InkBlog

Read our exclusive Q & A with Whitney James, Make-Up Department Head for Rock Of Ages...

1. How does a make-up artist prepare to work on a film? Do you receive guidance from the director or collaborate with the costume designer/art director/key hair stylist on the make-up look? Usually I start my own research immediately and soon after, connect with the hair stylist. We research and design and have ideas, often times before the casting is complete. We will meet with the director, often times more than once. At the same time, the costume designer is doing his or her research and meeting with the director and preparing fittings. Each actor, too, is preparing for the role and has ideas to help support him or her in that role, with regards to the look of the character.

At the same time, I am discussing with the production designer, costume designer and, most importantly, the director of photography. From the designers, I will learn of any colour limitations, etc. If the walls in a room are to be teal blue, then I wouldn't want teal shadow. If the lead actress is wearing a particular red, say a blue-red, then I wouldn't want to offset it or take away from it by using an orange-red or a pink. All the while, taking all of this into consideration, the make-up must be right for each face and appropriate for each scene. A sad and crying girl shouldn't have bright perky make-up. A business man shouldn't have a two day beard growth, unless it's Sunday!

Once we all have our ideas, we sit down and meet and discuss. About two weeks before principal photography begins, we do a camera test, where we all discuss what is working and what is not.

2. How does a make-up design contribute to building a movie character? In very much the same way that an actor builds a character, I too have to have an idea of the character, to create a look. Where is the character from? What is the history of the person? What is the current situation? What are we trying to tell our audience about this character? There is so much that goes behind the design of each character and to an actor, they expect (and deserve) our full attention to detail. They entrust us with one of their valuable assets, their face!

3. How can the everyday woman get a rock'n'roll and cool evening look? I think depending on age, clothing and hairstyle, it is absolutely possible to look rock and roll and very cool. The trick is to not overdo it, don't become a clown! The rule is big eyes and natural lips or natural eyes and pop some colour on the lips, but not both. Just remember to let your real self show through; you always want to be comfortable and then you will have fun.

4. Do you have any tips to achieve a perfect smoky eye and red lip? I think the perfect smoky eye is to put a light concealer or base on the lid and brow bone, then go over the lid with a light powder, maybe M.A.C Gesso or Vapour. Next, take smudge eye line and draw an extreme cat eye at the lash line, top and bottom, circling around the entire eye. Then, take M.A.C Espresso eye shadow and with an angle brush, go over the liner line. The powder is 1 shade lighter, so it not only sets the line, but also softens the black. Finally, use a small rounded brush with no make-up on it and smudge and soften all together. Lastly, curl the heck out of the lashes and double-coat mascara.

For red lips, put a base coat of foundation on the lips. Line them and use brush for the colour, not directly out of the tube. This will give you more control. After one coat of lipstick, powder the lips and apply one additional coat. Don't forget to check your teeth!

5. Did you use any products in a non-traditional way? Yes. I oftentimes use make-up in an area on which it wasn't marketed to be used. I used to have a favourite make-up that was intended to be stippled on to create broken capillaries, but I loved it for blush! Julianne's brow filler was eye shadow; I used blush in the crease of her eyelid for one look to warm the eye up, just as women did in the '80s. I remember being in Nordstrom's in the 1980s, at the make-up counter, and watching girls take their blush brush and go across their forehead, cheeks, chin, chest and then eyes! I followed that look for Julianne Hough.

6. Rock of Ages is set in Hollywood in 1987; how true to the time were you? Did you really follow trends of that year or did you also tweak it, incorporating today's trends? I followed the period, but a larger time span. When we say the '60s, we all have a visual, but the truth is that is a decade. I was loose with the period of the '80s, in the sense that I pulled from the entire decade. 1980 was very different from 1989, when you think of music bands, let alone the general public. Musicians and actors usually set a trend, so I looked at bands and actors from Def Leppard to Boy George. From Donna Mills to Madonna.

7. What was your make-up inspiration for the movie? What looks did you come up with to achieve it? I was inspired by the vastness of the period. There were so many crazy looks in the '80s, more so than any other time frame I can remember. It was great that we had such a large number of background artists, so we really got to have fun with them. At one point, Camille (Friend, the Chief Hairstylist) had 550 wigs working. We had to send every person through make-up and hair, so wigs had to be pre-prepped and modern day tats covered, modern day facial hair removed (Goatees, soul patches and 3-day stubble weren't period!) and then we could add the correct '80s tats and make-up, sideburns, moustache, etc. We clean-shaved most guys, but the older group of rockers, the '70s lag over guys, had moustaches, etc. Camille and I worked closely together, along with Desne Holland and Sean Flanigan, our key make-up and hair respectively. We had to pre-fit and pair each background artist with a wig and design the make-up to match (along with costumes). We couldn't have a guy in a boy band wig with guyliner! The background artists are what really sell the period. We had to be cautious with our principal actors in their respective looks, making them true to the period but without any leeway for allowing them to become a spectacle. I believe we succeeded.

8. The movie looks like a sure hit. Do you see any of your make-up looks turning into trends in the near future? Yikes! As much fun as I had on Rock of Ages, to see the '80s come back around again scares me! Big hair, blackened/smudgy eyes and tons of blush? I hope not! There are the great pink frost lip colours though!

9. What was your favourite make-up look in the movie? Can you tell us how to achieve this look to make it wearable? Julianne Hough had beautiful looks, more everyday with a flair from the period. I didn't want to go to extreme with the period, for fear it would come off as too garish. Julianne had clean looks, with some blue and green shadows, fun lip tones, and full brows. I utilized the fun '80s stuff, but without covering her innocence and natural beauty.

Malin Ackerman had 2 distinct looks. She is a journalist when we meet her, all business. I tried to remember what the women that worked at fashion stores looked like, trying to play with their make-up and hair, but having to live within the constraints of being a professional. Once Malin's character meets Stacee Jaxx, she is transformed and realizes her sexual self. Here she becomes '80s rocker chick, again without going over the top so we keep the beauty of Malin.

10. What are your top five make-up picks for getting the Rock of Ages look? I studied '70s and '80s rock band books, fashion books and films. I used the '70s looks for rockers (male and female) that were over a certain age, as most people hang on to their look from their "heyday." The younger cast and extras I used the more modern '80s make-up, facial hairs and tattoos. When I met with Adam Shankman, the director, in the beginning, we spoke of layered looks, not just the north side of Sunset Blvd. Adam explained that he grew up on Sunset as his father was an attorney who worked across from the Whiskey A Go Go and that he remembered the business men being mixed in with the rocker crowd.

11. What is the one M.A.C product that you cannot go on set without? Why? That's a toss-up between Cubic powder blush and Lip Glass. The Cubic works on almost every skin tone. It's my go-to blush, always. Lip Glass really pops the lip. I like C-thru. I use it over lip colour for that added sheen that really sells a smile.

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