Wigs in theatre

Rock of Ages is a musical currently playing at the Garrick Theatre in London. 

It features rock music from the 80s and the cast are all done up to look like stereotypical 80's rockstars. Wigs are used to recreate the big and dramatic hairstyles from this era.

Tom Watson is the head of wig department for the Rock of Ages. He is a huge name in the business and has worked on over fifty Broadway productions also including Wicked and A Tale of Two Cities. Kelly Treacher is one of the wig mistresses to have worked within this production.

http://www.rockofagesmusical.co.uk/

http://www.garrick-theatre.co.uk/

Wicked is currently running at the Apollo Victoria Theatre in London and features wigs by Tom Watson also. Natalie Danielle is one of many wig dressers who has worked on the production while it's been in London.

http://www.wickedthemusical.co.uk/

http://www.atgtickets.com/venues/apollo-victoria-theatre/

Wigs on the big screen!!

Wigs are another great way to transform someone into a character! Below are 5 movies which I think use wigs really well.

1. Mean Girls

Rachel McAdams wore a blonde wig in the film to become Regina George - the typical all-American popular cheerleader.

2. The Craft

At the time of filming, Robin Tunney had just finished shooting a film which she shaved her head for. In The Craft she wore a wig to make her character look more like the attractive girl-next-door.

3. Breaking Dawn Part 2

After filming Breaking Dawn Part 2, Robert Pattinson shaved his head. But then they had to reshoot some scenes so he had to wear a wig which looked like the way his hair did before he shaved it all off.

4. Salt

The raven haired actress wore a few wigs in the film Salt, including the blonde one above.

5. Drive Angry

Nicolas Cage wore a blonde, messy wig in the film Drive Angry to transform into his character.

Blocking and setting wigs

I'm starting to really like working with wigs! I had the honour of working with the "Subo" wig, the nickname given to one of the wigs in college. 

Here it is all blocked up. With lills all around it and gallon from the front to the tip of the ear. 

Then it was time to set it. I did the best I could with it as the hair is very short, especially at some areas and isn't in the best condition that it could be. I up rollers in to give it some volume at the top and sides. 

The end result. Looking better than when it did when I started. Taking into consideration it's condition you can imagine how much better it could've looked. Once I'm used to it and working with better wigs the results will look much better! :)

Straight TV & Theatre makeup

Over the past few weeks we have been doing straight TV and theatre makeup. Here are a couple of examples of what I've done :) Thanks to my lovely models Caitlin-Ann, Kairean and everyone else I've practiced on!!

Straight TV

Subtle makeup, adding depth to the eyes, a natural look!

Straight Theatre

Heavier makeup to be seen under lights, with the eyeliner extended to create the illusion of the eyes being bigger!!

Top 5 examples of make-up in films I love...

Below is a list of five films which stand out to me as having great make-up...

5. The Pirates of the Caribbean series

Every time I watch these films I can never see Johnny Depp in Jack Sparrow... not only is his acting flawless and he totally takes on the character, his make-up almost completely disguises any trace of Depp. He is given a tanned complexion and heavy eyeliner, simple yet extremely effective. His facial hair adds to the pirate-y look and the wig department did great in making his hair look unique!

All of the make-up is very plain and simple, suitable to the time of when the film is based. A lot of the characters who are portrayed as being quite poor have make-up on them to create an effect of having dirt on them, they wouldn't have looked too clean and pristine due to the lack of bathing in these days. You can see the difference in wealth between Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley's characters not just through their costumes but also their makeup.

4. rec.

rec. is a horror movie about zombies. I love the make-up in this film. It's all really gory. The woman above has just been caught eating another person, all the blood on her face is there to emphasise this... if you look closely you can also see her veins are all red in her head down onto her shoulders... This looks great to me as it shows the blood from her victim rushing through her veins and as she's a zombie she is so pale that her skin is now almost see-through.

3. The Conjuring

The Conjuring is still in the cinema so it's hard to find any really good photos to show what I'm talking about on the internet but the make-up in the film is awesome. It's the first film I saw since starting to study make-up and I couldn't help but stare at the bruises in between hiding behind my hands at the scary parts. You see the change in the mother through the film, more towards the end, when **SPOILER ALERT** she begins to become possessed. Throughout the film you see her body to begin to bruise and they have to be the most realistic movie bruises I've saw to date. Once I can get decent photos of the bruises I will be adding them into my folder of research!

2. Jumanji

At first in this section I was going to focus on Peter turning into a monkey...

And then I found this meme while researching...

Mind blown. I had no idea! This just highlights how great the makeup really is in this film. For the dad/poacher - different tones of makeup, added facial hair and wigs can really make a difference and completely change how someone looks. The make-up looks so subtle however so much has changed. And going back to Peter, it's great how prosthetics and some facial hair can alter a human face to look ape-like, I always thought it was amazing when I was younger how they managed to turn him into a monkey and the effects still look great to this day.

Alec Gillis is the special makeup designer and creator for Jumanji. He has also worked on films like Alien and Scary Movie 3.

1. Saw

And now my favourite. I love the Saw films! Especially the first one.

I love how the make-up adds to the shock horror of the film. The above photo is after Glover saws off his leg, he has lost a lot of blood therefore a lot of colour in his face. I love how pale he looks as he is close to death... and he looks it! The Saw films are no strangers to blood, they use a lot of it but the right amounts depending on the wound, they never go overboard it's all seems very real.

Scott Eddo was the make-up artist for Glover. He also worked on the Die Hard and Predator films as a makeup supervisor, designer and creator.

College so far...

I signed up to the course quite late. After returning from working in Ibiza for 11 weeks I applied on the college website for the course and attended the open day soon after. After meeting Morven - the head of department - I was really excited about starting the course and was happy I finished my summer season abroad when I did so I could start getting on track with my future career! I was looking forward mostly to the SFX part of the course as it always amazes me how the sight of fake blood and wounds during a horror film can make a whole cinema squirm as if it's real and we're watching a documentary.

My first impressions of the college and course are that it's great. The college is easy to find your way around and is so easy to get to from where I live. Everyone in the class are really friendly and we all get on well. Our lecturers are really awesome at what they do, I just can't wait to get more stuck into the course! 

So far my favourite thing that we have done is creating cuts and bruises. I always wondered how it was done so I'm glad I now know and can hopefully keep getting better at it. The only thing I'm not a fan of is that our timetable so far has us in one full day and three half days. It doesn't sound much but when you're working as well it can be very tiring and the extra costs for transport are pretty unnecessary considering we could be in fewer days. It's early days yet so hopefully this will all be sorted soon!

If I was to pinpoint the funniest moment in college so far... it'd be quite difficult. I'd say every Tuesday in Donald's class is the funniest as while we blog etc you never know what we'll end up talking about from debating whether lettuce has a taste to how much we dislike Bieber.

I want to be a MUA as I have always been interested in make-up from a young age. I was one of THOSE girls who raided her mum's make-up bag then pretended to be a Spice Girl.... 

Now that I'm older, when I watch things from Gossip Girl to horror movies I find myself looking at the make-up and being amazed at either how pretty or hideous it can make people look. I'd love for someone to look at something I've worked on and think that about my work!

A great make-up APP - Beautylish

While trying to find a make-up app that would be beneficial for makeup artists I came across Beautylish.

It's a free app which is easy to download and is great for makeup artists or anyone interested in makeup. It is easy to sign up. You can either create an account or log in via Facebook. Once you are all signed up you then need to create a profile. 

Once you add in your details you can upload a photo to complete your profile then you are ready to take advantage of this great app. You also get a discount voucher for the app's shop when you first join - great bonus!

The app has many features and is extremely easy to navigate through so you don't need to be great with technology to work your way around the app. 

Features include a wall of photos which you can add to showing makeup and hairstyles.

There are also tutorial videos and reviews of products which you can search through or even add to...

My favourite part of the app is this feature however.... 

The app has a whole section dedicated to allowing its users to ask questions. Other app users can then post replies with advice and attach photos to help along the way. 

I think this app is perfect for MUAs as it can give ideas for future work and if there's something you're not too sure about there will be a tutorial somewhere, if not you can ask and someone will be able to help! It's a great little community and well worth a download!!

To download just visit the App Store on your phone/tablet and search for "Beautylish". You can also follow the app on twitter @Beautylish for on the move tips!!

Looking at MUA's - Jeffree Star

Jeffree Star is a famous MUA residing in Beverly Hills who became famous through networking on Myspace. He would upload photos which would receive around 50,000 comments from fans praising his work. He would also put up youtube video diaries showcasing him applying makeup and hanging out with friends. Because of all this his popularity rose and he became one of the original "myspace celebrities".

Star started out by playing about with his mother's make-up as a child and perfected his talent through the years. He was completely self-taught which I find makes him even more interesting as he was born with his unique, creative talent. He would attend clubs in the Hollywood area using a fake ID when he was starting out as a makeup artist and attract the attention of celebrities who would then hire him to do their make-up or be a model for them.

He is known for his flawless make-up and vibrant, bold colours. His eccentric makeup style helps make him stand out from many others and he is a walking advertisement for his work.

I have admired Jeffree for over 10 years now and over those 10 years his work has only got even more amazing yet he has still maintained his signature style. He has also delved into the music industry as a singer and DJ and regularly tours around the world. Despite all of this, he will always be recognised first and foremost as an extremely talented makeup artist in my opinion. 

If you want to find out more about Jeffree Star you can follow him on twitter @JeffreeStar

If you are interested in trying out makeup like his, sadly he does have any tutorials posted online any more but if you search for "Jeffree Star tutorial" on youtube you will find plenty of people trying their hand at it. My favourite is this one by Sphirex:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCm_nzmkpug

NASMAH

NASMAH is a non-profit organisation which aims to promote it's members. Members pay a fee for membership and this is how NASMAH manages to promote them, the people who work for NASMAH are volunteers therefore all money paid by members goes straight in helping them to get exposure. Members include make-up artists 
and hairdressers who work with television, film, theatre and photographic.

One of NASMAH's suppliers is M.A.C. Cosmetics. I have personally been a fan of M.A.C. for a number of years and find it hard to try any other brand. It's only now that I'm studying to be a make-up artist that I'm becoming more open to trying new products!

M.A.C. is a make-up artists dream. They supply everything from make-up to the brushes needed to apply them. The brushes and make-up are all very high quality and well worth the money. The products last a lot longer than those on the high street and there also a much better selection. Their eyeshadows and lipsticks come in not just a number of colours but in a number of shades, choosing the right one can be time consuming as there is so many!

I think that because of the amount you have to choose from M.A.C. is a great supplier for NASMAH as they have everything a photographic or even tv and film make-up could possibly need. Not only do they have an incredible, easy-to-use online shop they have counters and shops worldwide with many of their own make-up artists at hand to help answer any queries and give advice where needed.

While researching NASMAH I couldn't help but look into some of the members who benefit from this organisation. I, myself am more interested in the theatrical and film side of make-up so one member who really interested me was Arabella Clarke who is based in Camden, London. Arabella specialises in horror and SFX make-up.

The photo above is titled "Glasgow Smile". The above look was made quite popular after Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker in Batman, as giving his victims a slash from both sides of their mouths was his "thing". However I think this is the best version I have seen yet of this wound, Arabella has made all the make-up minimal and has not went over the top with blood. "Less is more" and I think this look is very effective.

Arabella's website - http://81.5.150.58:8000/arabella/index.html

NASMAH clearly has a good reputation in the business (evident from M.A.C. - one of the leading make-up brands being a supplier) as for members such as Arabella it's a great boost to helping them find work and gain even more success in their careers.

Rollers!!

Today I washed and then brick set hair. My client had really lovely, long and thick hair so I think it looked great once the rollers were taken out.