Elf production:

 Elf: Christmas production:

This production was based off of the comedic Christmas film, Elf. This film follows the story of a man named Buddy, an over-sized (human) elf raised in the North Pole, travelling across to New York City to meet his biological father, who isn’t aware of Buddy’s existence.

For this production, our task was to do the makeup for 15+ children playing the role of the Elves over the course of two weeks (December 4th - December 16th).

On November 10th, we began discussing our makeup design ideas, this included any makeup styles/techniques suitable to be used on the children to give them an ‘elf-y’ look. These consisted of using a small amount of glitter on the eyelids to match the colour of their costumes as well as red on the cheeks and the nose.

Over the next couple meetings, we re-evaluated the chosen design as we had come to the conclusion that the glitter could be too harsh to use on their skin every day, and opted for a design that would be just as fitting: light, shimmery eyelids, red cheeks and nose, paired with a few large freckles dotted around the cheeks. This has made the makeup suitable for daily wearing whilst also maintaining the look of an elf. (pic of face chart)

The image above shows the final, annotated face chart that was then photocopied and displayed on all of the makeup bays.

Then, over the next couple meetings, we moved onto planning the schedule. Since the show would be held across 2 weeks (not including Sundays), we had to figure out a schedule that had enough people to work in one day, whilst also giving us a few days off in between. To do this, we each went round and stated the days/hours we would be available. Emily then gathered all of the information to create a schedule, which was then printed and placed around the room for anyone to see. (pic of schedule)

The image above shows the completed schedule. Our names went down the page, the show dates went across the page. Each box represents a full day's work, whereas boxes that have been halved are am/pm. The crosses represent the days/times that individual isn’t available.

On Saturday 4th, four of us were scheduled to go in at around 9am. However, there was a miscommunication between the supervisor and the makeup team. The show didn't start until 2pm and so the children didn't arrive until around 10am. Therefore, we had plenty of time to sort out the products we needed as well as decide where to set up bays. Once we had organised our working spaces, the actors and their supervisors had arrived. Emily and I discussed the schedule with Abi to confirm some of the dates and times to ensure there will be no further confusion, then went back into the room to begin the makeup, however I had to leave earlier so I only did a couple of the makeups.

Over the next couple weeks, the days were more or less the same. I arrived at college on time when scheduled and began the makeup almost immediately after I had set up.