Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/759117
Randi and Devin refused to let even one child get past them. The kids would at least get dirty hands and sun- screen. Rolf, Dionne and I never stopped. Nothing was going to get past us, nothing. I was 1,000 percent com- mitted to making sure that nothing modern would pull an audience member out of the year 1831. The leading actors would be assigned with the understanding that we were a front united. In addition to the leads, day players and all background artists would daily need one or more of the following: tattoos covered, facial hair applied, brows fi lled in for the ladies, earring and facial-piercing holes covered, fi ngernails dirtied, teeth yellowed or grayed, sweat, tears and sunscreen applied. Dionne was responsible for Aja Naomi King, Aunjanue Ellis, Katie Garfi eld, Gabrielle Union and other characters. Gabrielle had beautifully arched eyebrows and Dionne knew that my request to fi ll them out might be met with some resistance from Ms. Union. So I told Dionne to make me the bad guy, saying that the department head insisted that individual hairs be laid in so that a proper 'full eyebrow' look would be achieved. I learned this very clever maneuver from Matthew Mungle. In the same way, Gabrielle was eager to get on board with whatever was necessary and I think she appreciated our 'God is in the details' approach Rolf, being an accomplished make-up artist, wasn't just going to do make-up effects. One of the lead slaves in the fi lm ("Will") was portrayed by Chiké Okonkwo. He had a nasty scar on his face from above one eyebrow running through an eye, continuing to mid cheek. Chike also wore a contact lens to cleverly tie the wound together. His lips needed to express dehydration and exposure. Recent shack- le wounds on top of old shackle scars and dirt completed the look. Another important character that would be in both young and old visages would be that of "Cobb," por- trayed by veteran character actor Jackie Earle Haley. Early in the fi lm, Cobb's temple is split open by Nat Turner's father, resulting in an open wound. The older Cobb needed 32 fast but Nate was faster. Next shot, "shrouded hovering angels." We never saw them at base camp! I saw earring holes and a few tattoos, angels should have neither. As I cleaned up Nate's hand and before I could fi nish my sentence, Rolf and Dionne scrambled to correct the angel oversight. So this would be the pace. An epic in 27 days. All right, we got this! Later that day, we would do a shot of Nat after some bloodletting had already occurred within the timeline of our script. Nate liked the way I spattered blood on him and so would begin a collaboration between us in the Make-up Department, the Costume Department and Props. We would also help to provide blood for the Practical Effects Department, whenever it was necessary. A monumental set of tasks and responsibilities just became that much bigger before the sun set on our fi rst day. What was it I said above? All right, we got this! It was at this point that I was very kindly informed that I had spent my budget. Even the production staff was the greatest group of people you could ever hope to have … No problem, sometimes we give more than we take, and I was so taken with the script and Nate's passion that I could live with this. No hairpiece rentals for me and I would use up a lot of blood and effects materials that wouldn't get replaced. Something told me to bring everything! It was time for me to let go of a large stock of materials anyway. Timing is everything, and jeez, did we go through A LOT of blood! So the responsibilities within my department were defi ned with blurred lines. Very often, Dionne would fi nish something Rolf or I had begun. Sometimes I would add a touch to a make-up that Rolf had done but couldn't chase to set. Although Nate, Armie Hammer and Penelope Ann Miller (among many others) would be solely my responsi- bility, frequently Dionne would cover set while Rolf and I did any number of the numerous make-up effects needed on a daily basis. No one, not a single actor (male or female, black or white), ended up on fi lm without someone from team make-up doing any number of tasks to him or her. Douglas Noe applies fi nishing touches to Colman Domingo, who plays Hark, on the set of The Birth of a Nation.