The “Blindspot” mystery is about to peel back a new layer.
On Monday’s episode (10 p.m. on NBC), the FBI team led by Agent Kurt Weller (Sullivan Stapleton) discovers a new hidden tattoo on heavily inked mystery woman Jane Doe (Jaimie Alexander) — visible only in UV light — that uncovers a criminal plot with catastrophic global consequences.
In a drama where the plot is driven by ink, the key task of designing and applying all those intricate tattoos on Jane’s body falls to LA-based special effects wizards Tinsley Studio, which has done work for “Sons of Anarchy,” “American Horror Story” and HBO’s upcoming “Westworld.” But “Blindspot” proved a specific challenge because of the tattoos’ central role.
“[This show] is different because [the designs] are clues that lead to something … It’s a character in itself, the tattoos,” says Robin Hatcher, production supervisor/coordinator for Tinsley Studio.
Before filming the pilot, producers came up with a general idea of the body coverage they wanted for Jane and the design for her key “Kurt Weller” tattoo (which is on her back). But the Tinsley team was left to create the rest of her 200-plus tattoos on their own — and in only 10 days (they normally work with a three- to four- week minimum process).
“We went on to research conspiracies, American history, various symbols, and put a bunch of compilations together,” Hatcher says. “They didn’t know what clues [they wanted] or where the storyline was [going], so it was about creating different things that they could use or hide very specific images in [as scripts are written].”
Then comes the time-consuming application process. It takes a team of three people seven-and-a-half hours to apply Alexander’s full-body tattoos (for nude scenes like those in the pilot), or one to two hours for her daily look (the tats visible when she’s wearing a tank top or T-shirt).
Though Jane’s tattoos are applied very much like those temporary tattoos you’d find in a vending machine, Tinsley uses professional-quality ink (or UV cosmetic paint for the invisible tattoos) and medical-grade adhesive to hold up through long shooting days.
All in all, the finished process creates designs that can last for up to three days — saving Alexander some valuable time in the makeup chair.
“Sometimes if they’re doing a full-body look, Jaimie will actually go home and sleep in the tattoos so that they don’t have to be reapplied the next day,” Hatcher says.