How necessary is make up?

In an average scene, say dialogue between 2 characters, how necessary is the use of make up and how you, yourself, use it?
 
lighting can bring out blood vessels under the skin and also increase dark areas. If you are looking for a well - lit scene and want to make your talent look good. I feel you need it.. A good MUA can help raise the value of a production. well worth it even for menfolks IMO
 
Everything in filmmaking is an artificial construct from capture to reproduction. Cameras and microphones do not see or hear the way your eyes and ears do, and projectors and speakers do not come close to duplicating reality; in fact they heighten the unreality of it all. So it is the job of the crafts (DP, makeup, audio, etc.) to compensate for the artificiality.
 
A bit overdone and enhanced in photoshop afterwards but it gets the msg across. You can do a lot with hair and make up. Here you dont have to necessarily add the blue contacts but it's another option you could exercise.
 

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ok thats great, thanks for the replies guys, looks like im gonna need to raid my girlfriends make up draw haha!
A word of advice;

The makeup your girlfriend uses and is quite different from the
makeup needed for a production. They way makeup is used on
actors for photography is very different than they way your
girlfriend uses it. This is a common mistake - my girlfriend uses
make up, she knows what to do for a movie. Then she applies
makeup to a male the way she usually does and....

Well you can just imagine.

That blood is fine. To make it look realistic you will need experiment
just like the blog says. I use black coffee rather then water to make
it more opaque. Adding "Photo-Flo" really helps Karyo based blood
flow naturally - it tends to bead on skin without it.

Standard makeup and special makeup is usually not on the radar
of low budget filmmakers at all. It's good you're thinking about it.
Make up is even more essential in the HD age than ever before.
 
Definitely recommend make up, but it doesn't need to be extreme. We noticed a big difference shooting with and without. Provided that there are no obvious skin issues or blemishes, we like to keep it basic and natural.

Where possible we had a make up student on set, but that wasn't always dependable, so we got very used to doing our own :)

We also experimented with basic blood and effects... fun to play with!
 
I'd differ slightly and say that on a very low budget, it really depends on what type of film you are shooting and what kind of style you want to shoot it in. I.e. some styles will obviously need a lot of heavy make up work while other more naturalistic films will need less. It also depends on your actors as some people look ok without make up while others look horrible on camera. But mostly, it's always better to have decent make up than without but if you know you wont have a MUA then try and shoot your scene in a way to hide that as best you can whether that be through lighting or camera work.

I will say that if you are lucky enough to get a MUA to come do it for free (as i've had on many shoots) always remember and really try your hardest to pay their expenses. Make up is REALLY expensive and i know a lot of douche bag filmmakers who take MUA on who want experience but won't offer to cover their costs and often they are afraid to ask. So basically, on behalf of all the MUA's out there, just cover expenses. When i Cam Assist on free productions i always make sure i get a small consumables reimbursement... that gaffer don't come for free!
 
I'm glad someone asked this, because I have a follow up question. what kind of make-up is basic and recommended for film shoots? any links to a place to purchase it would be great
 
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