Oscar-nominated makeup team talk changes in Deathly Hallows: Part 2 epilogue reshoots
 

Oscar nominees Nick Dudman, the makeup effects designer of the Harry Potter films, and Lisa Tomblin, head hair designer, recently spoke to Entertainment Weekly about what went wrong aesthetically with the first shoot of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 epilogue, and how they improved the appearances of the actors - Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, and Bonnie Wright - to look like realistic adults in their late 30s. The team, including Dudman, Tomblin, and Amanda Knight, is nominated at this Sunday's Academy Awards for achievement in Best Makeup for their work in the finale of the series.

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Dudman mentioned, among altering Dan's Harry Potter face ever so slightly to look maturer, that the epilogue was almost scrapped midway through post-production. It was kept at the end, including the reshoot, as a means to service the fans who had waited years to see the characters as adults.

Nick Dudman: “If you’re turning somebody into a goblin, it’s a fantasy character. If I say, ‘That’s a goblin,’ and you say it isn’t, well, that’s your opinion. If you say, ‘That doesn’t look like Dan Radcliffe,’ we’re in trouble.”

“Ninety percent of the time, it attracts attention to itself,” Dudman points out. So the process of creating the scene was intense, with the team looking at the actors’ parents and their characters’ onscreen parents for clues about the aging process. Initially, the plan called for lavish makeup. “We made the girls more hip-y, more bust-y, with a little more tummy. We made prosthetics for the guys so we could take their hairlines back fractionally. And we made a whole series of prosthetic pieces: Eye-pieces, nose-pieces, cheek pieces, chin pieces, ear-pieces.”

“We did go too far with the makeup [in the first epilogue shoot],” says Dudman, “and the costumes didn’t feel right, the performances didn’t feel right.” At one point, they even debated whether they’d keep the epilogue in the final film. “The only reason you’re doing it is to satisfy the fanbase. It wasn’t really necessary to the story at that point. The movie ended so well with the battle.”

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Lisa Tomblin: “Dan Radcliffe had a gray wig. Rupert had a receding wig with little bits of gray in it. Emma had a short wig. But it didn’t really work. It’s very difficult to age somebody that’s 20. It’s not like you’re aging someone that’s 30 and has the start of wrinkles.”

“We just tried to do too much in the beginning,” says Tomblin. “We simplified. Harry Potter always has his floppy hair in front of his face. Let’s take his hair away from his face! No gray, just change his glasses, and hey presto, he looked older! He looked more mature.”

“It’s so easy, when you’re aging guys, to go into caricature. You can make the girl seem much more mature just by changing her handbag.”

Order the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 DVD and Blu-ray sets, out today in the U.S. and December 2 in the UK, at the Amazon links below, or through the official Warner Bros Shop.

Amazon.com (US) - Deathly Hallows 1-disc DVD | Deathly Hallows 1-disc Blu-ray | Deathly Hallows 3-disc Blu-ray triple play | The Complete 8-Film Collection DVD | The Complete 8-Film Collection Blu-ray

Amazon.co.uk (UK) - Deathly Hallows 1-disc DVD | Deathly Hallows 3-disc 3D Blu-ray | Deathly Hallows 3-disc Blu-ray triple play | Deathly Hallows 2-disc DVD | The Complete 8-Film Collection DVD | The Complete 8-Film Collection Blu-ray | The Complete 8-Film Collection BD limited edition

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"Dan Radcliffe had a gray wig. Rupert had a receding wig with little bits of gray in it"

uhm sorry, but they are around 37 or 38 in the Epilogue. Really wondering who came up with this Idea. I know some People are getting gray Hair early, but isn't this rare?
Imo it was really the best Idea ever that they did a Reshoot for the Epilogue. The Make Up looked so much better. Rupert looked really old at first :(

Excellent choice to reshoot this. They wouldn't have gray hair at that age, most likely. And I'm so glad they didn't just scrap it all together. You can't just not include the ending to the book!

Everyone kind of overreacted to the makeup in the first epilogue shoot. I don't really think people can judge about that first shoot seeing as only a few crappy photos were ever seen. I saw them in the flesh at Kings Cross when they were filming it and I thought they looked ok and probably would have been even better under correct lighting and stuff. The makeup wasn't THAT bad (it's definitely not unheard of for someone in their mid 30s to have some grey or receding hair), they just reshot some of it to improve it. And they actually said one of the reasons they did it was because the on-location environment wasn't ideal for the actors, especially the kids. I think they also did it because they wanted to change the content of the scene slightly as well.

Puh-leeze. I've been getting greys since I was twelve. I'm just not vain like most people and don't bother dyeing them. But it is in no way rare. Especially in my family.

I would've been devastated had they nixed the epilogue all together, it was the perfect ending in the book and I just don't think it would've been right to end the last film right after the last battle.

I am glad they re-did Dan and Rupert's epilogue look for the second shoot, I know some people still didn't like Ron's bigger mid-section in the epilogue but I think it worked. Both girls looked great too.

i loved the scene and toning down of their make up really did well...The previous shoot pictures weren't really good. i was pretty disappointed by that make up actually...but i am glad they surprised me in the theater with this one...:)

:lol:
100% agreed...

Number one, the epilogue was a basic part of the story, the closure of it.

Number two, it seems like they have never seen a 37, 38 yeal old person. They look even younger than they made the characters! Jeez, I'm older than that and look younger than they made Hermione and Ginny (well, I look younger than my age, but much more to my point).

Even though they meade a much better job with the remake, they could still have made it much, much better.

The one detail I think they really should have kept on in the Epilogue is Harry's scar >.<

I totally agree. Harry's scar was the key part to the whole story and phenomenon! But i did love the children at the end. The epilogue made me cry anyway because it was the ending. The kids were adorable! The characters didn't need gray hair at age 30. I know my mom is much older than that and she doesn't have gray hair yet at all. But i loved how they changed emma's age just buy her handbag XD. They kept hermione and ginny basically the same. But all in all they did the best they could. We can't ask for more!

Um, when was the last time you saw the epilogue? His scar is very clearly there, just check here.

Good luck you guys! You deserve (especially for making Dan soooooooo... adorable with su\ideburns!!!) ;)

I think they still look too old. I look at the people I work with in their 30s and early 40s and they look much younger than what they made the characters look, especially Harry and Ron.

look at Rupert's tummy :D

im glad they reshoot the epilogue. All of them looked horribly old in the photos

I'm glad they didn't scrap the epilogue! I really enjoyed it, they did a good job in the end :)

I'm glad they did a re-shoot of the epilogue. I didn't want it to be something too scrapy. I really think Hermione looks much younger than Harry, Ron, Ginny and Draco in the epilogue. She doesn't look as if she's in her mid - late 30's.

I agree with Romine. I didn't know people looked that old in their late 30's. I had to laugh at how fat they made Rupert. They all just looked too old to me!

I'm glad they kept the epilogue! :woot: That's all that matters. :lol: And good job to the make-up team, especially for the reshoot too!

Planning to watch the Oscars tomorrow...hoping that HP will win at least one Oscar for once. <_<

For me they looked more early 40's than mid 30's, but that's ok, because they had pubescent kids so, if they looked younger we would never believed they were theirs.

I think they made Ron and Draco look way too old. You're not THAT old in your late thirties, look at angelina jolie! I'm so glad they did reshoots though, it would have been way too much!

I love this scene and i am so glad they didnt cut the scene or anything because this as the last scene just completed the harry potter story. <3

im so glad they didnt get rid of the epilogue scene or we all wouldve been ticked

FTW at the Oscars!

Guess it depends on who you work with and the health they're in.

They don't look too old at all in the final film in my opinion. Slightly too young actually, but not by much. It's near perfect.
It's important to think of them as real people, not aging like actors age.

They do look too old in my opinion. It looks like the guys are almost in their 50s... but still they didn't do a bad job I suppose, it just could've been better. Anyway, hope they won anyway~