Zombie Contest

I got a call from 2 young guys really wanting me to do their make-up for a zombie contest where the prize will be $1000 dollars for the winner.

I've done private sittings before for kids for halloween, but nothing of this nature. I don't even know what to begin to charge for something like this. For those of you who have in fact done this type of individual make-up appt. i'd like to know your thoughts on this.

Great opportunity!

Look over various zombie looks on google and see what you think works/doesn't for your style and practice/draw it out.

Best of luck!

I'm not so good with pricing... I do custom and sfx make up, but I charge from £8-£12 per look depending on the complexity of the design. And then some extra on top depending what products I use...

It varies depending on how I feel really... Haha

I'd charge by the hour and for detailed work for a competition you will likely spend a full hour there. I've done two like that and the didn't mind the hourly cost.

I would charge by the hour for something like this.

My zombies have three price levels

Just face paint - face only $25

This is a $25 zombie



Face paint with ONE effect (one wound, burn, blood, etc.) $50

Full package - make-up, multiple effects (cuts, burns, wounds of various types) over whole body with tons of blood $100

These are $100 zombies

Switched from Hello Kitty to this!!

Hihihi!

I also make all my own pieces do don't have to charge for the purchase of them, just factor in the cost to my prices. If you need to buy stuff.... charge extra!!

Shannon... I like your $25 zombie way better than your $100 ones...

I'm partial to the $100s... LOL

PerfectlyPaintedFaces wrote:Shannon... I like your $25 zombie way better than your $100 ones...

Me too! The "just face-paint" one is perfect for me. I can understand the price on the others (latex and all that stuff and hard work) but I think they're too much "gore" for me

As a big fan of "The Walking Dead" I can tell you why people are saying they like the face paint only zombie Shannon. They look too alive their skin is to heart pumping pink. Just like when I ask boy's what kind of dragon they want you need to ask the guys what kind of zombie they want. Old school or modern, fresh or decaying, realistic or comic book? This answers will help you understand what you need and how much you need to charge. If they say comic book go to A&E new show Comic Book Men they got all the clerks done up and photographed for a Night of the Walking Dead Sale poster on last weeks episode. If you go with a lot of latex applications make sure you stay true to proper bone and muscle placement. They get nailed on that a lot on "Face Off ". Shannon I love all your zombies just think a decaying one would win over a fresh one.

I must be a prud.... I'm soooooo not into zombies.

The customer chooses... those are FRESH. The guy fell off a roof on his head - he's a roofer and the week after I did this he REALLY fell off the roof and shattered his arm!

I always ask if they want to be fresh, decomposing, or dessicated... most like the gore. It gets more of a reaction from people.

When I painted at the Zombie Apocalypse


I did all stages of decomp....in face paint only.

Ok, I'm just a little jealous of this gig!! I love painting zombies! Also a fan of The Walking Dead.

I would charge them at least my hourly rate. I'd probably spend half an hour on each one, maybe even a bit more depending on how much detail they're after. Are you helping them with the whole look, or just the face? If you're going all out, well, maybe you could charge them both your hourly rate. You could get into decaying their hands/arms etc, don't forget to go down their neck too . What about a pencil or something being stabbed in the forehead or neck. Oh man, I want to do it! lol Since they're trying to win a prize they probably won't mind spending the money and really going for it. If that's the case I would book them in for 2hrs (1hr each) and charge accordingly.

I've done a few private appointments just for fancy dress parties etc and booked them for half hour and charge half my hourly rate, they had no problems with that - and that's just to go to a party. If I go over time though, I don't charge any extra.

Good luck, sounds like fun to me.

In addition to the hourly, ask for a percentage of the prize, like a lawyer...hehe (I had a model win an ipad years ago....and I got the hourly...oh well)

I've had several of my customers win contests. Last Halloween one won $750 as Best Male Costume pretty much due to my make-up. He'll be back next year... I will eventually get all of his winnings spread over several years.... LOL

Patience, grasshopper, patience...

Shannon, you're eeeevil

Carolyn and I did a bride and groom zombie around halloween last year. I did the groom fully decomposed, Carolyn did the bride 'fresh' newly bitten by the groom. The funniest was there was a real wedding going on at the park we did this at and they wanted photos with our zombie bride and groom.

The Kryolan teal is an awesome zombie colour by the way!

OMG, Magna, that pic is really scary!