A horror flick with a local connection will air on the Chiller network Friday at 9 p.m.
Derby’s Lindsey Interrante worked in the makeup department of “Deep in the Darkness,” a creepy flick from the Connecticut-based movie company Synthetic Cinema International.
Here’s the plot description, as posted on the Internet Movie Database:
“Dr. Michael Cayle thought leaving the chaotic lifestyle of New York City behind for the quiet, small town of Ashborough would bring his family closer together. Soon after arriving, however, he discovers the town’s deepest secret: a terrifying and controlling race of creatures that live amongst the darkness in the woods behind his home.”
Click the play button to watch the movie’s trailer.
Ooo, too scary!
The movie stars Sean Patrick Thomas (“Save the Last Dance”) and none other than veteran actor Dean Stockwell (“Quantum Leap,” “Battlestar Galactica”).
It filmed last year in Moodus, a Connecticut village known best for producing strange noises in the woods.
It’s the latest addition to an ever-growing list of movie credits for Interrante, a freelance makeup artist.
Her interest in makeup started after seeing “Pirates of the Caribbean” while attending Derby High School.
“On the special features on the movie’s DVD, they had a segment on the makeup artist and I just thought it was so cool, creative and fun,” Interrante said. “I didn’t know if I could learn to do something like that, but I searched for schools after high school that could teach me.”
After graduating Derby High School in 2004, she went to the Makeup Designory of Manhattan, initially to learn how to do fashion makeup.
While in the city she took a class in “character makeup,” and unlocked a passion.
“I fell in love with it and decided I wanted to do film makeup instead of fashion,” she said.
But getting gigs on film crews is anything but easy. Interrante took jobs that paid little to no money in order to build her portfolio. She responded to ads for free work posted on Craigslist and Mandy.com.
“You have to build your name and network and meet so many people. It is hard getting into film,” Interrante said. “The job listings for the movies would say ‘work for experience, we’ll feed you.’ You work for free for people with the hope they’ll hire you when they start offering paying jobs.”
It’s a tough gig, but Interrante, 28, has reached a point where she’s getting steady work on East Coast independent productions.
She’s no longer searching for jobs on Craigslist. Now the gigs are coming to her on a fairly regular basis.
So far Interrante has been doing what the industry refers to as “straight makeup,” that is, applying whatever type of makeup so that an actor or actress can go on camera and do their thing.
“I think most people, if they ever worked on a film set, would say ‘You people are insane,’” she said. “It’s at least 12 hours a day. It’s long, grueling hours (and) a lot of stress.”
On the other hand, every movie starts as a creative challenge. How can the makeup help inform the characters in the story?
“You read the scripts and you break down every character from a makeup standpoint. You have to work with the director or the actor and feel things out. It’s a team effort,” Interrante said.
On “Deep in the Darkness” she worked under head makeup artist Jackie Zbuska.
“She is phenomenal and we’ve worked together a few times since,” Interrante said. “Working on ‘Deep in the Darkness’ was my favorite shoot ever. Everyone on the cast and crew got along and we became like family. It was a really great time.”
In addition to “Deep in the Darkness,” Interrante has “Chilling Visions: 5 States of Fear,” premiering July 11 on Chiller TV.
And she starts production on another movie in two weeks. She wasn’t sure how much she could say about it.
Lately, though, she’s had the chance to do horror/special FX makeup, which she thoroughly enjoys. It’s like flexing a different muscle, she said.
She did both straight makeup and gore makeup for “Piranha Sharks,” also coming soon.
“Little mini piranha sharks are attacking a city after getting into the water supply,” she said of the plot. “They’re extremely lethal and they multiply. One of the effects I had to do involved a bartender sticking his hand in water to wash glasses. The sharks attack his hands and when he lifts them up he has no fingers.”
How’d that makeup effort strike her?
“It was really fun,” she said.