Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: old age make-up

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doublezero420
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Topic: old age make-up
Posted: 4/22/08 at 11:22pm

Greetings all!

I need some help aging an actor in the show I am currently directing. The actor in question is 17 years old and needs to be 90. Normally I would just use the standard grey/white hair spray and eyeliner for lots of wrinkles and go with that.

This show however is a courtroom comedy and we are lucky enough to be performing in the circuit court room of our courthouse. All of the actors who are wittnesses (as is the one in question) will be seated in the gallery mixed in with the audience.

Due to the fact that there are no stage lights, the rest of the actors will not be wearing make-up. I have latex appliances that I use for Halloween, but it takes 2-3 hours to put on. (a definite possibility, but if there's something easier...)

Oh, also most of the rest of the cast is adult (ages mid 20s to 60s) and playing characters of their appropriate age, so it's not just a matter of making one teenager look a lot older than a bunch of other teenagers.

thanks for all the input!

aaron

“One of my chief regrets during my years in the theater is that I could not sit in the audience and watch me” -John Barrymore

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pdavis69
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Posted: 4/23/08 at 7:29am

Liquid latex applied to the skin and then heated with a blow drier produces very nice wrinkles.

Patrick L. Davis
Fort Findlay Playhouse

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TonyDi
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Posted: 4/23/08 at 8:46am

I regret to inform you that it's virtually impossible to take a 17 year old and CONVINCINGLY age them to THAT OLD an age of 90. There is one way and you already recognize it - PROSTHETIC appliances. HOWEVER, doing this process takes a significant amount of time IN PREPARATION to pull it off convincingly - even remotely convincingly. Store bought prosthetics - I've said it before - are NOT the way to go. Usually they don't fit precisely, they are only about halfway sculpted, and the cost is ridiculous - as it would be ANYWAY for this kind of process...sorry to say. And they SHOULD be FOAM LATEX appliances, not just slush latex which have thick edges. Even if they ARE foam latex, they are not usually made well enough to be worth the money they cost. If you don't have someone on the professional level - and I trust I am not being harsh - who can EFFECTIVELY do this process - start to finish, including a life cast, the sculpting of the old age makeup, mold making, running foam latex, gelatin or silicone gel-filled appliances, and then the painstakingly difficult task of application, blending, coloration processes - wellllll............you're just only ever going to get what you can HOPE MIGHT sell legitimately.....but I sincerely doubt it will, especially since as you said, they're in the audience with the rest of the people, up close and personal. Better be UNDETECTABLE as an age makeup or you'll never pull this off, ever. Even the process PDAVIS mentions of old age stipple (NOT necessarily using latex - some people have allergies AND it requires a SAFE version of latex to do it and then the effect usually is radically reduced because of it) but even this process usually does NOT work on young people. The process requires skin that is relatively loose. And 17 year olds have nice firm, tight and resilient skin which rarely if ever does much to allow for a significant wrinkling effect. As well, this is the routine that most people jump to right off the bat - without realizing that there are 90 year olds out there with beautiful skin....often wrinkle free or nearly so. It's not necessarily a given that the skin will wrinkle even at that age. It's a matter of research and seeing what amount of variation there is out there among the older crowd.

I think the ONLY way you'd EVER pull this off is if you had a highly qualified special makeup effects artist who can do an effective old age prosthetic appliance makeup. I've seen it done on 10 year olds and it blows me away every time....but that's pretty rare. So 17 is better but still in the category of impossible without a full-blown old age prosthetic makeup application - which CAN take anywhere from 4 - 6 hours.....not just 2 - 3 if it's to be done right.

Therefore what to do??!!! Suggest you FIND someone in your area who is qualified and who can pull this off. Otherwise what you're going to end up with is likely a feeble attempt at aging someone who first is not old enough and can't be made to LOOK old enough using conventional stage makeup processes - including just white hairspray (think in terms of HAIR LOSS with age more than just color). Then to get them to look THAT OLD - well without major prosthetic old age makeover - it simply is NOT going to happen. You'll end up with SOME level of age but nothing remotely close to 90. Sorry, it's simply NOT going to happen any other way. You can try, you can do something - but without a complete old age makeover, it simply is going to fall short. Recently, during the previous Halloween I aged my daughter to about the 70's but it took a full face silicone gel-filled one-piece appliance, and effective wig and costume to get her to look that old - and SHE is 35. So double the age - maybe with the right prosthetics. Without them - not even close. Here - have a look what it takes to do this......

http://www.sapsema.org/images/LISAB4AFTER.jpg

And 17 to 90 - I'm sorry it's just never going to sell without some MAJOR makeup event. You'd do better using the 60 year old and even then having to do a significant makeup job on that person to age them up to 90. But 17?? If you do accomplish this - I'd certainly like to see it.

TonyDi

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Topper
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Posted: 4/23/08 at 8:58am

Since it's a comedy anyway, I would put NO make-up on the teenager and still have the character claim to be 90. You can add a line where someone says, "Wow! You're ninety years old? You look so young!" To which the character can reply "Thanks. I quit smoking."

"None of us really grow up. All we ever do is learn how to behave in public." -- Keith Johnstone

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JoeMc
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Posted: 4/24/08 at 3:01am

G'done Topper!

Aaron why not jusy use two different actors?

[western] Gondawandaland
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TOI TOI CHOOKAS
{may you always play to a full house!}

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Firace
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Posted: 5/02/08 at 2:10pm

Ok excellent...how about aging someone who say is 17 to the age of about 40...is this possible? What is the best practice?

thanks

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TonyDi
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Posted: 5/05/08 at 7:52am

Originally posted by Firace

Ok excellent...how about aging someone who say is 17 to the age of about 40...is this possible? What is the best practice?

thanks

Well here again it simply depends upon the actor's physiognomy. WHAT do they look like and how much - or better yet - how LITTLE do you have to do in order to get them from age 17 to age 40? SOMETIMES you can get away with a GOOD paint job - forget the prosthetics and do a solid, good theater age makeup job. There are elements you must study in "aged" faces to be able to know how to accomplish them either with a simple makeup job or whether it's going to REQUIRE more extensive "appliance" makeup work to legitimize. For the most part, a LOT of 40 year olds look young enough these days that you can likely do some MINOR work to get someone from 17 to 40 without much more than a few lines EMPHASIZED (NOT OVERDONE) with slight attention to "sagging" areas as well as the hair styles, colors and loss, etc., coupled with slight weight gain perhaps (gravity is a pain) and so on and so forth. But you certainly don't need a full blown prosthetic makeup job though if you HAVE someone who is qualified that CAN help...but certainly isn't necessary. NOR is old-age stipple stuff to add wrinkles. Again KNOW the character, the character's life characterisitics, conditions and such to know how to make them up. TOO many people opt for far too much without looking around at 40 year olds. I'm 61 but MOST people think I'm in my late 40's or early 50's - certainly NOT my age but it's the Italian genetics perhaps. SAME idea, know what age, time, conditions and outside forces do to age a person and apply accordingly. LOOK at some 40 year olds. I think you'll find a 17 year old with minor makeup work can easily be made to look that age - just as long as they can PLAY that age and sell it legitimately.

Good luck.

TonyDi

"Almost famous"

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Firace
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Posted: 5/06/08 at 7:29am

thank you

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doublezero420
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Posted: 5/06/08 at 10:38pm

Can't use two actors b/c there is no way to switch them. all the characters go straight form the gallery to the wittness stand.

aaron

“One of my chief regrets during my years in the theater is that I could not sit in the audience and watch me” -John Barrymore

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Props, Scenery, Costumes and Makeup
Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board :Producing Theater :Props, Scenery, Costumes and Makeup

Topic: old age make-up( Topic Closed)