Overview

This standard is about your ability to produce and finalise the design of hair , wigs, make up and prosthetics for a production.

It involves identifying the characters and their required “look” from the script and understanding the appearance that is needed for different characters including: ethnicity, social background, state of health, possible injury, skin conditions, age or colouring according to the environment in which the production is to take place. It will be necessary to identify how much work is required in order to change each performer’s appearance to meet the needs of the production, and recognising when special requirements and effects are required to produce the design. The type of design might be dependent on the genre and could include historical, natural, contemporary or sci-fi looks.

It is about estimating the preparation time and resources needed and discussing ideas for the design with the director. It involves changing the design when this is necessary to accommodate the director’s ideas and agreeing compromises about the design.

This standard is most applicable to the role of the Designer.

 

Performance criteria

You must be able to:

  1. interpret the scale and type of production you are working on and its overall visual style
  2. identify the hair, wigs, make up and prosthetics requirements for the characters or performers for whom the design is required
  3. evaluate the director’s suggestions and ideas for the design and take their creative preferences and their viability into account
  4. interpret the appearance of each character at the beginning and as the production progresses
  5. establish whether there are requirements for special hair, wigs, make-up and prosthetics design and physical special effects
  6. produce initial design ideas which are consistent with the script and meets the director’s brief
  7. estimate and confirm the amount of preparation time, budget and resources required for the design
  8. present your design ideas to decision makers
  9. work with the director’s concepts and the constraints of the production in your design where required
  10. explain the time and budget implications of the agreed design to the production team
  11. negotiate and agree budgets and timescales and encourage directors to agree to ideas which are within budget and are logistically feasible
  12. record the design idea agreed with the director
  13. keep account of all monies spent throughout the production and provide a final budget breakdown
  14. ensure that design requirements are communicated to the team
  15. liaise with relevant people to deliver the required design
  16. create and maintain a safe working environment for the hair, wigs, make up and prosthetics team

 

Knowledge and understanding

You need to know and understand:

  1. how to undertake a script breakdown
  2. script breakdown, budget and schedule for the design
  3. the type scale and visual style of the production
  4. the director’s creative preferences and their viability
  5. how to accurately interpret the look and required appearance of each character
  6. the effect that story time may have upon the appearance of any character
  7. whether special make up, hair design or special effects are required and who to liaise with for this work
  8. how to produce initial design ideas which are consistent with the script and sensitive to its characterization
  9. how to present your design ideas to decision makers
  10. how and when to compromise by changing your ideas to accommodate the director’s concepts and the constraints of the production
  11. how to accurately note the agreed design ideas
  12. how to negotiate budgets and timescales for your work and with whom K14 how to explain the time and budget implications of the agreed design with the production team
  13. who to liaise with regarding any issues which may arise for the hair, wigs, make up and prosthetics department
  14. the health and safety legislation, policies and guidelines for the production and how to communicate these to the team
  15. how to ensure effective communication within the team