What makes somebody sign up for makeup school?

Seeing themselves doing it

A professional makeup school in Los Angeles wanted a thirty second TV commercial that shows a future student exactly what they'll learn, beauty and fashion makeup all the way to special effects and prosthetics

I produced and directed it

Real classrooms, real students

No actors pretending. An instructor applying makeup, a student sculpting a prosthetic face, crystal studded fantasy eyes, a full character transformation with a beard and a hat

Close-ups of hands at work, brushes, sponges, sculpting tools, the details a student actually wants to see, how the thing gets done, not just the finished face

Then wide, rows of students in red aprons working at their stations, so you see the size of the place

Here is the deal, a school sells a future, and the future has to look real

Where the work ends up

Then a photo studio shoot, because that's where makeup ends up, in front of a camera

That one is close to home. I work with makeup artists on every fashion shoot I produce, and a good one saves a lot of retouching later

Thirty seconds of transformation

Makeup is the best thing in the world to film in thirty seconds because it's before and after built in, a plain face, then something nobody would recognize

The phone number and the website stay on screen the whole time, because the viewer who's interested wants to call now, not hunt for it

Why show the hard stuff

Beauty makeup is what people expect. Prosthetics and special effects are what make them say wait, I could learn that?

That's the hook that turns a maybe into a call

Here is the deal, nobody calls a school because of a brochure. They call because thirty seconds made them picture themselves holding the brush

Producer behind the camera

When the producer is the one framing, a reflection in a mirror or a brush blocking the face gets fixed right there through the viewfinder, while the student keeps working

See the makeup artists I work with on my own shoots in the Model Photographer gallery and the Behind The Scenes gallery

Plain face in, new career out

Length: 0 min 30 s · Producer & director: David Victory, VRSET video production, Los Angeles & Orange County

Key moments

  • 0:00 Instructor at work
  • 0:03 Prosthetic face sculpt
  • 0:06 Student portrait
  • 0:09 Photo studio shoot
  • 0:13 Classroom work
  • 0:16 Students in the main classroom
  • 0:18 Crystal fantasy eye makeup
  • 0:23 Character makeup transformation
  • 0:28 Closing logo

See the matching photography in the Model Photographer gallery.

More videos

The full video library

Also on our YouTube channel.

Planning a video or a fashion shoot? Contact David Victory or call (310) 988-6575 in Los Angeles, (949) 873-4551 in Orange County. Free consultation and quote for first-time clients.