Is it surprising? It’s the same for costumes, sets, visual effects, and many other creative aspects of the production: there’s a lead designer / supervisor who is in charge of the overall look and concept, and then individual artists who implement the look.
Yes, I don't know why I was surprised about make-up in particular. I guess it shows my biases.
Make-up and hair seem quite critical to the atmosphere and look of a movie like The Village which is set in an ambiguous time and place. I think this was probably an interesting project for the make-up designer, and IMO he/she deserved the $105k fee.
It’s also the movie industry so this might be their only major gig for the year, making up the bulk of their annual salary.
Right. Working in Hollywood is gig work. Some years you get lucky, other years you don't. Pay reflects that.
Photocopier rental $20k!
I'd assume it is an office copier that can produce lots of copies of scripts, receipts, invoices, signs for the sets etc. they might need all through the day. And by renting, if it breaks down they get an immediate replacement from the rental company (at zero cost) I guess. So don't need to worry about repair downtime.