded and came together from there. The biggest challenge on this show was the completely different looks we had to create for multiple characters in multiple periods over multiple episodes. We were always shooting while we were researching and testing and planning for the next episodes. I was inspired to design looks that would not only fulfill but maximize Cary's and Patrick's very ambitious vision. One thing that helped us enormously with all of these looks is that the cast was more than happy to experiment. They were into creating the characters with us, which is really wonderful. A lesson that I have learned throughout my career but which was most definitely reinforced on Maniac was the importance of working as a team. When you have a great partner in your make-up department and you have a great supporting team, you can achieve great work that will con- tribute significantly to the look of whatever given project you are on. Every one of the crew and support teams' contributions were truly critical in executing the design and vision, and in gathering all that is required in terms of materials, research and the million little things required to see a project of this scope complexity through to such a successful result. There is no "I" in filmmaking—it is all about teamwork ... it takes a village.• Fríða Aradóttir started her career in 1987 on Dirty Dancing. Since then, she has worked on more than 80 films and series, including La La Land, Jurassic Park, Something's Gotta Give, Forrest Gump, The Normal Heart, It's Complicated, Veep and most recently, Maniac. Her work on La La Land was recognized with the Guild award for Best Contemporary Hair Styling, and The Normal Heart received an Emmy Award nomination. Maniac photos from left: First two courtesy of Fríða Aradóttir