Behind the Scenes: Dressing the “Geisha”

By April MacIntyre Feb 18, 2006, 8:34 GMT

The transformation of mere mortal woman to Geisha is most visibly evidenced by her "oshiroi", the centuries old white makeup still worn today by (male) Kabuki actors.
 
More than wardrobe or intense tutelage in the dance, fan and tea arts does this transformative make-up technique take the unadorned artist into her mystical persona of the Geisha- the look defined by a painted white mask, corners of the eyes dramatically outlined and vivid painted red mouth, small and upturned, painted upper cheeks in pink, and the nape of the neck left exposed as bare skin with subtle v-shaped patterns.

The Maiko are apprenticing Geisha, and their look is designed to display innocence, the use of pink pigments more than red. To make director Rob Marshall’s ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ realistic, a crack team of Japanese and American make-up artists combined forces to create the authenticity this film required to portray main character Sayuri’s bittersweet timeline.

Make-up department head Kate Biscoe, and make-up designer Noriko Watanabe worked together and trained a team of 100 artists for this rigorous task. Over 60 were from MAHS Local 706. The Joe Blasco School let the team use three of their classrooms for workshops. 

Said Watanabe, “Arthur Golden’s novel is my favorite American story about my mother country, and it was so much fun and challenging to tell the story from the point of view of a make-up artist. It was also a great honor for me to become a member of Makeup and Hairstylists Local 706 on this.”

Watanabe had learned the traditional makeup techniques growing up in Japan. Prior to pre-production, she returned to Japan and visited with many Geisha makeup artists and masters of Japanese dance to absorb their distinct look. 

“Overall, my makeup design was about keeping the principles of authenticity and meaning of traditional geisha makeup, but we softened some parts and accentuated others - for example, the nape shape,” she said.

Kate Biscoe's help was invaluable in assembling and educating the team. Biscoe, recently make-up department head for ‘Factory Girl’ and also ‘Fur-The Diane Arbus Story’, immersed herself in the traditional art of perfecting the Oshiroi foundation- teaching the artists the proper preparation required. The face had to be oil free and covered by Bintsuke Abura all over in perfect consistency to keep the foundation from falling off or applying unevenly.

Key make up-Tod McIntosh sculpted Nobu's scar-then passed this prosthetic to Christian Tinsley, who finalized the scars, which were then applied by Ben Nye, with false teeth cast and made by Art Sakamoto. “We had a great, hard working team on this movie -a wonderful collaboration of teamwork,” added Kate Biscoe and Noriko Watanabe.

To create the distinctive upswept subdued Shimada hairstyles-never to be worn down in public unless the geisha was performing a stage role or dance, required a passionate eye for detail and authenticity. Hair designer Lyndell Quiyou and department head Kelvin Trahan and their team in the hair trailer worked equally hard alongside the make-up team. Trahan and Quiyou had assembled a class of 30+ stylists of Local 706 for intensive training. This assemblage became the core group that worked together throughout the film.

Immersing themselves in the period looks and specific hair styles the geisha and young maiko would have worn, this team of hair stylists and wigmakers kept the overall look of the hair styles small-with the exception of Hatsumomo, played by Gong Li, whose villainous character was set off by dramatic high hairstyles. The pivotal dance scene where Sayuri performs to her bidding suitors is set off by her hairpiece worn down with a red trussed ponytail-stylized in Kabuki tradition with long pieces hanging for a more powerful look, enhancing the visual impact her dance makes on her audience.

Lyndell’s training was primarily self-taught. Using her extensive library and instructional DVD and book from Japan on the subject of Geishas and hairstyles, she commented, “The final hair design is less of the traditional Geisha look that we all know, but more inspired by the courtesans from the Edo period – which director Rob Marshall suggested looking at for reference.  He wanted the actresses to have a more flattering look than that of the traditional Geisha, and the styles from that period gave me a twist on the silhouette that worked to satisfy his wishes.”