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Knott’s Scary Farm is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Halloween haunt this year and Cerritos College theater instructor Susan Watanabe and her make-up class went behind the scenes at the park on Oct. 29.
Her students had the opportunity to gain tips from professional artists and they also had the opportunity to join in with the pros to create some monster make-up as well.
It is a little known fact that their instructor has also done make-up work at the haunt. So if you have ever been scared out of your wits by the ghouls and goblins of Knott’s don’t be surprised if Cerritos College students had something to do with it.
In fact Cerritos has several alumni who have gone on to create the frightening characters that you may have seen at the haunt.
Tony Martinez is a former Falcon who has worked as a make up artist for several years.
He was one of Watanabe’s students whom she recommended to Knott’s. He also works for the theater department at Cal State L.A.
He is responsible for at least six of the ghouls that were haunting on Tuesday. One in particular was the “Road Kill Kitty.”
“Road Kill Kitty” was originally the “Black Cat.”
However, due to some warping of the latex, Martinez had to figure out a way to salvage what appeared to be a botched up piece. So he created some tire tracks and added some gravel and presto! The result was a “Road Kill Kitty!”
Jovan Silva is a Falcon currently working at Knott’s as one of the ghouls who slide around scaring the skin off unsuspecting people.
He wore latex make-up which Martinez airbrushed and added some detail to, making it look like there was blood in the ghoul’s mouth.
“The funniest one’s are the big tough guys who think they won’t get scared and you get them to start running down the street!
It’s pretty fun but I wouldn’t do it for a career. This is something I do to break the monotony of everyday life,” Silva said. Silva is currently on the dean’s list and the Cerritos golf team.
Jasmine Simons-Araya and Desere Sutter are two of Watanabe’s current students who were watching Martinez as he applied make-up. They were watching very attentively in an attempt to pick up some techniques they could add to their own.
“I watched someone put on a latex piece. I haven’t picked up a lot of stuff yet but so far it’s been great!” Simons-Aray said.
“There are some techniques they’re employing that I plan to take back and practice.
There are some things that I’ve done and I’ve seen different ways that they’re doing them. I’m looking at the different types of airbrush they use and it’s different from what I use and the different types of materials that they are using. I thought I’d give that a try. Right now I’m working with airbrush and body make-up,” Sutter said.
Watanabe added, “I’m very proud of my students. That’s one of the things I like most about this job. It’s very important to me to help our better students find work after they complete the course because my teachers did nothing to help me get into the industry at all.
“I know I tend to be tough on the students, I push them but the one’s that are gonna make a career out of it get use to it. I am so proud that we have students who are working here year after year. I’d like to see some of the current students working here next year.”
