• Announcing June 2019 Character & Special FX Guest Instructors

    • April 19, 2019
    • Author | Celena Rubin
    Theatre Makeup Artist Diane Trapp

    We are so incredibly excited to announce our guest instructors for this June’s upcoming Character & Special FX Makeup program,  Diane Trapp and Michael Peterson!

    This program is curated to meet top industry standards for film and television, using the latest technology, supplies, and skills currently used on award winning films and television shows.  This requires extensive knowledge and experience to educate our students in this intensive 7 week program covering skills needed to be a highly sought after working makeup artist. We want our students to feel confident and be prepared to work on a real film set. This is why we seek and hire experienced instructors not just locally, but across the country to teach this special program. It covers everything from theatrical makeup fundamentals, aging techniques, making and applying bald caps, hand hair laying, creating a lifecast, sculpting and mold making, realistic working FX, creating silicone, gelatin, and foam latex prosthetics, and so much more.

    This session we will start out the program with theater veteran Diane Trapp.  Diane has been doing Hair and Makeup for professional theatre productions since 1972. She is a proud member of the IATSE local 28, and for 19 years has been part of their Wardrobe, Hair and Makeup Department. She has worked for several theatre companies as the Makeup and Hair Designer for Musical Theater Co., Eugene Opera, New Rose Theatre, Oregon Ballet Theatre, and Columbia Dance, just to name a few. Currently, her main focus is in education with over 30 years experience as Portland Community College’s Stage Makeup instructor for their theatre arts program. She designed many shows for them including: Amadeus, Little Shop of Horrors, Hairspray, and Usagi Yojimbo. She also works on touring Broadway shows that come into town. Most recently, Diane worked on Aladdin at the Keller Auditorium.

    Michael Peterson

    She will be teaching the first week of class, covering facial structure, anatomy, color theory, shading, theatrical makeup, and all of the fundamentals needed to understand the art of makeup.  Diane is an expert ventilator, making and styling wigs for theatrical productions for many years. She will also be teaching our Hair Laying, Dressing & Construction portion of the program.

    At age 20, Michael Davis Peterson achieved a dream position in the Hollywood film industry as a Special Makeup Effects Artist, hired to work for Captive Audience, owned by Academy award winning Makeup artist Greg Cannom. During the time he worked at Captive, he helped create makeups for many films including four academy nominated films: Bicentennial Man, A Beautiful Mind, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, and The Passion of the Christ, as well as other films such as Hannibal and Van Helsing. Michael was trained and worked alongside industry masters like Brian Sipe, Steve Wang, and Christian Tinsley. Soon thereafter, Michael expanded his relationships to other makeup effects studios with industry legends like Steve Johnson, creating all the silicone appliances for the lead villain Eli Damaskinos in Blade II, and with the Chiodo Brothers on Bible Man.

    After 9 years of working as a makeup artist, he opened his own studio, Image Alchemy Productions which became the largest Special Makeup effects/specialty costume studio in Arizona. Michael led a team of artists to create special costumes and props as well as character makeups and gore/wound simulation. Over the last 6 years Michael is also finding passion in his other roles in filmmaking, as a producer, director, and also selling screenplays for web, TV and film.

    Peterson created the prosthetics for “Mason Verger” of Hannibal (2001) played by Gary Oldman. Makeup application by Greg Cannom.
    Prosthetics created by Peterson for “Eli Damaskinos” of Blade 2 played by Thomas Kretschmann
    Prosthetics created by Peterson for “Frankenstein’s Monster” of Van Helsing (2004) played by Shuler Hensley.
    Michael Peterson: Select film credits