Saturday, July 23, 2016
Make Up Designers: The Artists Who Create Character
OnStage: The word artist is ever-so-apt when it comes to stage makeup. An ordinary person sits down in the chair and succumbs to a metamorphosis at the hands of the make up artist.
Working within a very small space with harsh lights and impatient people only too willing to interrupt their thoughts, these clever people remain calm on the outside whilst they transform.
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5 comments:
As a person who loves make up, I have so much respect for the amount of patience and precision that professional make up artists work with. They are incredibly skilled when it comes to balancing color and knowing how each color will match your skin tone. The skill they need to be able to create a character with make up that also looks real on the actor is such a specific ability that takes so much practice to perfect. It is fascinating how they are able to alter the audience’s perception of the actors by emphasizing a feature to make them look a certain way, such as harsh, magical, or kind. It is so remarkable how the artists can keep such a steady calm as they work on actors who are under pressure and nervous as the shows approach each night. It is so true how the make up artists are so underappreciated for the amount of work that they put in and how much their work transforms the actors.
I have immense amounts of respect for theatrical makeup artists. The patience and care that their work requires amazes me. The face, the canvas they have to work with, is so small that each detail counts. They have the ability to completely change the way an audience perceives a character. These makeup artists are often overlooked, but in reality they are just as responsible for shaping a character as the costumer. On top of designing intricate looks, they, in some cases, have the even harder job of teaching the actors how to recreate the look themselves. For the more complicated looks, such as when an actor is transformed into a creature, the makeup artist will apply the makeup each performance. Other times, through a series of charts and lessons, the makeup artist has to teach the actor how to do it themselves. Also, theatrical makeup artists have to be familiar and keep up with the products in their field in the same way a technical director must. Additionally, many makeup artists also know how to create wigs. They definitely need more recognition from the theater community.
I really love the messages that this open letter touched on in regards to makeup artists. As a costumer at my high school, we are not only supposed to do quick changes and deal with the costumes themselves, but we are also expected to be in charge of each actors hair and makeup, both designing the looks (with notes from out costume designer and director) and actually doing the actors hair and makeup during tech rehearsals and performances. As someone who focuses on costuming and costume design, I have never been very skilled at hair, and definitely have not been very skilled at stage makeup that was not "costume-y". I have found that, for example, A Midsummer Night's Dream's Titania's elaborate blue and purple eyeshadow with body jewels on her face is much easier that Hamlet's natural-looking stage makeup. I am always so impressed by the makeup artists that can change the shape of someones face or make them look just the slightest bit tired, all while also making the look very natural and realistic. I think that like many other people of the hair/makeup/wardrobe departments, makeup artists can be overlooked because it can seem to an outsider to look like a small job to get an actor dressed and made up to get onstage, while in reality, it take a lot of patience and thoughtfulness to, as the article pointed out, do such a creatively detailed, yet very intimate job.
This is a very important article because I feel that makeup artists don't get enough credit in the theater world as well as the art world. The skill and precision that these artists have to use is unreal and just as artistic as pencil to a paper. They need to be able to change someone's look completely to make a character that has different bone structure, sizes in features (eyes, noses, etc.) , and even color of skin. You have to blend all the tones very well or else is wont look cohesive and even the smallest mess up will make a different. Makeup artists never get the true limelight as all the other artists in theater and in general and I'm glad this article gives important insight on why they're just as crucial.
I personally really admire all the make up designers in theatre for their great skill, patience, and artistic creativity. Theatre make up is really hard, because the lighting is usually too strong on stage that can blur an actor’s face, and thus requires more strong, dramatic make up to enhance his/her facial expression. At the same time, theatre make up can’t be too much, or everything will be too obvious, and the photos of the show will come out terrible. It also can’t be too detached from the characters; instead, it needs to show the quintessential characteristics of their physical appearance, their experience, their personality, and sometimes their temporary mood. Anyway, this is really hard, and as someone who has no talent or advanced experience in make up, I have no idea how they achieve this, and I admire them so much. In my school our make up designer is my Spanish teacher, who is really experienced and talented. Once two of our actors played a pair of sisters, one is a nerdy girl and the other dresses in punk and heavy-metal style, and she can finish both of their makeup super quickly in completely two different styles. That was amazing. Anyway, I love the make up designers I’ve worked with, and I’m amazed by their work.
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