Adrian Rigby & the Harry Potter Experience @ IMATS
Adrian Rigby is one of the country's leading prosthetic artists and a member of thecallsheet.co.uk. He's worked on 6 of the 8 Harry Potter Films, War Horse, Batman Begins, Children of Men, Stardust and the upcoming zombie epic World War Z, starring Brad Pitt.
Adrian quit his day job as a postman and took up a short course with Prosthetic Supremo Nick Dudman. Dudman then asked Adrian to join the team for the second Harry Potter film, Chamber of Secrets in 2001.
Eleven years later, Adrian has been asked to curate the Make Up Museum at the IMATS exhibition, featuring some of the work from Harry Potter.
IMATS is taking place at Alexandra Palace on the 4th & 5th February.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 has just been nominated for Best Make Up at the 2012 Oscars.
Adrian took time out from preparing the show to answer a few questions about his career and the exhibtion....
What film or TV show are you working on right now and what’s coming up in the rest 2012?
I'm back at Leaveseden helping out with the Makeup and creature FX installation on the Warners Harry Potter Museum. I have just come off WWZ and to be honest was nice to have some time off at Christmas. I have just done a couple of days on CBBC’s Horrible Histories. I have nothing lined up Film or TV at the moment for next year. I will be joining the crew that are working on bringing the Makeup FX and Creatures section of the Harry Potter museum to life, possibly up until the opening of the museum in March 2012.
What is IMATS and what will you be curating?
IMATS is The International Makeup Artist Tradeshow. It happens every year with another 5 throughout the year in different countries. I will be the curator of the Makeup Museum at the London show in February. It’s the weekend of the 4th and 5th February at Alexander Palace, North London.
How did you start out? Had you always been interested in prosthetics?
I came to the industry a little later than most people do. I left school wanting to be a makeup artist but unfortunately didn’t get qualifications needed at that time to study. I got a job with Royal Mail and stayed for nearly 11 years. Towards the end of my time at the Post Office, I enrolled and completed a Theatrical and Media Makeup course. I did get little work on short films and work in Theatres at first but struggled to really get into the industry. Nick Dudman, UK Makeup and Creature FX designer, who actually didn’t live too far from me in the north of England, was running short prosthetic makeup courses. I applied to do one and was very lucky after completing it to be offered a job on the upcoming Harry Potter 2.
I guess yes I had always been interested in prosthetics starting when I was younger watching horror and Science-fiction films like American Werewolf in London, Star Wars films etc.
What is the key to your craft and what do you look to for inspiration?
I guess the key is to keep up to date with all modern techniques and materials. Always striving to do better work. Always willing to learn new things. I look to my peers for inspiration because there is always something to learn. Also I look to new people coming into the industry as well and in a way learn from them, as this re-introduces my enthusiasm.
The Harry Potter team have enjoyed 10 years of near constant employment, how does it feel to leave behind that community?
I was there on the final shoot day, actually just nearly a year ago. It was a sad day saying goodbye to the big ’family’ the Potter crew had become. A lot of people had been there since day one.
There are clips of me in behind the scenes footage, on DVD extras etc. but usually blink and you’ll miss me.
You’ve recently finished a 6 month stint making Zombies for World War Z – what can you tell us about working on the film?
I cant give a lot away really, unfortunately. I can say we created some nice stuff. I worked for Coulier Creatures – Makeup FX company. We shot in Malta, Glasgow, the UK and finally in Budapest. At times it was full on with sometimes us working 15 hour days.
You also worked on War Horse in 2010. What was your role and what challenges did you face?
I worked in the Crowd makeup dept on Warhorse, as part of a team responsible for making up , sometimes literally hundreds of supporting artists. The only challenges, were what we all faced working in sometimes rainy and muddy conditions. Great fun though.
Can you talk us through the process of making, for example, a prosthetic head for a character?
Making a fake head or body, for example on Potter usually involves different departments working closely together. We would usually start by making a lifecast of the actor and producing moulds from that to enable reproduction of the actor in silicone, a very realistic flesh-like material. This would then be painted and hairs inserted one by one (a painstaking process) to give the lifelike quality. Teeth and eyes would also be added , if necessary to complete the look.Kristyan Mallett sculpted the prosthetics, I pre-painted the prosthetics and Ingrid Parkes created the eyebrows and assisted me with the makeup application - of course all done under Prosthetics Designer Nick Dudman, recently nominated for an Oscar for HP 7 Part II.
What has been your most enjoyable day at work and why?
I think it has to be two things. When we first turned up on set with all the goblins on the last potter. Everyone just loved them. Also on WWZ, a similar reaction to the zombies.
For any producer or Designer using major prosthetics for the first time, what would you advise?
I would say be prepared to have money if you want have good prosthetics. Basically you pay for what you get. Also only use prosthetics if you need to, not for the sake of it.
What is the most challenging aspect of your work?
It’s a challenge when youre creating something that has maybe never been done before and making it look real.
If you could change one thing about the industry, what would you do?
I guess to try and make the industry a more secure industry, nearly impossible.
What do you do when you are not working?
When I'm not working, I usually panic!! Hopefully its not too long before the next job, but you do think that you might not work again, or maybe that’s just me. Joking aside, time off is usually well earned as shoots can go on for a while, be stressful and you do need time to recover. I do try and rest and do things that otherwise I wouldn’t have the time to do when I am working.
Which film or film maker do you wish you work with (who you haven’t already)?
Although Speilberg directed Warhorse, I would really like to have another chance on another film he would direct. But normally I'm not too bothered with who, happy to be working at all to be honest.
Adrian Rigby will be curating the Make Up Museum at IMATS on February 4th & 5th at Alexandra Palace. Tickets are available here.
Adrian is a member of thecallsheet.co.uk and you can view is profile page here.
With thanks to Heather @ Make Up Magazine.