Martial Makeup - The Use of Makeup for Fighting Purposes

The use of makeup dates back to at least 6000 BC. Men and women of all social classes in ancient Egypt wore makeup. Not only to appear more beautiful but also to be closer to the gods associated with different colors. Now, the spiritual aspects of makeup are closely related to fighting and dying.

So, in this article for the Immersive Action Writing Method, I’ll focus on the use of makeup for fighting purposes and on how a writer can include makeup to intensify an action scene and deepen the fighting characters.

When I had my martial arts exam for the 3. Dan, the master required me and my fellow students to show up wearing makeup around the eyes that should reflect our attitude towards life and fighting.

Preparing for a fight by applying makeup can be a scene more intense than the fight itself because it can reveal a lot about your character without using any dialogue. Not to think of all the exciting facial feature close-ups you’re finally allowed to include.

Remember Braveheart’s Oscar-winning makeup?

Let’s imagine a silent scene where he applies the war paint just like a ritual to focus before the battle.

Or a group of soldiers silently applying camouflage paint and secretly exchanging glances before beginning a dangerous behind-enemy-lines mission.

Native American tribes are famous for the use of face and body paint. Among other meanings and purposes, they wore colors and motives for fighting, mourning, heroism, celebrating victory, status or to get in touch with their tutelary spirits.

This leads us to an emotion most fighters struggle to deal with at some point: Fear!

Getting in touch with or even “turning into” a supernatural being like a spirit, god or demon can work quite well to conquer the fear of pain, death and disgrace. It may also be scary for your character when he/she feels that his/her opponent is not scared at all. So, makeup is commonly used to strike fear into the enemy’s heart. Darth Maul is supposed to look like the devil without any makeup, but from an author’s perspective, that’s an intense and scary warpaint-look to strengthen this character. Imagine him being drawn to the light side of the force, then struggling with his looks and applying heavy makeup to conceal it and appear nicer. You're not mad at me for this cute little fantasy, are you?

I won’t go too deep into tattoos here, but those are a bit like permanent makeup (no offense). They are very common among professional fighters and work both ways. Conor McGregor’s Gorilla and Tiger seem impressive when he wins but make him look somewhat pitiful when he goes down.

While tattoos are mainstream now, only two to three decades ago, they were often associated with crime and violence. The Yakuza, the Triads, Drug Cartels and Biker Gangs immediately come to mind.

You normally don’t tattoo yourself but trust another person to grace you with the desired motifs. The same can be true for makeup and makes for another great scene of revealing intimacy. If your character is being made up by someone else for a special reason the audience already knows or can guess during the process, this can be a very emotional moment and be immersive for your audience too.

I guess you know what's coming?

Your Immersive Action Writing Method exercise for today!

Paint yourself, apply some makeup, have fun and be bold - you’ll have a blast once you’ve brought yourself to begin. (Use Halloween as an excuse if you have to.) Then sit down, write an action scene and see how it goes. It’s gonna be different!

And by the time you're finished, you may well have forgotten you painted yourself and will get some unexpected, well… feedback from your people.

Oh, my 3. Dan makeup was a happy eye and a sad eye inspired by the Commedia dell’arte. Of my two friends, one applied a gothic style makeup, the other one looked like a pick-up artist. Still, the exam was pretty intense.

Yours

Till