Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/783486
Design: The design phase was a collaboration between director Rodrigo Garcia, and Department Heads for Make- up and Hair, respectively, (Christina Smith and Barbara Lorenz). As there are no actual photographs of these characters, we decided to look in a different direction. We thought about how these characters would look based on what they would have available to them at the time. We started by doing research on dental health. We thought that dental health in that time will have greatly affected these characters' entire look—including their hair, nails, skin, eyes, etc. Teeth needed to look worn and darker too, so we cre- ated veneers to achieve the look of weathered teeth and deterioration. Skin, hair and nails also needed to appear weathered and dirty. We then needed to research different make-up and hair materials that would not only stand up to the harsh desert environment we were working under, but would refl ect the transition the characters' look through the time. Overall Challenges—Hair: The fi rst obstacle to tackle was ALL of the actors, including background, who had short hair. Obviously, Rodrigo Garcia wanted to make sure the actors looked authentic to what we know of bib- lical times. The only way to achieve this was to add hair extensions to everybody. These extensions were colored, cut rough, jagged and made dirty by a combination of products with actual earth direct from the land around us to re-create the rancid hair of the time. On heavy days, there were up to 100 extras (background actors). None Ewan McGregor