Oh my god the pain!
Creating a wig from scratch is something that has been eagerly awaited since the first year of studies. In film a good wig can make a character believable, in real life a good wig can give someone their confidence back. Being able to do either of those things is no small thing and not a skill that should be over looked.
This skill however is proof that no amount of eagerness or excitement will make it any easier. It is tough work. It is far more complicated than one would imagine. From choosing which type of hair, human synthetic or yak will best suit the look to the lace denier being so fine it can put a strain on the eyes just to try and see what you are doing, hence the weird and wonderful contraption that is magnifying glasses with a head torch ( insert here many hours of laughter and amusement) the needles are so intentionally small one may wonder how it is even possible for it to pick up the hair strands. Then there is the technique of ventilating so the needle does NOT catch on the lace. A step easier said than done.
Once the process makes sense mentally though, it just clicks into place. What does not make sense is the pain that comes with it. The poor little fingertips. pin picking, pin pushing, picking up pins stabbing fingertips, ouch! yes a thimble can be worn, but that actually makes the task a little more difficult. On top of that the alien goggles are actually quite heavy and can cause either a painful ear and nose area or a full blown headache!
As with the special effects though, once a rhythm is achieved the sense of achievement is next level!