Osgood Perkins‘ “Longlegs” walks a difficult line between realism and theatricality, balancing a heightened visible model — characterised by excessive wide-angle lensing and off-kilter compositions that hold the viewers on edge — with meticulous recreations of Seventies and Nineties garments, vehicles, and environments. Add to that the wild tonal swings between mortifying horror, sly comedy, and somber poignancy — plus a go-for-broke efficiency by Nicholas Cage within the title position that’s excessive even for the man who introduced us Castor Troy and Sailor Ripley — and also you’ve acquired a filmmaking tightrope act depending on an ideal calibration of each craft.
That was notably true of the hair and make-up departments, which had been tasked with bringing a variety of difficult characters to life, not simply the ugly lead. IndieWire beforehand spoke with Perkins and particular results make-up artist Felix Fox in regards to the conception and execution of Cage’s uniquely horrifying serial killer, whose stylized look is deftly balanced by the extra lifelike strategy to different characters like Alicia Witt’s Ruth and Kiernan Shipka’s Carrie Anne, girls who in numerous methods maintain the keys to the thriller FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) is trying to resolve.
Once we meet Carrie Anne, she is in a psychological establishment the place she has spent most of her life as Longlegs‘ solely survivor. That backstory gave key make-up artist Madelaine Hermans a clue to Carrie Anne’s look. “What would any person seem like in the event that they’d been mainly in solitary in a psych ward for the final 20 years?” Hermans stated at a latest guild Q&A on the Crescent Theater in Beverly Hills. “So we did pale basis and some scars on her face — it wasn’t acknowledged within the film, however the thought was that she had been injuring herself.”
Hermans additionally needed to account for the truth that the actress who performed the younger Carrie Anne — and whose materials had already been shot when Shipka got here on board — had totally different coloured eyes than Shipka. “We had a lens tech on set and acquired [Shipka] some customized contacts,” Herman stated. Shipka, in actual fact, was solely employed a number of days earlier than she needed to shoot, which put further strain on the hair and make-up departments. Key hair stylist Kristin Chaar appeared to a personality from “Stranger Issues” for inspiration.
“I wished a wig that was quick, like Eleven,” Chaar stated on the Q&A. She had restricted time and couldn’t create a customized wig, however her alterations to the one she discovered completely embodied Carrie Anne’s jagged psychological state. “The wig was a bit of bit tiny on her, so I needed to reduce it proper behind her ear after which place it — after which simply reduce it to a degree to make it seem like she’s loopy.” The odd reduce mixed with Hermans’ pale make-up labored to make Carrie Anne look not solely loopy however a bit drained and lifeless — traits that had been guiding rules for an additional key supporting character within the movie.
Harker’s mom, Ruth, who finally ends up having a darkish connection to Longlegs’ spree of terror, required a few totally different appears to be like: one for the Nineties when she is — equally to Carrie Anne — a desiccated shell of her former self and one for the Seventies when she is youthful and extra vibrant. For the flashback scenes, Chaar gave Ruth a brief, feathered look impressed by Jenny Maguire’s Kate on “That ’70s Present,” which was designed to evoke the period instantaneously. “I really feel like hair performed a extremely large half within the Seventies,” Chaar stated. “Even in case you couldn’t inform from the image vehicles or different issues within the scene, you’ll be able to nearly decide up what the interval is simply from trying on the hair.”
For Hermans, the important thing was to make Witt look youthful with out being too exaggerated. “We used a variety of moisturizers and gave Alicia pores and skin masks to maintain her pores and skin over the weekends,” she stated. “We added some lashes and stuffed the brows in additional, and pulled much more pink tones to offer her a youthful look.” When it got here time to age Witt for the present-day scenes, Hermans wished to make her as uninteresting and lifeless as attainable. “So it was a paler basis, not including any blush or colour to it. After which a variety of powder to offer the pores and skin a dry look.” Hermans additionally added some latex wrinkles, and Chaar airbrushed some inexperienced and textured powder spray into the wig to finish the getting older impact.
If Ruth and Carrie Anne’s appears to be like aren’t fairly as hanging as that of the grotesque Longlegs, Hermans says that’s all in response to plan. Whereas Cage wished to be completely reworked — one thing Fox did brilliantly — the concept with the opposite characters was to maintain the make-up refined. “The theatricality is within the performances,” Hermans stated. “I would like that to be what individuals see. Personally, I feel the most effective makeups are those that folks don’t even discover.”
“Longlegs” is now obtainable to stream on VOD.