I had been to two makeup schools prior to VFS that focused primarily on beauty and fashion. I chose VFS because I wanted to work in film and it seemed like the best place for that, it was also the longest program at 1 year. The other two were each no longer than 4-6 months.
If you were unfortunate to live outside of the country, you paid an absurd amount more.
I applied a year in advance of my start day, so I was locked into the tuition amount from when the program was 6 months long at $26,000. Most other students paid approximately $30,000 if they were Canadian, and if you were unfortunate to live outside of the country, you paid an absurd amount more.
Course Breakdown by Terms
Term 1 and 2
Terms 1 and 2 are held at the Cambie and Hastings campus, shared by the acting department. In these terms you learn theory and techniques having to do with first beauty, period, fantasy, etc. and then out of kit effects such as bruises and wax cuts, etc.
We had a class in “ethnic makeup”, or makeup for darker skin tones. This was a wonderful lesson as darker skin tones never seem to look quite right, as I’ve found. The only problem with this class is that a model comes in to be worked on by the teacher for the demo; the students never really get a chance to practice ethnic makeup, unless they are lucky enough to have a darker skinned person in the class to practice on. And let’s face it; Vancouver has a very limited black population.
During this time, we were also taught color theory, lens-based media, and figure drawing.
- Color theory teaches you about the color wheel and the relationship of colors to one another and how each color scheme can be used and manipulated in order to create an aesthetically pleasing composition. This knowledge is practiced with watercolors, and then later with oils. In Term 2, you do oil painting and you have to create the color gray by mixing all of the primary colors together to create a grey-toned self portrait – a real pain in the ass, but cool in the end.
- Lens based media, which is set in the “far, far away” Burrard campus, would have been a lot more relevant if we were taught photography that pertained specifically to makeup and photo shoots (so we could learn first-hand what it felt like to be the photographer of a fashion shoot). The course was geared more towards visually appealing compositions and lighting for inanimate objects.
- Figure drawing (also at the Burrard campus) was pretty cool in a way. However, to this day, I’m still trying to link drawing naked people to makeup application, most likely just for the anatomy lesson.
During these two terms, you also get to learn set etiquette, set jargon, and how to write up continuity notes and charts, and all of this information is touched upon and refreshed throughout the rest of the program.
In one of these terms we get our airbrushes, which we have to learn to take apart and put back together. Then we get an entire week just airbrushing dots and lines on paper and that’s it. Too much time was devoted to dots and lines in my opinion. I also feel that not enough time and emphasis was spent on airbrushing on foundation. In this day and age where everything is shot in High-Def, airbrushing on foundation is SOOO important, more time and maybe a test should have been given in this area.
Term 3 and 4
These two terms are taught at the 392 Campus on the corner of Hastings and Homer, shared by the Gaming department with the computer labs and cafe. This building houses a few computer labs, the rental of materials area (where you can rent out an air compressor, movies, and books and magazines, etc.), and other classes for other departments. Here, we learned a little bit of hair, bald caps, aging, wax constructions, and later on in Term 4, sculpting, gelatin prosthetic fabrication and application, hair laying and fun stuff like that.
A lot more emphasis should be placed on hairstyling because being in the industry, I have lost paying jobs due to the simple fact that I suck at styling hair!
I used to stay on campus working late into the night back when it was a 24-hour campus. We only learned a week of hair, which was not enough at all. In retrospect, a lot more emphasis should be placed on hairstyling because being in the industry, I have lost paying jobs due to the simple fact that I suck at styling hair! We seemed to spend more time on styling wigs and ventilating hair pieces (threading human hair to film lace in order to make hair pieces) in Term 5, which, if you were in the industry as a makeup artist, you would only be responsible for applying the already-made pieces and you wouldn’t LEGALLY be allowed to touch or style the actor’s hair. On a union film, it falls strictly under the jurisdiction of the hair department, as per union regulations! But when you are freshly graduated, you will find that a lot of people will expect you to know how to style hair as well as do makeup.
You will learn how to hand lay hair and make beards and mustaches. You will receive braids of different colored yak hair and learn how to mix colors on a hackle to create realistic color combinations for facial hair. You will also learn, as a prerequisite for prosthetics, how to alter facial features through the use of wax and how to color it properly.
In Term 4 you will be introduced to sculpting with clay as well as casting first your ears, then half casts of your face in plaster. Then you will sculpt prosthetics on these new plaster copies of yourselves and make gelatin pieces to be applied for your exams. You will also be taught how to apply and properly blend the edges of gelatin pieces. This will set the stage for learning foam prosthetics later on in the program. During these two terms, you will also be introduced to Photoshop and taught how to manipulate images in order to create an old age version of another person. The main problem I found with these terms is the lack of sufficient Prosaid adhesive we were given in our kits. We were only given 1 or 2 fl oz of Prosaid, which is practically nothing, for use from Term 2 or 3 until the end of the program. I hear now, however, that the school is beginning to foot the bill for replenishing things like this, so that’s a plus, now that I’m long gone.
Term 5 and 6
Term 5 and 6 are taught at the Hastings and Clark Drive campus, which is a 10-minute bus ride from Downtown. The area is sketchy and there was one student who had her entire makeup kit stolen by a jerk-wad who snatched it from her while she was standing at the bus stop. On occasion, we would arrive at the school in the morning to find used condoms strewn about the area around the school. The facility itself is actually very cool, as it is its very own prosthetic lab. It has ovens used for baking foam latex, work stations that can accommodate two students (one on either side of table) with ventilation ducts above each station, and a separate room with lighted vanity stations for makeup applications (which should be moved to the larger room used for storage, unless they’ve already done so).
Life in term 5 and 6 are a bit lonely, as you are isolated from the outside world, it seems! Term 5 you graduate from a half plaster cast to casting your entire head from which you learn how to make over the head masks. But they don’t teach you how to properly seam edges together or punch hair (two of the most desired skills in a shop to know how to do) to create more realistic looking models. You focus on ventilating hair for mustache pieces, wig styling, PAX paint, application and fabrication of foam latex and gelatin pieces. Through term 6 you are taught by demo only but not actual practice of how to create silicone prosthetics (but not how to apply them).
Portfolio & Final Project
In Term 6, you are left to your own devices to work on your projects. This is a time to work on your portfolio (they give you a full week to get everything done from a list of portfolio requirements, but it is not enough time in my opinion) which includes planning for and applying the makeup, setting up a photo shoot, and creating the page layouts in Photoshop. If you Photoshop your own makeup in order to disguise a bad prosthetic edge or a shaky lip liner, you get an automatic FAIL, which is great because too many people are deceptively altering their makeup nowadays. The only problem I saw with this was that since you’re doing the layout on your own, no one is there to critique your layout until it’s too late to change anything. What you submit as your final portfolio gets reviewed by a panel of instructors, gets ripped a new one, and then goes straight to the printer to get printed up to be cut by you into 11×14 pages to fit into your brand new 11×14 portfolio.
During this time, you will also plan and work on your final project. You get a list of things you are allowed to do and you will have to come up with an idea and a budget to get it all done, all with the approval of a teacher. Once that goes through, you either receive all your supplies or get reimbursed for them (which I had to fight to death to collect in the end). You get 6 hours of application time, which then gets photographed (the pictures from which you will NEVER get to see, EVER). While you are busy trying to focus on getting your portfolio/final project done, they schedule classes that are taught half-assed; time well wasted that could be better spent focusing on the tasks that need to get done. There will be classes on silicone prosthetics, but no actual opportunity to make them OR apply them – so what’s the point? Just more stress.
Job Placement & Preparation
I’m not going to lie, VFS’ makeup program is actually very good and I stand by that, but it is also very flawed. You will NOT graduate with credits like they promised. They make you do a mock student film and assign you one character in the film. That’s it. They also do nothing for you in terms of reviewing your resume and cover letter or helping you find a PAYING job. They also teach you as though you will graduate and immediately become a department head or key makeup artist in the industry. When really, they SHOULD emphasize how hard it is to get into the union, and what you will have to do or what avenues you should take to get on that path.
Every single teacher in this program is a union MUA and has worked on feature films. But why they can’t seem to use their connections and throw the students a bone every now and again to get the students to work on extras or background makeup on set is beyond me. VFS also has a film production department. However, none of the departments seem to have any ties with one another, either. Film production people should collaborate with the writing department and direct a film that stars VFS actors, uses VFS makeup artists and shoot a feature length film! None of that ever happened except for a final project or a 48hr Film Festival option. It needs to happen more frequently and more so as a mandatory interdisciplinary class project, not just as one or two people from MU keying an entire production on their own (as one of the many final project options).
VFS also lacked in career preparation. There was no solid preparation on what it is like starting out in the industry as a beginner, what to expect, and where a person pursuing makeup can work until they get into the industry. There is no retail training, or business training at all! The only talk we got on resumes was a look at Rick Baker’s resume! Rick Baker – the Chuck Norris of the makeup industry! A much better assignment would be to get the students to write up a resume and cover letter as though they were applying to multiple places to work in the industry: retail/counter, shop/lab, etc. I graduated completely unprepared to find a 9-5 job in my field of study while trying to get into the union.
I decided to spend more money and go to esthetics school. This turned out to be the BEST decision I have ever made.
Life After Graduation
Within the first 7 months of graduation, I probably earned no more than $400 in TOTAL from doing makeup. I worked hard like a dog and I built up my portfolio nicely, but it was mostly all for free. Nobody ever tells you in school that when you’re just starting out, no one wants to pay you. After being deeply depressed, not finding work and feeling utterly unprepared and disillusioned, I decided to spend more money and go to esthetics school. This turned out to be the BEST decision I have ever made.
If I could take it all back, I would never have wasted my money on VFS, especially since I already had a background in makeup before applying. I should’ve gone straight into esthetics. For a fraction of the price of VFS, I learned way more things that can be transferred into the real world. When I got out into the industry, I very quickly learned that EVERYONE, and I mean EVERYONE, in Vancouver is a Makeup Artist. The competition is tight and there just isn’t enough work to go around. Searching on Craigslist for paying MU jobs yielded me innumerable posts looking for estheticians. I thought to myself, dayum! The demand for estheticians was so high, I thought I should look into going into that field! Lo and behold, I got into a school, and 5 months into the 11-month program I was hired. I made as much money working part-time as an esthetician in one month, as I did in 7 months as a makeup graduate.
Makeup School Comparisons
Blanche McDonald and John Casablancas are great if you know you want to get into fashion, but not film. I’ve seen complete crap come out of those schools when it comes to film and TV work. But the career training and resume training you get is far better than what is provided at VFS. They also send you out to do special events and have guest speakers such as Oscar-winning makeup artist Ve Neill come in and do a lecture and demo every now and again. However, a common problem amongst all these schools is that they don’t help students find work after graduation.
In my opinion, VFS Makeup is a great program especially for film, but NOT for the extortionate amount of money you end up paying.
The Verdict
In my opinion, VFS Makeup is a great program especially for film, but NOT for the extortionate amount of money you end up paying. Here’s the bottom line. Invest in VFS if you KNOW deep in your heart that you want to do film, but don’t expect to graduate and rub Oscars with Rick Baker in a year and a half after graduating.
I STRONGLY recommend you look into investing in a good hairstyling course that specializes in hair for film and TV (for continuity purposes) after you graduate, so that you have even more desirable skills under your belt. TRUST ME ON THIS ONE. If you absolutely can’t stand hair, then at least choose esthetics, as it will be along the same line as doing makeup so you don’t feel like all of your training has been in vain and provide some stability in the very unstable and unpredictable world of makeup and film.
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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Reece Mack
kikimiki
First, an introduction: I’m Stan Edmonds, Department Head of the one-year Makeup Design for Film & Television program at VFS.
I’d very much like to thank the anonymous writer for this thorough review of our program. I sincerely welcome all feedback and commentary. No two students at any educational institution have the exact same experience, and that’s why a site like this exists. It might be tempting for some organizations to respond to any criticism with a series of outraged anonymous comments, but that’s doing the reviewer and the readers of this site a real disservice.
With that in mind, a thorough review deserves a thorough response. It’s a conversation, after all. I’d like to touch on several of the reviewer’s points and answer what I can.
I’d like to start by clarifying a few details: Students don’t “rent” air compressors, DVDs, or any similar materials. I don’t think the author intended it this way, but that’s how it reads. Access to these resources has always been part of the program – there’s no fee. Likewise, it’s true that photos are taken of some projects by a staff photographer (in addition to a shoot with a professional photographer). These photos are absolutely available to the student upon request. Our extensive, professional makeup kits provided to students when they begin the program are evaluated, and often replenished, on an ongoing basis. For example, students’ supply of Pros-Aide is replenished in the fourth and sixth terms of the program.
Now, in response to some of the specific points from the review:
“…not enough time and emphasis was spend on airbrushing on foundation…”
The airbrush is an important tool for a makeup artist but certainly not the only answer to HD. VFS introduces the airbrush with four classes, and it’s then incorporated into many areas of the program, like baldcaps, age makeup, fantasy and competition work, prosthetic applications, and mask making, for example. We feel our students are well-prepared to use the airbrush on foundations, but also able to explore its full potential and go way beyond what most people think the airbrush can do. By the end of the program, students will have learned and practiced, spattering, corpsing and veining in addition to foundation and body make-ups.
Regarding the Term 5/6 campus on Franklin Street – thanks for the kind words! It’s something we’re very proud of (and it makes the pros jealous). It’s one-of-a-kind among makeup schools in North America – a state-of-the-art lab for sculpting, mold-making, paintwork, ventilating hairpieces, running and baking foam latex, as well as applications. We’re currently planning even more renovations. Like many professional shops, it’s a facility like this one is very difficult to accommodate in a high-density residential or commercial area.
“…they don’t teach you how to properly seam edges together or punch hair…”
Seaming edges on foam latex and punching hair are indeed taught at VFS. These skills seem simple, but actually require extensive practice to truly master – like many techniques, it’s to any student’s benefit to practice diligently beyond class time.
Incidentally, we’re very excited to be developing classes on the manufacturing and application of gel-filled silicone appliances. This is at the forefront of modern prosthetic applications!
On portfolios:
To clarify how this process works: students are working towards it during their entire year, and they know the official requirements months in advance. The development of one’s professional portfolio is the spine of our program. In the final term, there are several weeks of portfolio development labs as students complete specific makeups for their portfolios. Students complete their layouts under supervision, and proceed to a Portfolio Review Panel, which includes myself as the Head of Department and a guest makeup artist – last term, it was Norma Hill Patton (New Moon, The Day the Earth Stood Still), who’s also on our Makeup Design Advisory Board. Once this most valuable feedback has been received, final adjustments can be made before we take the portfolios to print.
Our Makeup Design faculty is certainly something we’re quite proud of. You’re right – they are all industry professionals with a minimum of five years’ experience, most with much more. Union rules and insurance restrictions unfortunately mean that they aren’t able to bring students onto most sets or employ them. However, there are many opportunities for Makeup Design students and alumni to get involved in various projects. Both professional and semi-professional opportunities regularly come our way and our Program Manager maintains a list of alumni to send out to prospective employers.
“The only talk we got on resumes was a look at Rick Baker’s resume!”
I have never actually seen Rick Baker’s resume’ :D But I can tell you that it is important to make sure that students attend all of the programs’ classes to receive the maximum educational benefit. The career preparation classes we currently offer examine resumes in many formats, along with contracts, deal memos, interviews, as well as union qualifications and applications.
The reality is this, and it’s no secret to any of our students: the film and TV industry doesn’t operate on a 9-to-5 schedule. We guide students towards the best ways of approaching employment based on their own career goals, and we know that the extensive skill-set they gain in their year at VFS is itself a significant competitive edge. Our grads are employed all over the world.
I hope this answers some of the questions that readers might have about the program. I really encourage anyone with questions about the Makeup Design program at VFS to get involved at one of our community sites (you can find them at vfs.com/community) – speak with students, see their work, get as many perspectives as you can. And if you are in town, come by to audit a class for yourself.
Best,
Stan Edmonds
Head of Makeup Design for Film & Television
Vancouver Film School