Christians in Cinema

Guest post by Sarah Pardoe

Photos courtesy Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

In both Narnia movies, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and Prince Caspian, creatures from Narnia have filled the screen with unique and mystical appearances.  Thanks to both the makeup and prosthetics team and the costume team, Narnia is truly brought to life.

I had the amazing opportunity to become a Narnian creature myself.  I saw up-close what it was like for each of the actors and makeup artists every single day of filming.  The process took 1½ hours for me, which was half the time it actually took on set.

My makeup artist was Kevin Wasner.  He told me that during most of the filming, he had 20-hour days with only 4 hours of sleep.  His day started at 4 or 5 am and went until 12 or 1 the next morning.  The morning hours were spent transforming the actors into creatures; the afternoon and evening hours were spent making sure they stayed that way, then turning them back into humans

Becoming a Hag

I was assigned to be a “hag.”  They showed me a picture of what I would soon look like.  Wow!  It was mind-boggling!

Kevin started off by putting a hair-net on to keep my hair back and off my face (I know what you’re thinking: please tell me it gets more exciting than that. It does!). Then, the real magic began to happen.

I put on this huge headpiece that covered my entire head and neck.  The only visible area left was my face.  Most of the prosthetic pieces are made of foam, are rarely reusable, and are manufactured by the special effects makeup team for each character.  They may look like real skin, but they’re actually sticky foam.  He glued this piece around the outside of my face to keep it in place.

Then, piece by piece, Kevin covered my face with prosthetic masks.  It was like pieces to a puzzle.  First was the bridge of my nose and my cheeks, then my chin, and my forehead.  He used a watered-down version of the glue they would use on set to paste the prosthetics to the actor’s face.

After that, came the “fun part” for Kevin – the makeup.  He started blending the prosthetics with my face (or what was left of it) and skin color.  He also covered my eyes with copper eye shadow, and started to make my new face look real.

Then he got out an airbrush.  As if he was an artist and I was his masterpiece, he set to work airbrushing my “forehead” with red, green, and blue hues that brought out the color in my eyes. Actually, it brought out the colors in my feathers (which were my “hair”).  The airbrushing also gave a more 3D quality to the creature I was becoming.

After that, he plucked more feathers from his stash and stuck them to the top of my “head” to blend two of the prosthetic pieces together.  Then, the final touch: my beak.  The beak was the only piece that was not made of foam or pliable.  It was hard and felt like heavy plastic. I was complete.

Being underneath all the prosthetics and makeup was a new experience for me. It amazed me that actors would do this each and every morning before they went to work.  Kevin said he would transform multiple actors in one morning; whoever jumped into the makeup chair would be done.

I also couldn’t imagine working in this condition, either. Some of my senses (such as hearing and expressing emotion) were inhibited by the pieces.  Since the largest piece covered my ears, I could hear myself talking much louder than anyone talking to me.  Once the glue dried, you could tell I was smiling – but only barely, from the shift of the prosthetics around my face.

The experience gave me so much respect for the makeup artists and actors who do this for a living.  It absolutely amazed me.  And, that wasn’t even taking into consideration the removal process.

After posing for pictures and admiring my new ‘do, I went in to take it off.  Three men worked with paint brushes and a very oily solution to counteract the glue.  It felt like a very slimy exfoliating treatment.

Costumes
Once I was back to my normal self, we met and talked with Isis Mussenden, the costume designer.  She explained how the concepts for each character evolved into the costumes themselves.  She showed us books filled with sketches and samples.  She explained how fabrics and costumes from all across the world convened in one place, her work room, to create the costumes of Narnia.  Since Narnia is a magical place, Isis said, there were no limits to time-periods or patterns.

We also had the opportunity to see some of the costumes up close and personal.  From Peter and Susan to Prince Caspian and King Miraz, we were able to touch and feel the patterns and fabrics.  We saw the concepts from sample pages come to life as tangible, real-life costumes.  She also mentioned that they would need to have several sets of the same costume for each character, to account for wear and tear and growth.  It certainly made me appreciate the hard work and creativity of the costumers.  They designed and headed up the costuming for each character in the film – including the extras.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience I will never forget!  I’ve given you an inside look of what exactly goes into making Narnia magical.  Next time you watch Prince Caspian, be sure to notice the Narnian creatures and the beautiful costumes.  A lot of time, effort, and hard work went in to making the characters unique and the movie special.

Sarah Pardoe is a teen actress, singer, writer and director who writes book reviews and hosts online episodes for Teenfaze.com, as well as a film reviewer for ChristianCinema.com.

Sarah attended a press junket courtesy of Grace Hill Media.