50 • THE ARTISAN SPRING 2021
Several design stages done by Adrien Morot SFX make-up
were done before Lee settled on the three variations of weight-
gain looks. The prosthetic pieces were silicone encapsulated
in baldies that covered the face, neck and hands. Facial pieces
were sculpted in clay over a flared-out positive and molded
as a two-part mold. Slip-on feet with nylons as reinforce-
ment, were worn like socks to give her "cankles" and swollen
feet. The hands were done as a flat sculpt. The death look
started with jaundice-colored contact lenses (painted by Kevin
Carter) and a jaundice complexion color, using "MAC" yellow
airbrush medium. Highlight and shadow techniques using
out-of-kit products created deep set eyes, hollow-looking
cheeks and pock marks. Bluebird Old Age make-up mixed
with Pros-Aide, created the chapped lip effect. The look was
completed with the jaundice-colored contact lenses.
My favorite scene in the movie was the club scene where
Andra sings, "Gimme a Pigfoot and a Bottle of Beer." She got
so carried away, she hopped onto the shoulders of one of the
male audience members and the crowd went wild and lifted
her off his shoulders and into the air to put her back on stage.
This was all improv and Lee liked it so much he kept it in the
movie.
The film has several male principals and careful attention to
period-specific mustache shapes was given to the '40s and '50s
