The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” was long a Hollywood problem child, its central idea of a man who ages backward deemed for years too difficult for even the best makeup artists or visual effects tricks to convincingly pull off.

But director David Fincher, who has finally adapted the F. Scott Fitzgerald story to the screen with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett starring, solved the film’s thorny technical and aesthetic issues by giving his crew the resources and hours they needed to pull it off.

“I had the time to do it right, which I usually don’t on a film,” says Greg Cannom, age makeup creator and applicator on the film. “We did very intense tests for two weeks before shooting and started off with every age, and just did makeup after makeup. The makeup had to work or the film wouldn’t work.”

Laboring a personal-best 18 months on the film, Cannom says collaboration was essential for his crew to successfully integrate their makeup with costume, hair and vfx.

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