I was asked to do a short film for the Jameson Empire Done in 60 Seconds Film Competition. Director Kevin de la Isla was making his version of the old black and white classic Nosferatu. I was tasked with turning actor Neil Flemming into the original bone chilling Vampire.

As we had very little time to do preproduction (I was brought in 3 days before we would be filming). Kevin had bought some prosthetic makeup appliances online. So all I had to do was apply these to Neill as best I could. The difficulty with shop bought prosthetics is that they don’t fit as well as ones that have been made on a lifecast of the actor.

I managed to get the bald cap to fit with some difficulty…it looked ok from the front, but at the back of his head it looked like he had a bit of a third nipple haha!

As you can see there were some very bad seems on the ears. I used a three part silicone to blend the edges.

The nose piece was a bit uncomfortable for Neill to wear, because it didn’t fit properly condensation kept collecting in the bottom from the heat when he was breathing. We just had to be on hand with a cotton bud to absorb the excess water.

Here I am stippling on a red colour to give the appearance of life under the baldcap and to hide the colour of his hair. I then airbrushed a skin colour foundation on top of this. I used an alcohol based airbrush make-up from Graftobian. It is great applies easily on top of the bald cap and lasts without touch ups.

This is the finished look. I don’t think it is too bad considering the time constraints that we had.  I made the nails by gluing two artificial nails together and giving them a rough sand to blend them. We stuck them on with double sided carpet tape, they kept popping off! It was a bit of fun and I look forward to seeing the finished film. I was assisted on the day by Stefania Maniscalco, thanks a million

I have been a bit delayed in posting this, these are shots from a couple of weeks ago, but I guess better late than never. These are some behind the scenes images of the feature film that I am the Head Make-Up Artist on. It is directed by Phil Winston and is an independently funded film being shot in Coolock. The working title of the film is 166.87.66.6, but I am hoping that they go for something simpler like Uri-el. The story centres around a young boy called Daniel who discovers that human beings aren’t the only beings on this planet and is brought right into the middle of a fight between Angels and Demons.

I would just like to take this opportunity to say a BIG THANK YOU to my wonderful assistant Stefania, I couldn’t have done it without her

Film: http://www.uri-el.com/index.html
Director: Phil Winston
Make-Up: Emma Farrell Make-Up
Assistant Make-Up:  Stefania Maniscalco
Hair: Jane Akkerman

This was a short film that I did last year. It is a surreal film around the theme of Easter.

Awards season has been in full swing for a while now, but today it was time time for good all Oscar to enter the celebration of talent, entertainment and skill. Oh yes the big guy has finally arrived with much a fan fare, splash of colour, swirling dresses, sky rocketing heels and of course beautiful eye candy Make-Up! There are just soooo many gorgeous oscar 2010 make up looks to talk about that I could spend hours droning on about it, however I wont…I will just give you the cream of the crop.

Anna Kendrick

I feel like I should always mention that look that is beautiful for its simplicity, I believe that Anna Kendrick’s Make up is just that. She is like a porcelain doll with beautiful flawless pale skin, perfectly shaped eyebrows and a fantastic smile.

Nicole Richie

Very often on the red carpet people play it safe. I love it when someone decides to push the boat out a little. I am loving Nicole’s sixties inspired Make Up Look. The feline shaped eyeliner accentuates her gorgeous hazel eyes.

Stana Katic

I thought I would mention Stana, because of her twist on the classic hollywood red carpet look. She has gone for the flawless complexion, defined eyes and nude lips, however it looks like she is wearing false eyelashes on the bottom of her lashes. This is definitely a trend that I am seeing more of lately and it is a great way to make your eyes look alot larger.  The whole look is effortless glamour.

Sandra Bullock

One of my favourite tricks for brightening up my complexion is a bright coloured lipstick. This fuscia coloured lipstick will give a youthful vibrancy to any look.. Sandra teams it with a clearly defined eye and a hint of blusher.

Queen Latifah

A smokey, sultry salmon and black combination make Queen Latifah’s eyes the centre of focus. She has a great ability to connect with the camera and smiles with her eyes in this photo.

Miley Cyrus

She is just absolutely stunning, this shimmery, vibrant look is just gorgeous teamed with her champagne dress. She has strong black liner on and thick black eyelashes which really make her blue eyes pop.

The British Film and Television Awards took place last night and as per usual there was a plethora of glamour and star studded beauty. I thought that I would share my favourite looks with you. First up is Jaime Winstone, who has defintitely channeled her inner Marilyn. This look is total Hollywood glamour puss and I think I will do a seperate post on how to achieve this look later.

I love Carey Mulligan’s short crop, she has gorgeous features that really suit this cut. She has kept her Make-Up very pretty, flawless skin, black eyeliner and false eyelashes, just showcasing her dress.

Image courtesy of Empire

I absolutely love Edith Bowman and she has kept to a winning formula here, smokey eyes, with a beautiful black lined eye and lashings of mascara. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it!

I am loving Kate Winslet’s strongly defined eyebrows, they are great, really help to frame her face.

I have to mention the jewel of Irish exports, the fantastic Saoirse Ronan, she is blooming into a wonderful young woman. She pulls of simple sophistication like a seasoned pro.

Audrey Tautou’s red lips looked great with her soft twisted upstyle.

ACADEMY FELLOWSHIP
VANESSA REDGRAVE

OUTSTANDING BRITISH CONTRIBUTION TO CINEMA
JOE DUNTON

BEST FILM
AVATAR James Cameron, Jon Landau
AN EDUCATION Finola Dwyer, Amanda Posey
THE HURT LOCKER Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier, Greg Shapiro
PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness, Gary Magness
UP IN THE AIR Ivan Reitman, Jason Reitman, Daniel Dubiecki

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
AN EDUCATION Finola Dwyer, Amanda Posey, Lone Scherfig, Nick Hornby
FISH TANK Kees Kasander, Nick Laws, Andrea Arnold
IN THE LOOP Kevin Loader, Adam Tandy, Armando Iannucci, Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Tony Roche
MOON Stuart Fenegan, Trudie Styler, Duncan Jones, Nathan Parker
NOWHERE BOY Robert Bernstein, Douglas Rae, Kevin Loader, Sam Taylor-Wood, Matt Greenhalgh

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
LUCY BAILEY, ANDREW THOMPSON, ELIZABETH MORGAN HEMLOCK, DAVID PEARSON Directors, Producers – Mugabe and the White African
ERAN CREEVY Writer/Director – Shifty
STUART HAZELDINE Writer/Director – Exam
DUNCAN JONES Director – Moon
SAM TAYLOR-WOOD Director – Nowhere Boy

DIRECTOR
AVATAR James Cameron
DISTRICT 9 Neill Blomkamp
AN EDUCATION Lone Scherfig
THE HURT LOCKER Kathryn Bigelow
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS Quentin Tarantino

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
THE HANGOVER Jon Lucas, Scott Moore
THE HURT LOCKER Mark Boal
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS Quentin Tarantino
A SERIOUS MAN Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
UP Pete Docter, Bob Peterson

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
DISTRICT 9 Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell
AN EDUCATION Nick Hornby
IN THE LOOP Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE Geoffrey Fletcher
UP IN THE AIR Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
BROKEN EMBRACES Agustín Almodóvar, Pedro Almodóvar
COCO BEFORE CHANEL Carole Scotta, Caroline Benjo, Philippe Carcassonne, Anne Fontaine
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN Carl Molinder, John Nordling, Tomas Alfredson
A PROPHET Pascal Caucheteux, Marco Cherqui, Alix Raynaud, Jacques Audiard
THE WHITE RIBBON Stefan Arndt, Veit Heiduschka, Margaret Menegoz, Michael Haneke

ANIMATED FILM
CORALINE Henry Selick
FANTASTIC MR FOX Wes Anderson
UP Pete Docter

LEADING ACTOR
JEFF BRIDGES Crazy Heart
GEORGE CLOONEY Up in the Air
COLIN FIRTH A Single Man
JEREMY RENNER The Hurt Locker
ANDY SERKIS Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll

LEADING ACTRESS
CAREY MULLIGAN An Education
SAOIRSE RONAN The Lovely Bones
GABOUREY SIDIBE Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
MERYL STREEP Julie & Julia
AUDREY TAUTOU Coco Before Chanel

SUPPORTING ACTOR
ALEC BALDWIN It’s Complicated
CHRISTIAN McKAY Me and Orson Welles
ALFRED MOLINA An Education
STANLEY TUCCI The Lovely Bones
CHRISTOPH WALTZ Inglourious Basterds

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
ANNE-MARIE DUFF Nowhere Boy
VERA FARMIGA Up in the Air
ANNA KENDRICK Up in the Air
MO’NIQUE Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS Nowhere Boy

MUSIC
AVATAR James Horner
CRAZY HEART T-Bone Burnett, Stephen Bruton
FANTASTIC MR FOX Alexandre Desplat
SEX & DRUGS & ROCK & ROLL Chaz Jankel
UP Michael Giacchino

CINEMATOGRAPHY
AVATAR Mauro Fiore
DISTRICT 9 Trent Opaloch
THE HURT LOCKER Barry Ackroyd
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS Robert Richardson
THE ROAD Javier Aguirresarobe

EDITING
AVATAR Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua, James Cameron
DISTRICT 9 Julian Clarke
THE HURT LOCKER Bob Murawski, Chris Innis
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS Sally Menke
UP IN THE AIR Dana E. Glauberman

PRODUCTION DESIGN
AVATAR Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg, Kim Sinclair
DISTRICT 9 Philip Ivey, Guy Potgieter
HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan
THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS Dave Warren, Anastasia Masaro, Caroline Smith
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS David Wasco, Sandy Reynolds Wasco

COSTUME DESIGN
BRIGHT STAR Janet Patterson
COCO BEFORE CHANEL Catherine Leterrier
AN EDUCATION Odile Dicks-Mireaux
A SINGLE MAN Arianne Phillips
THE YOUNG VICTORIA Sandy Powell

SOUND
AVATAR Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson, Tony Johnson, Addison Teague
DISTRICT 9 Brent Burge, Chris Ward, Dave Whitehead, Michael Hedges, Ken Saville
THE HURT LOCKER Ray Beckett, Paul N. J. Ottosson
STAR TREK Peter J. Devlin, Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer, Mark Stoeckinger, Ben Burtt
UP Tom Myers, Michael Silvers, Michael Semanick, Doc Kane

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
AVATAR Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, Andrew R. Jones
DISTRICT 9 Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros, Matt Aitken
HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE John Richardson, Tim Burke, Tim Alexander, Nicolas Aithadi
THE HURT LOCKER Richard Stutsman
STAR TREK Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh, Burt Dalton

MAKE UP & HAIR
COCO BEFORE CHANEL Thi Thanh Tu Nguyen, Madeleine Cofano, Jane Milon
AN EDUCATION Lizzie Yianni Georgiou
THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS Sarah Monzani
NINE Peter Swords King
THE YOUNG VICTORIA Jenny Shircore

SHORT ANIMATION
THE GRUFFALO Michael Rose, Martin Pope, Jakob Schuh, Max Lang
THE HAPPY DUCKLING Gili Dolev
MOTHER OF MANY Sally Arthur, Emma Lazenby

SHORT FILM
14 Asitha Ameresekere
I DO AIR James Bolton, Martina Amati
JADE Samm Haillay, Daniel Elliott
MIXTAPE Luti Fagbenle, Luke Snellin
OFF SEASON Jacob Jaffke, Jonathan van Tulleken

THE ORANGE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)
JESSE EISENBERG
NICHOLAS HOULT
CAREY MULLIGAN
TAHAR RAHIM
KRISTEN STEWART

1.) Cameron Diaz knows how to pull of simple sophistication.

Normally known for her healthy sunkissed skin, due to her active sporty lifestyle it seems like either she hasn’t been on holidays for a while or she is slathering on the sunscreen. I am loving her gorgeous opalescent skin tone. Keeping it very natural apart from a flash of red lippy, this look screams Hollywood sophistication. If you would like to replicate this look I would recommend the following key products:

Foundation: Vitalumiere from Chanel

Lipstick: Ruby Woo from MAC

Eyeshadow: Ivory Opulence from Lancome

Eyeliner: Double Wear Black from Estee Lauder

Blush: Benetint by Benefit

Mascara: High Impact Curling Mascara by Clinique

2.) Ginnifer Goodwin

Ginnifer is also working a classic look with a striking winged black eyeliner. This look really suits her pixie haircut and gives her a youthful fresh feel. She has kept lips nude which helps to keep us focused on her eyes and that gorgeous Royal Blue dress. If you would like to replicate this look I would recommend the following key products:

Foundation: Diorskin Nude from Dior

Eyeliner: Black Liquid Eyeliner by MAC

Lipstick: Belle de Jour by NARS

3.) January Jones

Strong eyebrows frame January’s features perfectly, I really like her lush berry lip colour which shows off her radiant smile. I read an interview with her Make-Up Artist Rachel Goodwin, who breaks down the look on talkingmakeup.com, which I will share with you here:

Beauty Inspiration & The Look: “January’s Golden Globes makeup was all about taking a fresh approach to the classic red lip.”

Beauty Tip: “I used Le Blanc de Chanel under her base to create luminous ‘glowing from the inside’ porcelain skin, then treated her lips with Chanel Hydramax + Active Lip Treatment before applying Chanel Rouge Coco Lip Colour in Paris – a gorgeous garnet red from a new lipstick line launching in March. I painted the finest black line on her upper lid with Chanel Automatic Liquid Eyeliner in Noir and shaded under her eyes with Chanel Intense Eye Pencil in Graphite in the outer corners. I finished her look by layering lots of different false eyelashes then added Exceptionnel de Chanel Noir Obscur Mascara over the top for an intense black lash line.”

Cecil B. DeMille Award

Best Motion Picture – Drama

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture -Drama

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

Best Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical

Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Best Animated Feature Film

Best Foreign Language Film

Best Director – Motion Picture

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture

Best Original Score – Motion Picture

Best Original Song – Motion Picture

Best Television Series – Drama

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series – Drama

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series – Drama

Best Television Series – Comedy Or Musical

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series – Comedy Or Musical

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series – Comedy Or Musical

Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made for Television

Best Performance by an Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

I went to see Avatar directed by James Cameroon the other day, all I can say is WOW! I thought that it was absolutely fantastic . They did a really good job of creating an ethereal enchanted world which to be honest I wouldn’t mind living in.

Anyway I have decided that I would like to go as Neytiri for Halloween this year. I know what you are thinking, that I must be mad talking about Halloween…but every year I make a half arsed attempt at a costume on the day, which is a bit ridiculous considering I am a Make-Up Artist. Here are some examples:

So this year it’s going to be different and I am going to pull out all the stops! Myself and my Make-Up Artist friend have agreed to do each other’s make-up for Halloween. The reason for this is it is kinda hard to lifecast and apply character make-up to yourself.

She is going to apply a full prosthetic character make-up to make me look like Neytiri. I will blog the process as we go along with some pictures and instructions for anyone else who would like to know how it is done. I will also be doing a charcter make-up on my friend. She hasn’t decided what she would like to go as yet. I am trying to convince her to go as the borg:

Or if you guys have any other suggestions of characters that she could go as that would involve prosthetics, let me know. Anyway, watch this space as I will let you know how we get on xx