PITTSBURGH — Production sources on the set of a new sci-fi thriller confirmed Friday that the film’s invisible man requires two full hours in the hair and makeup chair before every shoot.
“You can’t just put someone in front of a camera and expect them to look believably imperceptible,” said makeup department head Bea Ruttenberg. She noted that her team spends 45 minutes each morning blending the void to perfectly match the actor’s natural lack of skin tone.
“If we don’t set his transparency with a matte powder, his non-existence looks completely washed out and oily under the studio lights,” Ruttenberg said. “The audience just won’t buy it.”
The crew also has to account for continuity. “We spend a good half hour styling the hair he doesn’t have,” Ruttenberg added. “We have to make sure the empty space maintains a consistent volume between takes.”
At press time, the director had temporarily halted filming to have the makeup team cover up a distracting blemish that had suddenly broken out across the actor’s complete absence of a face.
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