Interview with Todd Tucker and Harvey Lowry (Continued)
Did that limit you or did it actually help?
Harvey Lowry: “A little of both, actually. I mean it helps in the way that everything is right there in front of you. But it does limit you in that you are having to stick to a script. You are having to stick to exactly how things are seen.”
Todd Tucker: [Laughing] “It’s good in that it basically takes away the interpretation, but then it takes away the interpretation. Everything is pretty much spelled out. It’s just figuring it out. But at the same time it’s nice when projects are storyboarded, which is what it is - a giant storyboard. So it’s nice when you have that because at least everybody is on the same page, visually.”
Do you have a specific job you can point to as the most difficult project you’ve ever had to tackle?
Todd Tucker: “Watchmen has been tough. Only because for the Watchmen we did… Let’s see, how many different makeups? I guess it was like 23 character likeness makeups. So they basically would give us an actor that looked nothing like Nixon, and then tell us to make him look exactly like Nixon in a makeup that can move and be completely convincing to an HD camera if needed. So that was a challenge. I mean, they were supposed to hire look-alikes and apparently that wasn’t the plan. But a lot of these people, a couple of people they got okay, but we definitely had some challenges. That was pretty tough recently. The other thing was White Chicks. That was a challenge.”
Harvey Lowry: “Making the Wayans brothers look like the Hilton sisters, that was a pretty amazing feat.”
Todd Tucker: “Greg in came in on that one and just really hit it out of the park. There are definitely things even at this point we can look back on and go, ‘Yeah, it would be better if we did this, this and this,’ but ultimately a lot of people in the industry turned that project down because they never thought it could be done. That was really hard. Not only changing their faces, but to make their bodies looking feminine and Caucasian. It wasn’t just the makeup appliance; it was full body painting every day and teeth and lenses and everything. It was pretty bizarre. Actually in person it worked better than I thought it did on the film. In person, I was like, ‘Wow, that’s pretty damn impressive.’ And on the film I thought it was okay. I had my personal, you know, issues, but again that was a hard one.”
Is there one job you’re proudest of doing?
Harvey Lowry: “I don’t know. There’s been a lot actually. [Laughing] I don’t know if there’s any one in particular.”
Todd Tucker: “For me, one of my favorite on set films that I worked on was Dracula. That was really cool because I got to interact with Gary [Oldman] and Anthony Hopkins. And to be on set with Coppola and just watch the whole experience was something pretty amazing.”
I would imagine that would have been interesting.
Todd Tucker: “Yeah, because he actually plays music in the background while he’s filming a lot of scenes, so you actually get the vibe of how it’s going to feel. The music just kind of puts you there even more. So it’s almost like if you just kind of take your hand and crop it a certain way, it’s almost like watching the movie.”
When you get hired for a job and the filmmaker says you need to make this person look like Dracula, does it take you months to figure that out or does it all happen fairly quickly?
Todd Tucker: “I wish it was months. It depends. Usually it ends up being about six or eight weeks. It depends on the build, you know? We’d always like more time. On Watchmen though, there was so much stuff to build that we were kind of building as they were going, too, so there was more time on that. But, again, that was twenty-something makeups plus all of the effects gags, all the different gags.”
Harvey Lowry: “Several age makeups on top of that, too. We were building that film while they were shooting it.”
I’ve read the graphic novel and I can’t wait to see what the film looks like.
Todd Tucker: “I think you’ll be impressed because it’s true to the novel, which was the main focus. I think people who like the novel are going to be pretty happy that it didn’t stray. It looks huge. The sets and everything…the suits, the costumes, everything looks really big.”
Is it a real collaborative process when you’re working with a director?
Todd Tucker: “Depends on the director.”
How about Zack Snyder?
Todd Tucker: “Zack was actually awesome. You know what? He’s young and energetic, and he’s very receptive to everything. Not to say that he lets anything get by him, but he definitely enjoyed the process and that kind of becomes infectious with the crew.”
And you’re working on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button?
Harvey Lowry: “Yes, we aged Cate [Blanchett] and Brad [Pitt] 88 years. The film spans Brad’s life from 0 to 88.”
Is there certain software you use that shows you what a Brad Pitt might look like at the age of 80? How did you figure out how he’d look?
Todd Tucker: “It’s all artist interpretation. I mean between Greg and myself and the guys here, we’ve done so many age makeups that we can actually kind of look at any person and be able to tell you what to do to make them actually convincingly look what they’re going to be at 80.”
Without revealing any names, have you ever had an actor who said he didn’t want to look quite that bad at that age?
Todd Tucker: “Not really. Not to say that they, and ladies especially - guys are a little easier on us - but ladies when they see themselves aged to that point, it’s a little hard for them.”
