BONE DEEP:
T he on-set alarm clock would usually ring between 2 am and 4 am, and that’s when Vinnie Ashton and Jane O’Kane’s day would start. Their sizable crew of hair and makeup designers—pulled in from such points as Kazakhstan, Ireland, and Germany—assembled on set and began their “builds”—with main characters having to sit in the chair for the better part of three hours. The pair explain that organization is as important as creativity when there is a vast sea of extras. “We can’t possibly wig everybody,” says O’Kane. “When you’re on a TV schedule, it just comes down to what you’ve got time for.”
Elsewhere, hair and makeup ideas derived directly from asking questions about social settings and levels of comfort and deprivation. Ashton says, “We had a lot of psoriasis-y, pustule stuff on the Southlanders because they’ve got no vitamins. They’ve got skin disorders, scabs, and that sort of thing.” The days spent working on the Dwarves in the Khazad-dûm setting proved to be the most challenging for Ashton and O’Kane. “The beards were much the same,” says O’Kane. “We tried to cast people with some beards of their own, so that all we had to do was attach an under-beard which could touch the floor. We had all sorts of design challenges in the beginning, but we managed with our amazing team.” When it came to actor Owain Arthur, who plays Prince Durin IV in the series, the transformation he underwent to become his character was extraordinary. “The first time he got his nose put on in prosthetics, I hadn’t seen the process,” says O’Kane, “and I was outside and he literally just jumped out at me, and I honestly didn’t recognize him.”
HAIR AND
MAKEUP Vinnie Ashton and Jane O’Kane explain how their department developed and applied rules to make every actor look perfect for the camera
The results on screen would suggest the opposite.
The pair’s work began by delineating the unique aspects and aesthetics of the different realms, creating a style sheet that could be applied across all characters. “We gave the Elves a higher hairline,” says O’Kane. “We made them have no body hair and we made them flawless. Obviously they’re very healthy. We tried to give everybody their own identity, aesthetically and genetically.”
Above Left: Owain Arthur, completely unrecognizable when made up for his role as Prince Durin IV. Above Right: Living and social conditions, including vitamin deficiency, informed the makeup approach for Waldreg (Geoff Morrell) and other Southlanders.
Mohair wigs were crafted to provide the nature-inspired look that informed the realization of the Harfoot characters, including Sadoc (Sir Lenny Henry) and Nori (Markella Kavenagh).
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