editoriallinks

‘Bridgerton’ Making a Scene Video Series: Directing

‘Bridgerton’ Making a Scene Video Series: The Cast

strong

Television

Director, Short Form Content at Shondaland.com

Standard Article

Long Form Article

Listicle

Bridgerton

Video

Hearst Editorial

(upbeat music) - On a scene like the wedding scene, which is a rather large one, we have got almost the maximum amount of actors in, which means that my main team, who consists of 22 people, might be sort of at least tripled, because we also have got all of the, rest of the town that needs to be there, we've got the queen, we've got the ladies in waiting, like, we have to fill a church. We need to have a hairstyle, that can hold the weight of the veil of Edwena, and the tiara when she's running away, you have to create makeup that can withstand tears. - I think that there is so much to commend this show on, and I think just as much as the acting, and I don't think I'd fully feel like Edwina, without the costumes and the hair and the makeup, like it's now part of the process, of me preparing for the scene. - The pre-call of something like this, could be up to four hours, so it's quite a lot to sort of think about, when do we put on the tiara and the veil? - I am the nightmare for hair and makeup, because my hair is about a millimeter high, so this is a 360 degree wig from Waqqas Sheikh, who is a wig genius, and there is a flare, and a particularity, that is about my personality, sieved through the character of Lady Danbury, and how we bring all those elements together, to create this on-screen Lady Danbury, and it gives me the confidence or the wobbliness, or whatever it is I need to be playing at that time, to sort of tell the story visually, as well as the, (inaudible) that I will be doing. (crowd murmuring) - Here's the, here's the crew right here. - [Camera man] Alright, camera set. - Hair and makeup, needs to work really close with costume, let's say you've got the fascinated, it's got a beautiful movement, then you want that movement to follow through, in the hairstyle as well, so you have to work really well with costume. - We're constantly on the phone, we're constantly checking in, it's really important that the two work together. For Edwina, I wanted her to have a veil for the drama, so this was a discussion with Erika, of how the veil would sit in our hair. And we have this kind of back and forth discussion, of what's working for both of us, and visually what works best, so that's really nice to have that relationship with her. - And other person that we've really needs, to be our best friend ever is obviously, the lighting and camera departments, where are we gonna see this hair shape,? is this person gonna be stand back lit in a window, that maybe I would steer away from doing something, that may look frizzy back lit. One look that you put on in the morning, you might have shot on before, in one set of lighting, if you then moved them into an other lighting, they might look totally different, and you might have to just warm it up just because of that, you might need help with a camera angle, or maybe just move light episode slightly, to just help that you can't see an edge, or something like that. So you know, you work really tightly with all the different departments. When I walk around looking at people on set, I obviously done a test with the actors before, so we know what they are gonna look like, I've also seen a lineup of all of the extras, but so much can happen from when I seen it, to when it's gonna be shot at, it might have been bloody hurricanes, somebody might have just fallen asleep, somebody might have stepped on something, and the wig might have slipped, and because there is such a vast amount number of people, even though most everybody has got a person, that looks after them, I still just have a look at it to make sure, that it's nothing that I overseen, and I think some days you see things, and some days you don't, people are getting out for 3:30 in the morning, and maybe coming home at like nine o'clock at night, what we do as a team is just trying and help each other out, and I think that that's really important, because it's a really, really hard job that we are doing. (upbeat music) - We spend so much of our time in hair makeup, and it's always such a good vibe, I remember meeting Erika for the first time, and she had these plans for how she wanted, Colin to look, and how she wanted me to feel within the show, especially coming back from traveling, what was really important to me, and what she did so well was make me feel, like my opinion was important, and like essential to the conversation. - When, like the wig comes on, like I do suddenly go, okay, So is like, and then also you start your days with them, and you end your days with makeup, book ending your days, with those wonderful people, it's like lovely you know, and it's a lot of energy that they will have to, 'cause they're starting their day with us, and they've got so much energy, and it's beautiful, and they don't need to be like that, but they are because they're wonderful people. They're dealing with mad amount of essays, who all look magazine, box fresh. - The Queen's wig, this big one over there, it's almost like a special effect on its own, when we put on that wig, like she can't sit in a car wearing it, so we have to travel her to location, before she puts on a wig, and that's happened with all of these wigs, so it's all about sort of trying to figure out the location, where can we do it,? and is there enough light, and like all of that kind of stuff, so it's a constant problem solving, if I have got two hours with one person, then they also have to have breakfast, and they also have to be in with costume, they also have to be in with sound, because sound need to wire everything, so there is so much that it has to happen, before the camera can actually turn over on anyone, that even the slight is one minute, is just so important, and you have to be really, really good at time keeping. - [Director] Ready, and Action. - Everything that we do literally, it's a sandcastle. So whilst I build is sandcastle, I have to be happy, it might be that the waves comes and get it, before it's ever gonna be shot at, it might never be seen, it could be that they never even shoot on it, it could be that they edited out, I might have spent like three weeks, on something that they're never gonna show, so I think that that's the, the secret of sanity, in this industry is just, be happy with the sandcastle when you make it, you don't need an audience for it. (upbeat music)

Bridgerton's Hair & Makeup Designer, Erika Okvist, shares how she and her team contributed to Anthony and Edwina's pivotal wedding scene in the second season.