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THE ARTISAN SUMMER 2024 • 61 MAKE-UP Continued from page 59 pastry, thereby, winning the mad race. When designing characters, I always like to pre- visualize the look, I utilize Procreate on my iPad and sketch out the look or I may use Photoshop which gives me a photo-accurate make-up test on a character without the actor having to sit in the chair. Once I have a look and a plan, then I'm able to discuss that look with the director and producers. Once approved, I work with hair and costumes solidifying our characters. It's so important to have a seasoned team that has your back, and it's beneficial if they are organized, strong artists. I was lucky my longtime friend and incredible make-up artist, Dennis Liddiard, was available and eager to team up again. He and I have done many films together and were honored to be nominated for an Oscar for our work on Foxcatcher. He and talented make- up artist Denise Paulson, make-up PA Maki Dawson and I worked with Department Head Hair Teressa Hill, Assistant Department Head Waldo Sanchez and costume designer Susan Matheson and their respective departments, exploring the many ways to roll our cast into their characters and recreating a host of pop icons. It was such an exhilarating, artistic collaboration working with them, and our cast the "who's who" of comedy. Some of whom had personals; Angela Levin for Melissa McCarthy, Kyra Panchenko for Amy Schumer. As well as Debbie Zoller who supervised our many amazing make-up artists in the crowd room. We were lucky to have them all. Over the years, I have accumulated many reference books and catalogs. For this particular project, my collection of old Sears catalogs came in handy helping us achieve the look of 1963 middle America. And for the well-known characters, we pulled period-accurate photos. While some of our cast already had an idea of what they wanted their characters to look like, others gave us a little more creative license, which we ran with. Some of the designs necessitated prosthetics to achieve the distinguishing characteristics. I found for the most part, it was just finding that little something to tweak that did the trick—sometimes less is more. With each project I do, I find it imperative to get a proper make-up test prior to shooting. On Unosted, we did get the opportunity to test some of our looks which was extremely helpful. e one that stands out was designing the make-up to recreate the 1963 version of Walter Cronkite on the master impersonator Kyle Dunnigan. Kyle also portrays Johnny Carson in the film and I knew we needed to cast and sculpt prosthetics for the cheeks, nose, and adjust his hairline and make a set of fuller eyebrows. So I reached out to a good friend of 30 years, Andrew (Andy) Clement, proprietor of Creative Character Engineering who worked Fallon and Meghan Trainor join in a duet singing "Sweet Morning Heat," the musical composition, as our cast wrap things up with a dance and singalong in a 1970's variety show-style sequence, with a group of Mod backup dancers. We hope you enjoy this film as much as we enjoyed making it. And, as Walter Cronkite would say, "And that's the way it is, May 3, 2024." • Bill Corso and Jerry Seinfeld with us throughout the film. Andy did the cast of Kyle Dunnigan, then passed it off to me. Once I had blocked out the idea of the make-up clay, I then returned it to Andy to refine details and generate the silicone appliance. We did have contacts made for a lighter eye color, but Jerry and I decided to opt out aer seeing the lighter eyes on film. e great thing about working with Jerry was how much he appreciated the support and the contribution from the entire crew and those working closest to him as he played to everyone's strengths. To help with the creative flow every morning, we would play music from the early '60s, specifically Sinatra. One of the things Jerry mentioned to me—when he walked into his make-up and hair trailer in the morning—he felt so at home. When he's out on the road doing stand-up, he always plays Sinatra before he comes out. "It seems to put everybody in just the right mood setting the tone for a great show." We also decked out the trailer with memorabilia from 1963, leaning into everything Jerry enjoys, posters of Superman, cars, some of his favorite movies from the early '60s (It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, e Nutty Professor) and of course, Pop- Tarts. At the end of our long days, Jerry appreciated one of the most basic procedures he thought was so decadent: a hot towel. He said he felt like he missed out. It was something he never did on Seinfeld. Working with such a thoughtful, enthusiastic director made the experience such a memorable one. •