FILM AND TV MAKEUP ARTIST

Get oriented with the course structure, final project expectations, and the essentials of building your professional film and TV makeup kit.

• Course structure and final project overview
• Meet your instructor
• Introduction to the professional kit
• Establishing kit fees (box rentals)
• Q&A

Learn how a film production team is structured, from ADs to DPs, and master the OSHA hygiene protocols and Last Looks etiquette required on any professional set.

• Defining a makeup artist's role
• Film set hierarchy (ADs, Directors, DPs)
• OSHA hygiene and sanitation standards
• Last Looks etiquette
• Crowd Room vs. Main Team dynamics
• Building a portable set bag

Learn to prep skin, mix sheer HD-compatible bases, and neutralize blemishes for a flawless "no-makeup" look built for 4K and 8K cameras.

• Prepping skin and mixing sheer HD bases
• Mastering the no-makeup look for 4K cameras
• Blemish cover-up for camera
• Skin care for shoot days
• Workshop: Applying the no-makeup look alongside Marianne

Assignment #1: The "No-Makeup" Realism Test
Execute a flawless, undetectable base and natural look on a live model, photographed under harsh, direct lighting.

Explore how cinematic lighting temperatures affect skin tone, and learn to neutralize severe undertones and prevent product flashback under harsh studio lights.

• Neutralizing under-eye darkness and redness
• Understanding product flashback
• Color-matching skin tones under studio lighting
• Neutralizing intense undertones
• Beating flashback and harsh studio lighting
• Collaborating with DP and lighting department

Master advanced color theory, stippling, and sealing techniques to build a seamless, wardrobe-safe tattoo concealment that holds up under camera and costume changes.

• Covering dark and multi-colored ink
• Stippling, blending, and sealing techniques
• Augmenting existing tattoos for camera
• Airbrush theory for hyper-fast HD bases
• Tattoo transfer application and removal
• Demo: Tattoo concealment and application

Assignment #2: The Tattoo/Blemish Cover-Up
A before-and-after photo sequence covering a dark tattoo or severe skin inconsistency, seamlessly blended into the surrounding skin.

Deconstruct a film script to extract makeup cues and design historically accurate, character-driven Face Charts grounded in real period research.

• Script decoding and makeup cues
• Designing character looks
• Creating professional Face Charts
• Period makeup research
• Production meeting collaboration
• Workshop: Script breakdown breakout session

Build meticulous digital continuity grids and detailed tracking notes to recreate exact makeup looks flawlessly across out-of-order shooting schedules.

• Continuity photos and notes
• Matching your own work days or weeks later
• Building digital continuity grids
• Tracking out-of-order shooting
• Collaborating with the Script Supervisor
• Duplicating your own and others' work

Assignment #3: The Continuity Sequence
Apply a character look, photograph it, wash it off, and recreate the exact look two hours later, submitting both photos side by side.

Create realistic simulations of fatigue, illness, and environmental dirt using highlight, shadow, and texture work under extreme 15-minute time constraints.

• Highlight and shadow to hollow eyes and cheeks
• Creating realistic sweat and tears
• Simulating environmental dirt
• Workshop: 15-minute turnaround speed drill

Build a seamless facial hair continuity strategy through targeted HD skincare, real-world case studies, and close collaboration between the makeup department and production barber.

• HD skincare essentials
• Shaving and beard grooming
• Beard care, maintenance, and continuity
• MUA and barber collaboration
• Case study: Real-world facial hair continuity examples

Design a subtle, non-prosthetic aging progression using paint, shadow, and stippling techniques grounded in natural facial anatomy and where age naturally shows.

• Facial anatomy and natural shadow placement
• Stippling and stretch-and-release techniques
• Subtle aging with paint and shadow
• Character facial hair basics (sideburns, stubble)

Assignment #4: The Progression of Time
A three-part photo series of one model showing healthy/rested, 24-hours-awake fatigue, and severely ill/exhausted states.

Formulate medically accurate, photorealistic bruising and trauma effects grounded in the real science of physical impact and injury healing stages.

• Medical references and building your "MU Morgue"
• Science of impact on screen
• Cream bruise wheels for fresh, healing, and old bruises
• Demo: Quick death simulation for morgue and murder scenes

Construct lifelike out-of-kit injuries, including deep scrapes and scars, using rigid collodion, scar wax, and stage blood mixology techniques.

• Creating scars and deep cuts
• Working with wound transfers
• Types of stage blood (drying, mouth-safe, fresh)
• Photographing the scars

Assignment #5: Death Simulation Makeup
Execute a death simulation look demonstrating medically accurate trauma and morgue-ready application.

Decode call sheets and deal memos, negotiate kit fees, and map a strategic route to IATSE union entry while building your digital portfolio.

• Decoding call sheets
• Day rates, kit fees, and invoicing
• IATSE Local 706/798 union pathway
• Deal memos
• Sourcing student films for IMDb credits
• Building a digital portfolio website or PDF

Assignment #6: Final Portfolio Assembly
Compile your five previous assignments into a professionally formatted digital document with face charts and continuity notes.

Evaluate peer portfolios and learn to confidently defend your creative and technical decisions in a simulated, high-pressure professional review setting.

• Presenting character design confidently
• Accepting professional critiques
• Analyzing portfolio formatting and layout
• Articulating color, texture, and placement decisions
• Workshop: Peer portfolio breakout review

Build a strategic outreach plan for pitching your set-ready digital portfolio to directors and producers as you launch your film and TV career.

• Outreach emails, subject lines, and attachments
• Navigating crew pages and job boards
• Sourcing student films for IMDb credits
• Social media vs. private NDA-compliant portfolios
• Building your MUA career timeline
• Final Q&A