Local 706 - The Artisan

Winter 2016

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B Y G L E N N H E T R I C K S P E C I A L M A K E - U P E F F E C T S QUADRILOGY A lmost six years ago when we started discussions on the fi rst fi lm, The Hunger Games, we knew it was going to be big, but we had no idea it would become a global phenomenon. We got our scripts and in short order we were in the thick of it, tons of pros- thetic wounds, cuts … all the stuff a big action fi lm brings. Serendipity intervenes and circumstances conspire to allow you to work on great art, amazing characters and most importantly, with great people! Collaborating with my dear, longtime friend Ve Neill on this series was awesome. Then things got even better when were able to have Neville Page join us doing Tigris design work on the fourth and fi nal Hunger Games fi lm, Mockingjay 2. We also had leads in demanding make-ups every single day they worked. We had Cressida covered from head to fi ngertip on one side of her body in custom tats. We produced hun- dreds of sets. During testing, availability dictated that we had to create a modular tat set that would work on Natalie without getting to lifecast her—the connecting point tabs got into the double letters. "Messalla" had extreme piercings and sub-dermal implants that required him to wear prosthetic ears for every shot. For the cherry on top, by far my favorite make-up of the series and one of my favorites of all time—Tigris! The pro- ducers really wanted to give the fans a "pay-off" moment here, so we really got to go for it. The casting of this charac- ter could not have been better. Eugenie Bondurant is one of the most talented and genuinely wonderful performers I have ever worked with. Ve and I met with her, discussed the make- up and got her take on it before we set to work. We started with some rough designs and concepts with Neville. This all happened while Ve was shooting in Atlanta, so we had our creative conversations and "meetings" on the phone while she was on set and I was in the shop building! Nev worked out a great approach straight away and Ve showed them to our director, Francis Lawrence. After a few conversations and notes, we made some alterations and tweaks, then moved on to specifi cs of the patterning. While that was happening, some things changed on set due to weather and suddenly, we had to shoot Tigris almost six weeks earlier than had been anticipated! We immediately started producing the huge tattoo sets that covered her arms, chest, neck and upper back. The sculpt was masterfully craft- ed by Mike O'Brien, and as soon as Francis and Ve signed

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