The classrooms and corridors at Winmalee High School were filled with ghoulish ghosts and zany zombies last Thursday, but everyone remained calm.
The creative culprits were Year 9 visual arts students.
Inspired by teacher Skye Wright, a unit of work she developed centred on the work of fantasy film maestro Tim Burton and a guest appearance by Springwood-based makeup artist Ali Stadler, the students transformed into characters from Beetlejuice and Batman to Alice in Wonderland and Vampire Hunter.
Ms Wright said the students had been designing props and their own makeup looks as an assessment task and a photo shoot of the workshop will be presented at the school’s open night later this year.
“They’ve been doing poster designs and film and character studies, building up a unit of work based on this dark and quirky theme,” Ms Wright said.
“A lot of kids at this age are into Tim Burton’s work, so the makeup workshop has become a very popular part of this course and an annual event.
“A lot of the students involved this year can see a career path in visual design in the performing arts industry, so quite a few of them have put in extra effort in their spare time.
“All students worked so hard and are to be congratulated. We’re also lucky to have makeup artist Ali Stadler on board — that makes such a difference.”
The exciting theme and hands-on parts of this component of the course is now making an impression beyond Winmalee High School.
“I presented a seminar about this program at a university conference and it captured a lot of attention,” Ms Wright said.
“Since then a lot of other schools have introduced it into their visual arts courses.”
