Narnia Fans » Makeup

A LOOK INTO THE CREATURES OF NARNIA
BY HOWARD BERGER
Makeup Effects and Creature Designer

Once in a lifetime, something so amazing happens and you are so grateful for it. But, to have it happen twice in a lifetime is unheard of. I am talking about the privilege of another journey into Narnia that the creative team at KNB EFX Group, Inc. gets to take for PRINCE CASPIAN.

The first film was a challenge, as we had never tackled a project so huge in scope and with so many creatures playing at once. It was important to bring all the Narnians to life and make it completely believable that they could believably live in this magical land. And here we are again, ready to meet up with the new Narnians that inhabit the land 1,500 years later.

The first step took partner Greg Nicotero and I back to the drawing board, as we wanted to mix things up a bit. We wanted to take another pass at what the Narnians would be like if they had become more wild in their appearance, seeing how they have been living in hiding within the forests all these centuries. What if they were all different age groups, sizes and races? We felt that the Narnians in the first film were all in their thirties, so we designed some study sculptures to demonstrate our concepts and approached director Andrew Adamson with the ideas. He liked our take and felt this could give Narnia an even more real existence.

In PRINCE CASPIAN, we have heavy set fauns, old age fauns, female dwarves, centaurs and their families. The minotaurs are now on the side of good. A new hag, a werewolf and the satyrs are back, but all newly redesigned to be more animal-like than the prior movie.

I think in every film there is one character you fall in love with. The first movie had Mr. Tumnus, played by the great James McAvoy. This time it is Peter Dinklage who plays Trumpkin the Dwarf. The character is so wonderfully written, and once you see Peter as Trumpkin, he becomes alive and real. We gave Trumpkin his look, but Peter gave him his heart, and the collaboration brings to life a new and interesting addition to this rich world.

A lot of the same crew from the first film have joined us, including my co-winner for the Best Makeup Oscar last year, Tami Lane (with key support from our third team member, Sarah Rubano). We are all excited and thrilled as there is an evolution that has occurred in Narnia and we are all privileged to be here to experience another wonderful adventure.

Read the rest at Narnia.com

The 32nd Annual Saturn Awards were presented at a gala affair in Universal City, California on May 2. The event attracted many of the top producers, directors and actors working in genre entertainment. The awards were spread out over several films showcasing the amazing success of genre films as a whole. “Batman Begins” and “King Kong” each received three Saturn Awards with “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith”, “Sin City”, and “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” each received two Saturn Awards.

“Battlestar Galactica” won three Saturn Awards with “Lost” taking home two honors. The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the George Pal Memorial Award to legendary filmmaker Ray Harryhausen. This special honor was presented to Harryhausen by acclaimed director Jon Favreau. Shane Black was honored with The Filmmakers Showcase Award which was presented by actor Clifton Collins Jr.

Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures tied with four Saturn Awards apiece. Buena Vista, Dimension / Miramax, and 20th Century Fox were awarded each with two Saturn Awards.

The Academy was founded in 1972 to honor, recognize and promote genre entertainment. The organization is currently headed by Robert Holguin who serves as President.

Best Costume:
ISIS MUSSENDEN
(The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)

Best Make-Up:
HOWARD BERGER, GREG NICOTERO, NIKKI GOOLEY
(The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)

[View a Complete List of Winners]

Tami Lane walked through the door of her parents’ Dunlap townhouse Friday, lugging a backpack weighed down by clothes, magazines and an eight-and-a-half pound, gold-plated statue.

Minutes later, the Oscar was glinting under the living room lights, in the hands of her father, Roger Lane. He passed it gently to her mother, Linda, and her sister, Tracy, 34, all of them smiling and, like so many Oscar winners, marveling at how heavy it was.

Lane, 31, a Woodruff High School and Bradley University grad, took a seat on the couch and obliged her curious public with the details of last Sunday, the day she won best makeup for “The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” at the Academy Awards.

It began at 10 a.m. Lane and her friend Penny Mackie, part of Narnia’s costume team, arrived at co-nominee Howard Berger’s house, where a team of makeup and hair specialists awaited them.

They arrived at the Kodak theater just before 3 p.m. “It was kind of a bummer” to get to the theater before the swarm of celebrities and popping flashbulbs, she said, but there was plenty of that to come.

Just before the award for best makeup was announced, pages ushered Lane, Berger and the other nominees backstage. Keith Urban, Nicole Kidman and Judi Dench greeted them. (If you’re wondering about those shots of Lane in her seat, waiting for presenters Will Ferrell and Steve Carrell to open the envelope, those are special seats in front set up just for the cameras, she said.)

“All I heard was ‘How-’” said Lane, “and I was whipped up on stage.” She stared out into a crowd she described as “like your own 3-D People magazine,” with Jack Nicholson and George Clooney looking up at her.

Berger, as Lane’s loyal supporters have pointed out repeatedly since the Oscars, got to do all the talking. But Lane’s not bitter. “We had that worked out” in advance, she said. “I’m not upset at all by it.”

And in fact she did say a few words, after the mike cut out: “Thank you for making dreams come true.”

Then ushers marched her and Berger past Morgan Freeman – the first to congratulate them on their win – to have photos taken. They ate dinner at the Governor’s Ball and zipped past Elton John’s party (much too crowded) to the Vanity Fair party. “Madonna was there, but I didn’t see her,” said Lane, sounding a tad disappointed.

By 1:30 a.m., the party slowed down. “It went way too fast,” she said.

Lane isn’t sure yet what the effect of her win will be. “I’ve been told that my rate will go up and I’m more in demand,” she said. She’ll begin work soon on “Prince Caspian,” the sequel to Narnia.

And for the next few days she’ll be home in Peoria. “I love this town,” she said. “There’s so many people I want to see.”

She’s having a party tonight from 8 to 11 at Agatucci’s restaurant in Peoria – a chance for friends to catch up.

She might bring the Oscar, she said, even though it’s already a little worse for the wear. The sapphire rings she wore left tiny marks around the statue’s legs. “I don’t know,” she said, surveying the scratches. “I kind of like them there.”

Achievement in Make-Up
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE
Howard Berger and Tami Lane

FILM SYNOPSIS
The four Pevensie children have been evacuated from wartime London to the country home of Professor Kirke, where they discover a magical wardrobe through which they can enter the land of Narnia. There, they must help Narnia’s rightful ruler, the majestic lion Aslan, defeat the evil White Witch who has seized control of his kingdom.

ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
Well, I’m just glad that Clooney doesn’t do make-up. So it worked out well. This is really an amazing life. It all started when I was a little boy and my mother read me “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak and at that point I knew I wanted to go live with the monsters. Real quick I want to thank Disney, Mark Johnson, Walden Media, Cary Granat, Perry Moore, my partners in crime at K.N.B effects group, Robert Kurtzman and Gregory Nicotero. Everyone that was there with me through the journey a year and a half of this magnificent project. My Aslan, Andrew Adamson, my inspiration, Kelsey Travis and Jake, my best friend, Sandy. Rick Baker, Dick Smith, Stan Winston, Richard Taylor, Danny Striepeke, and I want to dedicate this to my parents Kenneth and Susan Berger, right now I know they’re looking down upon me and saying we’re proud of you that you’re living with the monsters and running through the forest with the wild things. Thank you.

SPECIAL ONLINE THANKS
Howard Berger and Tami Lane

Wow, what a wonderful life and it all started when my mother read me WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE and I knew then I wanted to be that little boy Max. I want to thank Disney, Walden Media, Mark Johnson, Perry Moore, Cary Granat, Douglas Gresham and my Aslan Andrew Adamson. My amazing children, Kelsey, Travis and Jake, I finally got to make a film they could see, my best friend Sandi Berger, Dick Smith, Stan Winston and Dan Striepeke, my partners in crime Greg Nicotero and Robert Kurtzman, everyone at KNB EFX GROUP, INC who followed me through Narnia for a year and a half, you know who you are, Charlize Theron for loving my nose, and I want to dedicate this award to my parents Kenneth and Susan Berger, who if they were here today would be so proud that their little Max who is still playing in the forest with the Wild Things. Thank you and good night.

THANK YOU
Heidi, Heather & Holly; Stacie; Uncle Bill; Jeannie and Sonny; Bob Carrelli; Akihito Ikeda; Connors; Nick Marra; Scott Stoddard; Delchambre; James Leonard; Christopher Cera; Rob Freitas; Alex Diaz; Steve Hartman; Matt Killen; Mike Manzel; Steve Munson; Gary Pawlowski; Frank Ryberg; Shannon Shea; Mike Deak; Scott Patton; Jaremy Aiello; Mitch DeVane; Garrett Immel; Eric Gruenderman; Michael McCarty; Dave Grasso; Chad Atkinson; Fred Cervantes; Anthony Diaz; Grady Holder; Carey Jones; Gil Liberto; James McLaughlin; Erica Olsen; Dave Perteet; Caleb Schneider; Kara Krasnoff; Lindsay Vivian; Adrian Atwood; Katherine Brown; Tanya Bermingham; Annamarie; Linda Hal Couper; Rebeccah; Sean Foot; Kristelle Gardiner; Sarah Graham; Paul Katte; Ray Massa; Shannon McKean; Haley Oliver; Jess Reedy; Sarah Rubano; Maryanne Rushton; Russell Seifert; Consuelo Duran; John Fedele; Terri Flucker; Bruce Mitchell; Ben Rittenhouse; John Calpin; Derek Krout; Patricia Urias; Marion Held-Bixby; Mark Boley; Annelises Boise; Connie Criswell; Tyson Fountaine; Paul Molnar; Karin Hanson; Khan Tran; Jake McKinnon; Kamar Bitar; Jenny Wallace; Nikki Gooley; Isis Mussenden; Tom Williams; Beth DePatie; Roger Ford; Dean Wright; Randy Starr; Maggie Todd; Connie Cadwell; David Fedele; Karen Mason; Molly McGee; Katherine Sully; Margeau Bull; Steve Katz; Arnold Goldman; Ginger Anglin; Louis Kiss; Marina Barsalo; Jack Bricker; Justin Ditter; Phannin Jurvlaivui; Ron Pipes II; Rapeeporn Rodehompu; Jeff Edwards; John Criswelll; Veronica Torres; KC Holdenfield; Naime; Tracey Reeby; Kimberly Adams; Alina Phelan; Tim Coddington; Ian Gracie; Bill Westenhofer; Erica Burton; Julia Orr; Abby Vickery; Elka Wardega; Bliss Macgillicuddy; Paige Banenoch; Dalia Fernandez; Roxie Hodenfield; Pip Lund; Beth Hathaway; Mark Ballou; Liz Blackwell; Dawn Dininger; Fred Fraleigh; Patrick Mullan; Clare Mulroy; Jeff Himmel; David Wogh; Robert Derry; Sonny Tilders; Harrison Lorenzana; Jeff Okabayashi; Randy Ball; Jessica Needham; Phil Steuer; Mark Simone; Rich Chapla; Don McAlpine; Jim Berney; Brigham Taylor

Special Thanks to
James McAvoy; Richard and Tania Taylor; Gino Acevedo; The Gang at WETA Workshop; William, Anna, Skandar & Georgie; Tilda Swinton; All the Fauns, Satyrs, Minotaurs, Goblins, Boggles, Dwarves, Giants, Cyclops, Ogres, Hags, Centaurs, & Minoboars

[Press Room Interview]

The 78th Annual Academy Awards (the Oscars) Nominees were announced this morning, and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was nominated in three categories.

* Achievement in Makeup
Howard Berger and Tami Lane
These are the first Academy Award nominations for Howard Berger and Tami Lane.
Up against: Cinderella Man and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith

* Achievement in Sound Mixing
Terry Porter, Dean A. Zupancic and Tony Johnson
This is the fourth Academy Award nomination for Terry Porter. He was previously nominated for: Aladdin (1992), Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986). These are the first Academy Award nominations for Dean A. Zupancic and Tony Johnson.
Up against: King Kong, Memoirs of a Geisha, Walk the Line and War of the Worlds.

* Achievement in Visual Effects
Dean Wright, Bill Westenhofer, Jim Berney and Scott Farrar
These are the first Academy Award nominations for Dean Wright, Bill Westenhofer and Jim Berney. This is the fourth Academy Award nomination for Scott Farrar. He was previously nominated for: A.I. – Artificial Intelligence (2001), Backdraft (1991) and Cocoon (1985).
Up against: King Kong and War of the Worlds

[For a full list of nominees]
[For our LWW Awards page]

Narnia Spy Ken sent us a report that The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has been nominated for three BAFTAs.

COSTUME DESIGN

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY – Gabriella Pescucci
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE – Isis Mussenden
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA – Colleen Atwood
MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS – Sandy Powell
PRIDE & PREJUDICE – Jacqueline Durran

ACHIEVEMENT IN SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS

BATMAN BEGINS – Janek Sirrs/Dan Glass/Chris Corbould
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY – Nick Davis/Jon Thum/Chas Jarrett/Joss Williams
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE – Dean Wright/Bill Westenhofer/Jim Berney/Scott Farrar
HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE – Jim Mitchell/John Richardson
KING KONG – Joe Letteri/Christian Rivers/Brian Van’t Hul/Richard Taylor

MAKE UP & HAIR

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY – Peter Owen/Ivana Primorac
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE – Howard Berger/Gregory Nicotero/Nikki Gooley
HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE – Nick Dudman/Amanda Knight/Eithne Fennell
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA – Noriko Watanabe/Kate Biscoe/Lyndell Quiyou/Kelvin R Trahan
PRIDE & PREJUDICE – Fae Hammond

One of the principal functions of the British Academy of Film & Television Arts is to identify and reward excellence in the artforms of the moving image. It achieves this objective by bestowing awards on those practitioners who have excelled in their chosen field of expertise.

In 1947, the Academy granted three awards. Today, more than one hundred awards are bestowed annually in the fields of film, television and video games. Our five annual awards ceremonies in London are as follows:

The Orange British Academy Film Awards
The British Academy Video Games Awards
The British Academy Television Awards sponsored by Pioneer
The British Academy Television Craft Awards
The 10th British Academy Children’s Film & Television Awards in association with Time Warner

The Academy has earned its position as keeper of the gold standard because its engaged voting body is a diverse, expert membership of industry peers. Each Awards process varies, but the coveted BAFTA mask is awarded to individuals via combinations of membership votes, qualified industry chapters and specially selected juries comprising industry practitioners who have reached the pinnacle of their profession in a variety of disciplines.

The BAFTA mask is regarded as the most coveted award among industry practitioners working in all artforms of the moving image.