Caroline Aquin - Special effects Make-up artist

Translated from French

WHAT IS YOUR JOB? HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR WORK?

My name is Caroline Aquin, and I’ve been working in special effects make-up since 1997. In the studio, I’m mainly a sculptor/moulder, and on the set I apply the make-up and prosthetics. My job is often to transform the actors: it could be to age them, turn them into monsters, or even kill them off!

WHAT PART OF THE JOB DO YOU LIKE THE BEST?

The sculpting. I love it! Creating, whether in the studio or on set: it’s great to create a character. I enjoy the transformations. For example, on X-Men, I had the opportunity to do some pretty cool transformations in a surrealist style. We also did some great aging work on Paul à Québec.

WHAT SKILLS DO YOU NEED TO DO THIS JOB?

I think you have to be an artist. A keen eye for colour is essential in sculpture, in painting in make-up. You also need to have an eye for detail. Even when a make-up job takes 4 hours, it’s never finished; you can always add detail and refine it.

IS THERE AN ANECDOTE ABOUT YOUR WORK THAT COMES TO MIND?

It can be fun to walk down the street with our characters during the lunch break. Last year, we were shooting a zombie movie in the Hochelaga neighbourhood. We went out into the street with a character who was over 8 feet tall, a real colossus! You should have seen how many cars stopped! We had to keep people from taking photos. It was pretty funny!

HOW DO YOU SEE THE FUTURE OF THE PROFESSION?

We’ve been concerned about computer-generated SFX for quite a while. At first, we were afraid that digital make-up could replace us. But that hasn’t happened. Many actors and directors want to see the make-up immediately, which is not possible with post-production effects. If you’re talking about aging, for example, the make-up and prosthetics let the actors see themselves as old “for real” and help their performance.

There’s a lot of talk about artificial intelligence too. It seems to be the topic of the day! We’re seeing it with the writers’ strike in the States. Of course it’s a bit scary for us, but we’re already using AI in our work. I do 3D sculpting, for example. 

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS THE QUEBEC AUDIOVISUAL INDUSTRY’S GREATEST STRENGTH?

I’ve worked on many very interesting projects in Quebec. I think our strength here is in cinema. We make unique auteur films that travel the world, with terrific writing, and we’re able to do great things without necessarily having big budgets. That’s extraordinary!

I had the good fortune to work on C.R.A.Z.Y. with Jean-Marc Vallée, who is unfortunately no longer with us. I also worked on his film Café de Flore. They’re wonderful, intelligent films, full of poetry. I’m glad we have that in Quebec!