BAFTA Masterclass: Film Make-Up with Lois Burwell

To introduce this post I want to say something about the amazing woman I had the fortune to meet. First of all, she revealed to be an incredible source of inspiration. Not only for people working  in make-up design, but for everyone who loves, or by using her words, adores films. She made it very clear: everything starts and can happen when you really love something. Sitting in the last row in the cinema, I had two free seats on my left, when, suddenly, I saw the BFI interviewer and Mrs Burwell entering and sitting just there next to me. Before the talk, we watched a 10-minute video showing some of the most remarkable films Lois worked on. I was very excited, and my first thought went to my future. Do I really love what I'm doing? Yes, I absolutely do. And as Lois said: "If you really want to do something, in the end you do it."

Let's now have a look at most of the films she worked on starting her career in 1982.
(Lois Burwell was born in London and began her career as a make-up artist by first working on film school films and low budget projects. The first break into feature films came on Bill Forsyth's Gregory's Girl followed by Peter Greenways The Draughtsman's Contract.)

 

After the showreel, the first question Lois was asked was how she came to the decision of becoming a make-up artist. As I have previously stated her reply was very simple, and clear: because of her love for films. She remembers something that happened when she was 14: she was coming back from school with her friends, when they saw the shooting of a BBC play, and accidentally, they were shown the make-up room. She thought: "I'm going to do this."

She never studied for her job: she started her career through film school students. After she had to take exams to become first an assistant, and, then, the supervisor/chief. When she went to the US, she had to take other exams, but her ability was never based on academic studies. She has always been an observer and a film-honnivor, and thanks to these qualities she was able to acquire her personal taste, and an extraordinary ability in coping with every situation. One thing is very important to do her job, when they research on the character and on how they make-up should be done, they have to look at the surface first, in the same way as children look at the world. Seconly, they have to make a character look real inside the film, believable, they have to support the film's narrative and make people believe in the film's world.

Of course when they did not have special effects it was more difficult to achieve this purpose: they had to find a place in which the person and the character meet, and work on that.
For her work on Lincoln ( Steven Spielberg, 2013), for example, there were years of work behind the idea, an idea which changed over the time, and a film on which she was added later, so she had to adapt to that new idea.
I had never imagined that make-up designers had such a big involvement within the film production, but I realised it when Lois explained her working method.
First of all, they read the script, and picture the scenes in their minds to engage with the story, secondly they write the make-up script, thirdly they look for images based upon that script, and work on them.
Lois made a very nice comparison between her job, and making films in general, and weddings. You can organize everything, even the smallest detail, but you will always bear in mind that not everything can go as planned, and be ready for the unexpected.
Another expression I loved was that their aim is to "make people extra-ordinarily ordinary." Which always concerns the ability of making a character believable.

Since I studied Stardom this year in my course, it was very helpful to hear what someone, who actually worked and works with stars, had to say about it. She stated that there is a big difference between ACTORS, and CELEBRITIES. Real actors are those who are prepared to change in the film-process, for the film's good. Therefore, it is very difficult to work on big-budget films, because they have to deal with the studio and the star persona. To explain this she told an anecdote about the production of Braveheart. There was a big concern with Mel Gibson's blue face. They received a reply by the producers saying: "Think you should lose the blue." Gibson, however, as main actor, director, and part of the production, liked it so they could keep it.

Since she had to focus on a single person many times, with Gibson and Tom Cruise, for example, she says that you always have to be careful to not find yourself working for the actor, but always for the film.
We were, then, shown a clip from Magnolia. The interview of Tom Cruise undermining his star persona. Lois explained how they created that look: she discussed it with Cruise. It had to be a complete body make-up, which had to change between the two parts of the interview in relation to the change in the character. It is a parody of the star persona, there had to be a strong contrast between the body (in the first part), and the face (in the second).

She always talks to the actors through the mirror, it's a spacial relationship which allows you to see something lying behind the surface.
One of the last point she touched was the change from 35 mm to the digital and the 3D. How does her role change in relationship to the technological developments in visual quality? Her answer was that there are many new choices unravelling for filmmakers, but just because some tools are new it does not mean they are the only right ones to use. The ability of the filmmaker lies also in choosing the best tool  for each  particular task.
About her work with Steven Spielberg she said he is a very demanding director, and that when you work with someone for such a long time it is because you have a natural connection with that person, and it developed through the work you did together. She also said that Spielberg is one of those directors who really shows his love for films during the shooting. When a shot comes out right he stands up and says: "Yes! That's it!", with the enthusiasm that only who really loves something has.

"Working in films is a privilege, but some people forget that." Lois Burwell.

Thank you for inspiring everyone in the audience, the young ones especially, in pursuing their dreams, always.

Prizes and Nominations:

1996: Oscar winner for Braveheart, and also nominated for a BAFTA Award.

1999: Nomination for both Oscar and BAFTA for Saving Private Ryan.

2013: BAFTA Film Award Nomination for Lincoln.