Makeup for Enhancing the Character

Posted by AAFT School of Cinema on August 30th, 2017

AAFT School of Cinema is unique in all scenes because there is different education theme, different environment for students’ career buildup. Located in the hub of Noida Film City, AAFT has maintained its reputation as one of the best film and television institutes of India. The private film and television training academy offers professional degree courses in movie direction and production. Critical to every movie is its film script which in turn comprises of different characters that portray and execute the entire storyline. In other words, we can say that film character development is a highly significant part which requires character concept, its makeup, costume and associated accessory.

If we talk about the subject of Makeup, Costume & Jewellery this is a very unique subject in film studies. Makeup artists that work in television and films help to communicate the personality of the characters to the viewers. They use makeup as a way to improve, enhance or alter the appearance of the on-screen actors and actresses to ensure that they are suitable for the scene they are about to play out. Through this subject, School of Cinema facilitates students to build skills required in professional makeup artists, like basic make-up application, remedial make-up and special effects make-up. The students also get various opportunities during their course study to practice their skills during in-house workshops and academic productions.

The role of professional makeup artists is to communicate with everyone on the set, in order to keep everyone happy and do their job well, not just the costume designers and hairdressers. This means liaising with producers, directors and performers, which can be a full time job in itself. Usually, makeup artists do not just turn up on the day of the shoot, they spend a fair amount of time researching and designing the makeup that is required for the production. This could mean using elaborate makeup and wigs for costume dramas, horror films or sci-fi movies or using materials to alter the shape of a face or create realistic scars.

Makeup has a long theatrical history. The early film industry was all about Black and White movies, which later progressed to include Technicolor films. The early black-and-white film stock did not register a range of colors. Red tones, for example, looked black on screen, so actors compensated by using makeup with blue or green tints. In 1914 Max Factor, a makeup artist and chemist, created the first makeup specifically for movies: light, semi-liquid greasepaint. After the development of panchromatic film, which recorded the entire color spectrum, more natural-appearing makeup, called panchromatic makeup, was developed. Most silent film actors created and applied their own makeup. One of the most inventive was Lon Chaney, who is often called the “man of a thousand faces.”

Like costumes, makeup reflects social status and emotional or psychological changes. After Jennifer Hudson’s character Effie loses her money in Dream girls, hairstylist Camille Friend simplified Effie’s look to reflect her new circumstances. Instead of the glamorous wigs the character wore in earlier scenes, Friend created a more natural style, using Hudson’s own hair.