Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1514620
THE ARTISAN SPRING 2024 • 33 the wig but once we saw her on camera, we realize she became too innocent, or perhaps too manicured. We brought the wig back to the workshop and pulled out the curl and softened the style and I really like the character she became. One of my favorite character processes was creating the look for Sofina, a Red Wizard. I should first note that the Red Wizards and their captured Thayan warriors required very specific head markings to represent their elusive and dark history. It was important we come up with a style that is unique for each one. I wanted this to feel like magic on the side of the head. Many ideas were explored until we had discovered the art of the symbols. Cristina Waltz then altered and created 15 different Red Wizard head markings and eight Thayan warrior head markings for various roles. Sofina was played by actress Daisy Head. Daisy had very long hair to hide under a bald cap and we did not want her to have an oversized head full of prosthetics, so Cristina dry wrapped her hair under a simple vinyl bald cap. The bald cap was airbrushed and painted with alcohol paints achieving a seamless blend with the creamy pale face make-up. Her markings were then transferred onto the cap and sealed. Sofina's beauty make-up consisted of a pale foundation with a lavender and taupe contour, a very smokey eye using an ashy brown and charcoal, with and a nude lip. For the Thayans, we first needed to imagine the forehead marking for Xenk Yendar, performed by Rege-Jean Page. This character had escaped the fate of being turned into a Thayan slave warrior but did end up with the start of a marking appearing on the center of his forehead at the hairline. We tested all sizes and styles, as we did not want to make something too distracting for the character, but also needed to have a symbol that would work for our other Thayan warriors. Once we had refined Rege's marking, we continued with Dralas (Jason Wong) and his Thayan crew. Chris Pine came to us with an undercut, so a half wig needed to be made. We cut the wig on Chris to blend into the top of his hair. As the film went on and Chris's hair grew, we slowly blended his own hair over the wig starting at the sides, and cutting the wig back until we could use his own hair. Facial hair was trimmed down using scissors over comb to a bespoke length. On his face, a bronzer and some light dirt and sweat completed his look. Away from our principal talent, we still had to create the world. Creative period styling was used in developing the looks of the crowd such as barbarians, elves, & Tieflings. We found a unique look through the use of hundreds of custom tattoos, multiple tribal branding options, endless battle scars, prosthetic ears and horns. In the end, more than 300 wigs and hairpieces were created for the vast crowd! In the end, everything came together and magic was made. It was a delight to see the final product and rewarding to see all the effort we did to bring the world alive. • Sophia Lillis as Doric Chloe Coleman as Kira