THEATRICAL MAKEUP
A Technical Element of Theatre


Actors are judged not only by their
acting but by their appearance
Actors who appear on stage must
learn makeup techniques
 Make up artists are routinely used
on movie, television, etc. sets
 Make up artists are rarely used in
live stage performances
 Stage actors must do their own
makeup
CHARACTER ANALYSIS


To create a unique
characterization you need to
analyze the character
- what are the factors that
make a character different
from the others?
FIRST THING IS TO READ THE
SCRIPT!!!
CHARACTER ANALYSIS

HEARTH is a mnemonic to remember
the six elements of character
analysis
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H- Heredity
E- Environment
A- Age
R- Race
T- Temperament
H- Health
CHARACTER ANALYSIS

HEREDITY

Family Traits
 Inherited characteristics
from parents and
grandparents
 Red Hair (Life with Father)
CHARACTER ANALYSIS
 ENVIRONMENT

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Determines a person’s appearance
 Work indoors / outdoors
 Works day / night
 Rich / poor
Time Element /historical period
 Deep tan (few years ago)
 Peaches n cream (hundred years
ago)
 Pasty White (Restoration period)
CHARACTER ANALYSIS

AGE

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Chronological age is only one
aspect
Also influenced by:

Heredity
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Prematurely gray hair
Pattern baldness
AGE - CONTINUED
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Environment
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Health
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Sun or wind caused wrinkles
Chronic illness ages a person
Temperament

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Frown caused wrinkles
Smile caused wrinkles
CHARACTER ANALYSIS

RACE

Less common today for actors
to portray other races

Some plays it is important to
understand appearance related
characteristics of major racial
groups

The King and I
CHARACTER ANALYSIS

TEMPERAMENT

Personality


Person who smiles a lot has
“crows feet” (lines at corner of
eyes)
Person who frowns has “frown
lines” (vertical wrinkles between
eyebrows)
CHARACTER ANALYSIS
 HEALTH


Acute illness
 Must know physical / visible
characteristics
 Measles, cold, seasickness
Chronic illness
 Long duration or frequent
occurrence
 Arthritis, asthma, multiple
sclerosis
CHARACTER RESEARCH

Three basic sources of
information:

What the playwright says about
character:
 Time and place of play
 If says “the present” must find
out when play was written
Sources of Information


cont.
Stage directions / descriptions
What a character says about
themselves or what other
characters say about them
 Must read carefully because
characters can lie


About themselves or others

Talk, dark, handsome
Must take everything into
account including motives of
characters
Facial Anatomy

Must know the underlying
bone structure of the
human face to create good
theatrical makeup
Facial Anatomy
Facial Anatomy

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Facial features are effected by
the aging process
Muscles in the face used the
most retain strength and
flexibility
Underused muscles stretch and
sag due to gravity
Facial Anatomy

How the aging process affects
specific areas of the face
 Becomes more pronounced or
prominent with age
 Frontal eminence
 Superciliary arch
 Temporal fossae
 Zygomatic arch
 Naso-labial folds
Facial Anatomy with age

Individual features also
become more prominent
 Cleft chin
 Sunken eyes
 Nose (as the skin sags
around it)
Facial Anatomy – with age

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Lips become thinner and loose
natural color
Sagging muscles create jowls
Eyelids sag and droop
Complexions also change
 Age spots
 Red nose and cheeks on heavy
drinkers (caused by broken
capillaries at surface of skin)
Physiognomy

Judging a person’s character by
looking at facial features

We associate certain character traits /
emotions with certain features
Physiognomy

Facial features convey
information about a character
 Used by cartoonist to
immediately show emotion and
character
 Individual features are
influenced by other features so
whole face must be considered
Physiognomy

Forehead
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High forehead / receding hairline
 Shows high intelligence (men &
women)
Frown lines
 Bad tempered person
 Deep concentration
Physiognomy
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Eyes (the windows to the soul)
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Prominent eyes = dreamer
Deep set eyes = analytical
Small, close set eyes = dishonesty
Large, well spaced eyes =
trustworthy
Crows feet = happy
Physiognomy

Eyebrows
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Full eyebrows = forceful person
Bushy eyebrows/ hair growing in all
directions = disorganized
Close to the eyes and growing
close together = cunning & mean
High arched brows = gullible & little
intelligence
Physiognomy
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Nose
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Larger = strength/ leadership
Long & narrow = refined taste
Bulbous (large rounded tip) =
dissipation (especially if red)
Pointed = nosy
Bent = rough / physical type
Longer = older in age
Physiognomy
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Mouth and lips
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Wide = generous
Small = tightfisted or
closed-mouth
Full = sensuous
Thin = strict
Physiognomy

Chin

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Strong chin = strong /
aggressive
Weak & receding = weak
willed / passive
Physiognomy
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Cheeks
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Rounded & red = jolly
Thin or sunken = businesslike
Jugal fold (Pronounced wrinkle
halfway between the mouth and
ear) = cruel