Career options and professions

"In the audiovisual sector, there's always room for professionals with talent, imagination and enthusiasm". For twenty years, the ITM has trained make-up professionals who practice their art in cinema, theatre, fashion, performance arts, television or even advertising. Contact between the different years offers many possibilities for finding job opportunites in the field. There are almost 500 graduates from the ITM : they represent a wonderful network of contacts.

Cinema
In the audiovisual sector, especially when shooting feature-length films, the chief make-up artists are often surrounded by other make-up artists, assistants or trainees. Practicing alongside experienced professionals is a fundamental aspect in perfecting one's knowledge.
The French National Cinema Centre (C.N.C.) issues a professional card to make-up artists working on feature-length films. This card is a true recongnition of the profession.

Special effects
In the world of special effects, the prosthetic make-up artist gives life to characters imagined by authors, screenplay writers or directors. Through the use of special products and materials (latex, gelatine…), he creates prosthetics which he or other make-up artists will then apply. His work generally takes place before shoots, most frequently in the context of a studio.

Theater
Most of the time, a chief make-up artist and his team are responsible for an entire artistic troupe. As a free-lance make-up artists working for a theater or a particular company , the make-up artist  must assimilate the various characters and the theatrical situations so that the audience has a fuller appreciation of the production.

Fashion
“It is during fashion events and shows that people are attracted to this profession”. Whether by chance or by vocation, the fashion make-up artist works in the world of shows. During the presentations of prêt-à-porter and haute-couture collections, a producer brings together a group of make-up artists, where each maintains his or her status as an independant artist. Often, the designers themselves impose a “star“ make-up artist, chosen for his or her style and personal creations. The fashion make-up artists can be called on to work during photo or video shoots. The top models owe them a lot more than you would think... !

Performance arts
In the past, a lot of performers did their own make-up, passing down their knowledge from father to son. This is for example the case of the clown who, when he found his  “face”, kept it his whole life. Today, more and more theater and dance troupes call on the services of professional make-up artists to design the characters' looks. Each has a make-up that corresponds to the expressions and characteristics of his or her role.

Photography
Doing make-up for a photo shoot above all means collaborating closely with a photographer. Mutual complicity and understanding are indispensable to create the required atmosphere and the look. Whether working for advertising or fashion, hte make-up artist  has to have the same aptitudes: to know photographic and lighting equipment well so as to take their characteristics and constraints into account in his or her creative work.

Beauty
Cosmetics brands call on make-up artists more and more to advise their clientele in stores, or to carry out demonstrations or flash make-ups on podiums. Here the work is both commercial and technical. The make-up artist has to take the customer's requests into account and be able to advise her in relation to her morphology, her skin type and personality. This career can evolve to a training function. As a trainer, the make-up artist's mission is to train sales teams and to give advice about the specificities of the brand and the new looks proposed by the artistic director.
The artistic director is the person who will orient the choice of colours and textures in the product range from one season to the next. He or she will create the looks which will drive the brand's publicity campaigns. This career path enables make-up artists to evolve towards a creative advisory role.