By Antony Teofilo
In a well-made movie, it's the little things that count. From locations (would not BIG have been diminished without a certain FAO Schwartz floor piano?) to costumes (is Batman REALLY Batman without the nips on his breastplate? Okay...bad example) to, hair, and makeup (one word: AMADEUS)..
The folks who coif the cool and exfoliate the exalted are as much responsible for how a character is perceived onscreen as the individual who acts as their canvas. Don't think their job is important? Take a look at Ted Danson on a down day.
Who are the unsung aesthetic alchemists who can just as easily turn Jack
Nicholson into the dashing dandy of AS GOOD AS IT GETS as his gristled,
combed-over doppleganger in ABOUT SCHMIDT? They are the hair and makeup crew.
This writer would wager that even if you'd found yourself in the throws of an
overnight bender of Colin Farrell-ian proportions a few scant hours before your
early morning set call, by the time you leave their chairs, you will have
undoubtedly found yourself...
Prettified
An Interview with Jeannee Josesczyk (Key Makeup Design) and Roy Brison (Key Hair Design)
By Antony Teofilo
Antony Teofilo: How are you both enjoying your work on JERSEY GIRL, so far?
Jeannee Josesczyk: Working with Kevin is a wonderful experience. He seems to be able to touch each one of the crew members, and he knows how to keep them happy. He's very kind, and very considerate.
AT: Jeannee, what are your major responsibilities to a production as Key Makeup Artist?
JJ: I'm responsible for the look of the talent, and keeping them happy, and making sure Kevin's happy with the work.
AT: How early do your preparations begin in the life of a film?
JJ: It depends on when they hire me. The earlier the better. That way, I can read the script, know my characters, and know that the characters are fully developed so I'm on the same page with Kevin.
AT: Are there any special challenges for you as you work on JERSEY GIRL?
JJ: It's pretty laid back, really. Keeping Gertie [Racquel Castro] looking fresh and really cute [takes some time]. She's such a love, by the way. Every time I do her makeup, the last thing I have to do is kiss her on her head for good luck. That's our little ritual.
AT: How did you get your start in a career in makeup?
JJ: Seventeen years ago, I was a professional model. I decided to give that up, and I had all of my training in makeup and modeling and hairstyling, and commercials started coming after me. It came to me, I didn't go after it. I was very lucky.
AT: Do you have any advice for someone who wants to start a career in makeup?
JJ: Follow your dreams. Keep fighting. Keep reading. Keep watching. Go to classes, and listen and learn. Even though I've been in this business for seventeen years, every day I learn from someone. It's important to have a mentor. Mine was Dick Smith.
AT: Roy, what's involved with being in the Key Hair position?
Roy Brison: I'm responsible for the look of all the hair in the movie. I design all the hair, basically.
AT: Is that a pre-production process, or does it happen spontaneously on the set?
RB: We do pre-production if we can. Like Jeannee said, it depends. It depends on how early you get hired, and you have to be able to read the script, to learn the characters, to know if it's a period film or contemporary, if you have to have wigs made. In that case you have to have several fittings, and style them, too. A lot goes into the decisions we make: [Is the character] a high fashion person? Are they blue-collar worker? Are they middle class? That helps design the look. I research a lot.
AT: When you've got a major star, do they bring their own people?
RB: Sometimes. On this movie, Jennifer [Lopez] has her own people, and they're responsible for her.
AT: Have you always worked on movies, or did you have to work your way into this business?
RB: I went to hairdressing school, and then I was a hairdresser in a salon, and then I became a group director for a large beauty company. From that, I started doing print work, doing hair for magazines, and runway shows. That lead into film.
AT: How long did that process take?
RB: It took quite awhile. There were people who were interested in me in the film industry ten years before I ever said I would do it. Then I decided I'd go with it.
AT: What finally convinced you to make the jump?
RB: I was happy doing what I was doing, and then Lynn Redgrave asked me to do a film with her, and I kind of got dragged into it, and I fell in love with it. I like it.
AT: You're both freelancers, and in your respective Unions, yes?
JJ: Yes.
AT: What's the most difficult part of your career, when you're getting started?
JJ: There are periods of time, when you're not working, and it's not easy to live on what you make, especially when you're starting out. A lot of people think they're going to make top dollar right off the bat. You have to pay your dues. You really have to start at the bottom, and love it, and stick with it. What you need is experience, but how do you get it? It's a catch-22. It's very hard. You have to start with independent films and commercials, learn continuity, learn set etiquette.
AT: Set etiquette is really important when on a set, with my job as well. Can you tell the readers why it's important not only to know who is who, but how to act?
JJ: You have to learn the pecking order, really. You have to know who to ask, and what to ask, and how not to ask stupid questions. That's hard to do when you're learning. So you stand by, and you watch.
AT: What sort of training should someone get, if they want to be in a career like yours someday?
RB: Training is really important. A lot of people that go to regular beauty schools, they don't pay attention to elements within that structure that they think aren't important because they're thinking of cutting and blowing. The don't think of finger waves or pin-curls. Those are the foundations for period hair. They really need to learn how to execute that, how to realize shape changes within the period. Shape and texture are what really make it different.
JJ: Another thing that people who are getting started to don't realize, too, is that when you're going to school, everything has to perfect. In film, if you're in an action film, you've got to take continuity notes so that you can make everything match. Things change. You've always got to keep in mind where the character is in a film. That's very hard for a new person because they want to make everything perfect right away. In some films, you have to take beautiful people and turn them into drug addicts, you have to really wreck them. It's hard for an actor, so you have to be very supportive of them when they finally see themselves in the mirror.
