Make up - looking dead and creating wounds

If we are making a film we need to know how to make the actors look the way we need to fit the story; this could include just looking natural or creating grusome effects.

Using make up to make someone look dead or injured is not as difficult as it may first appear. 'Dead' people can be made by using powder, pale with hints of grey, all over the visible parts of their body. Dead people get a yellow tint to their skin due to lack of oxygen in the blood and adding yellow powder in the creases of the face can contribute to giving an overall  look. Shadows under the eyes, nose and lips can be used to help the effect. it is, of course, better if the 'dead' actors are not shown in close-ups and definately not extreme close-ups as this can ruin the effect because the audience might see how the look is made.

Wounds can also be made easily using make up but it helps if you can use 'gag wounds' from a joke shop- these can look suprisingly realistic when blended into the skin using make up and covered with 'blood'. Blood can be made using some type of tomato sauce- when watered down and added to something to make it darker (eg. brown sauce) it can look reasonably realistic with the rest of the make-up. Alternatively we could buy some fake blood from a joke shop; its good to have an alternatie though as this can be expensive and is often only sold in small quantities. Food colouring can be used to alter the colour of blood and cornflour can be used to make the blood thicker - this thicker blood can be used around the actual wound to make it look like it's dried .