Major Project: Work with Make-Up Designer/Artist
Role of a Make-Up Designer/Artist
A Make-Up Designer or the key make-up artist is in charge of the make-up department within the film. During Pre-Production the make-up designer reads through the script, and discusses the requirements by way of make-up with the director and screenwriter. The make-up artist within our Production worked closely with the Costume Designer, and Production Designer from the Pre-Production phase, right through to the end of the production phase.
Usually in larger production pieces, the Make-Up Designer would source their specialist make-up artists, handled by different departments of special effects. Depending on the needs of the production. Additional make-up artists would be hired and provided with a schedule, whilst also being supervised during production. It is the make-up designers job to make sure the make-up applied matches with what was agreed upon with the director and screenwriter and that continuity is maintained.
Naturally, given our budget and student short film status we had to work on a much smaller scale that would be physically and financially possible. Instead of a hierarchy and entire team behind the make-up portion of the film we had one Make-Up artist, Hannah Quinn, fit into the role of Make-Up Designer and Artist. This would not only prove cost effective but also means that discussing the needs of Double Exposure with Hannah would also be discussing the person who will be applying the make-up. Allowing us to minimize the risk of miscommunication.
Meeting Hannah
During our Studio Production, we had an excellent team who created our set for "Teach 'em a Lesson". They were fantastic to work with and from this collaboration we were able to make contacts for future work. Hannah was part of this team and through seeing her work she had a lot of experience and practice with make-up and special effects for film.
Studying Creative Arts for Theatre and Film at UCA (Rochester), Hannah has a great deal of experience and talent with make-up and special effects. This can be seen from her previous work, constantly trying different techniques and styles, making her stand our to Wez and I before we even had our initial meeting.
Below are some examples of her previous work:
Discussion on Makeup
During our meetings with Hannah I was quick to explain what we needed with make-up and special effects. I pointed out that the film would not be heavy with special effects, and that the key areas within the make-up side of the film is its consistency and play on a 'perfect' look.
As the film progresses the changes in the story, characters and tone appear and this was to be reflected within make-up, among other areas, to help boost that understanding and enable the audience to understand the changes in the narrative flow. By doing this I felt it would be easier to understand if Hannah and I broke the requirements by character and in film 'days' to create a easy to understand list of looks we needed.
This allowed us when filming to fully understand what each character needed to look like in each scene, enabling us to prioritize time and work consistently.
Emily
We discussed Emily's character and both came to the conclusion that given Emily's practical yet fashionable style of dress, her profession and her general personality, her make-up should reflect that. Her desire for perfection and her drive for things to be done to her standard, and her way is reflected within even her make-up.
The personal part of Emily's day is her putting on her make-up. Her 'mask' of how she wants herself to look is something that cannot be overlooked. For this reason Hannah and I came to the conclusion that Emily's make-up upon arriving home in day one should be almost perfect. Her make-up when 'perfect' should be very precise, not a fully face of heavy make up but instead a more natural and subtle blend of natural beauty and added details to areas such as eyebrows, eyes and lips. This accompanied with a blended foundation.
Her 'perfect' look features upon her arrival home on the first day and on the second day through to the moment when Emily and Dan argue.
The change in make up comes about through Emily crying, and her moments in which she is indeed, out of control. This features mascara that has run and more redness around the eyes.
Below are the initial ideas of make-up for Emily's 'perfect' look, to the finished product.
Steph
The discussion between Hannah and I on Steph's character was similar to Emily's. Given Steph's short screen time we had to ensure her character was represented quickly and effectively in the time she is on screen. She needed to be seen as a threat to Emily and also allow the audience to establish that Steph is more than Dan's friend. This combined with her attire, we were able to come to the conclusion that the initial moment we see Steph in the film she, needed to presented in a way that she would seem like a threat.
We decided that her make up needed to be reflective of this by incorporating a fuller face of make up, making it evident that Steph's character has gone to a great deal of effort to look good. This is reflected through her red lipstick, carefully done eyeliner, eyebrows, mascara, foundation and blusher. A less natural but more glamorous look for Steph identifies her as a threat to Emily.
Below are the examples for the initial ideas of her Day 1 make up:
Dan
Hannah and I came to the conclusion when discussing Dan's character that given our actor Tommy's rugged look, with his beard and attire. He would not really require make up during the majority of scenes. By way of lighting, there were little scenes that would feature him under harsh light so the risk of shine on the skin was less.
This meant that we could afford to keep Dan natural, focusing primarily on his hair on shoot and whether there were any drastic changes to his facial hair throughout the week. Ensuring it had not grown noticeably longer during the week.
The main focus of Dan's make up came during the death scene and Emily re-discovering his body in the shed. For this we had to pay particular attention to make sure Dan did appear, cold and lifeless. It was no good if Emily returned in the scene and it looked as if he just layed down and switched the camera on.
For this Hannah practiced on bringing down the skin tones in his face and arms to draw all the natural colour out. She also paid particular attention to create a dark redness around the eyes and blue around the lips. Adding to the cold and lifeless effect.
During the death scene, Hannah also used latex, fake blood and powder to create an open scar wound in the top of Dan's head. As he falls and hits the ground. Adding to the realism of his demise.
She also took part in set dressing in a variety of ways, but particularly was the combined effort of her and Zak's (our production designer) work on creating the bloodied dresser.
Below show the attempts and progression of creating a lifeless Dan.
During the death scene, Hannah also used latex, fake blood and powder to create an open scar wound in the top of Dan's head. As he falls and hits the ground. Adding to the realism of his demise.
She also took part in set dressing in a variety of ways, but particularly was the combined effort of her and Zak's (our Production Designer) work on creating the bloodied dresser.
Below are the images:
During Filming
While we were filming we ran a rotation in which actors that were not in the scene being filmed currently, would be having their make up/costume prepared and done ready for the next scene. If filming was taking place in one room the preparation was being done in another.
This made the production process flow very well, meaning we were able to prioritize our time and make use of the light and time of day at all times.
It also meant the production crew who were not directly involved in filming, were not left with nothing to do making the production also more effective.
The separate area we had designated make up and costume, provided each of the crew a place to go to, away from filming. This saved disruption of actors, crew and allowed us to turn a very small space for 12 people into a flexible and able to be separated environment.
Collaboration
By Hannah and I meeting early on in the process we were able to come together and discuss what was right for the film, this time allowed us to collaborate and come to a mutual understanding of how the characters should look in the film.
We were able to discuss potential issues and requirements early so that come the time the actors had been finalized, she was already able to get in contact and begin practicing on them after originally testing on models before them.
This saved us a lot of time during filming as she was able to perform her role to a fantastic standard and understand exactly what I wanted and deliver.
Each cast member was ready the moment we wanted to begin a scene and that was down to the discussions and plan we had set before the production process began.
References
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/movie-make-up-artist1.html
Photos Provided by Hannah
A Make-Up Designer or the key make-up artist is in charge of the make-up department within the film. During Pre-Production the make-up designer reads through the script, and discusses the requirements by way of make-up with the director and screenwriter. The make-up artist within our Production worked closely with the Costume Designer, and Production Designer from the Pre-Production phase, right through to the end of the production phase.
Usually in larger production pieces, the Make-Up Designer would source their specialist make-up artists, handled by different departments of special effects. Depending on the needs of the production. Additional make-up artists would be hired and provided with a schedule, whilst also being supervised during production. It is the make-up designers job to make sure the make-up applied matches with what was agreed upon with the director and screenwriter and that continuity is maintained.
Naturally, given our budget and student short film status we had to work on a much smaller scale that would be physically and financially possible. Instead of a hierarchy and entire team behind the make-up portion of the film we had one Make-Up artist, Hannah Quinn, fit into the role of Make-Up Designer and Artist. This would not only prove cost effective but also means that discussing the needs of Double Exposure with Hannah would also be discussing the person who will be applying the make-up. Allowing us to minimize the risk of miscommunication.
Meeting Hannah
During our Studio Production, we had an excellent team who created our set for "Teach 'em a Lesson". They were fantastic to work with and from this collaboration we were able to make contacts for future work. Hannah was part of this team and through seeing her work she had a lot of experience and practice with make-up and special effects for film.
Studying Creative Arts for Theatre and Film at UCA (Rochester), Hannah has a great deal of experience and talent with make-up and special effects. This can be seen from her previous work, constantly trying different techniques and styles, making her stand our to Wez and I before we even had our initial meeting.
Below are some examples of her previous work:
Discussion on Makeup
During our meetings with Hannah I was quick to explain what we needed with make-up and special effects. I pointed out that the film would not be heavy with special effects, and that the key areas within the make-up side of the film is its consistency and play on a 'perfect' look.
As the film progresses the changes in the story, characters and tone appear and this was to be reflected within make-up, among other areas, to help boost that understanding and enable the audience to understand the changes in the narrative flow. By doing this I felt it would be easier to understand if Hannah and I broke the requirements by character and in film 'days' to create a easy to understand list of looks we needed.
This allowed us when filming to fully understand what each character needed to look like in each scene, enabling us to prioritize time and work consistently.
Emily
We discussed Emily's character and both came to the conclusion that given Emily's practical yet fashionable style of dress, her profession and her general personality, her make-up should reflect that. Her desire for perfection and her drive for things to be done to her standard, and her way is reflected within even her make-up.
The personal part of Emily's day is her putting on her make-up. Her 'mask' of how she wants herself to look is something that cannot be overlooked. For this reason Hannah and I came to the conclusion that Emily's make-up upon arriving home in day one should be almost perfect. Her make-up when 'perfect' should be very precise, not a fully face of heavy make up but instead a more natural and subtle blend of natural beauty and added details to areas such as eyebrows, eyes and lips. This accompanied with a blended foundation.
Her 'perfect' look features upon her arrival home on the first day and on the second day through to the moment when Emily and Dan argue.
The change in make up comes about through Emily crying, and her moments in which she is indeed, out of control. This features mascara that has run and more redness around the eyes.
Below are the initial ideas of make-up for Emily's 'perfect' look, to the finished product.
Steph
The discussion between Hannah and I on Steph's character was similar to Emily's. Given Steph's short screen time we had to ensure her character was represented quickly and effectively in the time she is on screen. She needed to be seen as a threat to Emily and also allow the audience to establish that Steph is more than Dan's friend. This combined with her attire, we were able to come to the conclusion that the initial moment we see Steph in the film she, needed to presented in a way that she would seem like a threat.
We decided that her make up needed to be reflective of this by incorporating a fuller face of make up, making it evident that Steph's character has gone to a great deal of effort to look good. This is reflected through her red lipstick, carefully done eyeliner, eyebrows, mascara, foundation and blusher. A less natural but more glamorous look for Steph identifies her as a threat to Emily.
Below are the examples for the initial ideas of her Day 1 make up:
The second time we see Steph in the film, she is worried and panicking about Dan. Hannah and I discussed that anything more than very little make up within this scene would be very odd to the character. For her to arrive with similar make up would be strange given the characters emotions at this point. For this reason we chose a very light amount of make up, to avoid shining with the lights during filming but focused on the idea that Steph's arrival is a spur of the moment. She isn't prepared, she has arrive with no make up, nervous and panicking. By doing this we not only see her change in tone and more of her character, but also add to the moment when Emily answers the door, leaving the audience surprised by her appearance.
Dan
Hannah and I came to the conclusion when discussing Dan's character that given our actor Tommy's rugged look, with his beard and attire. He would not really require make up during the majority of scenes. By way of lighting, there were little scenes that would feature him under harsh light so the risk of shine on the skin was less.
This meant that we could afford to keep Dan natural, focusing primarily on his hair on shoot and whether there were any drastic changes to his facial hair throughout the week. Ensuring it had not grown noticeably longer during the week.
The main focus of Dan's make up came during the death scene and Emily re-discovering his body in the shed. For this we had to pay particular attention to make sure Dan did appear, cold and lifeless. It was no good if Emily returned in the scene and it looked as if he just layed down and switched the camera on.
For this Hannah practiced on bringing down the skin tones in his face and arms to draw all the natural colour out. She also paid particular attention to create a dark redness around the eyes and blue around the lips. Adding to the cold and lifeless effect.
During the death scene, Hannah also used latex, fake blood and powder to create an open scar wound in the top of Dan's head. As he falls and hits the ground. Adding to the realism of his demise.
She also took part in set dressing in a variety of ways, but particularly was the combined effort of her and Zak's (our production designer) work on creating the bloodied dresser.
Below show the attempts and progression of creating a lifeless Dan.
During the death scene, Hannah also used latex, fake blood and powder to create an open scar wound in the top of Dan's head. As he falls and hits the ground. Adding to the realism of his demise.
She also took part in set dressing in a variety of ways, but particularly was the combined effort of her and Zak's (our Production Designer) work on creating the bloodied dresser.
Below are the images:
During Filming
While we were filming we ran a rotation in which actors that were not in the scene being filmed currently, would be having their make up/costume prepared and done ready for the next scene. If filming was taking place in one room the preparation was being done in another.
This made the production process flow very well, meaning we were able to prioritize our time and make use of the light and time of day at all times.
It also meant the production crew who were not directly involved in filming, were not left with nothing to do making the production also more effective.
The separate area we had designated make up and costume, provided each of the crew a place to go to, away from filming. This saved disruption of actors, crew and allowed us to turn a very small space for 12 people into a flexible and able to be separated environment.
Collaboration
By Hannah and I meeting early on in the process we were able to come together and discuss what was right for the film, this time allowed us to collaborate and come to a mutual understanding of how the characters should look in the film.
We were able to discuss potential issues and requirements early so that come the time the actors had been finalized, she was already able to get in contact and begin practicing on them after originally testing on models before them.
This saved us a lot of time during filming as she was able to perform her role to a fantastic standard and understand exactly what I wanted and deliver.
Each cast member was ready the moment we wanted to begin a scene and that was down to the discussions and plan we had set before the production process began.
References
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/movie-make-up-artist1.html
Photos Provided by Hannah
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