12/2/2025 - Opposite of Expert: Make Up for TV & Film
Episode 04 - Make up for TV & Film with Allison
Welcome to Opposite of Expert, a new series from The 33 Project.
Opposite of Expert is for curious generalists. Each post will tackle a new subject you may know nothing about! Instead of aiming for mastery, the goal here is modest: learn just enough to hold a relevant conversation. In other words, tickle that part of your brain that likes to learn something new.
Let’s talk format. In each post, I connect with one person who is an expert on a subject and I ask them three questions. They then provide short, thoughtful responses so we all get to sound a little bit smarter. Instead of the traditional back and forth interview style, these expert guests have gone ahead and sent me either voice notes or short video responses to my questions. This way you get to hear/see it straight from the expert.
The goal is to drop new posts every Tuesday. Feel free to comment on subjects you want to learn more about and share feedback. Enjoy!
Hello hello. Today, we’re diving into the world of Entertainment. Today’s expert is my friend and the incredibly talented make up artist, Allison. She’s been in the industry for about a decade and has worked on some of your favorite shows including Blue Bloods, Project Runway, The Crowded Room, and Shattered to name a few.
But, most importantly to me, Allison did the make up for my short film She’s Marrying Steve. She went above and beyond to make everyone on that set look incredible.
For today’s Opposite of Expert, I asked her about her life as a professional make up artist. You’ll learn a bit about her approach to work, how doing make up for TV & Film is different from your standard day to day routine and what she looks out for when she’s working. Ever the over-achiever, Allison gave us two bonus clips as well - where she talked tattoos and hair and she walked us through her day in the life.
Ok! Today’s episode will help you be more capable of holding a short, relevant conversation on the topic of: MAKE UP FOR TV & FILM.
Question 1. Clearly doing makeup for camera is different from doing it for a basic day-to-day, but in what ways is it really different? Are you just doing a lot more because you’re expecting everything to be scrutinized? Or are you picking different coloring based on how things are shot?
Question 2. When you build a character’s look, what are the decisions you’re making that help you design how they should be seen? Like what choices are you making to deliver a visual for the character given all the restraints you have to work within?
It’s really cool that it is all in service to the story.
Question 3. Is there a choice you find yourself making that maybe a viewer would never pick up on but would instantly notice if you got wrong? Maybe asked another way...Are there any tiny details you obsess over that directors/actors/viewers don’t realize matter?
Bonus 1. Dealing with tattoos, hair and exposed skin.
Bonus 2. Day in the life, specifically for TV & Film vs. Events/Live.
And that’s it! Hopefully you found these responses as interesting as I did. Thank you Allison for sharing your experience and expertise and thank you reader for spending the time learning with me! Have a great Tuesday!