Level 2 and 3 Hair and Media students prepare to scare at Screamfest 2022
Newcastle and Stafford College’s Group (NSCG) students enjoyed a frightfully fang-tastic opportunity over the Halloween period which saw them give terrifyingly gruesome makeovers to actors working at Screamfest.
Level 2 and 3 Hair and Media students from NSCG were tasked with transforming 150 actors into an array of spooky characters for the annual Halloween event based at the National Forest Adventure Farm in Tatenhill, near Burton-on-Trent.
Spread out over 15 terrifying nights in the run up to Halloween, NSCG students created ghoulish looks for actors working within the five immersive scare attractions which saw them paint everything from zombie cheerleaders to demonic clowns and deathly demons.
Beauty and Make-up lecturer, Aimee Foster, praised the students’ efforts saying: “Every day, from 16:30 to 18:30, the students were on set and ready to go and brought with them bags of enthusiasm.
“Screamfest gave the students an opportunity they are very lucky to have, from concentrating on time management to developing their creative skills, taking part in a live working environment like this helps support the set-up of exciting employment opportunities.”
With just five minutes to paint each actor, the students maximised all their skills and talents to quickly transform the actors under the watchful eye of industry professional Julie Tickle, who is also one of Screamfest’s original creators. She said: “It’s always a pleasure to be able to offer the students at NSCG the opportunity to develop their skills and broaden their experience at Screamfest.
“It’s a highly pressured environment with tight deadlines to meet but the calibre of students is always very good and I was incredibly impressed with all of their efforts and skills and thoroughly enjoyed having them involved.”
To round off the spooky season, once the event concludes, a private presentation is held to award the top performers and recognise those who have gone above and beyond.
Sam Eggington, who studies Level 2 Media Make-Up at Stafford College was awarded ‘Student Make-up Artist of the Year’ at the awards presentation, he said: “I was so overwhelmed but excited to win the award.
“I thoroughly enjoyed working alongside Julie and the make-up team as I gained a further understanding of prosthetic work and it was a great experience. I am so glad I attended and I can’t wait to go back next year.”
