I've been asked to do makeup for a commercial for an upcoming civil war reenactment. At first I was told it was a theatrical gig, which would have been fine. But now I find out that it is a commercial being shot in HD.

My initial though was just to distress the talent (a bit of dirt and making the talent appear tired) I know there wasn't much makeup worn at that time.

Does anyone have any suggestions or tips for this era that will work well in HD? I have been researching but am still unsure of my plan. There will be musicians and dancers in period costume as well.

Any tips/suggestions are appreciated.

Sounds like hair could be important. Is someone on that already, or is that part of what they want you to do?

Yes, I was told hair would be taken care of, but of course I am taking supplies just incase.

It might be good to find out what kind of photographic treatment they intend to give the footage. Will it all be sepia, for example? Or some other kind of reduced palette? You could plan accordingly.

The danger is they might change their minds before, during, or even after the shoot, but the idea of working to a specific photo treatment might suggest ideas to you.

giovanni boldini

Here are some portraits of women by John Singer Sargent

http://bjws.blogspot.com/2010/12/few-wo … -john.html

JSS was painting in an era later than the Civil War. However you can do some other google searches and come up with stuff from the CW era.

Makeup wasn't overly in vogue during the later Victorian era. Prior to that a lot of toxic stuff was used to get a desired effect. A touch of red and pancake white...minimal.

Thank you for the suggestions.

I'd ensure I had my trusty mae-kup sunburn spray, my illustrator palettes (good for weatherbeaten tanning) and some kind of mud effect. Be aware of hands particularly, and possibly invest in a little research into teeth - you can use tooth paints, but I have also used illustrator palettes for that too (although hygiene is a right fiddle). Also think dirty down sprays for hair in case of obvious hair colouring/highlights.

Keep it all subtle and don't let the HD tag scare you - essentially if it withstands your eyes close up, you will be good (no matter how good the resolution, eyes will be doing to processing, despite the downright bizarre advertising in my local opticians). Do check what colour processing will be applied to the footage as you can afford to go a little heavier in sepia.