Project #3

Behind the Mask

Making a documentary about two Hollywood makeup artists was a daunting task. Greg and I arrived at The Original Hollywood Horror Show, a theatrical production put on by Dean and Starr Jones, and were immediately thrown in the chaotic rush of a night just prior to Halloween.
People trickled in throughout the night, making b-roll and interviews a difficult, and sometimes impossible, task.
Working only with the truth is an obvious aspect of documentary. Although it may seem convenient to be able to rely only what has happened, it added one more element of confusion to the mayhem of film production at a haunted house.
When Dean and Starr had a chance to sit down with us, the haunted house was still operating. This made trying to capture audio near impossible, especially with chainsaws, screaming and horrifying music in the background.
Using the lav mics, Greg and I were able to overcome some of the obstacles of a bad filming location. Although there is still some ambient sound on the track, I felt like we were able to cover up this mistake using a soundtrack.
The main issue we faced in the creation of the documentary was conveying some kind of conflict within the story. Because of their tremendous successes, we mainly cover their accomplishments and only touch on some of the difficulties they’ve had.
Those conflicts that Dean and Starr mentioned were only touched on and had very little to do with their makeup career, making it difficult to thread them into a piece about the exciting career about two glamorous makeup artists.
If reproducing the story, I would attempt to do the interviews outside, in nice lighting, at the horror show. The show is a production they’ve put on for 21 years, and something they put a great deal of themselves into. I would also ask them to explain a bit more about the conflicts in their lives.
Overall, I feel that given our obstacles of limited space, Greg and I rose to the challenge of creating an entertaining documentary.

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