Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1514620
THE ARTISAN WINTER 2024 • 27 time and spare the actors' schedule who were both training in Atlanta already. After some serious conversations with our director Michael B. Jordan, we knew the beats he wanted in each fight. The important story notes of the violence with how and when they should play out. We were to shoot all the boxing pieces first in the film which would be approximately four weeks on a sound stage in Atlanta. Nothing like that kind of pressure to get you motivated and moving. Luckily, our director was available nonstop for us, no matter how busy, he would always find the time to hop on a quick Zoom to discuss. Our first step is always the design process to help the production team visualize the extent of the violence that was to play out on the characters through the fight. I hoped on the phone with Stevie Martin, the show's Department Head Make-up, and a vital part in helping not only develop the direction of the fight looks but what the actors' post damage would. Once I had these designs finalized, our director would give notes as he was working coordinating out the fights homing in on surgical details. We began sculpting the various looks knowing we had three major fights to cover: Creed vs. Conlon, Anderson vs. Chavez, and Creed vs. Anderson for the big showstopper! Michael B. directed us in each of these, letting me know the Conlon fight was the warmup and would be minimal with slight abrasions and swelling. Anderson vs. Felix Chavez, played by real time boxer José Benavidez Jr., would be a real violent display as we show what Damian Anderson is capable of: setting up the final fight and uping the stakes. In the Chavez fight, there were to be three key pieces to the story bit. The first was Damian keeps working Felix's bicep until the muscle gives out and snaps. The second was to work the general body and face, swelling the eyes and the last was to break the cheekbone, splitting the skin open wide for a cascade of blood. At the shop, we sculpted all of these looks and took them to Atlanta to screen test. Every make-up artist knows that the team is everything and if you're going to be in the trenches on a boxing continuity challenge, you want the best. Luckily, Glen Griffin was available to come get in the fight with me in Atlanta, as well as Conor McCullagh, who I've worked with several times before. These two artists were vital in establishing and keeping these looks throughout all the fights as I was going to be working on our star Michael B. with Stevie Martin. We tested Felix Chavez's fight looks first in the screen test. The first bicep test felt a little bulky and while it looked real, it didn't feel like it punched enough drama. We knew the piece would need a re-sculpt. For the facial appliances, we tested all the looks. When you're doing several rounds in a boxing fight, you start with the end effect of swelling and work backward. You have the initial point of impact, slight swelling, smaller cuts that turn into bigger cuts, than final swelling. All this needs to be visualized through the rounds in phases. During the filming of this fight, Glen took over Felix once we tested and established. Glen has an extraordinary touch when it comes to color and was able to juxtapose the subtle and extreme layers of bruising and swelling that feels subcutaneous and not topical. Michael B. Jordan as Adonis Creed in stages of fight make-up Paul Giamatti and Dominic Sessa Jordan test