First off, thank you Jac for agreeing to this interview.
The FilmMasons: As a set dresser on Ghost Ship, what would your typical day be?
Jac Charlton: On Ghost ship my direct Boss was Bev Dunn Head of Set decoration, usually i would check in with Bev and see what sets needed to be dressed that day, that may of included lagging of the ships pipes 50's style with fake asbestos lagging, painting and putting them into the set, or dressing the Ballroom or Kitchen with dressings that the set buyers had previously bought. All the floors you see in Ghost ship, i laid with linoleum or carpet. All the wires and cabling that run from switches and through roofs, all the small stuff you see.
Pretty much everything you see in that film i had a hand in dressing, from down into the ships laundry to the ships bridge and beyond, On Ghost ship there was a lot of ageing down on Ghost Ship, from the pristine liner in the beginning to the rusting hulk as the story progresses. Some days and nights i even spent in the ocean wrangling flotsam, jetsam and luggage that needed to be in the scene. Somedays i would even cross over an lend the scenic's a hand painting or ageing. Bev Dunn and Grace Walker, production designer were wonderful to work for. There was never a dull moment on Ghost ship a hell of a lot of fun.
TFM: House of wax was a fantastic movie, you were a set dresser again on this movie, how different is one film from another?
JC: Different movies have completely different "feels" when you are working on them. From the personalities with the crews to the way the sets are dressed, lit and presented. Even though both of these shows are horror they are chalk and cheese in terms of their look. This can be attributed to the genius of the Production Designer and Art Directors. Grace Walker was the Production Designer on Ghost ship and House of wax, yet he and the team gave those movies their own stamp and identity. My role on House of wax was slightly different to Ghost ship, even though i helped dress the sets in both movies, on the House of Wax i was the "on set dresser" which means during shooting i was the one responsible for the look of the set that the camera sees. On set dressers also move items as necessary to make room for the filming equipment. During the shoot, the prop department works with an on-set dresser to ensure that the props and furnishing are in the proper location for the script and to maintain continuity, as scenes are often shot out of order.
TFM: What single piece of work are you most proud of?
JC: Wow, i think thats a toss up between Daybreakers and The Pacific, for completely different reasons.
Daybreakers, because when i got into the film industry 15 yrs ago my goal was to do make Vampire teeth for a really cool Vampire feature film. Daybreakers provided much more than this. Daybreakers allowed me to have a huge creative input to what the Vampires aesthetics were, it allowed me to have my own dept, with my Brother Robert and friend and talented technician Renata Loren. I am proud of Daybreakers because we also pushed our skills as Dental Technicians. Daybreakers was also great because the crew was mainly Queenslanders, crew that i have worked with many times over the years, and proud to have made it here in Queensland. Its a great feeling when you achieve a life goal. I cannot wait to see the film.
I am also proud of the 10 months of Prosthetic work i did for Jason Baird and The JMB FX team on Steven Spielbergs Mini series The Pacific. These were long days sometimes 16, 17hr days, 5, 6 days a week, the amount of Blood, Guts, wounds and dead bodies we produced for that show was staggering. I was pretty much front and centre on set, in the make up/ prosthetic firing line every day. I am so proud to be a significant part of this awesome project.
TFM: With your work on Sea Patrol, do you find television different to film?
JC: Working on a feature film usually means more money in the production budget which should in theory should mean a better product on screen. Hmmmm, sometimes.
Tv can be fast paced which can mean a different kind of creative improvisation to that of a Film production. All in all its pretty much the same formula. And that usually means , "do anything to get the job done."
TFM: Everyone has a skeleton in there closet, can you mention any jobs you would rather forget, or would like to leave off the resume?
JC: I put everything on my resume, each job has very different hurdles to get over, and the people that may be hiring you, i feel should see the big picture in what you have done up to that point. Im sure there are things i should leave off and things that are not CV kosher, but i don't want to forget anything i've done, while some of it might not be considered note worthy, i am happy with pretty much every thing i've done.
TFM: Who gave you your first break in the business?
JC: Gillian Butler a set dresser pushed me forward into working within art depts along with a Production Designer called Michael Ralph. They also pushed me headlong into standby props and making props, We did a lot of American movie's of the week back in the 1990's.
Jason Baird from JMB FX Studio here on the Gold Coast gave me my first break in Prosthetics, and i have been working with Jason for the last 15 years. His company does amazing prosthetics.
TFM: For H2O: Just add water, how much prosthetic work needed to be done each day?
JC: To give you some background to the mermaid tails JMB FX have built in a long line of tails for various movies over the last few years. It has been a massive research and development program of testing and retesting of materials and designs. These tails are hundereds maybe thousands of hours of work. Most of the tails JMB FX have made have over 5,000 individual scales hand punched and detailed,. It takes about 8 to 10 weeks to build , its very labour intensive.
With H20 over the years the on set work with the tails has become pretty streamline, and while filming can be as simple as transporting the tails, and putting the girls in and out of the tails, as required. if something goes wrong with the tails then you have to know how to fix them or the crew may be standing around for hours or even loose day shooting, so while on set with the tails i am constantly doing minor repairs to keep the tail looking pristine, always on the look out for potential problems.
TFM: You designed the teeth for the vampires in Daybreakers, can you run us through the process?
JC: I met with the Directors Michael and Peter Spierig, Producer Chris Brown and Steven Boyle (creatures designer and supervisor ) and Kym Sainsbury (makeup department head) about 8 months previous to Shooting, we discussed how they wanted to portray the Vampires, and Subsiders, I offered up ideas on Vampire Aesthetics, Dental Techniques etc and what we would bring to the table in regards too our expertise to get the job done. From my point of view i wanted to try and keep the look as anatomically correct to what i think Vampire should be, Michael, Peter and Steven were also keen to see this happen and also wanted the Vampires to have a Human element so we can empathise and relate with them, this meant putting the Vampire Fangs onto the lateral incisors, rather like Lost Boys Vampires instead of the typical Canine style Vampire teeth. Steven Boyle had concepts of how the Subsiders ( Vampires that feed on themselves) would look, we obviously put our own design into it, making the teeth that were not fangs, rotten and decayed and effects that gave some of them oral deformities.
Michael, Peter and Steven would make regular trips to our effects studio to view the progress of the work, they were very interested in the whole dental process, but pretty much i think they had faith in what we were doing and left us to our own devices. The directors had a lot on their plate with a very tight pre production and shooting schedule. I would keep in close contact with Steven Boyle creatures designer and supervisor and Kym Sainsbury makeup department head and their feedback was invaluable.
TFM: We all love the extras on DVD's, do you think all these making of's ruin the illusion of movie magic, or are a great insight for the fans?
JC: I like to see the extras on the DVD's, i think it gives a great insight to how hard the film technicians really do work, i am a big fan of passing the knowledge on. And i think DVD extras is a great start for those who want a little more for their entertainment dollar or those that are interested in taking the next step into the industry.
TFM: What is the best piece of advice you can give to up and comers?
JC: I think its as simple as do what you love and be persistent.
TFM: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
JC: I would like to see myself acting, in a film with a script i have written or at very least breaking new ground in whatever i put my mind too, as long as i don't settle for being mediocre or boring i will be a happy man, maybe i should take some of my own advice from the last question.
TFM: Do you have any projects on the boil that you can let us in on?
JC: My brother Robert is writing a road trip horror script at the moment that we might shoot one or two scenes for just for fun, I have one or two scripts in my head i might like to have a crack at writing, the studios look as though they will be busy this year, fingers crossed that i can get on something that keeps the grey matter active and that pays the bills.
Jac Charlton thank you so much for your time.
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