Stage Make-up is definitely different (Pic Heavy)

I finally got photos from the production of Babes in Toyland we did in December. Stage make-up is definitely different than face painting! The lights are so harsh, everything has to be adjusted so it can be seen on stage (from far away)! I learned a lot and had fun! No, I didn't get paid, I was asked to be in charge of the stage make-up for the production by my daughter's dance studio but I do get to use the photos in my portfolio and was reimbursed for the supplies. They really loved how it came out.

The Ravens (The director asked for a "Black Swan" look)


Taken by April Wise Photography performed by Coastal Chamber Youth Ballet

Rodrigo and Gonzorgo


Taken by April Wise Photography performed by Coastal Chamber Youth Ballet

Fireflies (glitter gel and a black shadow)


Taken by April Wise Photography performed by Coastal Chamber Youth Ballet

Tons and Tons of RED circle cheeks! (on soldiers and dolls - red applied with a mop and red glitter)


Taken by April Wise Photography performed by Coastal Chamber Youth Ballet

...previous years they were using spirit gum to glue red felt circles on the cheeks!

Lions


Taken by April Wise Photography performed by Coastal Chamber Youth Ballet

Marionette Doll


Taken by April Wise Photography performed by Coastal Chamber Youth Ballet

Ghouls and Goblins (Designed but not executed by me - next year, more training for the assistants!)


Taken by April Wise Photography performed by Coastal Chamber Youth Ballet

Last year they glued black felt to the faces in a T-shape over eyebrows and noses. You couldn't see the faces. If you want to see a picture of last year go here: http://www.photoreflect.com/web/bin/prpv.dll?photo?s=0&i=0KRE008C000122&p=

Miss Muffet's Spider


Taken by April Wise Photography performed by Coastal Chamber Youth Ballet

...my exchange student from Finland couldn't figure out why there was a lady and spider in the show. They don't have "Little Miss Muffet" in Finnish!

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum


Taken by April Wise Photography performed by Coastal Chamber Youth Ballet


No special make-up on these cute little sheep, but my daughter is one of them (Isn't she beautiful?)!

In the middle, leaning toward the camera


Taken by April Wise Photography performed by Coastal Chamber Youth Ballet

Second from the left (in back)

Taken by April Wise Photography performed by Coastal Chamber Youth Ballet

Farthest Right

Taken by April Wise Photography performed by Coastal Chamber Youth Ballet

Wow! Beautiful job and photos! Any advise for someone going into stage makeup? I have a ballet production coming up of "Carnival of the Animals" soon and then "Wizard of OZ" play. Did you do all of the faces or did you have help?

lovely photos!

Nice pics and a beautiful daughter!

Wow...those pics are really great. Your daughter is a cutie pie! I love your marionette face too.

what kind of make up dd you end up using?

Terina wrote:what kind of make up dd you end up using?

They all started with their own stage make up that the dancers or parents did themselves. The studio gives a paper with instructions out to the parents and they did a you tube video. (same with the hair). So what I ended up doing was only the "characters" They also specified that certain characters were "classic" (blue bird, flowers, and fairies) and I could only do a little crystal glued in the corners of the eyes. I used paint from my kit, which is almost all TAG. The glitter was from FPF shop and Amerikan Body Art. I used white Starblend to highlight against the black under the stage lights.

whobwhate wrote:Wow! Beautiful job and photos! Any advise for someone going into stage makeup? I have a ballet production coming up of "Carnival of the Animals" soon and then "Wizard of OZ" play. Did you do all of the faces or did you have help?

Shannon has much more experience than me! But, I can tell you a few things I learned. Details completely disappear on stage so everything needs to be very bold and lights and darks need to be dramatic.

When i first did stage make up, before I was even a face painter, I did make up for a version of Wizard of Oz. There are some excellent instructional sheets from one of the stage make-up manufacturers. I got them in at the costume shop where I bought the make up.

Get make up removal wipes from Walmart. They're like $5 for 300 and they work well for quick change make up. Know the order that each character goes on stage and if they need to be a different character in the second act.

I had helpers, but they were not so artistic and had never worked with face paint. Next year I will be training on specifics like how to load a brush, checking for consistency how to get thick to thin lines, using focal points, blending out color and how to do each specific kind of face with very specific instructions. I did specify I wanted to personally do certain characters like the Ravens, Lions, and Marionette doll. Turns out that the helpers started with the Mice and they looked amateur because the lines for the whiskers were all parallel instead of pointing to the nose and they were the same thickness the whole way. Also, when the brush was too dry and the paint was "skipping", or too clumpy, they didn't know what to do about it, they just kept painting like that.

Lovely job, and your daughter is so cute! Nice work!

Thanks for the advise Gina, I sure would like to get ahold of a set of the wizard of oz instructional sheets. I am more worried about the other production.

I like the tip about the makeup remover wipes, I'm sure they work better than baby wipes.

Theatre make-up instructions are in many many books and the Wizard of Oz is often featured. I use a crew .... for the Wizard of Oz I had two people working hair and 5-6 on make-up.

I sketch designs for the director to approve, then do the make-ups on either the actors or someone else, take photos for my crew to refer to, have a practise session before dress rehearsal for the crew to figure out the face painting and be comfortable with them.

Depending on what the director's want it is either traditional make-up, face paint (meaning water based make-up) or a combination.

Oh, I did use Ben Nye Final Seal for some of the actors.

Love it!! So cute!

Gina, you did a wonderful job!!! I'm a old theatrical make-up person from way back... but we used different products in those days. I did get a chance to do a big school production three years ago using face paint. It was so much fun because it was a musical called The Monster in My Closet and the extras got to choose who they wanted to be... any fairy tale or iconic character they wanted. If I can dig up the photos I'll post them on this thread.

What a great opportunity! Very nicely done!
And your daughter looks just like you. I could have picked her out, even if you hadn't said which dancer she was. Very beautiful!
Congratulations on a successful theater production! Sounds like you have figured out what you did well, and what needs to change, as well as how to fix it. Good on you!