During my
visit to the set of
7de Laan I had a coffee and gossip with the show's make-up artist Ester Venter, who's been head of make-up on the show since it started six and a half years ago.
The make-up room she wields her wand in is a brightly lit, fully stocked, sort of cramped but also-not alcove of activity that has counter tops laden with every type of make-up product invented, including creams, hairsprays, wigs, towels and photographs.
Throughout the day the show's actors pop in and out to have their mugs organised before their scenes and in between, when they’re acting on set, they’re kept sparkly by Ester’s assistants.
Tashi: How did you first hear about the job of being the make-up artist on 7de Laan?
Ester: I worked with the producer in Cape Town – I moved up from Cape Town to join the production. I’d worked with Annie Basson years before the show even started.
Tashi: So make-up has always been your passion?
Ester: Uh no – I’ve done many things in my life – but we don’t want to go into that.
Tashi: Mmm - that sounds interesting.
Ester: I used to be a teacher – that’s just one indication.
Tashi: I don’t know why anyone would want to be a teacher – it just seems like so much pressure and hard work.
Ester: It was good fun when it lasted – but it wasn’t what I wanted to do.
Tashi: I don’t think anyone can be a teacher for forever.
Ester: I believe you do get born teachers and that some people are meant to teach other people. I was a very good teacher – I’m sorry to say, haha -
Tashi: What did you teach?
Ester: Afrikaans for high school kids. I said I’d never teach again but strangely enough I started City ‘Varsity film school’s art department for them so I lectured for them for a few years. Shortly after that I came to Johannesburg to join 7de Laan.
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Ester making up actress Melanie du Bois (Felicity)
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Tashi: What is an average day on set like for you?
Ester: My day starts around 9am when I need to get the people for the first scenes ready. I’ve got assistants to help me and as the day progresses we need to make sure that everybody’s ready at least an hour before a certain scene.
It’s not only the make-up that counts in the schedule – they also all have to go for rehearsals so you have to slot your make-up in between scenes and rehearsals and hair appointments and whatever.
Tashi: You obviously have a relationship with each of the actors?
Ester: For sure, it’s not like … somebody else said the other day – a guy named Pepsi - he works in lighting – somebody asked him: “So where do you work?” and he said: “But I don’t work. I’m just with family.” It’s like that. I could really identify with that answer.
Tashi: So once you get them all done in the morning, then you’re here through the day to keep them topped up?
Ester: Yes and I’ve got an assistant on the floor who makes sure they don’t shine in between scenes. She touches them up with powder and lipstick and makes sure everything looks as fresh as when they’ve left my chair.
Tashi: What do you go for when you’re doing make-up? You’re a make-up artist and you get presented with a face – where do you start? What do you aim for?
Ester: It depends on the character. Obviously if you have a character like Marel Terreblanche - who’s like the matriarch of the soapie – she would have beauty make-up for an older woman - nothing too garish.
Then you get somebody like Hilda. She works at the deli and she’s an older woman so she’d just go for the more natural look but you try to do something with the make-up that’s unique to her. So her blusher for example, it’s never perfectly blended. It’s always like two little dots on her face – she’s trying but she’s not really getting there.
Sometimes you’ve got a no make-up look to do – so if somebody wakes up early in the morning, they’ve got to look like they’ve got no make-up on but obviously they’ve got a lot of make-up on. Basically it all depends on the character as to what kind of make-up you’re going to go for.
Tashi: What’s a make-up something that you recall as being particularly challenging.
Ester: Ooog!! Funny you should ask - the most challenging thing I’ve done on 7de Laan was recently – doing that scar on Liam’s face.
It’s a nightmare because depending on the lighting of the day, the scar has to change in colour and be right every single time – and it isn’t easy. Apparently people think it’s looking fine so I’m happy.
Tashi: I can imagine it would be really tricky to keep it looking exactly the same.
Ester: I actually made a mould of the intial scar and make a new latex scar every day to put a new scar on.
Tashi: What’s the most enjoyable aspect of make-up?
Ester: I don’t really think it’s about the make-up – if you think about it – some of these people’s faces - I’ve been here since the beginning so I’ve done some of their faces more than a thousand times so if you go for that you’d think it could be boring. It really is the interaction with the people that makes this job.
Tashi: It’s quite zen isn’t it? Like the actor going to make-up is when they get into their character.
Ester: Ja, we have a lot of fun in the make-up room. It’s really the hubbub of the whole place but sometimes – especially shortly before scenes - the actors need to concentrate so you can’t have the radio playing too loudly or you can’t chat with them like you would have done the day before. You just need to leave them alone and they sit there and I do the make-up and shut-up.
Tashi: So you pick up on how they’re feeling.
Ester: After so many years you know exactly what you need to do.