References

Complections International Academy of Make up Artistry, (2011). Retrieved May 29, 2011 from http://www.complectionsmake-up.com/

Pro Makeup. (2011). The School of Professional Makeup. Retrieved May 29, 2011 from http://www.promakeupart.com/


savini.com. (2011). The Official Homepage of TOM SAVINI. Retrieved May 29, 2011 from http://www.savini.com/


Dick Smith. (2011). The Basic 3-D Make-up Course, and The Advanced Professional Make-up Course. Retrieved May 29, 2011 from  http://www.dicksmithmake-up.com/topmake.htm

Blanch Macdonald Centre. (2011). Canada's #1 Makeup, Fashion, Esthetics & Hair School. Retrieved May 29, 2011 from http://www.blanchemacdonald.com/

Other useful ways to get started with FX makeup

The five other links I have chosen to use are related to other ways you can go about training yourself to start in the FX world. One of these links will take you to another school located in the Vaughan area, but is not really in the same ball park as the five posted before this. Keep in mind with the other four links that they are really more for showing you about the world of FX makeup and not for actually training.

http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/home/

This is a link for the book store Chapters, where you can look up and purchase books on FX makeup. These books can show you how to create simple FX makeup looks. It might be good to do some home based research before starting a down the path through formal education. By using books purchased from a store like Chapters you can see if you have the talent, passion and dedication to go through with the next step.

http://movies.nytimes.com/person/104209/Ve-Neill

This link will take you to a biography on Ve Neill, who is the reason I know anything about FX makeup and my idol (along with countless others). There a lots of famous artists out there, and she is right up at the top of them. Ve Neill has done work on Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice and a wide variety of other feature films. I would suggest taking a look at what she along with other FX makeup artists went through to get their names out there, just to see what you might need to do.

http://www.youtube.com/

Youtube is a huge site for looking up how to do just about anything. If you have no education, along with books, youtube can be a great source for looking up FX techniques. I was asked a while ago to do makeup for the Barrie zombie walk, and this is one of the places I looked at for techniques. The processes they tend to use, will not give you an advanced look, but it will help you get on your way. It helped me.

http://www.blushschoolofcosmetics.ca/

The Bulsh! School of Cosmetics, is kind of an underdog when it comes to FX schools that people strive to attend. Their school is not very big, and they cost less but that does not mean your level of education will be poor. When I checked them out they seem to be very passionate about helping students achieve their full potential in makeup, and insist on training from the very basic level upward. This school would be a great start to training in the FX world, but I don’t know if you will get the same networking as you would with a school like Complections.

http://www.spacecast.com/

This year a new reality series hit the television world, a show called Face Off. This show follows selected contestants, through different challenges in FX makeup. I found this show to be an amazing eye opener for people who I had explained my career choice to but did not really grasp the nature of it. It shows people competing each week in areas like movie killers, and aliens, with each artists work being judged and of course somebody being eliminated. The other great thing about this show were the judges, with Ve Neill being one of them. I would suggest anyone interested in this field to watch this show, as it will show you the challenges you will be faced with in the industry.    

Dick Smith's course

http://www.dicksmithmake-up.com/enter.htm

Dick Smith’s course is a bit different from traditional makeup schools, and is compiled of two programs; the basic course, and the advanced course.  Instead of physically getting up every day and heading to school, the education takes place in your own studio. Working at home gives you the freedom to work by you own creativity without criticism, but also impairs you from gaining advice from experienced professionals. The basic course was basically designed so prospective artists could see if this is really what they want to do for their career, and is inexpensive when compared to other options. “My Advanced Professional Make-up Course is considered to be the most respected course in special makeup instruction. But that 700 page course is too advanced for most beginners, so I’ve written a much shorter course to help you “test drive” this career and to help you get a running start.”(Smith, 2011). The basic course entails teaching students how to make a life mask of an actor, sculpting on the life mask, making moulds from the sculpt, filling the moulds with flexible appliance material, and gluing the material on to the actor as well as applying makeup to it.  Once you have completed the basic course you can then take pictures of your work and send them in to be evaluated. Once your work has been evaluated, you will be told if you have been accepted, and if so will be able to purchase the advanced course which goes into much greater detail including aging and mechanical masks (Smith, 2011).

The entire course including the basic course costs about $2350.00, but that is only if you have no supplies of your own. I would say this course is great for people who want to gain education while working full time, or maybe do not have the money for attending a school. There is not any deadline for finishing the course, so that makes it really attractive as far as flexibility goes. What you gain in freedom to work at your own pace, you lose in personally making networking contacts for your career. I would say the best course of action might be to do both if you can afford it, the more training the better right?

Tom Savini's program

http://www.savini.com/

Tom Savini’s Special Effects Makeup Program takes place in Pennsylvania, in the arts building.  The course is run in a sixteen month time frame. This course takes you through all the basic needs of a professional artist, while being taught by one of the world’s most known artists. The first three semesters are pre selected for you, and when you enter your final semester you can chose one of two paths to take, depending on the direction you want to head in. Tom Savini, like Dick Smith has done tons of work in the field of FX makeup, such as Friday the 13^th, and Creepshow. Out of all the schools I have posted here, this is the one that is located the farthest from Ontario, but I feel it deserves the same recognition because of Tom Savini’s background. 

Complections

http://www.complectionsmake-up.com/

In Toronto Complections is one of the highest quality schools, but if you chose this facility, be prepared to pay for it. I asked for information a few years ago about the school, and was shocked at the price it included in the package. This like your other choices does allow you to be trained from professionals who have actually worked in the FX field. When choosing a course direction to follow through with you can decide between a diploma program or a certificate one, the difference being the amount of time you plan on taking the course for. Also when choosing, you need to decide what amount of education you require as they have basic courses and complete ones that go over a wider variety of areas. Complections is the school for anyone who has the money for Blanch Macdonald, but lives closer to Toronto. They are the “it” school for Ontario FX makeup learning.

The Blanch Macdonald Centre

http://www.blanchemacdonald.com/?gclid=CISmzLuU-acCFUUUKgodfnZ2rA

The Blanch Macdonald Centre is located in British Columbia, with a program named Film and Television. This course starts with Makeup Fundamentals, and moves through 15 levels to the final project. The Blanche Macdonald Centre is considered one of the top makeup schools, and is priced accordingly. When attending this school you not only learn about the world of FX makeup, but also about beauty makeup and fashion makeup. “You will build a skill foundation while working with the fundamentals of natural, glamour, bridal and dramatic styles. “ (Lim, 2011). Most  of what you hear about the success rate of this school is through a news feed located on the company website, and through social networking sites like facebook, or word of mouth.  The Blanch Macdonald Centre is like the big guns of the makeup world, and not just for FX. If you have the drive, and money to go here, it is where I recommend.