Profession make-up artist. Make-up artist of the theater "Et Сetera": "Make-up is one of the types of modern art that not everyone can accept
make-up artist(from Old Italian. grimo- wrinkled) - a master who knows the art of transforming the appearance of an actor with the help of paints, stickers and other tricks. The profession is suitable for those who are interested in drawing, world artistic culture and labor and economy (see the choice of profession for interest in school subjects).
Features of the profession
The make-up artist works with the actor's face, and sometimes, if it is necessary for the role, he selects a wig, mustache, etc. for him. A specialist in the manufacture of wigs, false beards and mustaches is called a postigeur (French postiche artificial, fake). Therefore, the make-up artist is also called the make-up artist-poster. Although most often post-gear products are prepared in special workshops. The make-up artist, developing makeup for a future performance, orders the necessary wigs there, etc.
Even before the start of the performance or the filming process, he thinks through all the necessary make-up details so that the result matches the director's intention. You have to take into account the silhouette of the face, specific traits, features of the costume, lighting that is planned to be used on the stage or set. On the day of the performance or shooting, the make-up artist works on the face of the actor, trying to be in time for the beginning of the performance.
Make-up can be picturesque and plastic (volumetric). Picturesque makeup can seriously change the appearance, emphasize some features, adding new ones. In combination with glued on eyebrows or mustaches, this gives a great effect. But the pinnacle of make-up art is plastic makeup. He is able to make a person completely unrecognizable, turning him into someone else.
When the film about Vladimir Vysotsky "Thank you for being alive" was released, the film crew and producers kept the artist's name secret for some time. leading role. The intrigue was a success, because without a clue to find out in the main
the hero of Sergei Bezrukov was almost impossible.
Regardless of whether painterly or plastic make-up is applied, it should make the face bright so that its details can be seen from the gallery. However, makeup is not a mask. By changing his appearance, he retains the actor's ability to express feelings through facial expressions. Without this acting is impossible.
When the performance or filming is over, the makeup must be removed, the beards peeled off (they are attached with special glue or mastic), put in special boxes, and wigs pulled onto special blanks. The make-up artist monitors their condition, and when they wear out, orders new ones.
On television, a make-up artist would be more correct to call a make-up artist, or simply a make-up artist. The make-up artist conjures up the appearance of TV presenters and guests of the studio, but his task is not to transform a person, but to emphasize the dignity of his appearance and obscure the shortcomings.
Workplace
The make-up artist can work in the theater, in the circus, in film and television studios.
Salary
Salary as of 19.02.2020
Moscow 130000—150000 ₽
Important qualities
The make-up artist profession implies a creative attitude to work, artistic abilities, good visual memory, fine color perception, good fine motor skills. As well as contact, friendliness, accuracy.
Knowledge and skills
A make-up artist or make-up artist-poster must be proficient in applying different types of makeup, creating hairstyles, storing wigs, false mustaches, etc.
Postigeur is a master who makes products from hair: wigs, hairpieces, beards, etc. Such specialists are in demand in theaters and cinematography, where they create real masterpieces for actors. Postigers are also needed in everyday life: for those who are struggling with the effects of chemotherapy, or are rapidly losing their hair, a good wig from a real master is a way out of a difficult situation.
Where to study
The theory of making wigs is studied at the theater and art departments of colleges and universities, for example, in the specialty "Make-up Artist". The work of a stylist is closely intertwined with the work of a make-up artist, costume designer, and artist.
Alexander Zvonkin, theater director of the House of Friendship of Peoples: “In our team, the position of a stylist is combined with a make-up artist; we, unfortunately, cannot afford to pay a separate rate. And for the same reason - lack of funding - in most cases they are forced to use ready-made wigs, already on their basis our craftswomen create the necessary props.
Master Qualities
Patience, patience and once again patience - these are the main qualities of a master stizier. The creation of one wig takes from three weeks to a month, and most of the time is devoted to carefully weaving the hairs into the base.
Another important feature of a postiger is the ability to search for and work with information. What for? To make a wig for a historical performance, you need knowledge about the fashion and style of the corresponding era. So, before making a wig or chignon, the master-stylist has to look for information about how Ivan the Terrible's contemporaries looked or what hairstyles were in fashion at the court of Louis XIV.
Each wig, chignon, beard or sideburns is individual, each item is made "for the actor" or the customer, that is, taking into account the anthropometric data of the person.
How a wig is made
Creating a wig is a long and painstaking work. Hair intended for making a wig is first thoroughly washed, dried and disinfected. If the wig is dyed in the future, the strands will also discolor. Then the karda comes into play - a tool that is somewhat similar to a hair brush. With the help of a card, the hair is straightened and divided into strands. Finished strands are collected in tresses - long "garlands" that will become the basis of the wig. Hair with the help of a special machine, but more often manually, is woven at one end into synthetic threads; the free ends of the hair will become curls of the wig. For one wig, it is required from 12 meters of such a “hair thread” - tress. It takes up to two weeks to weave a weft of the desired length.
By the way, hair does not have to be natural: many theatrical performances require fake, grotesque wigs, which are made from synthetic threads or animal hair. Natural hair is usually much more expensive, but wigs from them are indistinguishable from the original.
Alina Mamaeva, hairdresser: “Working with natural hair is both more difficult and easier at the same time. Yes, synthetic ones fit better, but from a “natural” wig it turns out natural.
The next step is to make the base cap. In professional slang, such a hat is called a "monture". To begin with, the stylist takes measurements and makes patterns - patterns for the hat, without this step it is impossible to guarantee the impeccability of the future wig. A montage is sewn from a special mesh fabric, more precisely, a non-woven fabric. The finished hat is put on a blank and a tress is sewn to it - a thread of hair. A beard or sideburns also requires its own pattern - and making such patterns is almost more difficult than for a head. A beard stand is called a chin rest.
And now the most difficult thing begins - the tamburovka. Each hair from the wess must be threaded into the hole in the montage with a special hook and secured with a tiny knot. Hair fixed in this way looks “alive”, as if growing from a base cap.
Is the wig ready now? Not yet: the hair needs to be cut, combed and styled. The skills of a hairdresser are in many ways similar to those of a hairdresser. After all, a freshly made wig is far from the desired image. Shaggy, with uneven protruding strands - and you can’t say that after a few hours, a pretty and neat styling will turn out from a forest monster’s hairstyle. Curling irons, tongs, curlers, varnishes, foams, gels - almost the entire arsenal of an experienced hair stylist is used. And no wonder - the wig needs to be cut and styled like natural hair.
Wig care also requires special skills. Like natural hair, false hair must be washed, dried and styled. This work also falls on the shoulders of theatrical students.
earnings
For all its "necessity", the profession of a stylist is paid quite low - from 6,000 to 15,000 rubles. Therefore, most masters are forced to combine two or even three specialties - for example, a costume designer or make-up artist.
Alina Mamaeva, stylist, The Hollywood’s Art School, LA: “It’s hard to make money making wigs in Russia. I received 8,000 rubles in the regional theater, while working for myself and “for that guy.” Of course, it’s good to work for the love of art, but you also need to feed the children for something. Here in Los Angeles, my profession is considered very necessary and well paid. True, before getting into the Art School, I had to interrupt random orders for a long time: I collaborated with beauty salons and small independent studios.
However, as in any creative profession, it is also important to find your niche here. Tatyana Ledneva, the owner of a small wig workshop, makes wigs for individual orders.
“I already have a circle of “my” clients, and I am provided with a job for a couple of months in advance. The cost of one wig by individual standards reaches 40–60,000 rubles. It's not that expensive if you take into account not only the cost of materials, but also the complexity of the work."
Tatyana's clients are people who need a wig not only for medical reasons, but also lovers / lovers of changing hairstyles, choosing styling for an evening dress.
Postigers are real magicians who, with the help of their hands and just a few tools, work wonders, creating new images for people and helping to overcome the difficulties that have arisen.
The course program includes:
- Grimm and cosmetics in the history of makeup and peoples
- Basic information about makeup and cosmetics
- Preparatory work for makeup
- Makeup types. Portrait, national, fabulous make-up. Grimm for circus, cinema
- Makeup plans. Sketching.
- Classification of make-up paints.
- The relationship between make-up, hair and costume
- The value of pastoral products when creating stage make-up
- Classification of pastry products, wigs, hairpieces, braids, beards, mustaches, overlays
Upon completion of the course and passing the exam, a qualification is awarded "Make-up artist - pastiger"
Make-up artist-poster is a highly qualified generalist who works in film, television or theater. With the help of special paints, stickers and other professional attributes, he changes the appearance of the leading actors, gives the necessary appearance to the faces of the participants in group scenes and extras, creates portrait and personal make-ups according to sketches and descriptions or in accordance with the instructions of the make-up artist.
If for a role or stage image it is required to make or pick up wigs, mustaches, beards or sideburns, this is also done by the make-up artist.
Profession "make-up artist": what is taught in the classroom
The course is developed taking into account the most progressive requirements of modern film and television industry. You will receive basic theoretical knowledge and practical skills in the most relevant and popular techniques of make-up and stylist art, such as:
- the basic rules and principles of working with artistic and plastic makeup (the specifics of using makeup in cinema and theater, materials for making artistic makeup, facial anatomy and mimic features, aging/rejuvenation of faces using makeup, characteristic and fabulous makeup, illusory effects for men and female images, animal make-up);
- plastic (how to use specific tools and materials correctly, how to create plastic effects of bruises, burns, frostbite, etc., plastic make-up for cinema and television, make-up for participants in thematic shows).
- the basics of post-styling skills (initial hair preparation: washing, combing, primary sorting, hauling, etc.).
- rules for creating stizhery products (making crepe, tres, hairpieces, braids, curls and strands from sarlych or artificial hair).
- dividing hair into strands, wrapping on bobbins of different diameters, curling wigs, etc.
- distinctive features and specific properties of paints and materials used in the manufacture of stizhery products.
- mustaches, beards, flies, eyelashes, eyebrows (what materials are needed for them, approximate consumption, principles of fixing on the face).
All trainees who attended the classes will receive a standard certificate upon completion of the course.
Bloody footprints, bruises, black traces of fuel oil, an angelic face, a brave mustache, a hairstyle like a great-grandmother's ... You see all this on the screen, just like tired or fresh faces, all this is the work of a make-up artist. “YourKino” attracts make-up artists for, we know everything about this profession!
Start
The result on the screen is the most visible part of the make-up artist's work, but it begins long before the filming of the video.
First, a specialist receives a literary script, gets acquainted with the characters, studies the atmosphere, understands the historical background and tries to take into account all the necessary points. If the film has some special universe or historical reference, the make-up artist delves into this issue along with film crew. Make aliens in the Decembrist style - yes, please!
The next item is sketches or “references”, which involve not only a portrait of the hero, but also with the help of which the make-up artist understands how many brushes, mustaches, wigs, shadows, hairsprays, etc. he will need for this hero in one scene and throughout all the shooting days. This means that a professional must also have mathematical abilities so that fake blood does not inadvertently end in the “main battle”.
Sketches are discussed with the director, and then "try on" to the actors. And suddenly it turns out that a shaggy uncle was chosen for the role of a bald forester, and the “beardless young man” does not have the right to shave off the stubble that is involved in other shootings ... Whose problems are these, right, make-up artist.
Then the team takes on a trial make-up, both the image and the estimate are specified.
Beginning #2
When all the vicissitudes have come to a happy ending, another “beginning” of work comes into force - on the set, when the scenery, equipment and other departments are ready (and the dressing room too!), And the actors appear on the scene.
For each hero, the maximum time is 40 minutes (sometimes 15), of which most of it is spent on hair. The ability to quickly work with a face is 30% of the work of a make-up artist.
First of all, a professional must evaluate the type of actor, and if the makeup has not been tested before, which happens often, then estimate the colors that need to be used, correlate with the image, take into account the weather conditions and the time of filming. And so ten times, well, or how many actors are there. Someone even has to cut. Of course, with his consent and with selfless adherence to the idea.
Sometimes the tasks are not only glued eyelashes and the perfect tone, but, for example, a cut cheek, a bruise or abrasion. Such tricks should be able to do a professional make-up artist. Of course, complex masks or bleeding limbs are the work of another specialist.
At the same time, you need to understand that until the make-up artist finishes, the team will not start filming, which means you can expect irritable: “Soon already?” - and catch the plan of the working day with the second ear. Actors, directors, producers are people with their own character, with their complexes and “overshoots”, and the make-up artist, however, like any member of the team, has to reckon with this.
End?
It would seem that you can breathe. Everyone is ready. “Camera, action!”
No matter how! The make-up artist's post is behind the back of the operator. If it is possible to see on the screen what happens - perfect. If not, then you need to follow the makeup live. And to prevent the catastrophe of “leaky” eyes, peeled off mustaches, knocked out from under the bald head of the cosmos.
It's called "on set duty" and it goes on all day long. Occasionally, the make-up artist runs up to the actor and powders his shiny nose, twisting his disheveled curl.
In each scene, the specialist prescribes everything for himself necessary materials and attaches a photo of the actor with makeup ready to the script, in case the shooting lasts more than one day.
"Points" in the profession
There are difficulties in any profession, and since the make-up artist is a creative and unusual specialty, the problem areas are the same here.
Education: There are no higher education institutions in Russia educational institutions producing professional "make-up artists". Moreover, there are no such institutions all over the world. The profession spreads by hand and is reinforced by master classes, short courses and out-of-the-ordinary situations on the set.
Make-up artist: Young directors, not knowing what they are doing, often invite makeup artists instead of make-up artists to shoot, and this is a big mistake. The task of the makeup artist is to emphasize the beauty of the face. The task of the make-up artist is to convey the character and situation. Therefore, if you don’t want to see in your film, for example, Sakhalin prisoners with emphasized cheekbones and perfect eyebrows, invite a make-up artist who will make an exhausted old woman out of a fresh “berry” with one brush stroke.
Makeup - not needed: Another mistake: to invite a make-up artist to the shooting of the film and say that makeup is not needed, you just need the actors to look good. Paradoxically, but “good”, namely, according to the idea of the film, the era and the atmosphere, the actors look precisely because of the make-up, and this is a great work of one professional.