Saltburn, a fabulously dark and perverse fairytale of manic infatuation, tells the story of a student at Oxford who becomes enthralled by a wealthier classmate. Since its release in November the movie has dominated social media with the infamous bathtub and grave scenes continuing to fuel dinner party conversations. A masterpiece of cinematography, gothic beauty and noughties styling, make-up artist Sian Miller (after her double MUAH Guild Awards win in LA) on how she created the film’s complex characters.
Salt Burn Make-up artist Sian Miller
What was it like working with Emerald Fennell?
She is the best kind of director to work with because she is a details person and has an all round in depth view of the whole, of every aspect in film making. She’s incredibly into the detail. From the outset, when we started discussing the characters we were very much on the same page - you could say it was a meeting of the minds. Often on film sets there can be a barrier to get to people, to collaborate, but there was none of that on Saltburn. Emerald is very accessible. Her experience as an actor and writer, undeniably contributes to her great skills as a director.
How did you start creating the looks for each actor?
I start with the script and there are usually lots of signposts to where I should go. For me it’s about creating a character and that isn’t necessarily about creating perfection in terms of the look. It’s often the opposite. We create characters, and sometimes you have to do things clumsily and badly. I think contriving the uncontrived in my job is probably one of the hardest things. We’ve arrived at a period now, where looks tend to be overdone, and often the hair can appear almost like lego hair, with no strays or air in between. I’ve always hated that. I like to see the roughness around the edges. It grounds everything, it gives it a reality. It’s not editorial, we want to see these people to appear real.
For Venetia, she’s described as barefoot and gorgeous, but she’s cripplingly self-conscious – she’s probably got some kind of eating disorder and her sexuality is described by her mother as incontinent, and her image masks her issues, her boredom, and displays her need for attention. I looked back to a period of various kinds of icons like Kate Moss in 2006 and a slightly later era, Georgia May Jagger, where it was a time of blaringly obvious hair extensions, so we wanted that look with the bleach and the root shadow. Alison Oliver allowed me to bleach her hair, and to create the authentic brittle ends. When the early tests were first screened Margot Robbie came along to the and said, “Wow, look at the brittle ends, so good.”
The cast of Salt Burn
How did you convey the different between aristocracy and the nouveau riche?
It’s always something that I have been aware of growing upon Britain. There is a lot of shabbiness in true aristocracy , a casual kind of thrown-on moneyed, entitled elegance. The wealthier one is, the less dressed up one needs to be. That’s why the (expensive) cashmere is moth eaten…the Lalique bowl is full of cigarette ends. Venetia is the perfect example. She’s a bored teenager that raids her mother’s fabulous vintage wardrobe. There’s a grungy, Kate Moss era rockiness to her. For her make-up I took a back-to-basics approach; a sheer base, some corrector, grubby bronzer, a smudge of khohl and a mid- noughties frosted lip. And then of course the chipped dark grey nail polish.
What was your inspiration for the troubled Venetia played by Alison Oliver?
A character can jump off the page. To research I delve into all sorts of areas for research, looking at popular culture here, in America and in Europe. I look at music, street…high fashion. For Saltburn I plundered facebook because of course there was no Instagram or Tik Tok to revert back to. Who says what was the defining moment of an era actually is? I spent a lot of time looking at youth and late teen culture and the resurgence in Y2k fashion. Creating characters is all about the context.
The fringe, the tattoos…how much work went into Poor Dear Pamela, played by Carey Muligan?
We put the look together, then I emailed everything to Carey. The lack of prep time worked because there was a lot of trust between Carey and Emerald, and in turn with me. A central theme was that she should be uncomfortably dressed from breakfast through to bedtime. She’s almost corseted and can barely turn her neck in some costumes. She’s also very doll-like, slightly innocent, she has a Pierrot innocence, a mask of melancholy. For the overextended eyebrows I was inspired by the 30s. And her make-up colours are inspired by a Chanel 2007 campaign. For the tattoos I drew playing cards, dice and a horseshoe, because she’s so unlucky in love. I added the word ‘lucky’ inside the horseshoe, a nod to Lucky Chap, the production company behind the film. Pamela’s Damien Hirst Pharmacy-era capsule tattoo has ‘R.Ash’ written inside it for Richard Ashcroft from The Verve. Because the characters of Pamela and Elspeth came of age on the music scene dating rock stars.
What was it like meeting Margot Robbie, founder of production company Lucky Chap?
She’s such an incredibly capable and knowledgeable woman. She knows so much about the filming process, the technical stuff, cameras, lighting, frames – and she’s very down to earth. She made several visits to the set and was open and honest in an incredibly collaborative way. Of course, like all true film professionals, there was no sense of grandeur. Any movie is the sum of many parts, and the sense of openness and friendliness made everyone feel important. We knew we were making a special film.
How collaborative was Jacob Elordi, who plays Felix?
He was great, very collaborative. His eyebrow piercing was made from a fake nose ring bought from Amazon, and it was held in place with a silicone adhesive. Emerald wanting a brow piercing, and she had to fight some producers for it, who couldn’t understand why we would do that to the incredible handsome Jacob. But at that age, in 2007, an eyebrow piercing was really alluring. Nothing is ‘done’ about Jacob. When your forming a character every tiny detail counts, down to the Carhartt boot cut jeans and the Carpe Diem tattoo.
Did the film’s success surprise you?
Not one bit. I think it’s one of those films that commands a few watches. It’s had over 1 billion views on Tik Tok. It’s been phenomenal. People are throwing Saltburn parties and there was a Saltburn club night in NY the other night. The film really tapped into the zeitgeist.
On Oliver Quicks, how did you settle on his look?
Because Oliver carries so much of the film rather than wig him, which would have taken up huge amounts of time in the hair and make-up chair, I created this convertible hair-cut, taking him from the Zack Efron style side swept fringe, to his wannabee Felix look and finally the Paul Newman and Cary Grant style, inspired by these 50s screen idols. That was the starting point in the film as a rather urban, well-groomed handsome man, talking to camera. Then we flashback to the story. Finally, we reveal the truth, and of course he became wealthy and needed to have a clean-cut, groomed and grown-up look about him. Once his character progressed to his final, he looks tanned, and I adjusted his makeup to create this.
Do you have a favourite line from the film.?
There are so many. But Rosamund Pike’s line “I loved living in a bedsit in my twenties. It’s so freeing to live all in one room. And much less cleaning to do.” Sticks in my mind, as she lives in a stately home with 127 rooms!
Tell us a little bit more about the infamous bath scene…blood everywhere.
The blood kept sinking away too fast, so I had to use a palette of wax-based make-up to hold the colour on his mouth and chin. Emerald wanted the blood to dissipate but as he sunk beneath the water, it kept disappearing too fast and we lost the effect. You needed to see the blood around his mouth and it dissipating all at the same time. On set it’s about creating drama, not making a documentary so you have to improvise and do what makes the most impact.
And the grave scene?
It was a closed set, and aside from Emerald and her immediate key people like Linus Sandgren DOP, Cameras, 1st Ad etc, the wider crew had gone, leaving me and the art director. Everyone else has gone. It’s all about trust and consent and making sure an actor is happy with who’s on set for these scenes. Barry is such an interesting and exciting actor. You don’t know what you are going to get and the success lies in the fact he felt he had the creative freedom to improvise like that…and…well you’ve seen the results.
