MAKE-UP
[Illustration: ROUGING THE LIPS FOR THE CAMERA
Red photographs black, so particular care must be taken in rouging the
lips for movie work. John Emerson is helping May Collins with her
make-up, while Anita Loos and the director, Victor Fleming, give
suggestions.]
Although most women use cosmetics in their every-day life, they are
lamentably ignorant of the principles of make-up. For example, not one
woman in a hundred knows that she should never rouge her face until she
has put on her hat, since the shadow and line of the hat changes the
whole color and composition of her face. The average man's knowledge of
the subject is limited to the use of powder after shaving. And yet
thousands of men and women secure work in the mob and ensemble scenes in
the movies and find themselves expected to make up for the camera, the
most difficult task of all, with no previous instruction whatsoever. No
wonder they are discouraged when they see themselves peering out from
the crowd scene with a face they hardly recognize themselves.
Nevertheless, almost all the stars of to-day--Norma Talmadge, Constance
Talmadge, Mary Pickford, and dozens of others--have risen from these mob
scenes. Their faces, even when seen among hundreds of others, attracted
instant attention. Perhaps it was natural beauty. Perhaps, too, they
had, by accident or design, solved at the start the great problem which
confronts all movie actors, that of finding the correct make-up.
Movie make-up strives only for a photographic effect and has no relation
to street or stage make-up. Almost every face contains numerous
imperfections which are invisible to the eye, yet which, when enlarged
many times on the screen, are very obvious. There are fundamental rules
of make-up, but the only way to perfect your technique is by constantly
viewing your own "stills" and movies, and changing your make-up to the
best advantage.
Red photographs black, and for this reason rouge is little used in the
studios, except for special effects. Rouge on the cheeks gives the
illusion of dark shadows and makes the face look hollow; it deepens the
eyes, and is sometimes used on the eyelids for this reason. Light carmen
may be used on the lips.
To start your make-up you will need cold cream, special yellow film
powder, film grease paint, and a soft towel. Massage your face with cold
cream and then remove it with the towel, so that the surface is
absolutely clean. Then apply your grease paint with the fingers, and
cover every bit of the face from the collar-line to the hair.
When you have a smooth, even surface of grease paint, spread special
film powder upon it and pat it in lightly with a powder puff. There are
a number of shades of grease paint and by changing the grease tint
before applying the powder you can darken or lighten your complexion in
accordance with your part. Before going further, make sure there are no
blotches on your make-up's surface and that the grease has left no
sheen.
[Illustration: MAKING UP THE EYES
The eyes are the most expressive of the features and their make-up is
correspondingly important. Here John Emerson and Anita Loos are helping
Basil Sydney, the noted English actor, to darken his eyes in accordance
with movie technique.]
The eyes are the most important and expressive features. The make-up
which relates to them is all important. First you must ascertain by
actual test the correct color with which to line your eyes. Almost every
color is used, for the effect seems to vary with different faces. Black,
blue, green, brown and red are all used in varying proportions and
mixtures by different actors. Naturally, you should try to find the
color which makes your eyes look deepest and most luminous.
The edge of the upper eyelid is clearly lined. Then the shade is worked
back toward the eyebrow, getting constantly lighter, until it finally
blends with the grease paint of the face. The process is reversed for
the lower lid, which is darkest at the edge and grows lighter as you
work down.
Your eyelids should be lined with black cosmetic. Do not bead them. This
shows clearly in close-ups and looks rather ridiculous. The slapstick
comedy people sometimes use beaded eyelids to burlesque the "baby-doll"
expression.
The corners of the eyes are shadowed with brown or red. It is this
shadowing that gives most of the character to the eyes; but at the same
time it is apt to age the whole face. For this reason it must be done in
conjunction with actual tests.
Finally, apply light carmen to your lips and make sure you do not overdo
it.
There are numerous special recipes for producing pallor, scars, bruises,
and the like. Blackface make-up is done most successfully with charred
cork dust mixed with water to produce a heavy paste. Tom Wilson, the
best known player of negro parts in the movies, who played in "The Birth
of a Nation," and more recently in our own special production, "Red Hot
Romance," advises amateurs to use this recipe and, further, to
high-light the natural lines of their faces by scraping off the cork
with a sharp stick, wherever a line is to show, and letting the natural
white of the skin appear.
High-lighting for most character parts is a special art. Such characters
as Indian faces or the weather-beaten and wrinkled countenance of an old
sea captain may be done in brown with white high-lights. You should ask
your cameraman to help you with high-lighting, as it is very difficult.
There are tricks of make-up which alter the entire character of the
face. For example, by shading the outline of the face with red you can
make it appear much thinner. In this case the grease paint is slightly
reddened--or, if you desire, darkened--near the ear-line. If you desire
to make your face rounder and fuller reverse the process and lighten the
grease paint at its outer edge.
If your eyebrows and hair are dark, you can tinge them gray by rubbing
the hair with mascaro and then combing. If they are light, white and
black grease paint, applied alternately and then combed, will do the
trick. Beards and bushy eyebrows are made of crêpe hair and glued on
with spirit gum. As a matter of fact, if you are really serious about
making a career of movie acting, it is best to grow, so far as possible,
the hirsute appendages required in your parts. For an unshaven tramp or
a Robinson Crusoe effect, for example, it is much better to go unshaven
for a week or so than to produce a false effect by attempting to imitate
the real thing with crêpe hair.
[Illustration: GLUEING ON A CRÊPE HAIR MUSTACHE.
John Emerson is affixing a villainous mustache to Frank Stockdale.
Spirit gum and crêpe hair are used.]
Finally, lest you be left in the position of the man who starts his
first ride on a motorcycle without knowing how to shut the power off, we
may add that all this nasty mess of grease paint and powder and gum and
hair will come off in an instant when cold cream is applied. It is hard
to feel natural in make-up at first; but presently you will forget that
you have it on at all.
All of the necessary cosmetics may be secured through any drug store or
theatrical costumer. If you want to find out how you will look in the
movies, it is not necessary to have a film test made. Just buy some
make-up and have someone take a few "close-ups" of your head with an
ordinary camera. But do not retouch the negatives--for movies are not
retouched, you know.
Look for imperfections of every sort in pose and expression. Then try to
find a make-up which will eradicate them. If you solve your make-up
problem before you go to the studio you will be well repaid. Among the
dozens of flat, uninteresting countenances a well made-up face stands
out and attracts the attention of the director at once.