In today’s blog post we have a very special guest, our absolutely incredible Makeup Designer, Marie Kealy. Enjoy!

“So Marie. We have this series we want to make and its kinda like everything you did on The Hobbit but crazier, oh & our total budget is probably what they had just for coffee, you interested?”

Silence.

You are absolutely right, that proposition does not sound very tempting, AT ALL.

But with that in mind I began reading and I found myself hooked after page one…The Wizards of Aus was one of those rare productions where you get the trifecta. An original story, awesome characters and a fabulous “can do” crew.

Michael Shanks and Nick Issell had created a script that was chock full of makeup fx and together with the talented Alexandra Hiller and our awesome makeup/hair assistant Julz Mayberry, we happily jumped into the deep end with them.

The shoot was made ever so slightly more complicated as Michael was doing double duty in that he was directing and also playing the lead character in the show. To make sure his make up was quick and easy throughout the shoot we applied hair extensions in preproduction so we could get him in and out of the makeup chair as quickly as possible.

This then meant to bring Jack to life, we only had to detangle the matted mess of hair and beef up his prepubescent beard with extra hair fibres….8 minutes in and out.

As you can see he thoroughly enjoyed every second.

Next in the makeup chair was our dastardly villain Skulldrich played by the hilarious Mark Bonanno. This was a joint effort by the three of us as we weaved in and around each other to shave his hair, apply a man bun hair extension and then cover him in tattoos, dirt, grime and the occasional random chunk of inexplicable goo for no other reason than fun.

Then on to our fabulous leading lady Menik Gooneratne as Kylie, no challenge here, she came in looking gorgeous, went to set looking gorgeous and went home after a long day…. still looking gorgeous.

Our real challenge, however, lay in the extended cast of riff raff; 5 gruesome goblins, 2 more wizards, an orc, an elf, a necromancer, a mummy, a witch and a fortune teller to name a few. For these big days foam, gelatine and silicone prosthetic pieces were all pre painted to 95% and along with false teeth, lenses, lashes, beards, moustaches and wigs, all prepped and ready for the many extra hands to assist on the day. We were blessed with a great team of additionals on those days where Emily Terry, Morgan Metius, Ricci, Ed Yates and Corrie Luck all came out to play with with us.

Our work load was not all crazy fantasy chaos as we also had a bevy of glamorous beauties to make up and some very funny comedians I am pretty sure were cast just to keep us laughing all day.

So thank goodness I was interested and that I don’t require any coffee… and thanks to my wonderful makeup department, for seeing the big picture, applying the small details & for carelessly jumping in with me & not drowning. Much appreciated.

It’s not work when you’re having this much fun…