Local 706 - The Artisan

Fall 2016

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24 B Y D O N A L D M O W A T D E P A R T M E N T H E A D M A K E - U P NOCTURNAL ANIMALS Going to meet Tom was a little bit like going to see The Wizard of Oz. I arrived at his fashion empire headquarters in Central London straight from the set. Looking at all the staff that he could have, or will one day be runway or editorial models. An immense office space, with very tall narrow doors with "T" and "F" in gold block lettering on every door handle. I felt like a middle-aged male version of Betty, the lead character in the Ugly Betty TV series, who wanted to work for a high-end fashion magazine. Meeting with Tom was extraordinary; he is truly an inspired filmmaker and gentleman. He showed me a visual presentation of the entire film, every character in 15 or maybe 20 minutes. I was hooked, his eloquence and vision to a different style of film than I had ever worked on was a breath of fresh air. We discussed the challenges of creating many characters from the flashback in small-town Texas, a bearded lead actor and time cut where he is possibly another guy; and then, clean-shaved. In between, there are numerous out-of- kit casualty make-ups, age with paint and a finale with a silicone full eye cover appliance from a major blunt-force trauma. We had to rough up Aaron Taylor-Johnson with I n late spring of 2015, Jake Gyllenhaal, with whom I have had the great pleasure of working with on Prisoners and Nightcrawler, mentioned in passing, a potential role he may take in Tom Ford's highly anticipated second feature and if I had any interest in it. Jake is really one of the rare gems in our business, a truly collaborative actor and respectful of what we do and above all, loyal. Months passed and I was on a project in London when I got an email from the produc- ers to see if I was interested and available to meet Tom Ford in London to department head Nocturnal Animals. As this was all going on, I had another call about work- ing with the funny and talented Emily Blunt on another film. Sadly, the dates conflicted, and this is what I call 'A High-Class Problem.' Believe me, a day never goes by that I do not appreciate that. I really felt unsure which way to go (a bird in the hand, usually most secure route for a freelancer). However, a part of me was unsure, even worried just a little about Nocturnal Animals. Tom's first film was beautifully done in every way. Nocturnal Animals had similar elements in style and fash- ion, however, this was a bigger film in scope—action, stunts, violence, present and past, real or unreal, a gulf of contrasts, images below levels of consciousness and that ongoing reminder that we often hear and sometimes need to admit—fashion make-up in the true sense is not corrective film make-up—beauty, straight or character make-up. I know this to be the case from my work in editorial print and red carpet. The first challenge would be getting Mr. Ford to approve. He, in fact, looks at every detail of the com- plete look on each character whether lead, support, day player or extra—the clothes, shoes, props, eyeglasses, hair, make-up, nail lengths, shapes and colors. Our com- bined team of Local 706 make-up artists and hair stylists stepped up and delivered! Photos by Merrick Morton/Focus Features

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