Becoming a 68-year-old woman changed Gail Kennedy's life. But Kennedy didn't
ease into old age gracefully: she jumped into "seniordom" when she was just
21 years old.
The key to Kennedy's instant aging was a successful makeup application.
"I had done a number on myself with makeup," she says. "I did a whole body
transformation with body padding to age myself."
At the time, Kennedy was acting in a play while completing a drama and
education degree. Her transformation was so complete that some of her fellow
students didn't even recognize her. Then they asked her to teach them what
she knew.
She said yes.
"It changed my whole life and it's when I decided that's what I wanted
to do," Kennedy says. She now works as a makeup artist for film productions
and as a makeup teacher on the side.
Kennedy says the one thing that really surprises people about her job is
the amount of research she does before she even touches makeup. "First I identify
how many script days there are, because I have to know if the character ages,"
she says. "Then I analyze things that might affect the character's looks,
like the time period [future or past] or the character's occupation, or the
physical condition of the character."
Sometimes a passage of time in the story has to be indicated through the
character by the use of beards, gray hair, aging or wardrobe. "We do what
we can to help the illusion along," Kennedy explains.
Kennedy also talks to the actor and the director to see what they want
from the character and to find out what kind of lighting is going to be used.
Makeup artists make all these decisions ahead of time, before they even
set foot on a film set or theater stage.
After planning the makeup, Kennedy takes detailed notes and photographs
of her work. "I make charts and write out everything I did -- in sequence,
so I can flip to my notes for scene 32b and have a record of exactly what
the person should look like."
The ability to duplicate effects time and time again is a big part of a
makeup artist's success.
One of the hardest things a makeup artist has to learn is how to make and
apply special effects. Andrea LeVine specializes in prosthetics and special
effects makeup. She runs her own lab and has worked on films and TV shows.
LeVine works with costumers and prop people and uses her own special effects
to achieve looks like the Borg on Star Trek: The Next Generation. "But I don't
like the Borg because they don't present a real challenge to me, while something
like a Cardassian or a Klingon does," she says.
Applying the prosthetics to make a Klingon's head and face is what LeVine
really enjoys. "You have the forehead piece that goes up to the nose and then
you have to cover the seam," she says. "So you have to put it on a certain
way, then color it to match the rest of the makeup. To me, that's a good make-up."
It takes LeVine a couple of hours to create the features of a Klingon.
One of the most interesting and most difficult creatures LeVine has ever
created is the Lizard. To create the Lizard, LeVine used a bald cap, a forehead
piece, a nose and cheek piece, and a chin. After applying it, she colored
it using both "normal" makeup and an air brush (the air brush sprays on makeup
which is pumped through, using a compressor). In total, it took four hours
to put the Lizard effect on the actor.
If it sounds like hard work, it is. Both Kennedy and LeVine stress that
makeup artistry for film and TV requires a lot of dedication, hard work and
diplomacy.
"You're like a bartender when you're a makeup artist," says Kennedy. The
stars may be in good, bad, ugly or nervous moods. Makeup artists have to smile,
listen and get the job done, no matter what. After all, makeup artistry is
a service industry.
But the relationship between makeup artist and actor is an
important one. "Not only do we make people look good, we're the last person
the performer sees before they go on," says Paul Thompson, who works in Hollywood.
"How we conduct ourselves can affect how they perform."
When he's not on a sound stage applying powder to a star's nose, Thompson
runs his own effects lab. "It's a place where I build and create creatures,"
he explains.
Thompson says he gets most of his work because of his portfolio, which
is a collection of photographs or videotapes of his work. Thompson suggests
that students start building their portfolio while still in school. "Some
schools offer videotape portfolios," he says. "Potential employers want to
see that you're able to do the job."