Alice in Mind - Makeup & Directing - Final Production 2025 by Sophie Cutler

Hey! I'm the Makeup Artist and Co-Director of 'Alice in Mind.'

sophiecutler9 — 2025-03-09 23:12:16 UTC

I'm Sophie Cutler from Panel Productions. As part of our final production at the University of Chester; my production group and I will be putting on a 'Wonderland' inspired production. The name of ours? Alice In Mind! Inspired by hit musical 'Alice by Heart' by Steven Sater. Our play follows Alice, trapped in a psychiatric hospital with angry nurses and her fellow patients, one of which being her dearly beloved; Alfred Hallam. Alice and Alfred escape to Wonderland in an attempt to stay alive together in paradise, but Alfred is running out of time, fast. The play is set in 1940's England and part of getting that old-fashioned feeling right is - of course - the looks! We need to dress appropriately for the era; but with the makeup, there is more freedom - we are in Wonderland, after all! My job - as the makeup artist - was to create looks that felt appropriate for the 1940's psychiatric ward, whilst still being adventurous and wild enough to be perfect for Wonderland. This Padlet will explore my process from inspiration, to design, to execution - in creating the perfect makeup looks for our performance. I was also in charge of directing some of the scenes that take place in the hospital, while a fellow cast-member was in charge of directing the scenes set in Wonderland. My primary production role was being the makeup artist, so this Padlet largely focuses on that, but there's some info regarding my directing choices, too! I hope you enjoy reading more about my process :)

Inspiration Powerpoint

sophiecutler9 — 2025-03-09 23:41:19 UTC

My first job as the makeup artist for this production was to curate a powerpoint filled with inspiration pictures for the makeup looks I was going to create. I used Pinterest to source all of my images; searching for the characters individually. I added any pictures that caught my eye and gave each character their own slide.

Face Charts

sophiecutler9 — 2025-03-09 23:52:22 UTC

My second priority as the makeup artist was to design some face charts for each of my looks - inspired by the pictures from my powerpoint. Face charts are popular amongst professional makeup artists when planning and creating more complex looks. It is important to design face charts in order to understand exactly how the makeup will sit on different areas of the face. On each face chart, I have clearly labelled exactly which product is sitting where on the face. I have also listed the specific products used at the bottom of each chart. I used face charts that I sourced from Pinterest. I have also included some research that I sourced in order to understand the importance of using face charts, and how to utilise them correctly. These resources are linked below:

Research

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Research

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Research

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Tweedle Dum - Clarissa

sophiecutler9 — 2025-03-09 23:59:07 UTC

Since the Tweedles are servants for the Queen of Hearts, I wanted to use ‘Queen of hearts’ inspired motifs for the makeup looks. For Tweedle Dum, I wanted to paint a large red heart on the actor’s eye using face paint, paired with a bold red lip. I also used fake blood to add that ‘gore meets glam’ effect.

Alice Spencer

sophiecutler9 — 2025-03-09 23:59:43 UTC

Alice is often getting into trouble at the psych ward, so I wanted to give her a black eye as though she had recently been in a fight with another patient. I wanted to use brown, purple and blue eyeshadow to achieve this. I also wanted to use these same colours to add shadows to the face, making the face look gaunt and malnourished, reflecting the poor treatment at the hospital. This is also reflective of the time period we are in. This is also why I wanted her lips to appear cracked and pale, which I would achieve by putting concealer and eyeshadow on the lips. I also wanted to give her sparkly blue eyes to pay homage to Alice’s iconic blue dress that appears in many adaptations of Alice in Wonderland.

The White Rabbit - Alfred Hallam

sophiecutler9 — 2025-03-10 00:00:46 UTC

For Alfred, I wanted to use purples, browns and blues once more to create that gaunt, malnourished look. I wanted to concentrate these colours in the cheeks to create a hollowed out look. I also wanted to use these same colours to give the actor fake, over-exaggerated eye bags. To make the look represent a rabbit, I wanted to use heavy pink blush on the cheeks and nose, as well as a rabbit nose, which would be created using white eyeliner.

Tweedle Dee - Tabatha

sophiecutler9 — 2025-03-10 00:01:18 UTC

I wanted Tweedle Dee’s makeup to compliment Tweedle Dum, since they are a duo. I used a similar motif inspired by the Queen of Hearts, but instead of a heart, I wanted to paint a large black spade on the actor’s eye, paired with a bold black lip. This pays homage to the playing cards that the Queen is fond of. I used the fake blood once more for an added element of gore.

The Mad Hatter - Hettie

sophiecutler9 — 2025-03-10 00:01:57 UTC

I wanted The Mad Hatter’s makeup to be just as fun and colourful as she is in her personality. I wanted to use as many vibrant colours as possible all over the face, but mostly concentrated on the eyes. I used my fingers to apply these colours, as though the character had found the eyeshadow herself and threw it upon herself with little thought or precision. I also wanted the lipstick to be smudged, as though the character had smudged it herself. I also wanted to apply fake blood to the forehead as though the character had bumped her head.

The Queen of Hearts - The Nurse

sophiecutler9 — 2025-03-10 00:02:27 UTC

For the Queen of Hearts, I wanted to include as many heart motifs as possible, which is why they are present on the lips as well as on the cheeks as well as on the eyes. I also wanted to use a lot of red eyeshadow as well as lipstick as red is the character’s iconic, recognisable colour. I also wanted to use fake blood in the shape of a handprint on the chin to represent the blood that is on this character’s hands, figuratively and literally!

Testing the Looks

sophiecutler9 — 2025-03-10 00:17:33 UTC

About a month before our production took place, I felt it was important to test out the looks I had designed on the actors themselves. It was important to do lots of research into applying the makeup safely onto my actor's faces prior to this day. Health, safety and hygiene was of upmost importance to me, especially with a member of our cast having a latex allergy. Attached below are various sites and sources that I visited to ensure that I was fully educated on the topic before the big trial day. One measure that I took to ensure the safety of my actors was asking them to come to the trial day already in 'base' makeup. This includes foundation, concealer, blusher and contour. these products need to be shade matched to each actor's skin almost perfectly; and so - especially as a makeup artist on a budget - it was a wise choice to ask the actors to come to the session already prepared in this way. This saved me time and money AND it minimised the risk of my actors' skin reacting poorly to my products; since their base makeup was their own from home. Other safety and hygiene measures that I took involved: conducting patch tests 48 hours before trial day, using new, clean brushes and sponges on each different actor - to avoid cross contamination - sanitising my hands if and when I needed to use my hands on actor's faces (although I kept this to a minimum when able) wearing a mask when coming into close contact with my actor's faces and using brushes when applying lipstick instead of using the stick itself on the actor's lips. This was all as recommended by the sources below:

Research - Theatrical Makeup Hygiene

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Research - Patch Tests

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Research - Cosmetic Allergens

sophiecutler9 — 2025-03-10 00:29:58 UTC

Say CHEESE!!

sophiecutler9 — 2025-03-10 00:33:10 UTC

On the makeup trial day, I decided to photograph my actors in their finalised makeup looks. I set up some cool atmospheric lights, grabbed a camera and I was ready to go! Here are some pictures of me in action. All photography by yours truly.

Why Collages?

sophiecutler9 — 2025-03-10 00:41:57 UTC

Finally, I decided to marry my final photographs, my face charts and some of my Pinterest inspo pics by creating collages! I made these collages using the app 'Shuffles.' The goal in creating these collages was to be able to step back and see the completed picture - the journey, if you will - from inspiration, to design, to execution, and to see how each stage of this process had developed, whilst still paying homage to the original inspiration.

"There are so many reasons to love the art of collage, from the freedom it allows to the powerful stories that can be told through it." (West, 2018)

Alice Spencer

sophiecutler9 — 2025-03-10 00:58:15 UTC

The Queen of Hearts

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The Mad Hatter

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Tweedle Dum & Tweedle Dee

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The White Rabbit

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My Final Photographs

sophiecutler9 — 2025-03-10 22:51:26 UTC

Please visit my gallery using this link to view the photographs.

Posters

sophiecutler9 — 2025-03-24 14:14:38 UTC

Our production group wanted to promote the show and boost ticket sales by creating posters that we could put up around our campus. I designed these posters utilising my photographs. I also included the date and time of our production, as well as a QR code that linked to our ticket purchasing website.

"Posters can be a highly effective means of advertising and promoting a product, service or event. They are a visual medium that can quickly capture the attention of a target audience, convey key information, and leave a lasting impression." (Red17, 2024)

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Directing the Psych Ward

sophiecutler9 — 2025-03-24 17:42:50 UTC

As the co-director of this production, I was in charge of directing the scenes that took place in the real-world; in the psychiatric hospital. This document explores some of my choices when directing these scenes, and outlines specific choices that I made for my character and for the others. I was inspired by Konstantin Stanislavsky and his ‘principles of acting’ in naturalistic theatre.

Valli O'Reilly

sophiecutler9 — 2025-04-01 15:43:12 UTC

The makeup artist who worked on the set for Tim Burton's film 'Alice in Wonderland' was a huge source of inspiration for me. Her name is Valli O'Rilley. I loved how each look felt appropriate for each different character in Wonderland; while some character's personalities called for bright colours and a heavy application, such as the Mad Hatter, (shown above) other characters, such as the White Queen, suited less intense makeup and a softer application. I used this as inspiration when creating my own makeup looks, ensuring that each character suited the level of intensity in their makeup look. I also love her use of colour; how she was able to use a sharp contrast between bright colours and shadows, creating light and shade and making each look feel multi-dimensional and full of depth. In an interview with Lisa Eldridge, Valli O'Rilley explained that she gets inspired for her makeup looks by all manner of things out in the world. She said:

"I save a lot of photos, anything from national geographic to fashion magazines, I’ve had them since the beginning of my career. A lot of the time they have nothing to do with the makeup I’m going to do, things like a couch that I think is stunning, somebody’s rose garden, a wall in someone’s home or other make up that I think could be very weird…anything I find visually appealing that sort of gets the fire in me going." (Valli O'Rilley for #MakeupMoments) I thought this was a beautiful sentiment and definitely something I aspired to do myself when creating my own looks. I have linked to the interview below:

Valli O'Rilley's interview with Lisa Eldridge for #MakeupMoments

sophiecutler9 — 2025-04-01 15:44:56 UTC

IMPORTANT TO NOTE

sophiecutler9 — 2025-04-01 18:51:15 UTC

Not all of the makeup looks will be identically recreated for the actual performances, a lot of them will be toned down slightly since many of the actors are multi-roling and have quick changes from one character to another. This means that the looks will need to work for multiple different characters with very different traits and personalities. I have, however drawn inspiration from the original looks shown in this padlet to pay homage to them on stage.

Research used:

sophiecutler9 — 2025-04-01 20:59:02 UTC

The Art of the Collage

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Why Are Posters so Effective?

sophiecutler9 — 2025-04-01 21:11:50 UTC