I am an up-and-coming makeup artist with light hair styling skills.  My first year after graduating I worked in an FX shop and didn't have the schedule to work on set much.  6 Months ago I left the shop to transition into working on set.

I have done decently well for myself and have had some awesome experiences assisting on features, as well as keying for smaller indie shorts.

I have recently received a job keying for a larger indie production and I have never had to deal with such complex script breakdown, continuity work, scheduling and budgeting.  I am totally up for the task, and I have a good habit of being overly thorough so that there's less of a chance of f-ing up, however because I don't have a reference point in which to draw from, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed as to where to begin.

I have compiled a list of the characters with their age, description, key visual points, and back story. Hopefully I will be putting head shots of the actors with some kind of face chart for each. And I guess secondary looks for breakdowns...? Or maybe those become established on the day and then I take snap shots to have for continuity and I add them to their page....?

The production guys have been telling me that they don't have a schedule locked down because there are lots of variables, which is totally understandable, however I feel like I can't really begin laying out a game plan for myself until I know when and how we're shooting. 

If anyone has any pointers, tips, advice, methods  that they use for preparing for a production, or can lay out the steps they usually take in prepping for a shoot - all of this will be extremely valuable to me. 

Also, its a 'green' paper-free production which means that they are encouraging people to use devices instead of printed paper.  There's no way in hell that I'm spending 400 bucks on Saving Face or some other computer program.  Anyone have tips, or template advice on building their pages and charts?

Thanks for taking the time to read this and help a fellow MUA out!

You need to get the scripty's one liner breakdown of the script in days/nights. This is a chronological order of scenes that take place in the film, e.g. Scene 1, Day 1; Sc 2, Day 1; Sc 3, Night 1; Sc 4, Day 2; etc etc. There will be special days for flashbacks, e.g. Night 1 FB. 

This will help determine your continuity looks based upon new days or events.

I use the goodnotes app (also avail for Android) to break down the script (annotate when there is a new establishing look for a character, or if there is a specific makeup thing happening (crying, bruise, wet, etc)- you can type or write notes on the script pdf, sign NDAs, email everything back- it's awesome sauce:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/goodnot … 58393?mt=8


Your continuity book is usually broken down by the character (#1 on the actor list being the 1st, to the BG in the back). Within the character, you will have your face charts and then the character broken down by days/nights. Take photos of every new day (in the script), even if it is the same look, just in case there is any discrepancy, to back yourself up. Have a face chart with everything you put on the actor- skincare, makeup, effects. Make a new face chart everytime there is a makeup change- there might be re-shoots way after principal filming, and you might forget what you put on the actor, or you might not be able to do the re-shoots.

You will shoot the script out of order-you might shoot someone entering a house on Day 1 of the script tomorrow, but shoot the interior Day 1 of the house in a different location two weeks from now, so your actor has to look exactly the same for that scene.


This is a script continuity app that you can use for free, as long as you don't share it (if you have a 2nd, 3rd, etc), then you have to pay for it:
https://www.synconset.com/

You'll also need to get the Day Out of Days (DOOD) for principal actors AND Background (it's separate) from the 1st AD- this will tell you what actors are working which days, and help you plan if you need any additional help.


There's a lot to go into breaking down a script, and keeping a continuity book- I would Google it on the web. If you see anything about breaking down in 8ths, that is just for Scripty- you don't have to worry about it- it reflects the script in page size- so when they add up the shooting schedule for a particular day, they can say, "We are shooting 11 pages today, Sc 1 is 2 3/8 pages, Sc 14 is 1/8 page, etc etc". You can tell how long your day is going to be by how many pages you're shooting. Typically on indies they shoot 4-11 pages a day. On big budget films, maybe a page a day (!).


Good luck!

^^^Agree one hundred percent with all of this. It's just the way it's DONE, not opinion. Production is being unhelpful; it's not unusual for script breakdowns to happen far after we'd like them to. And to change. Daily, lol! Also, when I am making up my actor bags, I use continuity stickers to indicate which actor, day/scene something is for and put it on the bag. This helps when the schedule changes on the fly and I need to find something quickly or a re-shoot happens during production and we think something is done and it isn't. Each main character has their own plastic shoebox and little baggies with their separate things for specific scenes/days with the stickers go in them. As specifics about characters that aren't in the script come up during shooting it helps me to note those in my "mama binder" as they may change the makeup prior to shooting a scene. Also, this is obvious but find out about any true allergies way ahead of time. I know this is a green production (the bane of my existence, I like paper, lol) but there are certain things I just can't do off paper easily as an artist who isn't super tech savvy (old). Colors, for example, are very different on paper in person than on a tablet or computer screen but I'm old school for sure. Film is different; there are times when things can change incredibly drastically and you have to be ready for anything. Planning out what specifically those working under you will be responsible for is a good idea too. If you won't be working in a trailer or indoors in one place, think ahead about how you will protect and preserve your product and tools in different weather and environments you may be in. Consider how this may affect your own clothing, your actors and how the makeups hold up, etc.