Make-up Set Cover for Film, TV and Video
Making a Film Look Good and Managing Make-up Throughout Production
Make-up can create drama or spectacle, adding to the mood or authenticity of a filmed piece but it also provides an important technical function. This means that even documentary or corporate work can benefit from a make-up department to provide on-set cover.
Filming days are long and so the maintenance of work is important for the quality of the finished piece. Make-up designers and specialists may be based in a different location in which case supervisors and junior artists have the responsibility of looking after actors during filming.
For purely natural style work, having a make-up artist on the shoot will ensure the smooth running of the camera and lighting departments, as well as saving on post production time. When filming, if something saves time then it is automatically saving money, so this is the best reason for producers to cost in a make-up budget.
Functional Make-up:
With lighting and large amounts of electrical equipment, film sets get very hot. Make-up stops actors from visibly perspiring on camera, and this also prevents glare from the lights on camera. Stopping these things at source means fewer takes and money saved.
If doing blue and green screen work, attention to hair saves literally hours of editing time.
Essential Make-up For Natural Work:
- Powder to stop shine.
- Anti-shine gel layered under powder or used alone.
- Clean brushes, disposable puffs and plenty of brush cleaner.
- Hair spray and serum to stop flyaway hair strands.
- Blotting papers to blot shine.
- Clothes roller.
- Hair clips to tuck non-cooperative hair away for blue and green screen work.
Make-up for Creative Projects:
Most make-up designers have a range of duties during production so junior artists will usually be required to work on set to make sure that everything runs smoothly. Much of the time this will additionally involve making sure that complicated work looks fresh or ensuring the correct continuity of hair styles and obvious make-up.
Working on Set:
- Do not get in the way of the cameras or director; try to mostly stay behind them.
- Watch out for other important personnel such as assistant directors.
- Be careful of mirrors or anything reflective in the kit that could ruin a take. Block these out if necessary.
- Keep focused; deal with shine and stray hairs early. Neglecting this will spoil continuity as well as maybe stopping filming. If urgent, it is acceptable to request extra time before a take for a make-up check, but otherwise try to get this done in between takes by staying sharp and acting swiftly.There is usually plenty of time for this when moving lighting, sound equipment or cameras.
Without the make-up department the much needed polish of a film would usually be missing but some producers are concerned to see an unnecessarily large make-up contingent on set reminding them of the money this costs. Keep a low yet efficient profile in these situations and the make-up designer will be grateful.
The advantages of working on set are that it is the best way to enter film and get to see what all the departments do, learn about the functionality of make-up as well as make plenty of contacts. Being on a shoot can be a very social affair and provide the chance to make friends and have a lot of fun whilst getting paid to do a varied and exciting job.
A good make-up department can lend a film the gloss it needs to wow an audience, and for smaller scale work it can give a professional edge. For a make-up designer, organizing good make-up on-set cover is the best way to achieve these things.
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