Prep team

Spoiler Alert! This page may contain plot details relating to Sunrise on the Reaping or unintentionally spoil elements of the book.

Flavius and Venia work on Katniss Everdeen in the Remake Center.

A prep team was a group of Capitol citizens who assisted a particular stylist for the Hunger Games.

Tasks

Prep teams were responsible for beautifying tributes for public appearances according to the Capitol's standards.

Tribute Parade

Main article: Chariot rides

A prep team would meet their tribute for the first time at the Remake Center. They would then start in on the tasks they needed to complete before the stylist could be brought in. This could take several hours in some cases, and tributes were fully nude throughout this first part of the process. The prep team's duties included, but were not limited to:

Close-up of Katniss while the prep team works on her.

• Bathing and exfoliating the tribute
• Trimming or filing their nails
• Waxing body hair (including eyebrows) and plucking stray hairs
• Applying moisturizing or skin-soothing lotion

At this point, the stylist would be brought in to meet the tribute, who would then be allowed to put on a robe. After a lunch break, the stylist would direct the prep team on what to do next. This usually entailed styling the tribute's hair and applying cosmetics, such as makeup, nail art, body paint, glitter, etc. With this done, the tribute would be dressed in their costume and sent out in a chariot for the Tribute Parade.

Interviews

Interviews took place only five days after the parade, so the preliminary tasks did not typically need to be repeated. Prep teams would usually focus on the more typical beauticians' tasks of hair and makeup. The outfit and finishing touches were personally taken care of by the stylist.

Victors

If a prep team's tribute emerged from the Games as a victor, they were responsible for beautifying the new victor for the closing ceremonies. Depending on the duration of the Games and the toll it took on the winning tribute, this process could be quite extensive, or it could be limited only to hair and makeup. When the victor's support team rose up from beneath the stage for the occasion, the prep team was the first group of people introduced.

Victory Tour

Main article: Victory Tour

Prep teams also beautified victors for their Victory Tours, accompanying them throughout these appearances alongside their stylist, mentor, and escort.

History

10th Hunger Games

At the time of the 10th Hunger Games, there were no prep teams or stylists, as few people in either the districts or the Capitol cared to watch the Hunger Games. Tributes were simply thrown into the Capitol Arena in the same state and clothing they had been in when they were reaped. It is possible that things changed at some point not long after these Games, as the 10th Hunger Games introduced a number of changes that were carried over into future installments.

50th Hunger Games

For the 50th Hunger Games, University students were assigned to serve as the tributes' prep teams for a grade. Proserpina Trinket and Vitus served as the prep team for Haymitch Abernathy from District 12. His district partners each had their own individual team as well. Officially, they were meant to work under stylist Magno Stift, but his unreliable behavior forced Proserpina and Vitus to take on more responsibility. Proserpina eventually had to bring in her older sister, Effie Trinket, to help style them.

Behind the scenes picture of Katniss's prep team with Portia.

74th-75th Hunger Games

Flavius, Venia, and Octavia, who worked under Cinna during the 74th Hunger Games. They prepared Katniss Everdeen from District 12 for many of her public appearances, so both she and they had grown to care for one another by the time they had to prepare her for the 75th Hunger Games. They broke down in tears many times throughout the experience, but after Katniss complained to Cinna about it, they followed his orders to excuse themselves from the room if they couldn't keep it together.

After the Quarter Quell, Katniss's prep team was evacuated to District 13 so they could beautify Katniss for her appearances in rebel propaganda. The reasoning was that having familiar faces would comfort Katniss. However, after a starving Octavia took a slice of bread, the three of them were confined in a room and shackled to the wall only half-clothed, with nowhere to relieve themselves or wash themselves. Upon discovering this, Plutarch Heavensbee and Katniss had them immediately freed and taken to Mrs. Everdeen for medical treatment.

Flavius, Venia, and Octavia returned to their duties as Katniss's prep team soon after, and they survived the Second Rebellion, but they were they only prep team to do so. It is not known which side was responsible for killing most of them, but Peeta Mellark's stylist Portia and the prep team that worked under her were executed on live TV after his rescue from the Capitol.

Trivia

• In The Hunger Games film, the tributes wore hospital gowns and lay on hard metal tables during prep, similar to operating tables. They were also separated from the other tributes by curtains like in an intensive care unit.
• During the 10th Hunger Games, Tigris was the first to unofficially work on the appearance of a tribute, having repaired Lucy Gray Baird's rainbow dress and cleaned up her face for her interviews. This dress greatly helped her make a better impression on the Capitol citizens and gave her better sponsorship, showcasing the effectiveness of preparing the tributes beforehand to make the Games more exciting.
  • Given how the 10th Hunger Games was the stage to test new ideas to improve the Games, Coriolanus Snow's ensuing involvement as a Gamemaker, Tigris's relation to him, and how her actions in the 10th Games likely inspired the creation of the stylist position, it's likely that her actions also inspired the creation of prep teams.