Makeup Artists was:Re: attn: Makeup Grrl
MakeupGrrl
wrote:
>x-no-archive: yes
>
>Hi MG,
>
>Since you are a bona fide makeup artist, perhaps even a makeup artiste, my
>question is, So how do you become a makeup artist anyway? What is the
>typical path towards this career?
*grin* "Bona-fide Makeup Artiste"... Yeah, I like that!
>I have been in alt.fash for 5 months but I have not seen this question
>answered. I think people have talked about the other side, namely being or
>becoming a model, but not about the people who make the models look great.
There are only a few freelance-types who post here. I'd love to hear
more MA's, and counter MA's too, talk shop here. So many in the
industry have been really slow to go online; slowly that's changing
though.
>Is it all that it is cracked up to be? What surprises have you had along the
>way? Details, details, let's hear 'em. . . any story like the Toughest
>Person to Work On?
Well, there are many different areas of makeup and different ways to
work. You can work for a line, be independently freelance, be
freelance through an agent, do tv/film/video, do theatre, do
print/runway work, do corporate ad work, do political work, do
corrective work, do special F/X... the list goes on! So I can only
tell you about what I do, which is tv/film/theatre stuff (though this
month I'm learning photo work which is exciting). I don't work on
models generally, I work on actors, and do "straight" makeup rather
than glamour or fashion makeup. This involves different products and
techniques than photo or runway work.
I began working by assisting, for no pay -- this is the sort of
business where you have to do a lot of work for free. It's the only
way to build a resume/credit list/reel/portfolio whatever, because
no-one's going to pay you until you've done work. It was a theatre
production, and so were the next couple of projects I did. After that
came indie short films and tv. I enjoy it so much that it doesn't
usually feel like work.
My lowdown: Theatre is my favorite, but the pay sucks. Theatre folk
are wonderful people who are generally fun, loud, and enjoy what they
do immensely. Theatre has the best hours too. Makeup-wise, it's the
least pressure, because it doesn't have to be "perfect" as it's being
viewed from a distance. The makeup itself is heavier and the
application more dramatic.
Film is a lot of fun, but the hours suck. When I worked on my first
film, I couldn't fricking *believe* how long it takes to shoot a film!
Four days for a 33-minute film was like a miracle. This summer I
worked on a 12-minute film for FOUR DAYS. It also takes a lot longer
to get paying film jobs, and generally with small films only key
positions get paid. Still, I like film folk in general and I like
being on a set. I've gotten extremely good at being utterly silent
for minutes on end. Film makeup is scariest, especially DVD, because
*everything* shows in minute detail, so the makeup has to be really
clean. It's also high-pressure timewise, because you *don't* want the
whole crew waiting for you to finish. I often love this; I compare it
to an trauma center, where there are periods of intense, high-pressure
activity followed by relative calm. It's a real adrenaline rush.
I've only worked on one tv show so I can't really judge, but the hours
also suck. 18-hour days are not uncommon; it's the most
tightly-scheduled so any problems can really screw things up and cause
delays (though if you work on a kid's show, like I did, the hours are
tightly restricted which is nice). You get up early and stay up late.
It is a LOTof fun, though. Plus, the money is good. As with film,
continuity is a big challenge. Almost everything is shot out of order
so we take a lot of Polaroids to keep scenes straight. It's harder to
find tv work where I live, though, as there's only PBS and then news
stations (and around here newscasters only use makeup designers; they
do their own makeup daily).
So, there you have it -- my take on what I've done so far. If you
want to do production work, you have to really have a passion for it,
and you have to be willing to work hard for low or no pay. You have
to be willing to learn and practice. And no, you're not going to work
on celebrities anytime soon -- I can't even imagine working on a
celebrity at this stage. Eventually it's what I want, but right now
I'd die. In this business you can easily be blackballed, so you'd
better be sure you can do the job if it's high-profile.
As far as difficult people, I actually have never really had anyone
give me a hard time. People generally love the MA because we make
them look good. The hardest time I had was working with kids -- on
Zoom -- but that was only because they're kids, don't like to sit
still, and are constantly running around/touching their faces/messing
up their hair/messing up each other's hair etc. We had to
*constantly* run around behind them and fix them. But the kids
themselves were an absolute joy, really cute, and I'd do it again in a
second. Sure, there can be coworkers you don't care for, like any
other job, but you suck up and smile and get along, like any other
job. It's one of those things where I enjoy the work, so even the
not-great parts are okay.
So I guess I've rambled on for long enough. Any other MA's out there
want to share their take on what they do?
MG