OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL Production ... - Visual Hollywood

OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL (2013)
PRODUCTION NOTES
Michelle didn't even wear lipstick. It's just her natural lip color with a little bit of (balm) to keep
them moist and avoid chapping in the Detroit weather. As Glinda, she had this sparkle to her, which
was fun."
Playing off the theme drafted by designer Stromberg in Glinda's kingdom (the iridescent glow to
her castle walls), Baker notes that "she's in a land of bubbles where things have a little shimmer and
sparkle to them. We wanted to incorporate that in her makeup without it looking like a makeup
trick. A kind of luminescence that comes from living the life that Glinda does. We were able to do
that with a beautiful product from Chanel. An eye shadow that has a look that is unbelievable,
which we were able to work into her makeup. And it photographs very well on the 3D Red Epic
camera."
Taking Theodora to the Dark Side
Transforming Theodora, the beautiful Mila Kunis, into a hideous hag as the Wicked Witch is a testament
to Berger's special effects makeup talents and dexterity.
The first part of the process was finding the right shade of green for the witch's skin. Like a mad
scientist in his lab, Berger began concocting his own formula for the perfect green. "It went from a
super forest green to an emerald green to more of a gray look," he recalls. "What we ended up with
actually are some custom colors that I mixed using these great tattoo shades combined with other
makeup colors. We called our shade of green 'Theostein'."
Berger adds, "Mila has to wear contact lenses and dentures that dirty up her teeth, because her teeth
are so beautiful and white. However, the one thing I wanted to do in the makeup design was not
lose Mila's lips and eyes, which are really gorgeous."
While trying to keep that essence of Kunis under the witch makeup, the veteran makeup magician
adds that "Mila finds her face to be kind of oval, so we wanted to change that, achieving that with
the length and direction of the chin while raising up her cheek bones, making them feel more
sculpted. There are actually four different versions of Mila as the witch, very subtle changes as she
evolves in the story."
"The process would take just under two hours," Kunis explains. "At first, it was silicon but Howard
changed to all foam in two pieces. After having my hair wrapped, they applied the prosthetic chin
and cheek piece, then the nose, forehead and eyebrow piece. Then, they painted me with the
'Theostein' so it's about a two-hour process. After painting the hands and adding the wimple, it was
insane and amazing!"
"Howard did a brilliant design for the Wicked Witch of the West," hails Raimi. "He started by using
Mila's face as a template without imposing some design that wouldn't work on her. He took his raw
materials and developed them, let them bloom on her, although it was a nasty, weedish bloom that
we've got in the look of this character, which developed beautifully. He developed her features into
something wicked and twisted in a fantastic way."
Adds Berger, "People are going to look at this and think it's a supercool witch. She's fantastic."
The Music
© 2013 Walt Disney Pictures
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