Hair
and Makeup
This essay discusses hair and make-up
industry is explored in many different areas. What is hair and makeup? The key
aspect discussed is that I will explore many roles and communication with other
departments within hair and make-up artists associates with alongside with
their work and many range of jobs within hair and makeup. I also will discuss the duty of hair and
make-up in the Royal Opera House.
Firstly, hair and makeup work in variety of
settings such as: film, live music, photographic shoots, television and
theatre. However, working in film and television industry includes working in
purpose-built studio or being “on location”. This means the environment varies,
meaning hair and make-up could be working in indoor dressing rooms, hot studios
or cold outdoor locations. Moreover, the work is physically demanding and
requires excellent concentration and most make-up personally carry around their
own equipment. Also, hair and make-up artists are located mainly in cities,
especially those with independent regional TV companies and opportunities are
mostly located in London. Hair and make-up artists are expected to travel
overseas for film work on location and it’s very frequent travelling or working
overseas. On the other hand, make-up artists tend to not be employed by a
theatre to do the actors/actresses make-up expect for specialist make-up
artists because actors/actresses tend to generally to do their own make-up more
often. But hair artists are beneficial for working in the theatre because the
main work in theatre is in the wig department – fitting and maintain wigs, hair
pieces and prosthetic also dressing the wigs are designed for each character. Therefore,
ensuring that appropriate action is taken to minimise unpleasant side effects
from the use of specialist hairdressing techniques and strong hair skills are
beneficial. In the theatre, you have to be able to work rapidly under pressure
during a show, as some have quick changes of a character’s wig or make-up or
solve an altercation that can happen during a live show.
The relations between hair and make-up with
costume designer is important in the department to make sure that a consistent
look is achieved in the department. Hair
and make-up works closely with the costume designer in every production to
achieve a look for each actor/actress that will visually support the character.
However, before any decision is made – the hair and make-up artist discuss
make-up essentials with the costume designer and set a budget. Then, the hair
and make-up artist speak with their mentor or the costume shop supervisor about
their budget and before purchasing they have to make sure that they have
approval on all purchasing and this is important before making a purchase
procedure. Afterwards, the make-up artist creates a make-up chart for each cast
member in consultation alongside with the costume designer then the make-up
artists check the make-up from the house during dress rehearsals, conferring
with costume designer and making changes were needed. It has been shown that
hair and make-up and costume designer are beneficial together as they create
the special effects and the production come to life with each of their skills
together.
More importantly, health and safety is an
important aspect of your working life – know your responsibilities and that of
others to prevent accident, injuries and illness.
To conclude, first aid and unit nurses –
there should always be a first aider and they should be noted on the call
sheet. A large production should always have a unit nurse or doctor, with a
paramedic – causes of cover for stunts and hazardous special effects, and
sufficient trained first aiders whenever work takes place is important because
they are very highly experienced and beneficial for injuries most importantly.
In the same way, there’s a safety checklist: Fire extinguishers and first aid
kits should be prominent, Fire exits and doors must be kept clear, There must
be a good working space and ventilation in the vehicle, Access to vehicles must
have non-slip steps with handrail, Never have a trailing lead to electrical
equipment, Gas bottles must be stored correctly, Make-up staff must arrange for
sharps bin and flammables waste bin for IPA, acetone, other waste and both must
be labelled correctly ( do not put spirits in the nearest bin or down the
sink). Reasons these are important to
avoid the biggest dangers, injuries, illness and infections and contamination's
and in order to avoid these – you have to follow the health and safety to
become a successful make-up artists there will be mistakes but those could also
be prevented and wanting to make the client happy which is highly important.
In brief, my research of the Royal Opera
House hair and make-up duty. In the Royal Opera House is explained being the
Royal Opera’s hair and make-up designer – as an artist to response to the
themes and context of the ballet including an exploration of background issue
raised in ballet and the production that hair and make-up are working on it has
to reflect on them. Finally, producing their final design for each dancer and
shown photographic evidence of the model. As a result, hair and make-up should
be thinking about: differences between stage and beauty make-up, what do hair
and make-up styles say about the character (whole exploration about the
character to get an understanding), main characters, what does the story tell,
designing hair, wigs and make-up needed for the ballet, and last but not least what
does the whole look tells us about the character? Therefore, these are
important to show the audience the created look tells them a story and
creativity being key, extraordinary out the box.
