Your own actors, the same look every day, and checks before every take.

The job

You get your own actors and do their hair and make-up to the designer's look, every day of the shoot: a clean contemporary look, a period wig, a wound, tattoo cover, ageing.

Then you stand by: checks before each take, and watching for shine, sweat, rain or a stray hair after it. You keep your actors' continuity record, because scenes shoot out of order and a look has to match across weeks.

A typical day

• Prepare your station and products before your actor's chair time.
• Apply the day's looks, working from continuity photographs and notes.
• Walk your actors to set and stay close through rehearsal and takes.
• Do checks when the 1st AD calls for them, quickly and quietly.
• Change looks between scenes as the schedule demands.
• Remove make-up and wigs at wrap and update your continuity sheets.

Skills

• Both hair and make-up to a high standard, including period hair and wig work.
• Skin and hair across all skin tones and hair types.
• Speed. Chair time is on the call sheet and the unit waits for you.
• Continuity discipline.
• Discretion and a calm manner with actors early in the morning.

Reporting lines

You report to the hair and make-up supervisor and the designer. Trainees and junior artists may assist you.

How people get in

Artists usually step up from trainee and junior grades. Some come from salon, theatre, fashion or commercials with strong skills and build credits on crowd days and smaller productions. ScreenSkills publishes skills checklists for each grade.

Next step up

Key or senior artist, looking after lead cast, or crowd supervisor, running teams on big crowd days. Then hair and make-up supervisor and designer.

Find out more

• ScreenSkills: hair and make-up artist skills checklist
• ScreenSkills: roles in hair and make-up
• Hair and make-up rates: the branch card on the Bectu rate cards index