Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1331269
42 • THE ARTISAN WINTER 2021 look. Her manicure had the moons exposed and the tips natural that was popular at the time. Q: Were the characters historical recreations, whole cloth fabrications or a mixture of both? GW: Except for the gardener and the chauffeur, all the characters were historical. Q: What are the challenges of recreating real people as opposed to fabricated characters?How important is physical accuracy to a director like David Fincher? GW: If it is not perfect, down to the eyelash, David will send you back to the drawing board. So we tested every single actor in every kind of light, and every angle, and then we dissected them and redid some of them. They have to be perfect. Which is actually real. It's a balance but this is where you hone your craft. And it's fun. Q: Were there any looks or characters that were particularly challenging and if so, why? GW: David said he didn't want 'guyliner' so we had to fi gure out a way to pop the eyes. I've very seldom used mascara on men but on this, we used lots of black mascara. It made the eyes pop and gave that 1930s sultry look that informs the glamour period. We also darkened their brows and made them thicker. When you look at the old photographs, the men all look like they have dark circles and shaded eye sockets, so we recreated the photographs EXACTLY enhancing the shadows. Q: Several of the projects you worked on feature characters that are notably more ... sweaty. From serial killers and hostages in the '80s, to the psychedelic underworld of '70s LA, to the creeping malevolence of a budding religious leader in the '50s, these characters are imbued with a certain griminess, while Mank features prim and proper Hollywood starlets, politicians and powerbrokers. How did recreating the glitz and glam of 1930s Hollywood differ from previous projects? Did any of these looks come with unique or unforeseen challenges? And having done both, do you like glitz and glam or sweaty and scary? GW: What I really like the most is making characters. So if it's a character of the '40s, or if it's 1968 psychedelia, I think just being able to completely immerse yourself in whatever time period it is, and be as real without being a caricature, that's where the excitement comes in. To work with an actor and enhance their vision of a character is the creative part of the job. Q: What was it like working in black and white? How does that change your work? What kind of techniques and products were used exclusively