Make-Up and SFX Courses: Postgraduate Stories
UCEN Manchester graduate Rebecca Douglas talks about how her time at our School of Art, Media and Make-up prepared her for a career in the industry.
Rebecca completed a Foundation Degree in SFX Make-up Artistry and then converted it to a BA (Hons) in Media Make-up Artistry.
In this blog, we sit down with Rebecca to discuss her time at UCEN Manchester and learn more about her experience.
Since graduating, Rebecca has done lots of TV work and has ambition to do some work in theatre alongside that. She had opportunities to gain work experience with theatre production companies during her time at UCEN Manchester, and she says she is still in touch with the contacts she met.
Her advice for any potential students thinking about studying at our School of Art, Media and Make-up would be open to every opportunity that comes your way, and to take advantage of the facilities and tutors at UCEN Manchester to explore all your options.
What is your background in makeup artistry?
My name's Rebecca Douglas. I studied my foundation degreein special effects makeup artistry.
I did my top-up bachelor year in media makeup artistry. I graduated in 2018.
What makeup artistry careers are you pursuing at the moment?
The career I'm pursuing at the moment is to kind of dip my toe in a few things, and I'm wanting to do a bit of TV, bit of film as well. I'm doing a little bit of TV here and there at the moment, but I'd also love to do some theatre now everything is picking back up.
What experience do you have in makeup artistry?
Yeah, some work that I've done. I've done a lot of, I've done a fair few commercials. They seem to be quite popular in this area as well, which is great, so for local football grounds I'm sure you'll know, like Manchester United, and I've done like local, even just restaurants and brands. There's lots of opportunities for that, and TV up here as well.
What do you think of the makeup artistry facilities at UCEN Manchester?
I think the facilities here were amazing. To be fair, we had, we had options to pretty much try anything that we wanted and even things we'd not considered before. So whether it was related to hair or costume even, we had lots of things that we could have a little play with. It did make it easier when we went out there, just because I feel like nothing, nothing scared you.
I think we're very lucky with the tutors we had to be fair, they took us down lots of different paths, there were some tutors that were good for different things as well.
What did you learn on your makeup artistry course?
We learnt a lot and yeah,things like I said that I never thought I would be able to do. I loved how creative it was. You could... any idea was, was accepted, and you could run with it as much as you wanted. You could go crazy above and beyond, and they loved that actually, they loved how original you could be.
Why did you choose a career in makeup artistry
I chose this career to... I do like making people feel more confident. I like to create characters quite a lot and get the creativity side of things. I like the freedom that you get and to make people feel good before they go on the set, before they go on to shoot.
Why did you choose UCEN Manchester to study makeup artistry
Learn more: Why study Make-up Artistry at UCEN Manchester
liked UCEN Manchester for the opportunities that it brought to you. So I even did my first competition when I was in my final year here, which was a great opportunity. All the... just all the things that you're like able to go to, and we work a lot closely with all the other campuses, so e.g. the film school you've got like close by and even theatres, so you can really try everything.
So when I was here I got opportunities to do a lot of work experience of theatre productions, especially ones passing through Manchester, and that is something that even still now I speak to the contacts that I made then. Networking is such a great thing, and you can actually do it in this area.
What advice would you give to future students?
Advice I would give to someone thinking of studying here would be to be open to every opportunity you get. Don't say no to anything and don't leave narrow minded thinking you know exactly what you want to do. There's so many options out there and thankfully you've got the facilities and the people that will guide you.
Choose UCEN Manchester for makeup artistry college courses
UCEN Manchester offers a unique opportunity to aspiring makeup artists. With world-class facilities and expert tutors, you'll have the tools and guidance to excel in your studies and prepare for a career with high job satisfaction. Makeup artists are in the top 22% of careers for job satisfaction, setting graduates on an exciting and fulfilling career path!
Our supportive learning environment encourages creativity and experimentation, allowing you to explore your artistic vision. You'll gain practical experience through real-world projects and network with industry professionals to secure exciting career opportunities.
Choose UCEN Manchester for makeup artistry college courses and embark on a journey of artistic discovery. Enrol on our makeup special effects or our makeup artistry course today.
