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Hair and Make-up · Stage 1

Hair and Make-up Trainee

Every face on screen goes through the chair: get into the make-up trailer and be the trainee they ask back.

The hair and make-up department: who is in it, what the trainee's fourteen-hour day contains, the kit, hygiene and continuity habits supervisors hire for, the training routes, the rules on pay and unpaid work, a Stage 1 CV, and a plan to Stage 2. Built from MFJF's careers guide and case studies.

2 hours · 6 modules · 18 lessons

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What you’ll learn

  • Describe the make-up department across prep, shoot and post, name every grade from designer to trainee, and say who you answer to.
  • Walk through a trainee's day hour by hour, from opening the room before the artists to de-rig and reset after wrap.
  • Own the basic kit list, the hygiene habits and the continuity system, and use the fifteen phrases you will hear on day one.
  • Choose your training route with the questions to ask a make-up school, and name three real routes to faces and credits this month.
  • Know who sets trainee pay, what the law says about unpaid work, and the hours and safety facts of the department.
  • Draft a one-page Stage 1 CV titled Hair and Make-up Trainee with a portfolio link, and approach people without annoying them.
  • Self-certify against Sam's five Stage 1 statements and know exactly what to do next on MFJF.

Where this leads

By the end you will have written your own Stage 1 plan, checked yourself against MFJF's five Stage 1 statements, and know exactly what to do next: a mentor clinic, an Academy workshop, and Stage 2, the HotList.

Finish the course and you can build your personal plan: MFJF's three-stage planner for this role, ticked from Your Profile and your CV, with dated next steps and the CV line each one becomes.

Module 1

The department and the trainee

20 min

What hair and make-up does on a production, who is in the room, and what a trainee's day actually contains.

  1. readWhat the make-up department does8 min
  2. readA trainee's day, hour by hour8 min
  3. checkCheck: the department4 min
Module 2

Before day one: skills, kit, hygiene and continuity

20 min

What a supervisor is hiring, the basic kit, the hygiene that is not negotiable, the continuity system you will run, and the language of the room.

  1. readThe skills, the kit and hygiene7 min
  2. readContinuity, phrases, the callsheet and the ten tips6 min
  3. taskTask: your skills self-audit7 min
Module 3

Getting experience at Stage 1

20 min

Where trainees really come from, courses versus the job, the portfolio, NASMAH and ScreenSkills, and the rules on pay, unpaid work, hours and safety.

  1. readTraining routes and where the faces come from7 min
  2. readThe rules: pay, unpaid work, hours and safety6 min
  3. taskTask: find three routes this month7 min
Module 4

Your CV, portfolio and first approaches

20 min

What a Stage 1 hair and make-up CV contains, the title, the portfolio link, the email that gets read, and what a reference means here.

  1. readThe Stage 1 CV, the email and the approach8 min
  2. taskTask: draft your CV outline8 min
  3. checkCheck: CV and approaches4 min
Module 5

The industry around the role

20 min

Where make-up artists work, the departments and suppliers around the trailer, the career path and its branches, and what Hannah and Rhian did.

  1. readThe map, the path and the people7 min
  2. resourcesThe library for this course9 min
  3. checkCheck: the industry4 min
Module 6

Your plan: Stage 1 to Stage 2

20 min

Your plan on one page, the five statements as a self-certification, and exactly what to do next on MFJF.

  1. plannerYour Stage 1 plan10 min
  2. readReady for Stage 2: the five statements and what next6 min
  3. checkFinal check4 min
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Sources and references

Where this course comes from. Open any of them yourself.

What this course was written from

Every link checked 19 September 2026.

You are not doing this alone

You have your own personal career mentor

That is us, the MFJF team. Book an MFJF Mentor Session with us every month: we guide you through this journey and answer all your questions, from which job is yours to your CV and your next application.

Book my MFJF Mentor Session

Where next

Your recommended next steps

Picked for Hair and Make-up. Signed in, they follow your stage and the roles your answers point to. See your whole MFJF journey, step by step →

  1. My MFJF JourneyOne page for everything MFJF has built, in the order you need it.
  2. My Reading ListThe books, blogs and bodies you have saved, in one place.
  3. Start the Stage 1 course: Hair and Make-upTwo hours on what the job is, how people get in and what to do first.
  4. Get on the HotListPut yourself in front of productions looking for crew.
  5. Join MFJF DayPlayersDay work on productions for crew with the credits and the skills.
  6. The career planner: Hair and Make-upWhat to do, learn and be able to do, from no experience to paid work.
  7. The career guide: Hair and Make-upThe job, the day, the way in and the pay, in one guide.
  8. See how it all fits on the career maps17 maps of how films get made: the people, the process and the departments.
  9. Who works whereEvery department on a shoot and every kind of film company: who is in each and what they do.
  10. Industry EssentialsThe books, industry bodies, websites and blogs worth knowing, department by department.
  11. Read the MFJF Survival GuidesStraight answers to what everyone starting out asks: how long it takes, what you get paid, and what to do every day.
  12. MFJF Academy workshopsLive sessions with people who do the job, and the monthly career clinic.
  13. Build your CV with the CV BuilderThe industry's format, built from your profile and your current CV.

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