Monthly Archives: February 2012

 

It goes without saying that everyone would rather forego the assisting positions in life and skip straight to being the main man.  I mean, who wants to make tea, sweep floors, and hold things when you could be getting on with it?  But this is where I think a lot of people are missing a trick.  What better way to learn than to observe?  However, to observe in this industry, any industry, you need to give something back – so whether it’s making tea, holding/cleaning make-up brushes or lugging your mentor’s kit around it all adds up.  No-one is going to have someone around to impart their wisdom to for free and nor should they.  I think many people believe that doing a make-up course is enough and you’ll become a fully fledged make-up artist, but the completion of a course is just the beginning.  You’ve been shown the basics, but it’s up to you to get out there and practice, develop your own techniques and hone your skills and it goes without saying that assisting already established make-up artists is the best way to do this.  Assisting is also a good way to see what the industry is all about and if it’s for you – people soon realise that it’s not all glamour and parties and hanging out with celebrities.

 

Now, the most important question is “how”.  If you’re anything like me when I started, coming into this industry without a contact to my name, then the key is testing.  Use resources like whoistesting.com to get on a team or put a team together and get shooting.  You need to build up a portfolio of images which show your strengths and that you can eventually send to agencies or make-up artists directly.  Now this is where I learnt, through trial and error, the “do’s and dont’s” of approaching agencies.  I think the most important lesson I learnt was to not take everything to heart and to develop a thick skin quickly!  Just like in life, you’re going to come across people who are nice to you and will help you and those that won’t give you the time of day and if they do they won’t have anything nice to say.

 

One of the agencies that helped me with my assisting career when I was starting out was One Make-Up, Hair & Styling and I managed to pin down the lovely director Belinda Sage for an interview from an agency’s point of view:

 

Q: As an agency, what do you look for in an assistant? 

A: Basic skin / eye / lip make-up is a must but an assistant must also be efficient, organised and polite!

 

Q: What is the best way to initiate contact – telephone or email?

A: E-mail.

 

Q:There are a lot of make-up schools out there, as well as other options to learn the craft. Do prospective assistants need to have gone to a make-up school? If no, what is the minimum requirement you look for before you take someone on as an assistant?

A: I would expect an assistant to have training with a school or a good recommendation from someone within the industry.

 

Q: Getting a portfolio together can be hard when you’re not assisting as you may not yet have the contacts.  Is it necessary to already have a body of work?

A: I definitely would need to see some images – showing both natural make-up and something a little more creative but wouldn’t expect to see a portfolio.

 

Q: As an assistant you can be expected to do a lot of free work – where is the line between saying yes to everything for free and knowing which jobs to turn down/shouldn’t be free? 

A: Assisting is a way of learning not only make-up skills but about the industry in general and how photographic teams work together, whether on location or in a studio – so you must feel that you are gaining something out of each job whether paid or not.

 

Q: When you start getting the paid assisting work, how much can you expect to be paid?

A: £50 – £150 per day.

 

Now for the “do’s and dont’s”!

 

Q: What’s the worst thing for a prospective assistant to do when initiating contact?     

A: Most agencies are busy and it’s off putting to have an over keen assistant ringing / e-mailing every day wanting work.

 

Q: What do like to see in an initial contact? 

A: A nicely written e-mail, with a CV and up to 8 images.

 

Q: As an assistant, it’s difficult to know the line between calling/e-mailing too much (pestering!) and “checking in” or keeping an agency updated. What would be your advice?

A: It’s always good to follow up the initial e-mail with a call to make sure it has been received and then a monthly call.

 

Q: Finally, do you have any advice for budding make-up artists?

A: Do your homework!  Get to know who is shooting what…research into different briefs…think about narratives for test shoots and be prepared!  It’s a hard industry to get into – so keep persevering.

 

Now for the all important “what”.  When assisting it’s important to be reliable, efficient and friendly – nobody wants an assistant who can’t be bothered or doesn’t want to work or is surly.  And yes, there most probably will be tea making and brush cleaning involved, but alongside this you’ll pick up application techniques, on-set etiquette and meet other assistants who may become good contacts or great friends, which is invaluable.  The first ever London Fashion Week job I assisted on, I can’t tell you how excited I was, all I did was file and paint nails.  It wasn’t what I wanted to do, I disliked every second of it and most of the models were rude to me.  However, I did it with a smile on my face and I ended up assisting that make-up artist for a few years on various jobs, one of them being American Vogue. 

 

It’s also very important to show initiative – there’s nothing worse than someone sitting down doing nothing or reading a magazine when there’s something that could be done.  Saying that, sometimes there is actually nothing to do and you just have to be on hand.  I was once on a shoot for 14 hours where they shot nothing and all I did was show the make-up artist I was assisting how I did a base and run out to get her a pack of cigarettes.  I thought it was the worst day ever and questioned my career choice (especially as it wasn’t paid!), but a week later I was asked to be on her team for shows in Germany and subsequent London Fashion Week shows.    

 

Finally, I’d say it’s important to have a thick skin in this industry and you can’t take things personally (especially during a show!).  My personal favourite was having the phrase “there’s too much f*****g shimmer!!!” yelled at me during prep for a show.  Yes.  That happened.

 

I asked each of the main artists I assisted when I first started what their one piece of advice to assistants would be and this is what they had to say:

 

Cheryl Phelps-Gardiner (Aart London) – “Be on time and try to anticipate.”

 

Ciona Johnson-King (Aart London) – “To pay attention, keep a low profile and try to think ahead anticipating what might be needed next as appose to waiting to be asked to do everything.”

 

Fiona Fletcher (Fletcher’s Management) – “As well as having artistic and creative flair you need to be courteous, work hard and show initiative.  Then you will always be asked back to do more work and your career will progress.  I often find people so hooked on the makeup that they forget the little things, it all matters. For example, making of a good cuppa also will take you a long, long way.”

 

Julie Jacobs (One Make-up, Hair & Styling) – “Just copy what your chief demo’s”.

 

There’s no time frame for assisting, all that changes is the jobs you assist on – maybe you start assisting more experienced artists while still doing your own jobs or you become a first assistant to someone at a major agency.  There are no rules.  I’ve been doing make-up for just over six years and have built up my own portfolio and CV, yet still assist certain artists.  It’s a matter of making wise choices.  I think it’s important to understand that you can never stop learning – especially in make-up!

 

 

Salina x