In this career, it’s completely normal that not everything goes the way we plan it, at least not the first time (or second, or third, or more). Believe me, it happened to me a lot of times.
I remember that when I was at school and my practices didn’t look the way I wanted or I used to get frustrated of how complicated some things could be and when that happened I complétalo crashed out, cried, got anxious and even thought about quitting on being a makeup artist, the key its not to let all of that to get you, because those moments are the ones that prepare you for the real world.
Makeup in general could be hard, doesn’t matter what subject are you working on, from bridal to body paint, this career is all about practice (and practice and practice) and you never should stop practicing, but I understand how overwhelming the practice could be and more if the things are not going the way we want.
With SFX Makeup, it’s a lot of different things depending on what your final look is. Are you doing your prosthetic from scratch? Are you applying for it or someone else is doing that? Is this just for pictures or is it a look that it’s going to be on camera AND you have to focus on continuity? A lot of factors that we have to have in mind.
I personally have been in all of those situations. I have a lot of different stories about it but this is what I find useful for when things are not going the way I want which SFX makeup on set.
Plan everything
Having a personal schedule and plan helps a lot! As soon as the production gets in touch with you, ask a million questions to have everything clear as possible, understanding the production’s vision is key, after that, organize your time and give it the importance that it’s required. This is your own pre production process!
Practice
If you have enough time before the film dates or if you’re doing something bigger and complicated, find the way to do a trial practice, if it’s on the after it’s perfect! If not, do it yourself or ask a friend, you can mess it up as much as you need, add more to you idea or take out, that’s what this is for.
Ask for help
This is one of the hardest ones for me, I had to learn how to take my pride to the side and ask for an extra hand. Sometimes in this cases it is great to have an assistant and working as a team, you can give a more clean, fastest and efficient final look if you have a great MUA by your side.
ITS OKAY TO MESS IT UP!
Sometimes on set it’s completely normal that things are not a hundred percent perfect, I know, this is the worst feeling, but sometimes we focus on make something to look impeccable and you can nearly see it on camera, a tip that i can give you could be that before start working ask you the production whats the camera angle and what’s the main thing that we need to see on screen, with that information you will now where to focus and save some time and stress.
Remember to always take your continuity pictures, videos, notes, etc.
And most importantly, there’s a reason why they hired you for this job, you will do it amazing!
