MAJOR PROJECT: Makeup Design

During the pre-production stage, we had discussed the makeup that would be required for the film. The cast is very limited with 3 cast members only, 2 of whom are men. As we would like the film to have a natural aesthetic to it, we decided that the 2 male cast members would only need some powder to eliminate any shine on their faces, and would not require any further makeup.

Sophie

For Sophie, who is the only female cast member, I discussed her makeup requirements with her during the rehearsal. The character of Bobbie should have light, natural, subtle makeup that doesn't stand out too much on camera. During the rehearsal Sophie told me that she is more than confident applying her own every day makeup, and we discussed what would be most suitable and easy to replicate throughout the 3 shoots days. We decided that Sophie would do her own makeup which would include some subtle blusher on the cheeks and a thin, natural line of eyeliner and mascara on the eyes. Sophie has quite prominent features, therefore I felt that a subtle and natural makeup design would be most suitable. I also felt that as the other 2 cast members were having no makeup at all, it would be complimentary to the aesthetics of the the film that Sophie's makeup would be understated.
In the behind the scenes image shown here of Sophie, you can see that her skin looks incredibly natural with some rosy-pink blusher, and natural eyes and brows. She also opted for a soft pink lipstick that highlighted her features in a soft and subtle way. Below is a behind the scenes image of Nik being mic'd by Josh, his only makeup design was the matte powder which was applied before shooting each new scene.

Nik

To ensure that the cast looked shine-free, I purchased an inexpensive matte look powder. I decided to go for a loose powder as opposed to a pressed powder, as I knew that a pressed powder can sometimes apply unevenly and give a heavier appearance. Whereas, I wanted the powder itself to look near enough invisible and just serve the purpose of keeping any shine away. I also purchased some makeup sponges and labelled them with each cast member's name so that I wasn't mixing them up and using the same sponge on more than one person. I also kept them separate in their own plastic bags for hygiene reasons.
Overall, I was very pleased with the makeup design across the shoot days and think that it was well controlled. On the shoot days I sat with Sophie in the board room and went through her makeup collection that I had asked her to bring with her just in case anything needed tweaking. However, I was happy with the consistency of her makeup throughout the 3 days, and ensured that it was touched up throughout the day. I had the job of applying the powder to each of the cast members as I felt confident in this department and knew the look that I wanted to achieve. I also wanted to ensure that the use of the labelled sponges was controlled.