Date of Interview 19th April 2010

Welcome to 3rd and final part of our fantastic interview with Jeff Dawn.

Did you miss the first two parts of our Jeff Dawn Interview? then you need to click these links to go back in time to catch up: Part 1 | Part 2

In Part 2 we discussed with Jeff about Arnold's "Battle Damage Make-Up Stages", so on that note let's continue exactly where we left it...

TTFs:

The four stages were very effective though.

Jeff:

Yeah, because regular Arnold- I remember I was covering his face with KY Jelly,- which is of course a sexual lubricant etc and I was looking at the storyboard, which said that he (the Terminator) kinda rises like shiny plastic. So you put KY Jelly on Arnold's face and you think "he looks weird" and you wonder why that is.

TTFs:

He definitely looked weird. The Jelly was a great idea for adding a slightly ominous edge without being caricaturish.

TTFs:

Were you excited to hear about William Wisher's Terminator 5 and 6 treatments?

Jeff:

Bill Wisher did such a great job on the first one. Did he have anything to do with T4?

TTFs:

No he didn't, no, T4 was penned by the same writers as T3: ROTM.

Jeff:

He did such a great job on the first one, yeah, I'd like to see what he'd do.

TTFs:

From what we've learned he wants to remain faithful to the roots of Terminator and wind up the series in a fashion which will excite the fans with different models of Terminators.

Jeff:

Is McG planning on doing those?

TTFs:

We're not sure, we don't think that they (the studios) want McG back. Pacificor own the rights now...

Jeff:

That would NOT be a good choice. They tried to mainstream it with McG, they tried to turn it into "Charlie's Angels" or something. It just didn't work. McG did an okay job with it but you can't do an okay job with a Terminator film or it will fail and that's the bottom line.

TTFs:

The fans have always been slightly disappointed that James Cameron didn't continue the legacy of Terminator,- do you think he'll ever return to the franchise and give us another chapter?

Jeff:

He got very tired of all the battles. First it was Hemdale then it was Carolco Pictures,- it became such a monstrosity of paddling back anf forth between contracts and legalities and ownership and all that- I can see how it would wear anyone out.

TTFs:

Do you think he'd return if enough money was offered?

Jeff:

I don't know. I don't think so, James Cameron will forever be known as the creator of Terminator and we can only hope that he may return in some capacity but I'd be surprised.

TTFs:

You have your own make-up trailers, how's that going?

Jeff:

Yeah, i bought my first one about seven years ago; forty-eight-foot, eight station trailer. I have a beautiful monstrous make-up trailer on the set of "Desperate Housewives" which I completed a couple of years ago and I'm designing other ones now- which is difficult as I'm the one who designs the blue-prints and does the research on them and although I have the experience and knowledge of application and construction- it's still a constant learning curve.
If I want air conditioning in a trailer and the design doesn't work right for me then it's like having to reinvent the wheel and it takes a lot of time and research.

TTFs:

Does it make the make-up process more efficient?

Jeff:

When I decided to invest in the trailers I chose to do it for the one percent at the top of the food chain, not the ones which are being cranked out, sitting on vacant lots waiting to be rented out and driven by anybody, most people can afford to rent.
I build mine for practicality not to say that I don't have granite countertops or maple cabinets and flat-screen televisions with WiFi internet connections but to me those things are tools. I can justify everything I've just mentioned because they help me to create a better product and a trailer which will last fifteen years. No, my trailers don't have a lounge to sit in. You sit in a make-up chair, the air-con is to pump air for better a make-up application. The WiFi is either to entertain the actors whilst the make-up is being applied or to help research the job.
There's a lot of construction and experience that goes into it and they take me hundreds of hours of work and five or six hundred thousand dollars to build, so the problem is... when do I have the time to do that?
I'm a make-up department head, so if I'm busy for the next year building a trailer, only costing me money for the next seven years and I'm not working on a show,- I'm not paying my own bills. So it has its pros and cons. I'm very proud of the business- Pegasus Studio Rentals.
The trailers have a wonderful reputation for being the biggest and best thought out trailers out there. It's hard to make money on films, it can be good on the ego but hard on the pocket.

TTFs:

Do you have any tips for aspiring make-up artists?

Jeff:

Yes. Don't worry about the money. If you're getting into it for the money then that's the wrong reason. There's a passion that you need to have, a passion to create something in your own mind and your own hands which will end up on screen and live forever.
One thing all artists love is to see the reactions of others to their art but with make-up artists it's washed off at the end of the day and you can say "Oh, that's a shame!". Hours designing it, hours testing it and hours reapplying it to film it and then it's just gone. The thing is, that long after I'm dead there will be libraries of film and digital information documenting my art, people will remember my work. So I try to find out if the people I talk to have that passion and love. It's also a matter of education- learn where you can. Go to film schools and give talks for free, show your work on places like Facebook, never be afraid to promote your work and your ideas. Use any medium you can.
I recently hired a production assistant for a make-up department on a project I did recently because she was Facebook'ing me constantly and going through make-up school, posting her photos to everybody and it made me realize that this person,- whom I'd never met, had the talent, she had the vision, the savvy. She had the drive to become a make-up artist and would be the kind of make-up artist who would be very excited to learn more. So when I did the show I hired her in a non-paid position as my production assistant and I think she learned an awful lot working with my staff and I doing all kinds of things and her education progressed because she was wiling to learn, so Facebook helped her.
I'm a big believer in sites like Facebook. Getting the word out to people about your passion and enthusiasm. I believe that "the squeaky wheel gets the oil", if there's fifty people calling me all the time then those fifty people will be the freshest on my mind when I have a position which needs filling, they're the ones with the hunger, the drive.
If I haven't heard from somebody in years I'm probably not going to pick up the phone and call them, I'm going to call the person I spoke to in the last few days, the last week or five other times that year.

TTFs:

Will you come back for T5 and T6?

Jeff:

I wouldn't mind working on those, I'd be very interested in reading the scripts and seeing who's directing them.
Of course if John Rosengrant and Legacy Effects were involved I'd be more inclined to work on them because I like those guys and I know that the work would be fantastic, they're so passionate about what they do. So, yeah, under the right circumstances I'd be very interested in doing them.

TTFs:

Is there anything you'd like to say to the Terminator Fans out there, any words of wisdom you'd like to share with us?

Jeff:

Yes, those fans are the people who made Arnold Schwarzenegger who he is. Those are the fans who helped my career. Those fans are fans of the same films I love, the films my son loves. So I can relate to those fans very much and they shouldn't give up.
I believe that there will be many more Terminator films to come out and there will be good ones and bad ones but the true Terminator Fans will hang in there regardless because they love the films and there will come a time when they will again benefit from being hardcore fans of the series.
Just hang in there a little while longer.

Thanks for the interview Jeff and for your views on the franchise and its future.

Jeff Dawn is obviously a man of passion with his work and respects Terminator in high regard, we appreciate the time taken to talk about the saga and hopefully a brighter future for the fans tearing their hair out around the world who really do desperately want a "TERMINATOR MOVIE" not anything less than the bar set by the first two pictures. I myself, as a fan, after seeing Terminator 2 first, then The Terminator second waited a few years and always the world talked of a 3rd picture... Like most fans I waited... and waited... but the hype always kept the possibility of another movie alive. We got a 3rd picture and a 4th picture and like Jeff said there will always be Terminator movies... some good, some not so good but the fans will always hope for something groundbreaking.

We very much hope Jeff will come back and other talents but really... just how cool would it be if the whole team reunited? Obviously Stan Winston (RIP) may be gone in the flesh... but in spirit he left the Talent of John Rosengrant and Legacy Effects (formerly Stan Winston Studios) to keep the magic alive and Jeff Dawn would love to work with them again.

So Jeff Dawn, Bill Wisher, John Rosengrant, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick have all stated they want in on a 5th picture and with Arnold Schwarzenegger hanging up his Governator suit in January 2011 we may get the Terminator movie we have been dreaming of for all these years.

Our sister site TheArnoldFans.com have had the pleasure of talking to Jeff on a few occaisions check out the stories below:

Dawn Talks Arnold, T2 in 3D & T4!

Terminator Make-up Artist Jeff Dawn!

Turning Arnold Schwarzenegger into Mr Freeze