Tom Savini's Special Make-Up Effects Program

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The entryway to the building housing the Tom Savini Special Make-Up Effects Program in Monessen, Pennsylvania.

Tom Savini's Special Make-Up Effects Program is a two-year academic program at the Douglas Education Center in Monessen, Pennsylvania, outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[1][2] The program awards an associate degree in Specialized Business.[2] The program began in 2000.[3]

The program curriculum was designed by Tom Savini, a horror special effects and makeup artist known for his work in Friday the 13th, Dawn of the Dead, and Day of the Dead.[2][3] Instructors also include long-term Savini associates, including Jerry Gergely, who earned a 1998 Emmy nomination for his makeup work for Babylon 5.[3]

Students study Make-up Application, Mold Making and Casting, Animation Fabrication, and Exhibit and Display Design.[2][4] In addition to learning the skills with special effects and make-up for films, students learn skills that can be applied in creating scenes for museums, molding prosthetic limbs, or creating toys.[4] Program alumni have gone on to work at McFarlane Toys, Smithsonian Institution, Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights, KNB EFX Group, Jordu Schell, and Saturday Night Live.[2]

As of 2010, the program had 144 students with an average age 24.[3]

Work by a Savini instructor.
A zombie, as done by Savini instructor Eric Molinaris at the 2008 Pittsburgh Comicon.

References

  1. Hayes, John (October 11, 2002). "Savini's a Scream-Checking in with the master of TerrorMania". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://old.post-gazette.com/ae/20021011savinip5.asp. Retrieved October 27, 2013. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Tom Savini's Special Make-Up Effects Program". Douglas Education Center. Archived from the original on September 6, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130906222455/http://www.dec.edu/pages/makeupeffects.html. Retrieved October 27, 2013. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Sciullo, Maria (October 31, 2010). "Class gives frightening look to its students". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://www.post-gazette.com/lifestyle/2010/10/31/Class-gives-frightening-look-to-its-students/stories/201010310272. Retrieved October 27, 2013. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 Zemba, Liz (October 28, 2002). "Terrormania puts students to the test". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. http://triblive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/westmoreland/s_99278.html. Retrieved October 27, 2013.