Every movie is aimed at impressing the viewers, touching their hearts, and conveying some ideas. Undoubtedly, makeup is one of the most significant tools in this task.
Makeup can be subtle or very evident, but in any case, it helps the characters be more bright and specific. This paper analyzes makeup techniques and their effect in The Wizard of Oz, a 1939 film.
The first character whom I would like to analyze from makeup is Dorothy Gale played by Judy Garland. Being a 17 years old girl, Judy had to play a little girl, and makeup certainly did help her to live the role. The skin of the actress is very pale, which creates an impression of tenderness.
Rosy cheeks and naive eyelashes, together with juicy fresh lips helped the girl obtain an innocent and childish facial expression.
The lips, by the way, are made rather plump, which is a typical feature of girls of tender age. Her eyebrows had a specific form as if she was wondering what was happening, which also contributed to her character.
Another character from the movie is the Tin Man. It is needless to say that, to turn into this character, the actor Jack Haley had to deal with makeup a lot. His face is covered with silver paint, which is glowing, making the man’s skin look like made of metal.
Special attention is paid to eyes; even the eyelid is covered with the paint, to prevent the eyes from looking “alive.” The actor also has a mole on his nose, which gives his nose a form of a metal detail and makes it different from the natural human nose.
The Tin Man’s eyebrows have a sharp angle form, which contributes to the stable expression of his face required by the role. It should also be mentioned that not only the man’s face but also his neck and hands needed a similar makeup, which made the character very realistic.
One more character from The Wizard of Oz who has an outstanding makeup is Scarecrow played by Ray Bolger. This character is very bright, for the most part, owing to his exceptional look. The first thing a viewer notices about this character is his mold chin.
Hanging on the man’s face, it looks flabby and slack, which is exactly what is needed for a scarecrow. Also, the color of his face is ochre, which reminds of sacking.
Another noticeable detail about this character is his nose, which is brown and looks flat; this reminds the noses of scarecrows, which are usually drawn on the sacking.
The last character to mention from the discussed movie is the Lion represented by Bert Lahr. This role demanded an animal-looking face, which could only be portrayed with the help of professional makeup.
The character has plated tissue on some parts of his face, which gives the actor lion-like features. The color of the face skin is similar to the color of the hair, which helps the lion look more realistic.
Another element is hair growing densely around the face oval. Also, the eyebrows give the actor an angry facial impression. Finally, the beard makes the whole character complete, as it is very thick. In general, Lion is a rather impressive character because of the makeup he has.