Rome HBO series, last post look at these two pictures

[Robert Vermaat]

Francis, there isn't a film or TV show made today in which makeup is not used, usually HEAVILY. This includes the news, talk shows, and probably even "reality" shows. The reason is that the cameras used require unnatural lighting in order to get a natural effect on film or video. If you grab any camera for a snapshot of something indoors, the flash goes off, right? Light that is perfect for our eyes is not enough for the camera. So there are ALWAYS extra lights of many sorts used, inside and outside, as well as a variety of colored filters that can be used on the camera lenses. With all the extra lighting, human skin tones and facial features tend to wash out and look flat, so the makeup counteracts that and keeps things looking natural. Actors can literally spend hours in the makeup department before any particular shot. If you were on a set and saw the actor up close in person, you'd be surprised at how heavily made-up and unnatural they look!

One of the main reason for makeup is that skin is fat and it really shines when the light falls on it. Add some sweat from the hot lamps, and what you get is not a clean look, but something very odd.
Also, bright lights have the tendency to highlight every pimple, dent and bump on the skin, not something what beauty-loving actors (or audiences) want.
But one of the main reasons is that makeup controls the result. For a movie one has to take hundreds and hundreds of shots. Some scenes are shot weeks apart, but in the end result the actors still need to look the same. Not paler, not more tanned, the same (you'd be surprised how often these continuity mistakes are made!). With makeup, you control how the actors look.