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Emmy Award-winning lead makeup designer SHERRI BERMAN LAURENCE spoke with industry trade magazine On Makeup about the inspiration for the looks in THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES.
Sherri discussed everything from the film’s period feel to the characters’ visual evolutions and the use of prosthetics.
Where did you draw inspiration for the makeup design for this film?
Everything starts with meetings with director Francis Lawrence and costume designer Trish Summerville. They had ideas for some of the characters, and an overall style for the film. Like the other Hunger Games, this film is set in the future. but Francis wanted it to have a touch of a period look, with a nod toward the 1940s and 1950s. I then incorporated those elements into character-specific inspiration boards and refined and mapped out each of the characters' looks.
How do the looks reflect the socioeconomic differences of the areas?
The Capitol was the wealthiest, so the people were very put together. This was where the background actors had the most classic 1940-50s looks. The Academy, where the mentors are, is also located in The Capitol, so those looks were more put together. The mentors were fresh-faced for the day-to-day, and more stylized and dressed up for the reaping day. This was their most glamorous and futuristic look. Each of them had a specific makeup design to complement their costumes. District 12, where Lucy Gray is from, was the coal mining district. Francis wanted it to look like old black-and- white photos of the Appalachian region in the 1930s/40s. The colors were muted, and the people were covered in coal. grease, soot, and sweat.
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