Customer Reviews

Stage Makeup Step-by-Step

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One of my tasks this summer was to find out more about theaterical makeup. I am a drama teacher and needed to learn more. I read several well-recommended books, but Ms. Swinfiled's outstanding book surpassed them all. The lady knows her business!
The book answers hundreds of questions about makeup for stage and television.
Using a clear, logical format, Ms. Swinfield presents the information an actor or drama teacher needs to know to be successful with makeup. Broken down into small stage, medium stage, and large stage makeup, a performer can adjust his or her makeup for each setting. The book also covers makeup for Afro-American, Oriental, and Hispanic performers as well as ballet, children, and television.
I intend to make this book my source when doing shows, and I will highly recommend it to my students. It is such a pleasure to find a book of this quality. It easily deserves the five stars I have given it. I have also ordered Ms. Swinfield's other books. I know they also will be invaluable aids to good theater.

I've used this book to improve my own makeup skills, as a resource book for my makeup crew, and as a resource in teaching basic theater makeup. The clear photos and step-by-step directions are wonderful, especially for kids. I own a dozen books about makeup, and while others are useful for special situations, Swinfield is far and away the best all around book, and the first book anyone learning to do stage makeup should purchase.

This book's usefulness is diminished by the often heavy-handed techniques it demonstrates. The old age makeup, for instance, is poorly applied and would not register well with an audience. Swinfield is at her best with fantasy makeups such as Titania--but watch out for those techniques that can be done far better, such as the "troll's" latex nose. Beginners looking for a basic text at a reasonable price would do well to investigate Laura Thudium's "Stage Makeup"; those willing to bite the bullet and shell out the big bucks should purchase Richard Corson's "Stage Makeup," the bible of the field.

I do volunteer makeup for civic light opera and have seen all the books that my fellow volunteers have - very thick, dull, few pictures - UGH. This book has very good color photo illustrations, all the way from the very basics of small to large theater through elaborate special effects. With all the new "dummy" books on the market, this book should be titled "Stage Makeup for Dummies". Very easy reading, without alot of "verbage." Does anyone know of a similar book for period hairstyles?

I found the book to be interesting and comprehensive. The index and subjects were well thought out and easy to locate. The instructions were clear and easy to understand. The accompanying photos helped the reader a lot. I would recommend this book to both professionals and novices. This book enables you to learn valuable techniques in a minimum amount of time.

Good basic tips and ideas with clear pictures. I really wanted more detail and fantasy makeup ideas. It did give shading etc. tips but for a beginner. I would like a book that gave good clear pictures and instructions on makeup for photography, ball and wedding makeup. This book did not cover these subjects. Still I will use this book again.

For the person who wants to get an excellent grounding in stage makeup, this is the place to start. It very well may be the place to end, also,unless you need to delve more deeply into special effects makeup. Rather than giving you hard and fast rules, the author explains the principles behind good makeup design and application. There are tons of pictures, and it covers most basic makeup situations for stage, with a cursory treatment of other applications such as film and television.

Although I'm only somewhat enthusiastic about this title, my high school theatre students are VERY enthusiastic about it -- and so I'll amend my previous review by saying that the book has excellent photos that provide good, basic guidelines. My students enjoy opening the book to the instructions of their choice and following them (as the title states) step by step. As I happen to be the school librarian as well as the theatre director, I've added this title to our library's collection in order to make it readily available for reference. Yes, this title belongs in every high school library, and colleges and universities would do well to consider it.

Limited in examples, but everyone improvises anyway, right. Take whatever tricks the book gives you, and make them your own. Good basic Stage Make-up guide.

I needed this book for a stage makeup class. The book gives great instruction for different applications. I think it is a very useful reference to anyone interested in makeup application.