Makeup art is all about making the impossible possible. And in the recent local movie production ‘Hill of Ilha Verde’, local makeup artist Ng Ka Lai performed her magic, painting bruises all over the legs of an actress, making her look as if she had been physically abused.
Applying theatrical makeup requires great dedication and it took her about five hours to prepare. Ng would arrive at the film-shoot location at 3 am and start to work with the actors. The end result was impressive, creating a visual impact that convinces audiences of the domestic violence depicted in the scenes.
According to Ng, there are many close-ups in the movie as the director wanted to amplify the actor’s facial expressions, and thus the makeup plays a key role. Her job was to provide the actors with the “desired look” and to bring out the facial features that best fit their characteristics in the film.
Prior to this movie, the 23-year-old took part in several popular film productions in China, including “Painted Skin, The Resurrection”, Jacky Chan’s “Chinese Zodiac” and “The Bullet Vanishes”.
Ng has loved makeup art since she was small. After graduating from high school, she worked in casinos for two years to save up money. Then she flew to Beijing to learn the art as an apprentice to Xiao Jin, a renowned Chinese makeup designer, who has worked in the industry for over a decade.
“I just took the liberty of writing to him, asking his permission to learn his skills and techniques. Then he gave me a try. My first assignment was to work for Chinese singer Li Yuchun for her new music video.”
And so her career as a makeup artist began.
Xiao admired Ng’s dedication to her work and felt confident in her skills, so he introduced her to some movie productions.
“I was so fortunate. He has dozens of apprentices and he chose me to help him,” she says. “I followed him to work in the film industry for over a year.”
For Ng, the most enjoyable part of her job is standing back and watching how the performers act with her makeup on. In the highly successful movie “Painted Skin, The Resurrection”, she vividly remembers the famous scene where both lead actresses Vicki Zhao and Zhou Xun magically exchange their faces in the pool.
“We spent great time and effort on the makeup so that the scene looked very real. The dramatic effect was so gorgeous and both actresses looked artistically perfect.” she says.
But movie making is not all just fame and glamour, and working on the ‘Hill of Ilha Verde’ production earlier this year sometimes required Ng to work 24 hours straight. Whenever the team started to shoot and they needed someone to do makeup, she had to be on stand-by all the time.
“It was quite challenging and tiring as our director demanded very high quality in the filming, but I’m happy pursuing my dream,” she adds.