From cutting and shaving metal to creating ghoulish special effects, students from Stockton Riverside College and NETA Training embarked on a job swap this week.
The aim was to make the young people aware of the everyday demands of college life for their fellow students.
And, when it comes to careers that use hands-on skills, they don’t come much more diverse than budding engineers and up and coming makeup artists.
“It was great for the students to get an insight into other courses and also develop an appreciation for industries that are very different to their own,” said NETA’s Programme Area Leader for Engineering, Rob Leishman.
“This was a chance for our engineers to learn something about the production arts and vice versa.”
Mechanical engineering students from NETA Training were first to take the lead, guiding the makeup team through a basic exercise, cutting and shaping metal tags.
Next it was the turn of Stockton Riverside College’s makeup artists to show the engineers how to create some gruesome special effects, including cuts, bruises and grades, for Halloween.
Engineering student Danny, 16, of Normanby, said: “I found it quite an interesting event. I was intrigued to see how the special effects makeup is done. You see it on TV programme and films and you think how good it looks and I have wondered how it’s done.
“When you see how much detail goes into it, it makes you realise when you see things like zombies, how much time that must take.”
Emily, 17, is also studying mechanical engineering. She said: “I have heard about special effects makeup but never thought I would be having a go myself. I really enjoyed it and I am quite proud of myself.”
Of sharing her engineering skills, she added: “It was good to be able to help other people with something we have learned. We understand how hard it is when you first start as we have all been there.”
Trying out a spot of engineering for the first time, production arts makeup student Hannah Wood, 17, said: “I actually liked it. Having a go at such a different subject.
Despite what you might think, she found there are similarities between the two subjects. She explained: “They are both hands-on subjects and you have to work as a team.”
