It’s been more than a century since Max Schreck terrified audiences as Count Orlok in F.W. Murnau’s “Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror.” Now, Robert Eggers has crafted his own vision of Gothic dread in 1830s Germany and Romania. His adaptation stars Bill Skarsgård as the titular decaying vampire and Lily-Rose Depp as newlywed Ellen Hutter, whose dark visions and bloody tears foreshadow the count’s arrival. Though filmmaking techniques have certainly evolved since the 1920s, Eggers’ “Nosferatu” employed practical effects to achieve its thrills and chills.
Here, Oscar-nominated artists David White (prosthetic makeup effects designer), Traci Loader (makeup designer), and Suzanne Stokes-Munton (hair designer) explain how they brought Eggers’ film to life.
David, what conversations did you have with Robert about Murnau’s 1922 film?
David White: All of us have tremendous respect for the original. It brings us back to our childhood. Robert and I just both knew it was something that you’re not going to try and recreate. Also, you’ve got to understand that the camera techniques and the processes are so much more advanced now, so we’ve got to be on our toes with the materials and how we approach it. So [we created] a brand-new look, and it was refreshing. It felt natural because the foundations were so strong with Robert’s vision.
Making Bodies, Boobs + Blood Look Real in ‘The Substance’ Suzanne, you’ve done a lot of period work, and Robert’s films are a great hybrid of period and horror. What was your experience like working with Robert for the first time?
Suzanne Stokes-Munton I’ve worked with a lot of auteurs, so I’m used to that attention to detail and I flourish in it. It pushes you, and that’s what you still want after 48 years [in the industry]; you still want to be pushed. You want to do the best you can. He was collaborative, as Traci says. It’s an incredibly inclusive way of filming. I’ve watched every single frame, and that’s a joy because you’re part of it…. It shows in everybody’s work.
Traci, you previously collaborated with Robert on “The Witch” and “The Lighthouse.” What was it like to work with him again on “Nosferatu”?
Traci Loader: I know how Robert works now, and I understand his attention to detail and very specific vision. Going into prep, he’s so organized. We get a bible with all the characters in it and what he has in mind for each. We sit down and talk about each person and each stage of their journey and what he would like to see.
Then, we test each [look]. Sometimes, you test it once and it’s perfect; other times, you have to keep tweaking it. This goes for everyone, from number one in the cast down to the background actors. Every background performer is tested and approved because of the way Robert shoots; they may get a close-up.
Traci Loader and Lily-Rose Depp on set Credit: Aidan Morgan
When you were conceiving makeup colors, did you take the way cinematographer Jarin Blaschke was lighting the film into account?
TL: I say ‘color theory,’ but it’s such an overused term now; it’s more about color correction. Because I’ve worked with Jarin before, I know how he lights, and I have makeup lights in the trailer. He gives me gels comparable to the filters and gels he’s using so that I can get the same lighting when I’m doing the makeup.
Bill Skarsgård also played Pennywise in the 2017 remake of “It.” Is it helpful when an actor has done a lot of prosthetics work before?
DW: It’s a dream! We were going to shoot this movie a while ago, and Bill wasn’t available, so he had a life cast done. It came over, and we started working on it. But as we got closer to the shooting, we noticed that Bill had been on a special diet, which was reducing his body mass a hell of a lot. I asked the producers to have a new life cast created. This is two months before we’re going to shoot. I was so pleased we got that because it allowed us to correct all the information. There was a lot of prep, a lot of work. Bill was terrific to work with because of that knowledge of prosthetics. He understood that we had to be that accurate.
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Suzanne, when you were researching hairstyles, did you look at artwork from the period?
SSM: I come from an art history background; that’s what I did at college. It’s not good enough to just look at portraits of the period—you have to know how people lived and what they could do. With Lily’s hair, I specifically wanted it to look like she [styled] it herself. Somebody from that period would twist it and braid it and put it up themselves. I wanted it to be a complete contrast to Emma Corrin’s character, [Anna Harding], because she’s more the “Stepford Wives”–type person. She’s got a maid.
How long did Bill spend in the makeup chair on days when scenes were being filmed that showed Count Orlok’s full body?
DW: It would be about six and a half hours. That’s a long time, but he would have breaks. The head and the hands would be done, and then we’d work on the body for another two hours and 45 minutes. It’s not just Stuart Richards and Vicky Holt, who were the lead application artists. There were about six of us going around and making sure that Bill was happy and all the pieces were stuck down. It’s quite a massive process. You can’t reuse these pieces, so everything goes in the bin at the end of the day or is kept for a color reference for continuity. And then it’s back in the chair with a whole brand-new set, which is being prepped in another room.
Traci, can you talk about what went into designing the effect of Ellen weeping blood?
TL: Oh, those are her real tears. [Laughs] For that possessed look, we discussed what we could do to make it look creative. With the eyes, I said, “Well, there is an eye blood; we can try it.” I tried it on someone else, and he liked it, so we did it on Lily. You can’t control liquid—so the first time, it [appeared as] a double line. And that’s the [shot] you actually see.
Is the shadow of Orlok’s fingers, shown on Ellen’s face, all practical effects?
DW: Yeah, a lot of it is practical. Robert was crazy about getting those fingers of Bill’s as gnarly and dexterous as possible—elongated spider-like. That was because of the shadow work that was coming up. So Bill could then do his magic on different kinds of elements and then reproduce it and put it into the right scene.
One character who has an intense transformation is Orlok’s devoted servant Knock (Simon McBurney). Suzanne, can you talk about his hair during his descent into madness?
SSM: I’ve worked with Simon quite a few times before, and I’ve known him for years. I managed to persuade him to shave his head badly and bleach it white. He has a wig in the first part, but I knew it’d be more comfortable for him in the latter bit, and it would give Traci room to do her bits of psoriasis. I thought it would be much more comfortable with what he had to do, and he wouldn’t have to worry about it. He’s a good egg, and he went for it.
What is one thing you learned working on this movie that you’re going to take forward into another project?
SSM: You never stop learning. It’s a joy to work in different countries with different people because there’s never a right or wrong way to do it. There are different ways and different reasons for doing things. So my advice is to be a sponge.
TL: You’re always picking up different tricks, techniques, or ways of doing stuff from different people. With prosthetics, Stuart was helping me apply the bite at the very beginning. It was aged, and he was doing this thing with the glue to make it more textured. It’s so simple, but it’s so cool. I just never thought of doing it that way.
DW: Preparing [means] being prepared. It’s something we all do anyway, but especially in a movie like this, be extremely well-prepared for anything that comes around the corner. Don’t let your guard down. Working with Robert, you’ve got to be sharp; and that’s a good thing—an important thing.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
This story originally appeared in the Feb. 13 issue of Backstage Magazine.