The Film Industry is Redonkulous

I'm in a bit of a dilemma.

I can be a terribly indecisive person. I really struggle over choosing the right course of action. Well, I've just been interviewed for a part time job at a spa - this is my first job application sans Miles: my ex-manager who was giving me an undeserved shit employment reference. I'm really excited because this job would import some stability into in my life and allow me to learn professional skin care. I'd be able to work on some makeup gigs and my own projects on my days off, which would be perfect. In the meantime, I've just completed my first day of three weeks' demo work for Maybelline. It was, um... alright, I suppose. I don't know if I'll be able to make it through the next three weeks of Walmart, though.

So that's all fine and dandy, but then tonight I was looking at Craigslist and came across a posting seeking a Makeup Artist with experience applying lace hair pieces. Food, travel, and accommodation would be covered plus a day rate comparative with lower-tier union rates. That's a good job. Involving travel. It pays well. I want that job, but I can't have it if I keep the Maybelline job. On one hand, I would probably make invaluable industry connections. On the other hand, I need income, and I hate backing out of something once I've committed to it. How am I supposed to work in the film industry and make contacts plus enough money to pay the rent? How do I know which opportunities are worth losing my day job over? I've decided to pass this one up and keep the Maybelline job, which might have been the wrong decision, but I will never know. Maximum frustration, right there.

Another dilemma:

Have you heard of a show called "Face Off" that runs on the Syfi and Space Channels? Special effects makeup artists compete in a series of challenges and their makeups are judged by some of the industry's finest. I really want to be part of that show. They just announced a second season yesterday and my adrenaline hit the ceiling - I started planning my audition tape and everything. Then I read through the fine print and realized that you have to be a U.S. resident to enter. My adrenaline proceeded to fall to the floor.

I emailed the casting and asked if there was any way they would consider allowing a Canadian. After all, Conor, the first season's winner, was apparently from Ontario (Although he might have had duel citizenship or something). The response I got from them was that they were considering changing it, however at the time the casting was only open to U.S. residents. They clarified that you didn't have to be a citizen, just had to be living in the U.S. 

Now what do I do? Do I go through all the effort to make an audition tape anyway, and hope that maybe they might accept my entry? I know the chance I'll ever be on that show is practically non-existant. Sometimes being Canadian sure has it's disadvantages, eh?

Ciao <3

Lisa

Roadbumps and Candyland

Well kids, looks like Comic-Con will not be happening this year. We decided to refund our passes since we were unable to get tickets for the Saturday. I like to think of this project as postponed rather than cancelled - I still have big plans for Comic-Con and fully intend to see them through completion. That chapter will just have to come a little later now.

In other news, I am engaged to my boyfriend and we are starting to think about planning our wedding! As exciting as this is we are going to have to keep it on the back burner while I focus on my job search, which has in fact taken an unexpected twist recently. I have had so many positive interviews where I was sure I'd gotten the job, however they have always fallen through in the end. While I figured this was a normal product of our current economy, my apparent incompetance was still getting on my nerves so my mom suggested that I recruit someone to call my previous employer to see what sort of reference he was giving me.

I worked with Lordco Auto Parts for almost three years fresh out of high school. I was a very good cashier, and after two years was promoted to head cashier. I had a decent amount of responsibility preparing the daily balance paperwork, working out discrepencies, and basically managing the cash department. I also had a really good track record for sales: I ranked high in company-wide sales incentives a number of times, winning gift cards and vacations in the process. My performance reviews had always been positive.

I had a friend of mine who runs his own business offer to call my ex-manager as if he were considering hiring me for a sales position with his company. Well - Miles gave me quite the manipulative review. It was generally positive, but he worked in that I was "absent-minded", that he would not rehire me for sales, only as a cashier, and that I was "a different type of person". What is that supposed to mean anyway, that I am a "different" type of person? Different from whom? This was completely unexpected to me; however after talking with a few of my old co-workers I discovered that Miles had apparently taken to badmouthing his former employees and that I was not the only one who had experienced this type of petty injustice. That's pretty low, hey?

I immediately removed his name from my resume and have since been hired for a temporary position with a marketing company as a demo artist for Maybelline and I'll be promoting their new Fit Me line in Wal-Marts across the lower mainland of British Columbia. It's for three weeks, four days a week, and I start tomorrow.


Things are looking brighter already, and I've been having lots of fun doing Model Mayhem photoshoots with my soon-to-be-sister-in-law, who is very pretty and likes to model. With more job searching and a trip to Calgary for my Gramdpa's 80th birthday coming up, and eventually a wedding on the horizon, there is a lot to look forward to (and I still need to make time for my side projects!).

Ciao <3

Lisa

Rainy Days in February

February is over, and another month has been checked off the calendar for 2011. This has not been the most glamourous month for me, that's for sure. Now I know I had anticipated posting the video where I turn my mom 21 again by Valentines day, but I encountered some problems. Where to begin? I overlooked the temperature of my oven, accidentally baking my molds out at 450 degrees. They didn't crack (because they were reinforced) but the plaster became brittle and porous and therefore the foam had a rough texture to it. Secondly, my sculpt should have called for a two part mold but I did it in one. I couldn't get it closed as tightly as I wanted, it was terribly difficult to open. And finally, my sculpt itself carried too broad a jawline and the nose looked a little odd. What I got out of the trials was confidence that if I go back to square one and resculpt, it will work.

Since work has been pretty slow so far this year I've actually been spending most of my time looking for a day job - something steady in the makeup/spa world. I'm definitely experiencing the wrath of this troubled economy, hopefully March will see things looking up a bit.


P.S. Comic Con tickets went on sale February 5th. I must have clicked refresh a thousand times and in the end was not able to get 4 day passes. I did manage to get single day passes for Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. The Masquerade - that's where I wanted to unveil my impossible creation - is on Saturday. Looks like we're going to have to return our passes and try again for 2012.

Ciao <3

Lisa

Chronicles of a Makeup Artist

I'm Lisa, an aspiring hollywood makeup artist exploring the film and entertainment industry in and around Vancouver, Canada.

I have this wild imagination and passion for creating complex, beautiful, funny or downright appalling characters. My kitchen doubles as my effects lab where I work with foam latex, gelatin, and other magical materials to bring these elaborate fantasies to life. Right now most of my days are filled with desiging my own projects or searching for work on independant or student film productions while living in downtown Vancouver with my boyfriend.

I'm very excited that I've decided to San Diego's Comic Con International 2011, and I can sense that it is going to be pivotal. It'll be my first Comic Con (one of the worlds largest pop culture events) and I've got very big (and possibly career-boosting) plans for that weekend.

This year my two major goals are to become unionized and to build up my YouTube channel. All large-scale film and TV productions are under a union - and to work on those sets, you need to be a member of said union. There are two unions here in Vancouver. One is A.C.F.C. (The Association of Canadian Film Craftspeople), and the other is I.A.T.S.E. (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees). In order to apply for union membership, you need to have set experience and pass a written exam. This means collecting lot of independent work to build up your resume plus you have to know the details of your craft as well as the politics of working on set. In an industry where it's all about who you know, it can be hard when you don't really know anybody yet.

On the other hand my YouTube channel is more of a personal endeavor. I just can't get enough of what I do. I keep coming up with ideas that I just have to bring to life. I love filming, documenting, and editing. So far I've only made one video. It was a 'test run' of sorts. I did my friend up in a bodypaint modeled after my Witch Elf character, Lisabeth, from Warhammer Online. I played for a year, kicking butt doing medieval quests in skimpy little outfits and riding my dinosaur around. I didn't enjoy the PVP (player vs. player) that much though. When I became too high of a level it was all about PVP, so I started playing Oblivion instead. Anyways, I finished the bodypaint at 2 am and went downtown with a couple friends to videotape people's reactions. You can watch our little excursion here:

It's an exciting time and my mind is racing with ideas and projects, some more formed than others, and I'm just beginning to work them into reality. My next project I plan to turn my mom into a 21-year-old again using prosthetic makeup. I'm sculpting the prosthetic at this point, and the video should be released by Valentine's day!

Ciao <3

Lisa