It was in one of my lighting classes at the American Film Institute with Hollywood master lighting director Verne Carlson that I discovered two of the best-kept secrets as to why Hollywood men and women look stunning and photogenic. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that most of them were born good-looking. But even a beautiful person under the wrong lighting conditions can look distressingly bad.
The two Hollywood secrets? Definition and lighting.
This is the first secret to being stunning and photogenic – definition. A good-looking man/beautiful woman’s best friend is his/her makeup or grooming artist. You must define, define, define. What you define and detail becomes noticed – and gets registered by the camera!
Another one of my brilliant film gurus, Hollywood director and cinematographer Michel Hugo (he directed the fab TV series Dynasty) related how Joan Collins would yell, "Don’t stand in my light!" whenever some actor would cross the light beam from her personal spotlight.
My lighting professor, Verne Carlson, said that black people are hard to light especially when they are in the same frame with a Caucasian. Extremely fair people are hard to light, too, because they lack contrast. Lighting is both a science and an art. And experience is the best teacher for its mastery. Through lighting, you can create radiance, depth, mood, interest, movement, and most of all, beauty.
Why are some people photogenic? Photo means light. Being photogenic is all a matter of how light is cast upon your face and gets reflected back to be caught on film or video to create a pleasing, appealing picture. Your facial bone structure has much to do with this. It determines the light and shadow configurations on your face that get projected to the camera and captured on film or video.
Another important factor is the proportion of the elements of your face (your eyes, nose, mouth, chin, cheekbones, etc.) in relation with each other. Of course, no one is born with a perfect face (except ‘60s model Jean Shrimpton, the ‘80s supermodel Paulina Porizkova, and that gorgeous guy in Armani’s Giò ad). But thank the heavens that you can work wonders on your face with lighting and makeup.
The art of makeup is nothing but trickery using light, shadow, and color. With the aid of some powder, pencils, blushers, lipsticks, mascara, and brushes, you can paint on how you want your face to look like. But it isn’t just simply dabbing on makeup; you have to know where and how to put it. You should know how to disguise your flaws and highlight your good features to bring out the most attractive, stunning, and alluringly photogenic you. And like for all forms of art, practice makes perfect.
The big difference between your trusted cosmetic artist and I, is this: I don’t put makeup on people. After viewing your old photos (I’ll have to look at some) and assessing how you look in person (bone structure, skin quality, flaws, good features), I direct, guide, and tell you exactly what to do so that you’ll end up looking great and photogenic. In short, you do your own face (there is no better way to learn).
No, Valerie, I am not a makeup artist – I am a face designer! Realize that this is a relatively new and exciting field of expertise I am practicing. I realized that my special gift could help people look better, gain more confidence, and improve their lives.
When your skin is back to its normal, healthy condition, then you can start putting makeup on. Skin hygiene and maintenance are prerequisites for a stunning, beautiful face. When you have bad skin, it doesn’t matter much what else you apply, put on or wear!
Not everyone may avail of "face design". Some people already look great so there won’t be any need to redesign their faces. But no one is without hope of looking better. You can learn the concepts and actually try applying them just for fun, and you can even have photos taken to show you the startling difference before and after the face design.
People who have been so used to seeing themselves a certain way for years and years would feel slightly resistant to a new look. You see, the old face is comfortable like an old habit. This is why some people easily go back to their old face. A lot of people even get locked into an era or trapped in a certain style and just can’t adjust to changes in the global fashion arena.
These days if you really want to reinvent yourself and raise a few eyebrows in delight, you must be hip and adventurous about beauty, fashion, and makeup. If you are not, you’d look uninteresting, tired, old, and dated.
Somebody once asked me what my secret is when I try to help unravel the beauty of a person. Simple. I don’t look at what a person looks like; I envision what he or she could be!