GILLETTE — Blossoming bruises made their way onto Nathaniel Evan’s face.
Just 20 minutes prior, the Douglas eldest had no spots on his skin as he sat in a stiff chair in a hallway at Campbell County High School. But for the next half hour, he sat there, watching the transformation of dark bruises spread.
“I guess you could say I punched him a few times,” senior Ally Miller said with a chuckle as she stood over him. “But the good thing is that they didn’t even hurt.”
Miller stood with a makeup sponge in hand, holding a bruise makeup kit in her left hand. She dabbed the corner in the palette and gently transferred the myriad of colors onto Evan’s face, contradicting the painful reality she was creating in front of her.
As she worked, she explained the colors she needed to use to match the script the two would soon present to a judge. Some colors create the appearance of bruises that are several days or a week old, while others show fresh marks.
For their story, Evans and Miller needed new bruises, in keeping with the “struggle” Evans had earlier that day with an elementary school student.
As Miller continued to work, so did those around him, using their hour of time to create a reality in tune with a fictional story, just as artists must do whenever a play or production is played. Students at the Wyoming Thespian Festival makeup competition last week could choose to work in three different genres – casting, fantasy or realistic.
Throughout the three days, fantastic characters reminiscent of childhood nightmares, gruesome injuries and realistic spins on models passed through the judges’ table.
But in addition to the art of creating real-life versions of images, students from across the state also presented portfolios and serious research into how they created their performance, all while considering the lights of the theater. , safety and the reality of a situation in mind.
Although the make-up contest is part of the state festival, many students also participated in several events, either in the acting parts of plays or working on the technology and staging of the Cam-plex .
Ayla Huff, a senior from Campbell County High School, was running around Friday, trying to make it to each of her events. The eldest was dressed in a black cape and made up to transform into a Broadway take of Bernadette Peters, the witch from ‘Into the Woods’.
Huff’s love for makeup began when she was 11 years old and since then she has learned to take several things into consideration when designing her craft.
She also learned that communicating with her other models is of utmost importance when working with them on set.
“I almost prefer to wear makeup more than other people because I don’t have to be like, ‘Open your mouth, open your eyes, close your eyes.’ You have to be a lot softer and you have to get used to working with a lot of faces,” she said.
The flexibility of makeup is something that also holds her interest.
“The fact that there’s almost no limit to what you can do is amazing. You can make yourself look so different. You can make yourself look really ugly, really pretty, or completely different,” she said. “It’s very fun and entertaining for me and stimulates my brain.”
Brigette McClintock, who has volunteered with the state’s theater program for the past 12 years, has helped others across the state turn the program into a national-level competition and helped develop a pedagogical style rubric compared to previous rankings.
Students are now judged on the interpretation, design, execution and research of their work, moving from winning places to developing craftsmanship. McClintock said that with the new version, students and judges are able to see year-to-year progress, as well as know which category needs more attention.
She and the other judges look at the make-up itself but also at the thinking that the students put forward that is instrumental in the behind-the-scenes work. The cast composition of a car burn or injury must match the direction the car was moving and a chemical burn does not look the same as a burn from a fire.
“That’s a lot of critical thinking and problem-solving skills. It’s not just, I want to use this pretty makeup and play with this palette, it’s really having a purpose behind what you’re doing and thinking, ‘Is this okay in the game, is this goes with my script, is this injury right for what am i saying (to the judge)? said McClintock.
Safety is also a concern when working with actors performing under bright lights. Artists should ensure that allergies and visual impairments with contacts or other accessories are taken into consideration or they could put their models in unsafe positions.
Another consideration is the different hairstyles and make-up that should coincide with the performance period.
“Children understand the elements of an age period and the effect that makeup will have because the makeup we have today was not available then, so how do you make it looks like it should have then with today’s product,” she said. .
Huff opened up about period pieces when she worked on the cast’s makeup for last year’s “Guys and Dolls” performance. In the 1920s, she considered skimpy or no-makeup makeup would be used for missionaries, but the main character Cassie, a hot box dancer, needed red lips and rosy cheeks, a trend of the time.
“When I’m designing a show or my kids are designing a show, we’re talking about the period,” McClintock said. “When we make the wigs, most people in the audience will have no idea that this wig is period-appropriate and they won’t realize that the makeup design we made is because it’s period-appropriate. to the period. But it’s the research we do to make it specific to the piece and the genre of the piece.
And the work isn’t just for show. In the 12 years McClintock coached and mentored Campbell County students in state competition, she said all but six students were offered full scholarships to college. based on their performance. With an average of around 30 students competing each year, more than 350 students have received full scholarships to master their art.
