Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/759117
36 the stairs and back to the trailer for removal. A beautiful thing to see as if Rolf somehow felt the pain we infl icted with glue and paint. For the scene of Nat being stitched up by Bridget (played by Esther Scott) after enduring a severe whipping, Rolf and I would do the extensive make-up together. Since our director/lead actor had to get in and out of the make-up trailer as quickly as possible, I had Rolf pre-paint and pre- stitch the wounds on the rather large back prosthetic (it covered Nate's entire back). As we worked so well together, we had applied and fi nished the paint job in an hour and a half. Typically, the task would've taken up to three hours. As Rolf packed up our set kits, I fi nished Nate's face to give the feel of dehydration, exposure and residual shock. Yet another tough scene to shoot. Elliot Davis, our direc- tor of photography, was always in our corner. He always lit our work in the best possible way without compromising the limited light that would have actually been available in 1831. We're talking about oil lamps and candles, yet he performed miracles within those confi nes. In addition to a prosthetic birthmark on the sternum of both child and adult Nat, the adult Nat would wear den- tures, which we customized together. One pair for him to wear prior to receiving the butt of a gun to the mouth, and a pair to refl ect a chipped tooth from said abusive blow. At the end of the fi lm, prior to Nat Turner being hung, he is shot and beaten. Although the beating make-up would appear after some of the swelling had gone down, he still would have blood around one of his corneas. The lens tech did her best, but ultimately, wrecked the edge of the appli- ance just under the eye requiring the contact lens. With no time to fi x it, both Nate and I agreed it should become a nasty cut just below the lash line. Problem solved, not ideal, but solved and no one second-guessed it. The scene that was shot showing him get the beating, we had nothing special planned in regards to make-up effects. Just blood, lots of blood. When Nate asked me if I could make the eye in question show some swelling begin. I remembered that I had Scotch tape in my set bag because if I had any spare time (I never did), I was going to tape my petty cash receipts to blank white paper as is customary for accounting. I made a tiny football-shaped cutout and placed it on Nate's lid, and it worked. Some rapid bruise painting and a spattering of blood gave the appearance that his eye was beginning to swell shut. Years of theater prior to getting into the fi lm industry defi nitely helped me roll with the sometimes imperfect world we live in. Date: June 10, 2015 Subject: MY TEAM IS STRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!! Team What a day! As one of our teammates told me, "We shot a great week today!" I just want to thank you all for coming through and holding me and this project up today. There were many factors working against, but none could supersede the power of us working together. Rest up all, tomorrow, we'll get it again!!! With Love and Respect, Nate Andrea Brotherton and Tayla Melvey from the Hair Department, our costume designer, Francine Tanchuk, and her key costumer (and husband), Earl, everyone from the props, grip and electric departments to the craft service folks, were all sweating and working together. A throwback if you will, to my days in nonunion independent fi lmmak- ing. Together, a common goal. No one department or person is more or less important than another. Yes, Nate had assembled an amazing collective of talented and gener- ous people. Armie Hammer (playing Sam Turner) would also be one of my many sole responsibilities, he too would wear dentures. Fortunately, he was one of several actors who grew out his facial hair for us. He was the best, and never complained about the constant grime I insisted on putting around his nails. For his death scene, he takes a short- handled ax to the chest and wanders from his bedroom out into an open hall and slides down a wall where he proceeds to bleed out and pass. We did several takes of him sliding down the wall and into a medium shot before getting it perfect. Some pretty major bloodletting from a wound that I applied with a feed for practical effects to link to with a powerful fl ow of blood. It was perfect except for one hitch. We saw the end of the metal tube that led into my appli- ance. This was our last shot of day 14. Preston Holmes, the producer who ever so elegantly and quietly kept track