Editing Kazon (section)

=== Design and casting ===
[[File:Star Trek Voyager costume - Kazon.jpg|right|thumb|Michael Westmore was the principal make-up supervisor behind the Kazon's design  ''(pictured)''.|alt=An orange mannequin wearing a wig and heavy prosthetic make-up on its face.]]

The Kazon's design was formulated around the beginning of June 1994. The series' make-up supervisor [[Michael Westmore]] was heavily involved in the creation of the look for the Kazon.<ref name="Intro7" /> While describing the species' facial features, Westmore said he constructed a skin protrusion along the nose and front of the face to simulate "a soft [[cockscomb]], a rooster comb" rather than "the dinosaur bone-type of ridges". He said that there were very small visual differences between Kazon males and females, with the distinguishing characteristic being women having a more delicate physicality than the men.<ref name="Combs">{{cite magazine |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title= The Best of All Worlds |magazine=Star Trek Monthly|location=New York |issue=4|publisher=[[Titan Magazines]]|page=11|date=June 1995}}</ref><ref name="Design1">[[#artifacts2000|Westmore, Sims, Look, & Birnes (2000)]]: p. 165–166</ref> According to Westmore, the prosthetic make-up for the forehead was structured in a shape reminiscent of the [[Devil]], while the ridges on the nose were inspired by a [[vulture]]'s neck. The nose designs were modified throughout the first two seasons with the addition of a nose tip and spikes protruding from the nostrils.<ref name="Design1" /> The Kazon's design was the subject of fan criticism following the series premiere, with one fan commenting: "They look like they're all having a bad hair day."<ref name="Makeup87">[[#poe1998|Poe (1998)]]: p. 283</ref> When Anthony De Longis first saw the headdress worn as a part of Culluh's costume, he joked that: "Culluh must be the leader because he has the biggest head of hair."<ref name="TheHigherTheHair">{{cite magazine|date=September 1998|title=Interviews: Anthony De Longis|magazine=The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine|location=New York|publisher=Starlog Press|issue=18|pages=66–67|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->}}</ref>

Westmore said that he faced several challenges involving the make-up and masks during the filming of "Caretaker". Because of the large number of Kazon present in the first episode, he hired additional make-up artists and mold makers to assist with getting all the actors into costume.<ref name="Makeup87" /> According to supervising producer [[David Livingston]], the process of applying the Kazon make-up took multiple hours. Since a majority of the scenes involving the Kazon were filmed at the [[El Mirage Lake]], Livingston and the filming crew were assigned to help the actors feel comfortable in the heavy make-up and prosthetics despite the high temperatures.<ref>{{cite AV media|title=Star Trek: Voyager - Inside the New Adventure|date=January 9, 1995|publisher=UPN|medium=TV special|location=United States}}</ref>

Piller originally envisioned only casting actors between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five to simulate the connection between the Kazon and contemporary street gangs. He said that he wanted the casting choices to convey the alien species as "young, angry people who never lived old enough to have the kind of experience and perspective on the world that, say, the Klingons and [[Romulan]]s might have". He wanted to emphasize that the Kazon were "much more emotional, short fused, and therefore had fewer expectations" through the actors' performances. The roles, however, were filled by actors outside this age range, with Piller explaining that the decision was reached on the grounds that the "older actors gave more polished performances".<ref name="GangFear2" /> He later regretted the choice of more mature actors, as he felt this conflicted with the writers' concept of the species, making them appear too much like Klingons.<ref name="GangFear2" /> The Kazon also received comparisons to the Cardassians and [[Wood Elves (Warhammer)|Wood Elves]] by [[Uproxx]]'s Donna Dickens.<ref name=":1fafafafaf">{{cite web |last1=Dickens |first1=Donna |date=March 4, 2017 |title='The Walking Dead' Star Andrew Lincoln Is Ready For His 'Star Trek' Cameo And We Have Suggestions |url=http://uproxx.com/hitfix/the-walking-dead-star-trek-andrew-lincoln/2/ |access-date=August 25, 2017 |publisher=[[Uproxx]]}}</ref>