When Moses Inwang’s Ordinary People premiered on Netflix, one of the things that drove conversation amid the show’s mixed reception was the complexion shift undergone by lead actors Ramsey Nouah and Adunni Ade. Both actors, notably light-skinned, appeared with darkened skin in the series, a transformation the plot required to conceal their characters’ identities.
The transformation was created by makeup and special effects artist Carina Ojoko. Her work on the series involved building the characters’ appearances for the story while ensuring the makeup could hold up on camera.
“I’m very detailed in my work, especially when creating character looks and mood boards. It’s never overwhelming or underwhelming,” she says.
Carina is a film and special effects makeup artist whose work includes injury and bloody makeup effects as well as character transformations. Her portfolio includes To Kill A Monkey, Phoenix Fury, Blood Sisters, Black Book, 3 Cold Dishes, Evi, Five Figurines, Black Market and Ordinary People.
Getting Into Special Effects Makeup
Getting into Nollywood wasn’t an accident for Carina. After university, she moved to Lagos and eventually discovered special effects makeup, which changed the direction of her career.
“I stumbled onto special effects and it just stood out to me. I’ve been in love with it since then.”
A cousin working in the music video industry became her entry point into the industry, and from there, her connections expanded.
That approach was put on display on Ordinary People, where she served as head of makeup and special effects. Among the work she handled was the full skin tone transformation for leads Ramsey Nouah and Adunni Ade, something the story’s two-part plot demanded.
“We don’t experiment with a lot of full transformation in Nollywood, so it was a good opportunity.”
For Nouah’s look, the team used a bald cap, a beard attachment and a darkening foundation layered with airbrushed alcohol paints and a setting spray. Ade’s transformation followed a similar process, using foundation, airbrushed paints and a wig. Splitting the work between two teams, the full transformation for both actors took about four hours.
The reaction on set matched the scale of the transformation. Even fellow cast members did not recognise Nouah once the look was complete.
“It was a funny moment, they couldn’t believe it. Other actors didn’t know it was him until he spoke. It was that good.”
The process also came with practical challenges. Nouah’s bald cap increased how much he was sweating, which meant the team sometimes had to make adjustments during filming.
“There was a moment where Mr. Ramsey, due to the intensity of the bald cap, increased how much he was sweating, so we had to prick it open. Sometimes we had to redo the entire thing because he’s been in makeup for over 7hrs. We had to also patch things in between shots.”
For Carina, patch tests and makeup test shoots were essential because full skin tone transformations like this have few precedents in Nollywood to draw from. The team needed to establish how the makeup would look on camera rather than simply relying on how it appeared in person.
“We did a lot of patch tests, then a makeup test shoot to see if it worked for the camera, so it doesn’t look like paint.”
The Blackface Debate
Since the series aired, some of the reactions have caught her off guard, including accusations that the transformation amounted to blackface, a claim she firmly rejects.
“I was really surprised to see some Nigerians saying the makeup is blackface. I’m like, huh? Do you know what blackface actually is?”
She believes some of the backlash came from viewers who had not followed the story closely enough to understand why the transformation existed in the first place, as it was tied directly to the plot’s two-part structure.
“Nigerian film audiences sometimes act like we filmmakers are so bad at our job that we don’t take any measures,” she says.
According to Carina, every project demands its own adjustments, shaped by the actor’s skin, the story’s needs and close collaboration with directors on details such as the intensity of a bruise or an injury effect.
“Every actor and every skin you work on is different. You adjust your techniques to what the story needs.”
The Challenges of SFX Makeup in Nollywood
Special effects makeup remains a niche area in Nollywood, and Carina says the industry still has a gap in understanding what the work actually requires, particularly compared with the resources available on international productions.
“Special effects take time and human resources. A Hollywood project you send me as reference might have a makeup studio of 20 people, with adequate time to prep. We don’t have that.”
For an artist working largely behind the scenes, the goal has never been to be noticed for the makeup itself, but for how effectively it serves the story. Whether she is creating a full skin tone transformation or advising on the extent of a bruise or injury, the work requires time, preparation and adjustments to suit each production.
