Makeup : Mahesh Muthuswami

Mahesh Muthuswami is one of the leading cinematographers who understands Make up is most important aspect that compliments visual impact.

His article brings details about makeup technology.

Makeup – the basics

As a Cinematographer , we want to arrive at a particular look for our film ; it starts from controlling how each and every shot and frame looks. The following elements in a frame , have a major say , in designing that look ; First and foremost the color and texture of the location or the set , then the props used , the costumes and the tone and distribution of the lighting and finally the makeup on the artists. DI gives us the next control over that look , by being able to fine tune or tweak all these in the post. While the relative area of the makeup’s influence in a wide shot is less ,as the shot becomes closer, sometimes more than 80percent of the frame is occupied by the artiste’s face ; the makeup , then , plays a prominent role in defining the look of that frame . So it becomes imperative for a Cinematographer to know the basics of what goes into a professional makeup. Makeup when applied by a professional makeup artiste, becomes not just as a mere coat to cover the face; But like how a painter uses paints to depict a three-dimensional face on a flat canvas , creating depths and highlights in the face.

Above Picture courtesy: R.Prasana Venkatesh

Beyond the first steps of beauty or complementing makeup ,it can be used to define a character – through hair-laying, wigs,bald caps, airbrushing, and advanced paint techniques. It can also be used to simulate – a full range of injuries and effects Or to create three-dimensional prosthetics- Life-casts, sculpting,age makeup, and moldmaking. Makeup can aid the cinematographer greatly , by modifying the facial contours and textures. To do a Corrective Makeup. , One should first study the type of face in order to get a preliminary idea .Broadly , faces could be classified as one of the following

Shapes :Heart , Oblong , Oval , Round , Square and Diamond.

There are some basic steps whenever makeup is applied on the artiste’s face. Let us know them quickly.

The Wash – to cleanse the skin and make it fresh

The Toner – helps to tighten the skin for a smoother appearance

The Moisturizer – helps in even application of the makeup & to avoid dry or flaky makeup

The Primer – to reduce the appearance of the pores in the skin

Foundation – this is the most important layer to start , after preparing the face, with the above steps.Applying Foundation , helps to even out the skin by creating a muted base. The foundation tone is matched very close to the actual skintone of the artiste. That matching will help to make the makeup look more natural and not done up , once lit up.

Then the next step is the use of Concealer – this helps in concealing any blemishes present in the skin , like pimples or scars etc; The tone of the concealer is normally one or two shades lighter than the foundation.

Then, in the setting stage , powder is used , to help makeup stay in the face for longer time. After this comes contouring , which helps in correcting the artistes’ face shape. It can make certain areas ( nose , cheekbones or chin ) appear smaller or more defined. Because , contouring is supposed to look like a shadow , the shades used could be two shades darker than the skintone.

Contouring is done in the following manner , to shape or sculpt the different types of the face. Heart – Along the forehead , below the cheekbones and on the chin

Oval – Sides of the forehead and below the cheekbones

Diamond – below the cheekbones and up to the temples

Round – Along the temples , sides of the forehead , below the cheekbones and along the jawline

Square – Top of the forehead , along the jawline and below the cheekbone.

Or more specifically to do corrections of facial features i.e.To make the nose look smaller , or to make the forehead look smaller , to define the cheekbones or to slim the chin

Like Contouring , there is another important application. Its called highlight. It’s the opposite of contouring. Its normally two shades lighter than the foundation used. Highlight helps to accentuate high points in the face and attract more attention to certain features. It helps to emphasize the areas of the face which naturally catch light.

Color Correctors are used to modify the color tone of the skin ,when there are issues with the skintone. For example , Yellow lightens dark complexion whereas Pink brightens thecomplexion. Blue adds radiance to a fair skin and Green

minimizes redness in the complexion.

And finally a pop of blush is applied to add color to the cheekbones and soften the overall contoured look.

Treating the Eye & Eyebrow ; The eye makeup is the next focus area ; the eye is detailedly divided into small focus areas like inner , middle , outer lid , crease , browbone , browline and lower lash line ; the technique of primer , contouring and highlighting is also applied here.

Understanding the lip type and accordingly applying the lip shade can finally pull the whole look together. Either natural looking lip color or the bolder rich reds. The options are many , depending upon the look one wants.

Makeup really transforms a simple face into a more adorned ,more perfectly defined one.

So, understanding these basics of makeup technique will help a Cinematographer . To communicate with the makeup artiste properly to get the kind of corrections in the makeup needed for a particular style of lighting and effect. That style of lighting when applied with appropriate matching makeup , could give us  some extremely moulded and complementing presence of the face. Lending it more charm and life. And makeup could also

be used as another way to externalize the internal state of a Character.

– MAHESH MUTHUSWAMI