Healthy Skin vs Makeup - for 6k & high dynamic range camera's

[PatrickFaith]

I have been looking at the dragon shots, and also at some footage of Rooney Mara and Kate Bosworth. Basically these actresses eat healthy, and that's what I think it will take for clean footage on the high dynamic range and high resolution camera's. I just don't think there is a way to "fake" these new camera's with makeup. From a story telling viewpoint, I think this opens up a new opportunity ... in that you can "feel" the skin, color changes, and depth which allows the ability to express emotions in a much better way. I think in a few years we will look back at how actresses looked in the same way we look back at Kabuki. I also find it interesting that the dragon's most important impact could be in providing young women role models that promote real health over makeup/dieting. I think I'm feeling the healthy skinned actresses as more "compelling"?

 

[Christopher Mills]

Regarding performance in or out of makeup... I don't think so.. Our world places lower expectations on the effort expended by the beautiful. Imperfect looking actors have appeared to me to consistently be better performers. They don't have the looks to coast on, so they work much harder at being the character.

Oh, they still tend to be better looking than the average human, but they may have large pores, or uneven natural skin tone.. or awkward hair.
They don't call hair and makeup the "vanities" without reason.

And when was the last time you saw really age appropriate heroes. This is not just about ladies with perfect skin and hair. Male talent are very sensitive about showing their age on camera as well.

As I deal a lot with studio project portraiture (cast interviews), I note that pro makeup artists are working harder than ever to make their craft less obvious than ever.

We had the first wave of this when we went to HD video, and its obvious that 4k, 5K and 6K are even more unforgiving.

In a nutshell, your choices become obvious makeup, or unacceptable skin textures look in shots of many actors.

Airbrush makeup helps a lot.. and when you get a talent who's skin is naturally beautiful, that also helps.

However, there is another joker in the deck for us. Body hair. From HD on up, you may see the actual hairs around the edge of the subject's ears... as well as edges of face, especially when you set up the backlight.


Talent and their glam squad are very touchy about this, and it can be hard to deal with.

Keylighting the talent a little hot can help, but we actually lose a little ground with the increased DR. As I deal with people who have look approval based on the camera original image, prior to grading/softening, this can equal real trouble.

I note that many talent are now stalling being on camera in publicity unit shots until there is some solution offered.. some just duck out from the process entirely.

Interested in what other people are doing about this.. as its an issue that has appeared in variations of format change several times in the last 9 or ten decades of film making.

 

[Marc Wielage]

I think hair and makeup camera tests have never been more important now, particularly with changing camera formats and changing color science.

 

[PatrickFaith]

...
In a nutshell, your choices become obvious makeup, or unacceptable skin textures look in shots of many actors.

Airbrush makeup helps a lot.. and when you get a talent who's skin is naturally beautiful, that also helps.

However, there is another joker in the deck for us. Body hair. From HD on up, you may see the actual hairs around the edge of the subject's ears... as well as edges of face, especially when you set up the backlight.

I think most anyone can have healthy skin, but only a few people have perfect cheak bones and such ... and there was a tendancy in the past that "perfect" looking profiles is what got women noticed, but I agree not it's not so much the perfect profile, it's healthy skin on the closups ... I've been a bit shocked a couple of times how leathery some of the actors/actresses faces were. I have also noticed the hair issue a couple of times, your comment on the airbrush is good ... i have seen some shots were the makeup people did oil based creams and some dust hit the actress ... and it looks like one of those male balding commercials where some guy that looks bald instantly has a head of hair. More often then not the fine facial hair issue happens during fx which is hard to reshoot.

I think hair and makeup camera tests have never been more important now, particularly with changing camera formats and changing color science.

100% agree, everything is just becoming so much more "real", that maintaining authenticity is becoming more difficult to fake.