Dialogue, props,  music; All are key components when making and watching a play. However, no character is complete without proper costumes and perfect make-up. Senior Jalissa Barrientos is the costume and makeup head of crew for the upcoming fall play, ‘On the Razzle’.

Over the summer, Barrientos started an internship with the company KBZ FX, a special effects medical training support system that makes prosthetics for military simulations. These simulations are used to prepare members of the military for battle field trauma by using special effects and makeup.

“We just make it as real as possible for the people we are tranining. The owner is Brea Joseph, she was on a TV show called Face Off on the syfy channel. KBZ FX does moulage, which is like war make-up,” Barrientios said. “My dad works at a military simulation place and he found out that I like to do make-up, so I talked to Brea Joseph and she hired me.”

Working at KBZ FX has allowed Barrientos to learn new things as well as take her makeup skills to the next level.

“I’ve worked 12 to 13 hour days,” Barrientos said. “It’s a really long time but it was really fun. I went there and I basically watched Brea put makeup on a person; she was putting makeup on his leg to make it look like it had blown up. I watched how she did that, how she painted everything, and then I put makeup on a person with a leg wound. I just jumped in and she said I was a natural.”

Now, Barrientos uses the techniques she has learned at her internship and incorporates them into the designs for the upcoming play.

“My internship gave me ideas for the play,” Barrientos said. “With our costuming and all of our moulage we incorporate symbolism. Like, if the were in one kind of situation they would wear blue to show inner sadness, or if they were in another kind of situation they would wear black.”

So far, production of the play is coming along smoothly, and Barrientos recommends that students come and see it.

“It’s so funny! It’s a play with a lot of mistaken identities, a lot of people running around and doing wacky things, and a lot of jokes,” Barrientos said. “The cast this year is just awesome. I don’t think they could have picked anyone better to be who they play.”

As for Barrientos, she plans to continue doing makeup into the future, though she has other big plans for herself as well.

“I want to be a doctor,” Barrientos said. “I know that already. But I know that whatever I do, I’ll keep doing makeup. It’s a passion.”