Make-up

The most demanding work on filming so far has definitely become a weekend 8-9th March 2014. Scenes from a gala reception were made, in which lots of delegates and diplomats from all over the Galaxy took part. For them, as well as for the Federation officers, it was necessary to prepare flawless masks and make-up. This time, Dominika (lagga) took over the job and here you can read about how she and Irča managed this demanding task.

Who else was working on make-up this time and what does it mean to manage make–up for a Star Trek fan film?

I decided to do make-up for this weekend scenes with my own equippment and Irča joined me. Make-up for a film or photographing must deal with higher  temperatures and  difficult conditions all day long and it must be friendly  to actors´ faces. That´s why high-quality cosmetics is necessary, both skincare and for make-up itself. And it is also necessary to be bold and explain the fan-actors that a view through the camera lenses is different and that make-up mustbe more daring and a film of perspiration must be prevented. 

Well, and the last but not least, it is necessary to know what the previous filming was like – to maintain make-up continuity without any changes. To manage all that, you need to make a proof, to think ahead and, according to a number of actors, have enough hands around. I think Irča, with her readiness, self-control, cooperation, being a quick-learner and daring enough to try some- thing completely new, is a miracle worker. The masks for aliens and their application was Karel´s domain – he did an ex-cellent job.

Otherwise, making up generally needs strong endurance to work under time pressure and I believe we all performed here well – with some amusing exceptions.

Apart from the actors playing humans, which aliens´  make-up did you do?

During the weekend, Irča and I did make-up for the Romulans, Vulcans and a Bajoran.

What is a difference between make–up for humans and aliens?

A human (from the Earth) should be himself/herself as much as possible. It means taking a good care of skin to get rid of little veins, stains, dry patches or greasy shine. Then comes natural make-up. Further details are on an actor according to a character – either distinctive or natural.

The only problem comes with people who don´t take care about their faces and they don´t trust make-up. An alien is something like a trial and error thing. Never mind, everything can be washed away and re-painted. So – apart from taking care of skin, everything else is an artist´s touch and it is fun. People playing aliens are usually more at ease and more daring.

What are the criteria for your choice of make-up for individual actors?

According to who is it they represent – a human or an alien with something new on the face. You try if make-up agrees with a skin. If we widen a meaning of „make-up“, then we choose colours, mascara and powder to get a needed optical result.

Do you use a specific brand and why?

I use Artistry and its younger sister Beauty Cycle. Well, because I tried it on myself – when I was young, I suffered from eczema and so I am such a walking tester for everything dangerous. So Artistry is safe. Moreover, I know it is made from herbal powder and from herbs grown by the producer. They have even  their own labs and there are lectures how to use this cosmetics all over the world. In addition, I have a 3- months guarantee on it and so I don´t have to worry at all. It is great for make-up at the events like that because it has a wide range of creams and other items for all ages and all needs and everything com- bines well. That´s why I don´t have to carry everything in my case. Simply it was an unlimited usage, safety, quality, price, worldwide availability and my experience that made me use it. A person in my hands might be afraid of me injecting him/her with some nanorobots but this cosmetics is trustworthy :-)

Which of the make-up was the most demanding?

The biggest problem was to match a colour of prosthetic ears and other new facial parts with a natural colour of skin. Well, and then those Vulcan and  Romulan eyebrows because we didn´t want to shave; covering it with latex from Karel (Škop) would have ended with a depilation, as he had warned us, and unfortunately I didn´t have cosmetic wax with me. So we only covered it with corrector.

What was the most interesting for you about make-up for a fan film and what was your experience with filming like?

The most interesting was that group of people around. All were eager and creative. No one was in an argumentative mode, on the contrary, all put their „self“ aside to create something nice. No one was lazy. And there was a lot of Star Trek fun.

I was able to confirm my notion that people live in stereotypes like “only prostitutes or transvestits take care of their faces“ or “it just goes with age“. I always have to hold back not to bang these people´s heads to open their eyes and help them because time is running unmercifully. Maybe I am like Data.:-)

Every person that fell in my or Irča´s hands was unique – which means a little walking surprise. And that is what I like, I learn a lot.

Would you do it again?
Certainly, the only problem is to plan everything beforehand. After all, it´s quite different from make-up the brides.