Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1256324
with the forehead ridge and ears belonging to Romulans from the north, and no ridge with ears and brow blockers from the south—all Romulans have the classic straight brow that points toward the temple. In order to accommodate the thousands of Romulan parts needed for the larger scenes, we crat- ed seven different forehead and ear sets. A template of each of these were given to James MacKinnon and his team for fittings. We would then get the report back from them on which BG actor fit which prosthetic, and what tone they were. Light, medium or dark. These were then boxed, specific for each BG character and sent to set for James to organize with his team. The largest shooting day, I remember walking the aisles of the studio at Universal and peeking into the five BigMack make- up trailers seeing the hundreds of make-up and hair stations prepped with our VVDFX boxes laid out on 97 stations. That is a moment I will never forget. Seeing James' ability to organize and command such large groups of artists, checking every make-up before going to set all while applying his prosthetics on the principal actors, made me appreciate the team. Neville and James even more. We com- municated daily and continue to communicate about what works, what doesn't and how we can design, create and apply in a way that makes a machine this large run smoothly. I truly believe this transparency is what makes the end result the best it can be. James MacKinnon, Department Head Prosthetics & Make-Up Designer As the department head of prosthetics on Discovery, I was in communication with producers Alex Kurtzman and Heather Kadin pretty early on in the discussions about Picard, and was very excited to beam over to the new ship after two years in Toronto. We weren't sure where Picard was going to shoot yet, but I was really hoping for LA so I could fulfill a 30-year dream of department heading make-up and prosthetics on a big show in my hometown, for the sole purpose of hiring all my friends and colleagues I came up with in the industry over the past 31 years. As a veteran of the Star Trek franchise, and having worked as department head of both beauty and prosthetics on other shows, taking my seat at the helm of this ship came naturally to me. I really enjoyed being part of the redesigning of characters I got to assist applying make-ups on early in my career. Working with Neville and Vincent proved to be a really great collaboration; we talked daily and really listened to what one another needed to make the make-ups work perfectly for everyone. Big days with lots of BG and all principal actors on set means you need to be organized and have great communication with all departments. I went to the costume designer Christine Clark almost daily with cowls and gloves so she knew how thick the neck and arms would be, and that communication was key in creating a full look for a character. Having lead characters who would see my team for prosthetics and then go to my incredible assistant department head Silvi Knight for beauty make-up meant major