The Mind Behind The Makeup

I thought that the first time I had ever heard of Ve Neill was when I was watching a tv show called Faceoff. I had been watching a few episodes and she was one of judges who evaluated the prosthetics and makeup created by the various contestants. It wasn't until the show provided some background information on each judge that I realized I had seen Ve Neill's creations a million times before. Ve Neill is the brilliant mind behind the faces in Beetlejuice, the amazing transformation of Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire, the iconic look of Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean, the elaborate characters from The Hunger Games, and countless other characters and monsters. I had seen her work in numerous movies, but had never known who the creative mind was behind the characters.

Ve Neill had known she wanted to create monsters since the age of 5. After she watched Frankenstein for the first time, she was constantly dressing her cousins up and putting makeup on them with whatever products she could fine. Unfortunately, very few women worked in the industry at the time, so she turned to fashion instead. Quickly realizing this was not what she wanted to do, Ve Neill left the fashion industry and began doing makeup and designing costumes for rock and roll bands in the 70s. It wasn't until she went to a science fiction convention when she was 18 that she realized her potential as a makeup artist. At the convention she met a man named Fred Phillips, most famously known for his work on the makeup in Star Trek. Fred Phillips took her under his wing and began mentoring her. He even gave her one of her first jobs working with him on Star Trek. After that, she began working her way up and became the lead makeup artist on numerous films, earning awards for her art. She continues to work on films, but also teaches classes and judges on Faceoff.

I believe Ve Neill would fall under Kaufman's description of a pro-C creative. Although she is the one who is physically creating the monsters and characters, Ve Neill describes her work more as helping to make the directors' visions come to life. The process for her creativity involves working closely with the directors to understand their ideas and working with the actors to see how their personalities will be emphasized by the makeup. Her creativity stems from collaboration with others and constantly learning new techniques for application and blending. I think Kaufman would describe her as a pro-C creative because she didn't create a new form of art or completely revolutionize makeup art, but she is advancing the industry by teaching others the various techniques and constantly perfecting and learning new ones for herself. Ve Neill was once asked why she didn't do traditional movie makeup, and she responded with, "anyone can do that. That part's easy. I wanted to do this other stuff." I think this is why she is creative. She had the passion for creating monsters at such a young age and, even though this form or movie makeup was much more difficult, especially for a woman at the time, the difficulty and want to bring someone else's ideas to life and learn new skills along the way are what motivated her and her creativity.

Resources:
https://hello-sunshine.com/post/the-storytellers-ve-neill
Ve Neill - Director of Education ...cinemamakeup.com
FX makeup artist Ve Neill ...pinterest.com