Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/910903
28 • THE ARTISAN FALL 2017 his eyes down during scenes and make them appear droopy, and then release/relax them once he was on break. The cap was cut like an accordion so it would flex with Jacob's head as he was growing during the months of production. The whole device was hidden underneath the neck/cheek/face prosthetics and hair. Art Sakamoto and Russell Don Sing did an amazing job constructing it. We built three custom wigs, rotating them during shooting. These were very tricky as kids have a fine texture to their hair, so that took some trial and error to figure out. Aimee Macabeo and Toi Rodchompu did a great job building and styling those. Kids with Treacher Collins often tend to grow their hair longer to cover up their underdeveloped ears and cheeks. This was an important part of the story. In addition to the wigs, Aimee punched beautiful eyebrows into the 40+ sets of facial appliances. After screen tests, we found this looked the best for this make-up. Normally, I like eye- brows to be separate but due to the fact that kids have no texture in their skin lace, brows simply did not work. It also helped cut make- up time which was essential. All the silicone work was run by Russell Don Sing. I could not have done the job without Russell. We ran and tested different densities within the same appliance, so the forehead/face would be a soft gel, but the nose would be a much denser version in the same pour. We experi- mented with various products and not encapsulating certain areas of the neck prosthetic. This eliminated the buckle problem most silicone necks tend to have. Michael Nickiforek, a very talented make-up artist in Vancouver, helped me apply this make-up every day. He did an amazing job. I was thankful he was with us on this project. Department Head Hair Robert Pandini also took a huge load off my shoulders tak- ing care of Jacob's hair and maintaining the wigs. Shooting with kids, hair continuity is a nightmare. I don't know what I would have done without Robert. Jessica Nelson designed Jacob's lenses because I wanted to enlarge Jacob's irises. This was very impor- tant, as Treacher Collins kids have less eye white and the position of their eyes is very particular. Without the lenses, when Jacob's eyes were pulled down, they " It was a lot for a 9 year old to go through all this, but he was a great trooper. " Artisans like Art Sakamoto, Russell Don Sing, Aimee Macabeo, Toi Rodchompu, Michael Nickiforek, Robert Pandini and Jessica Nelson build the prosthetics.