How did you come to work on Saltburn?
My agent at The Milton Agency contacted me about a script she thought I might be interested in. She mentioned the director was Emerald Fennell and that was enough for me! Knowing Emerald’s brilliant debut and award-winning film Promising Young Woman, I was sold. I always read the script several times before meeting with a director, and follow up with visual prep for initial ideas. Fortunately, I was on the same page as Emerald, and excitingly for me, that was that!
What was your design process like?
The design process began with character ideas and inspiration, drawing from both Emerald’s detail-laden script and research into the 2007 period, which is where most of the film is set. Emerald is incredibly visual, and her attention to detail was evident in the mood board package she had put together. I put together a magazine-sized lookbook for the principal characters and the background artists, and along with Emerald’s imagery, it all went into the mix. The outcome was a list of elements that included tattoos, hair extensions, side bangs, fake tan, grungy eyeliner, eyebrow piercings, and clean-shaven boys with straightened and side-swept bangs or messy mid-length looks. Once I had the cast, the collaboration went further, and together we reached the looks we wanted to achieve. Fundamental to this was, with the British ruling class, the less dressed up, the wealthier one was. So for makeup and hair, it was all about a casual or disheveled elegance, and the Cattons needed to look real against the grandiose backdrop of Saltburn.
Did you make any changes to Barry Keoghan’s makeup to reflect the evolution of Oliver’s personality in the film?
The script reveals three key points at which Oliver makes a transition. These broke down to his intro at Oxford as a self-styled teenager, inspired by Zac Efron’s 2006-era hair, to a Felix-wannabe as he inveigles his way into his new friend’s life, and finally into an urbane and well-groomed modern day man. All of these were achieved most noticeably with a change in hairstyle. Oliver’s makeup started natural and youthful, for which I used Tom Ford Soft Matte Traceless foundation to suit his skin tone, adding flushed cheeks and sweat according to the story and action. In contrast, for the well-groomed and delicately aged Oliver, I applied a more tanned Tom Ford foundation, along with the Reel Creations Greg Cannom Aging Palette, to add a look of wealth and refinement to his face. And of course, the final change in hairstyle had a big impact.
What went into designing Carey Mulligan’s Pamela character?
The idea that she should be an eye-catching redhead, in bold contrast to Venetia and Elspeth, started me off. I discovered a Chanel makeup campaign from 2007, which set the tone. Once I put together mood boards and hairstyle inspiration, which stemmed from Karen Elson, with a little Kate Bush and Florence Welch, Emerald and I had a good idea of where we wanted to go, subject to discussion with Carey. Carey was filming Maestro, so we had a meeting over Zoom to discuss these looks. I reached out to Carey’s wig maker who is U.K.-based, to create a long wig for her, which we cut and styled during her fitting. Red hair samples were tested in the library, where we first met Pamela, to make sure we had a color that would work against the red walls of the room. Having seen costume designer Sophie Canale’s vision for the costumes, it was clear the doll-like, slight Pierrot influence with a hint of a ‘30s was going to work well.
How about Alison Oliver as Venetia?
Designing Venetia was a treat! From my first read of the script, the rock chic of Kate Moss sprung to mind—the grungy kohl eyeliner and festival vibe. Although not entirely period-accurate, Georgia May Jagger also inspired the look I envisaged, with brittle, bleached hair and dark roots. What’s been fascinating to see since Saltburn was released is the reinvention of Venetia’s look on TikTok! The simplicity of this look is what gives it its authenticity. There’s fake tan, a little foundation, no contouring, bronzer, some baby pink powder blush, and smudgy kohl eyeliner with mascara. Topped off with a frosted pink lip. That’s it.
What inspired some of Pamela and Venetia’s tattoos?
Emerald wanted to see Pamela’s arms adorned with tattoos of a deliberately hand-drawn quality. The resulting tattoos were inspired by a variety of sources, including Amy Winehouse, Russian mob ring tattoos, and nightmares about tooth loss. A Damien Hirst Pharmacy-era-inspired tattoo references a former rock star relationship, and a lucky horseshoe, despite her bad luck, is my homage to Lucky Chap, the film’s production company. The film is full of Easter eggs and these became part of the fun between departments. Once Emerald approved the designs, we used ProCreate to transform the drawings into artwork, testing for the preferred tattoo colors as we did so. We then printed the designs in-house on tattoo transfer paper.
Some of Venetia’s tattoos mirror those of Felix’s, including stars from the family crest. Her inner forearm tattoo is a linear design inspired by the Pi sequence and a playful reference to the Shepherd’s Pie scene. She has a Sailor Jerry inspired rose tattoo on her right shoulder blade and a lightning bolt on her ankle.
What was the most enjoyable aspect of your experience working on this project?
This will sound corny, but truthfully, when you have a great leader like Emerald Fennell at the heart, with a brilliant cast and crew, who are so inspired, encouraged, included, and invested in the movie, you’re on to a winning experience for the entire project. Against the glorious backdrop of Oxford and Saltburn, what’s not to love?
Words: Shannon Levy
Photos: Courtesy of MGM and Amazon Studios
