05-24-2006, 02:22 PM
Francis, there isn't a film or TV show made today in which makeup is not used, usually HEAVILY. This includes the news, talk shows, and probably even "reality" shows. The reason is that the cameras used require unnatural lighting in order to get a natural effect on film or video. If you grab any camera for a snapshot of something indoors, the flash goes off, right? Light that is perfect for our eyes is not enough for the camera. So there are ALWAYS extra lights of many sorts used, inside and outside, as well as a variety of colored filters that can be used on the camera lenses. With all the extra lighting, human skin tones and facial features tend to wash out and look flat, so the makeup counteracts that and keeps things looking natural. Actors can literally spend hours in the makeup department before any particular shot. If you were on a set and saw the actor up close in person, you'd be surprised at how heavily made-up and unnatural they look!
Do you have any movie DVDs that have "the making of" sections as extras? Those on the Lord of the Rings DVDs are particularly revealing. They show sets being built, camera takes being planned with "story boards" (basically the whole movie drawn out in comic book form, as a planning guide), and lots of "behind the scenes" views of the camera and lighting setups. It shows very clearly that any scene in a movie is made up of dozens of very short shots, each of which is very carefully planned, rehearsed, and possibly shot several times to get the effect the director wants. When you see the actual places these scenes are filmed in, it's very funny because only a small slice of scenery is visible in the movie. It can be surrounded by vehicles, parking lots, modern buildings, power lines, chunks of movie sets, camera and light equipment, and other things that are simply left out of the camera's view.
That's movie magic! It takes weeks or months to get some short scenes. In real life, the real Romans looked like regular people. Probably a little tougher and more grizzled than us modern guys, and they smelled different, too. But Hollywood will not hesitate to throw out history if the director wants something in particular, whether it's script or scene or costuming. Like those silly wrist bands! Effective movie magic draws the viewer in and makes him believe it's real--it has certainly succeeded with you, eh? Reenactors like us are basically teachers, and without Hollywood's budget we can't always compete with the magic. All we can do is show you a very small slice of reality.
I hope you can learn to trust us.
Vale,
Matthew
Do you have any movie DVDs that have "the making of" sections as extras? Those on the Lord of the Rings DVDs are particularly revealing. They show sets being built, camera takes being planned with "story boards" (basically the whole movie drawn out in comic book form, as a planning guide), and lots of "behind the scenes" views of the camera and lighting setups. It shows very clearly that any scene in a movie is made up of dozens of very short shots, each of which is very carefully planned, rehearsed, and possibly shot several times to get the effect the director wants. When you see the actual places these scenes are filmed in, it's very funny because only a small slice of scenery is visible in the movie. It can be surrounded by vehicles, parking lots, modern buildings, power lines, chunks of movie sets, camera and light equipment, and other things that are simply left out of the camera's view.
That's movie magic! It takes weeks or months to get some short scenes. In real life, the real Romans looked like regular people. Probably a little tougher and more grizzled than us modern guys, and they smelled different, too. But Hollywood will not hesitate to throw out history if the director wants something in particular, whether it's script or scene or costuming. Like those silly wrist bands! Effective movie magic draws the viewer in and makes him believe it's real--it has certainly succeeded with you, eh? Reenactors like us are basically teachers, and without Hollywood's budget we can't always compete with the magic. All we can do is show you a very small slice of reality.
I hope you can learn to trust us.
Vale,
Matthew
Matthew Amt (Quintus)
Legio XX, USA
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.larp.com/legioxx/">http://www.larp.com/legioxx/
Legio XX, USA
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.larp.com/legioxx/">http://www.larp.com/legioxx/
