ScareCon!

For the TV, Special Effects and Makeup Students there was a chance to go on a trip to Scarecon, a scary version of ComicCon. This was an event organised by the head of the Special Effects course, Ian. This seemed to be a really good learning opportunity, so I decided to go. The whole theme of the trip was to see behind the scenes of how Scare Parks are put together, as well as meet other members from other companies that try to make the scariest mazes that they can. A scare maze is a maze that is filled with live actors, and the paying public walk through them, being chased around and not knowing when it will end. The whole point of the scare maze is to frighten you, and then make you laugh.

An entrance to one of the mazes. 

On the coach, we were all talking about what we were expecting from this ScareCon event. Some of us were expecting a large hall with stalls of makeup artists explaining how they do the makeup, whilst some of us (me included) had read on the website that it was based at a place called BroadWitch Farm. I was expecting the environment of a farm, but with lots of stalls from all of the companies that try to achieve the same thing. When we arrived, I was correct in thinking that it was a farm, although this was a really muddy farm in fact. We all got off the coaches, and were offered free tea and coffee, whilst we waited for other members from companies to arrive. In the yard we were standing, were the mazes, one in a cornfield, two in containers, and two others in the barn. We were allowed to look around, but not enter the mazes yet. We were then called into the other barn, for a mini conference, where everyone introduced themselves, and we learnt a little about each company, and what they do. It was not as makeup based as all of the students were expecting, so after a couple of talks, it became quite monotonous. There was a break, when they took people on tractor rides, to see the options for smaller children who scare easily. The tractor ride was humorous, as the men narrating were very comical and sarcastic about all of the fake spiders and skulls placed around the route in the woods. I think I liked the tractor ride more because of the narrators rather than the actual scares, as there was a lot of fake spiders and skulls.

The side decoration of one of the mazes.

A hurse crashed into the sides of the maze.

Painting on the side of the mazes.

Entrance to another one of the mazes.

When we arrived back, there was another conference on, where we decided to sit out on and visit the pub to have some lunch, and talk to the other girls on the course. It gave us a chance to discuss what we were expecting from the makeup, from the mazes, and what we thought so far. I think that during the conferences, the makeup could have been a little more spoken about as it is a really important part of the scare. After lunch, we headed back and at 5 o'clock, we were given a chance to go behind the scenes of the scare mazes. I found the scare mazes scary even without the actors, so was very nervous as to what I was expecting from later. The insides of the mazes were interesting, as there was a lot of basic materials used to create the props, such as pallets. There had obviously been a lot of thought put into each room, and I quite liked that. It made the scare even more realistic.

After being able to see behind the scenes, we were allowed to take a look at the makeup artists completing the looks for the actors. It was in a very small space, so admittedly did feel bit rushed looking at the work they were doing. I would have liked to stay a bit longer, but everyone was rushing around and seemed very agitated. A few of the makeup looks seemed very basic, so that they were quick and easy to do, as each makeup artist had little time and many actors/actresses to make up. I managed to take a couple of pictures in the makeup room, one close up of an actress with blood off over her face, and one of an actress getting her prosthetic piece placed on. 

An actress after having her makeup done. 

A Vampire actress having her makeup done. 

Makeup looks.

Makeup looks. 

After this, we were allowed to go into the mazes, whilst the actors were in there. There were some really scary moments, and I enjoyed every single maze. In one, the actors actually made us crawl on our hands and knees to get out! There was one maze where the actors were allowed to grab you, and on entering it seemed as if it were a military operation. A soldier entered and told us what to do, and told us there was no going back. It was a scary experience but funny to look back on. I think seeing other people's reactions infront or behind you made it scarier for you at first, and funnier afterwards. Whilst people were testing out the mazes, other actors were running around scaring you. I managed to take a couple of photos of these, and I really enjoyed how they stayed in character ever whilst you asked them questions, even posing for photographs. I particularly liked the makeup of these actors, as theirs was so much more in detail than the actors inside the mazes, as you couldn't really see clearly in the maze, meaning they did not have to be in so much detail. My favourite character from the whole night was the small jester, who was actually played by a woman, not a man as we originally thought. We watched him actually enter one of the mazes and have a experience the scare for themselves, but they always stayed in character which must of been difficult.

I really enjoyed the second half of the trip, as we actually got to experience the mazes and see behind the scenes. I enjoyed seeing the makeup being done but would have liked a little more time to talk to some of the makeup artists, maybe even after they had finished making up their designated actors/actresses. Aspects of the trip that I didn't like in particular was the fact that during the talks, makeup was sparsely mentioned, which we thought would have. We made the most out of the day, and I can say that I am ready to join in to create the Southampton Solent Scare Maze next halloween!