special effects person
Looking for advice on a career move into special effects/film/tv make-up?
I need some advice. I have a BFA from DePaul University in Chicago. I now live in Los Angeles. I am looking to get into special effects/film/tv make-up. At DePaul I took a year of Theatrical Make-up and was the Professors Assistant the following year. I was hired as a special effects Make-up Artist at The Queen Mary in Los Angeles for their Annual Haunted House. I applied horror and gore make-up to the actors hired for the haunted house. I was the only person hired that had not gone to school specifically for make-up. I now want special effects make-up to be my career of choice. I realize I need additional training but am not sure what school in the Los Angeles area is best for me. I would also like any advice on how to gain employment in the film industry for make-up. If anyone has any advice or insight please let me know. I would also welcome any information on Unions, and what requirements are for joining. Thanks to all!
The two best schools in LA for movie makeup and special effects are Westmore and MUD. You can also do the Dick Smith course from home as long as you have the makeup basics (which it sounds like you do). Dick Smith’s is the most advanced of all the three so if you ONLY want to do special fx then Dick’s course is the way to do.
As far as getting into the industry in LA you have to have a few things under your belt.
1. A good portfolio (you’ll need to advertise for free test photoshoots on craigslist to get this or hire a photographer to get professional shots of your work)
2. A good resume (you need to show SOME professional experience. The paying jobs usually like to see 5 or more LA jobs. You can build up your resume by taking free or low paid independent jobs off of Craigslist.org for LA. They are always looking for special fx artists. Do like 5 then start applying for the paid jobs.)
3. Meet people. The more jobs you do (even if they seem like small projects to you) The more people you meet who can pass jobs to you. You get the most jobs from other artists so befriend your fellow artists and be easy going and fun to work with. People will remember you for their paying gigs.
4. Really helps to show some sort of specialized makeup training. Big money goes to special fx artists to get it right the first time so if you can show you’ve been taught the proper techniques it’ll open some doors for you.
Once you get some pictures try and apply for Halloween Haunt at Knot’s Berry Farm. It’s a bit of a drive from LA but that experience is invaluable. They make you do the creatures very quickly and with creativity so it trains you to work at a fast pace on set. Plus it just looks nice on a resume. You have to show them some special fx shots though with your resume.
Offer to intern at a special fx shop. There are several in the area. Look in the LA411 guide for phone numbers. Call and see if they need interns. I did some interning for one of the shops (they’ll remane unnamed because they had some issues with how they treated the interns). I know an artist out there who did this and the guys in the shop liked her enough that they trained her in the advanced stuff so she is now doing larger films.
Get the “The hair makeup and fashion Styling career guide”.
http://www.makeuphairandstyling.com/home/?CFID=3568280&CFTOKEN=14033342
It’s invaluable and gives you a lot of info you need know to professionally apply for jobs and be taken seriously.
For the union this is the link to the requirements page.
http://www.local706.org/howTo.cfm
A non-roster film means a non-union film just for clarification. You have to do so many non-union film jobs at a set pay rate and keep the payroll stubs to join the union. The list details it all. You can also call the union and ask for a tour and if anyone can give you more info on how to join the union. They tend to be very helpful and nice.
To see the info on westmore go to:
http://www.westmoreacademy.com/index_html.htm
For MUD:
http://www.mudmakeup.com/
For dick smiths course:
http://www.dicksmithmake-up.com/mainmenu.htm
I went to Westmore and my instructor started out like you and then supplemented with the Dick Smith course. He now does a lot of big budget films. You can see his resume on the Westmore site. Dick Smith is the legend in Hollywood as far as special effects go.
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