age makeup for intimate theatre

[foreveratoad]

im having a hard time getting makeup ideas for our show "Over the river and through the woods" this is being perfomed in a "lab theatre" so the house is just a few feet away. all the actors are teenagers. how do i make them look 70 and belivable?

[gafftaper]

I'm no makeup expert. However, I see a lot of it in our black box which like you has the audience very close. Some of it's good some bad. So here's my advice based on what I've seen fail.

-Makeup in general needs to be toned down. Less is more. Go with milder colors and less makeup on things like highlights, shadow, and cheek color.

-Use the good brush in hair dye, not the cheap spray... or good wigs. The cheap spray can look clumpy and you can see through the outer crust of it to the natural hair color below when you are up close.

-Go easy on drawing in wrinkles. Wrinkles are a common aging technique but they can easily be over done in an intimate space and just look like the person got attacked by a mad man with a Sharpie. While wrinkles are a must, use the thinnest line possible and make them faint.

-In general I would say focus on hair, and a few wrinkles then let the costume and actor do the rest of the aging. Things like sunken eye sockets and shadowing that work on a proscenium stage look terrible in a small space. I've seen actors that look like zombies, not senior citizens. Back off to just the basics with makeup as much as possible.

[jessamarie6]

You should definately use a much more delicate hand with wrinkle lines, something that will help with this is simply using lighter colors to create the lines. From a distance on a procenium stage we tend to use black and dark brown to create age lines because the contrast has to read across a long distance. Up close these lines will read more authentically as the shadows created by wrinkled skin if you use a much lighter brown pencil.

[misterm]

light to medium brown well-blended (maybe with a darker color underneath) for wrinkles. remember to use your blush to your advantage to create the look of sallowed cheeks and eyes.

[seanandkate]

You should message one of the booth members, Erin Rist.

ControlBooth - View Profile: ColorfulFaces

Take advantage of a member with a huge hair and makeup background!

[ColorfulFaces]

Getting young faces to look elderly is one of the greatest challenges in theater, ESPECIALLY within intimate spaces. The key is covering up what you can't make look old. My first recommendation is that you consider spirit gumming on some crepe hair to look like beards and wonky eyebrows. Combing in hair whitener also helps a bunch. I've used Ben Nye Hair whitener and been very pleased with the results. Also, talk to costuming and see what gloves, hats, glasses, scarves and high necklines can be added. The neck is a huge indicator of age, so if you can get that covered the old age makeup on the face will be far more believable.

As other's have said, go easy on the hard lines and instead play around with shadows. Don't be afraid to experiment! Subtle aging spots and capillaries will also go a long way. If any of your elderly people are sick add a bit of red eyeliner and go with a slightly lighter foundation.

Depending on the budget of the show you might want to try a makeup I recently heard about that acts like watercolor. It is very translucent but has an even coverage. Let me know if you are interested and I will see if I can find the name/ distributor.

That's all I've got for now - hit me up with any questions!

[ColorfulFaces]

I lied - one more thing! If you do decide to create wrinkles you have a couple of options.

A couple weeks ago I heard about a product sold on alconeco.com called old age stipple. I have no idea what the results look like, but a professor recommended it and it's not very expensive.

If you are going to go old school and draw them on there are a couple things you should.
1) Shadows blend up, highlights blend down. I know that seems backwards (at least it does to me) but that's how it works. I recommend using a cream makeup and applying with a thin paint brush. At the center of the wrinkle paint a hard shadow line that blends up/ out. Then on the other side of that hard line, paint a hard line of highlight that blends down/ in. The photo below should explain a bit.
2) the deepest part of the wrinkle towards the center of the face. It should fade out towards the edges of the face.

And as a general rule of thumb, the darkest part of the face is at the center of the eyes on either side of the nose.

I hope this was helpful some way :-) I am more than happy to answer any questions!

[Dreadpoet]

Keep wrinkles sharp and crisp.
Remember you need not make your audiance believe they are 70...only accept that they are 70

[scarlet0906]

Adding wrinkles or lines in the face makes them older. If that didn't effect then you have to remedy it through costumes and vice versa. If the costume didn't effect that much, you have to remedy it through make up. Anyway looking for make up is just easy. Aside from adding of lines or wrinkles. Use dark color eye shadows for women. It makes them look matured and older. Also a heavy make up helps to get older.