Interview with Nicoleta Tigoulet

The Horror Club speaks to Make-Up Artist, Nicoleta Tigoulet, about her work and the influences on them, among other things.

Tell us about yourself?

I’m a fan of horror movies and special effects since I was a kid. I knew I wanted to work in horror movies,  but not how. That may be a little bit weird but when I discovered how many people are working on a set I didn’t know which path to choose. Later I discovered I liked make-up and I started to practice it. Now I am doing make-up for short films and I’m looking forward to more in the future.

The photos you’ve attached, what are they about?

The one with the wound is about a mother who loses her daughter in a car accident. Since then she starts having nightmares and goes a little bit crazy. The writer/director of this movie wanted to show off all the feelings and emotions someone goes through after losing a loved one.

The photos with the old lady are from a short film for a festival. It’s about a grandmother who recevies animals as gifts from her grandchildren. But she has amnesia and she does not see well and takes all the poor animals for things like pillows, floorcloth etc. The message for this film was that animals are not gifts, they are living beings and they must be treated well.

What film make-up artists have inspired you?

I have several, but the one I really got attached to is Ve Neill. She started loving horror movies when she was young and so do I (she was about 5 years old and I was 8). She won several awards for her work. I like her prosthetics and she has a great imagination. I take her as a role model for me. I would go as far enough to say she’s my mentor, even if I don’t know her personally.

Which Horror figure’s make-up do you enjoy the most?

I like Stephen King’s books very much, but I don’t like clowns. That’s why I think they’re the best for the horror movies. Because of this I really enjoyed “It”. And Pennywise’s new makeup has nothing to do with the classic clowns. All of his look is much older and I think that’s what makes him even more creepy. Oh, and let’s not forget the teeth! That’s brilliant!

Do you belive in practical effects (make-up on the face) or CGI?

I don’t think we should compare these two effects like this. For me, both of them have their importance in films. And I don’t think there is bad CGI or bad practical effects. All that matters is what you want to do with the movie. You can combine the two perfectly if you know how to do it and what final product you want.

I heard people say: “Oh, they used CGI, that’s not a great film”. Well, it depends on how the CGI was made. I admit that there are some films with this effect that aren’t so good, but it doesn’t mean all the films who use it are neccessarly bad. We shouldn’t start with “practical effects vs CGI” cause he practice will be lost from the start. Some are good with computers, others are good with their hands.

What are your plans for 2018?

For 2018, I wish I’ll have as many projects as last year. As for my skills I’m looking forward to improving them and getting better than before. I always try to get better than I was before, and I never give up on something no matter how hard it is. So I’ll do the same thing this year too.

Photo by Nicoleta

Photo by Romain Jacquot