As I was sifting through my pile of yet-to-be-transcribed audio files, I was excited to come across my interview with Howard Berger (pictured left), makeup and creature creator extraordinaire of “The Chronicles of Narnia” franchise at Wondercon earlier this year.

I had the chance to see “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” and it was a joy - but I do miss Mr. Tumnus. Nonetheless, ever since I saw the movie I can’t stop proclaiming my faux citizenship in the wonderous world of Narnia.

Berger has been in the business for years doing the makeup effects with his team at K.N.B. EFX Group Inc. He has done everything from the blood gushing gore of “The Hills Have Eyes” (the remake) to the enigmatic surrealism of “The Cell”. He’s even nabbed a couple of awards (an Academy Award and a BAFTA to be exact).

Here’s how our conversation went down:

What process did you go through in translating such fantastic characters on the pages of C.S. Lewis’s novels on to the big screen?

It’s a big order. It’s tough because you want to be able to bring to life what people have in their mind. I wanted to created all the characters that our director Andrew Adamson had in his mind when he was a child and read “Chronicles of Narnia.” I felt that if I could do that, I would be very successful. I also utilized my kids a lot. I talked to them about how they saw the characters. They were a great point of reference because they don’t have any preconceived notions. They don’t say, “Make it more like this movie.” You get that more when you are working with a production committee. We had very good source material because the descriptions are vivid and there are illustrations. We also had Douglas Lewis, who is C.S. Lewis’s stepson, as a point of reference. There’s a huge design period that went on for a really long time and once we found those characters, we started to do all the test make-up and building things.

A centaur from “Prince Caspian”

Since the last movie, how has the makeup theatrically and technically evolved?

You always want to have that opportunity to do something again and make it better. We were fortunate to have that chance with this film. Before the first “Narnia” ended, I made a big list of things that I wish I could do differently – so I still have that list. (laughs) That’s pretty much what we did. That made it evolve. Like our red dwarves and black dwarves – and that’s because of their hair color. In our first film, we hired little people from Thailand and India and they didn’t work for me. I talked to Andrew (Adamson) about that even before we finished “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” The dwarf characters in “Prince Caspian” are so prominent that we need to figure out a way to approach this. The perfect answer was to find short actors. We found Peter Dinklage and he plays Trumpkin, a red dwarf. And then there’s Warwick Davis who plays Nikabrik, a black dwarf. Both are amazing actors and they happened to be short actors. I just took everything I wanted to do in the first film and put it in this one. The best thing is that we had a great canvass to start with. Their faces are so expressive.

Peter Dinklage as Trumpkin

What did you do to Peter Dinklage and Warwick Davis to transform them into dwarves?

With Peter, we took the approach of “less is more.” I wanted to keep a lot of his face because he’s so expressive with his eyes. It was just a simple nose piece, ears and a lot of hair work. We had to shave his head everyday because he has real thick black hair and he needed to be bald for the film. For Warwick, he has a very recognizable face and I wanted to disguise him more. It was a full face of makeup with ears, nose and hair. We really tried to advance everything. You try to take the reality route and see what is most familiar to people. I didn’t want to take anything down a cartoony road or just make a character. We wanted it to be alive and real. We were able to heighten the reality this time.

Warwick Davis as Nikabrik

From the gory (“Planet Terror”) to the fantastical (“Narnia”) your work seems to be in two different realms. What do you like more?

I like fantastical. I am tired of doing blood and guts. (laughs) I just finished a film yesterday. My last day I was drenched in blood. I had to throw my shoes out.

What was the blood made of?

We make our own blood out of Karo syrup and food coloring and a bunch of other things.

You’ve done a lot of work with Robert Rodriguez.

We’ve done all of Robert’s movies – and we’ve worked with Wes Craven, Quentin Tarantino, Sam Rami.

Will you be working with the next installment of “Sin City?”

We did the first “Sin City,” but if they get this next one going, then yes.

Well, I know that it is in “talks.”

Like everything else. (laughs)

Back to the Narnia world, what has been or is your favorite character?

In the first movie, I love Mr. Tumnus. He was my favorite. For this one, I’m going to say Peter Dinklage’s character, Trumpkin.

Georgie Henley as Lucy Pevensie (left) and James McAvoy as Mr. Tumnus in the first “Narnia” movie

Who exactly is Trumpkin?

Hmmmm – he is the red dwarf that the kids meet the first time they arrive in Narnia. He’s replaces Tumnus in this one as their tour guide. He is the heart of Narnia in this one. He brings the kids to reality.

What are some subtle makeup effects that the audience may not notice that you are proud of?

I am actually proud of the more subtle things – but I do love it all. When we were shooting “Prince Caspian,” the head of Disney watched the dailies and contacted Andrew and said, “I had no idea that was Peter Dinklage!” I was really happy. Not that I disguised him, but we’re used to seeing Peter in a certain way. But he was blown away by his performance and by the makeup and how it didn’t look like makeup. We know he doesn’t look like that, but it’s nice when someone in the film business sees footage and buy it.

Where do you keep your Oscar?

It’s in my office. That same year I won a BAFTA so they are sitting in my office and they are friends. (laughs)

What other makeup artists do you admire?

A lot. My three favorites are Rick Baker who did “American Werewolf in London.” Stan Winston who did the “Terminator” movies and the “Alien” movies and has won many Oscars as well – and then Dick Smith, who is kind of the Godfather of makeup effects. He did “The Exorcist” and “Amadeus.” They are my idols, I know them very well, but I still get nervous around them because I admire them so much.