Examples of make up

SFX make up can vary in quality and complexity based on goals for lighting and camera angles. Time in the make-up chair beforehand, interaction on set, and clean up afterwards also play important factors.

Airbrushing and stenciling

Airbrushed make up provides a vary flat appearance for lighting and can give strong color tones that are relatively safe to touch. They also allow for application of unique patterns.

Challenges with this is that the tools involved (airbrush gun and paints) need maintenance and juggling during the application process.

light cream

Light cream paints are a good balance of ease of application, durability, and mess. It’s easy to build up multiple layers and paint in finer details, and can handle light touching without fear of getting all over clothes, props, and other actors.

bald caps and scars

Various prosthetics can be used to assist with augmenting an actors basic appearance. Bald caps can mask the hair and sculpting wax can be used for crude scars and brands.

horns and unnatural features

Prosthetics can be used to create unnatural features beyond simple raised scars and what not.

This make up uses thick cream that is fairly messing and make the shirt’s inner collar dirty after notable wear, but was very easy to apply with heavy saturation.

corpse flesh

liquid latex can be used to augment the texture of the skin, giving it an extra wrinkly or peeling effect to reanimate the living dead.

Gellatin blood can provide a solid lasting blood effect when you don’t to deal with wet blood all day.

Reference photos and preparation

Time and preparation are invaluable… It takes time to decide what make up type is best for your application. Some important questions to ask are:

  • How realistic or cheesy are you going for? What are the movie comps you are trying to achieve?

  • Is it minimal lighting or a trivial shot? Can we save money on a different make up application?

  • Does the actor have body hair or bone structures that conflict with the end result? Prosthetics add size and need to adhere to things. Thin and hairless people provide the simplest “skeletal foundation” for “building out” characters form, but if a monster needs a beard or healthy weight picking an actor with the right build reduces the need for make up.

  • How long you will be filming and the actor will be in costume?

  • How interactive they will be? Chance of smearing? Is smearing a problem for reshoots or follow up scenes?

  • How much touch up they will need? If its a quick scene on a cool day they may be fine. If they are sweating or running around all day they will need touch ups.

Chair time

Time spent in the chair is time the actor is working off camera. It is time consuming and can be taxing on the actors, but it can allow the makeup artist to create more elaborate detail for those critical shots that have close ups and will receive heavy scrutiny.