Unit 7
Make up and Prosthetics

Health and Safety-

 

For a task of this unit, we are tasked with researching the risks and hazards of make up and prosthetics in Film and TV, linking to the things in our own horror movie.

 

The first step is to ensure that you are communicating with the actor sitting in the chair and speaking through the steps to make sure they are comfortable and know what is being done at all times. This includes a thorough debrief and asking about allergies and prior experiences with substances that you're using at that moment. This helps to make sure they feel safe enough to tell you beforehand if something goes wrong, e.g, an allergic reaction, to which the responsibility would be yours. 

 

When working with make up, some ingredients can cause reactions to the skin such as;

 

-Irritating

-Allergies

-Dermatitis

-Infection

 

It is important to be careful when handling such substances, here are some ways that can be done.

Makeup application: before handling any substances, it's important to ensure the space you're working with is tidy and clean, including washed hands, clean and sanitised makeup brushes, separate mascaras and close contact eye makeup for separate actors, (in our case, we only had one actor who brought their own), as well as clean palettes we had so we were not directly applying from the bottle or tubes. This prevents the spread of cross contamination of bacterial infection, Impetigo etc. Applying the makeup gently will not also make the actor more comfortable, it will also ensure a smoother application, as being too rough can irritate the skin and increase the risk of making the skin more vulnerable to infection.

For us specifically, we were working with liquid latex. Inhaling liquid latex may cause irritation to the respiratory system, whereas ingesting it, in extreme cases, can cause stomach pain or vomiting. We had made sure that the room we were working in was well ventilated, like keeping all the doors and windows in the room open wide. A patch test was done along with the spirit gum using a cotton swab, waiting a few minutes before ensuring that there was no reaction. The latex cap was kept on when it wasn't in use for more than two minutes to prevent any more fumes. The latex was applied carefully to make sure it did not get too close to the nose and mouth.

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Removing some substances can vary in methods, most substances have solvents that can dissolve the substance easily, for our case, we were using a damp cloth.

For the removal of the substances, using a cloth and warm water, it's important to gently dab the areas with the substances, soaking them and letting the warm water penetrate through. This will soften the substance for easier removal so that it can be pulled or wiped away.

 

For the paints, (the eyeshadow and concealer), typically you would use a cleansing balm such as micellar water, but it wasn't needed in our case as the makeup was not as pigmented. This was also removed gently with a damp cloth and warm water, being careful not to be too rough and irritate the skin.