Special effects makeup artists work their magic on two Myanmar actresses.

U AUNG Than smears a dull-coloured foundation across the cheek of a young actress, carefully blending the liquid to form a natural looking crease from nose to mouth. He repeats the process until, half an hour later, the young girl has disappeared and an old woman now sits before him.

This is harder than it looks. The art of makeup is taken to whole new level in cinema, where the young are trans-formed into the old, the beautiful into the ugly and the healthy into the terminally ill.

It takes more than acting to convince viewers that what they are seeing is close to the real thing.

“Creating special effects with makeup is similar to painting a portrait,” says U Aye Kywe, who has worked as a cinema makeup artist for Myanmar Radio and Television network (MRTV) for 30 years. “We need to familiarise ourselves with the structure of the face so that we can mould it into the character’s features and match the skin tones.”

Most cinema makeup artists are former painters or are, at least, talented in that area.

And once the creation is completed, it doesn’t mean your job is done for the day. Maintaining the makeup can be frustrating and horrendously time-consuming.

If it’s a particularly hot day, raining or you’re simply dealing with a sweaty actor, the makeup artist could be expected to stay for every scene, meaning long hours and tiring work.

“With special effects makeup we can’t just powder the face when an actor sweats,” says U Aung Than, 59. “And if we are shooting outside then I have to take into account that the weather could undo all of my good work. It’s especially bad when using silicon — it comes right off and needs to be redone throughout the day.”

U Aye Kywe says one of the most important aspects of the job is to make sure that the actor or actress is as comfortable as possible.

“There’s a lot to think about in this job,” he explains. “We have the responsibility of not only looking after the character, but also the person underneath.”
Not everybody takes on the help of a qualified cinema makeup artist.

U Aung Than and U Aye Kywe are two of the few makeup artists working on Myanmar film sets these days. Although there are two other qualified cinema makeup artists, they are the only ones who have devoted their entire careers to professional cinema makeup artistry alone.

“Most film directors these days don’t bother with a professional makeup artist,” says U Aung Than. “They are happy to save money by having the actors do their own makeup. But there are also those film directors who make a rule of using them in every film.”

Some film directors who do use the artists religiously include Eve Eve Khine, Mg Myo Min, Mike Tee and Mee Pwar.

Although the number of special effects artists is decreasing in Myanmar, U Aung Than says he is confident that numbers will rise as the country’s films improve to keep up with international standards, but for now the makeup artistry is reserved for those with the dosh.

“Many expensive items are included in special effects makeup, such as silicone and rubber and tools that are not available in Myanmar,” says U Aung Than. “Many directors don’t want to invest in these tools, even when they would like to use special effects. I think they know the benefits of using them, it’s just too expensive.

“I rely on those who can afford it, and sometimes that makes my life difficult, but I love what I do.”