Summary: A former James Watt College student is getting up-close-and-personal with the stars after bagging herself a job on River City
A former James Watt College student is getting up-close-and-personal with the stars after bagging herself a job on River City
Nina Blake couldn’t believe her luck when she was offered the position of trainee make-up artist on the hit BBC TV soap.
For the next few months the 22 year old will be making sure some of the biggest and best names on the show are kept perfectly in character throughout filming.
Nina, who lives in Glasgow Scotland
“When I arrived on my first day it was a bit daunting. I suppose, like any other new job, everyone knows each other and it can be quite frightening, but I’ve settled right in and am finding the whole experience really rewarding.”
“A lot of the work is very high pressure. I work in two separate locations and, as well as working with the cast members, I also do a lot of administrative work in areas such as continuity.”
“Getting to see stories far in advance of broadcast can be really interesting. At the moment we’re completing filming on Christmas and New Year scenes. It was certainly challenging getting the cast members to look festive and cold when we were in the height of a short heat-wave!”
Nina, who studied the HND make-up artistry, is one of several students who’ve used the highly regarded qualification to develop exciting careers in the field.
Make-up artistry lecturer Isobel Donald commented: “James Watt College
“Nina is a great example of how the courses arm students with the skills required in today’s demanding world of work. The HND make-up artistry focuses heavily on TV and theatre with both practical and theoretical work.”
“We also offer a wide range of other courses at various levels focussing on areas such as hairdressing and beauty therapy.”
The 17 HNC Fashion Make-up and HND Make-up Artistry students immersed themselves in the fashion capital of Europe for 4 days, absorbing the culture, style and trends to inspire them in their studies.
Sammi-Jo Stott, aged 19 from Port Glasgow commented “The Milan trip was such a great experience and very inspirational. For our graded unit we have to choose someone under the fashion umbrella who inspires us to base our project around, and the visit gave me lots of ideas to take back to college.”
Isobel Donald, Make-up Artistry lecturer at the college commented “The trip was great for course enrichment and staff and student morale. Make-up artist students need to be able to create a ‘total look’ for a model and be aware of current up-to-date trends in the fashion industry. Therefore educational tours such is this are important for students to gain an insight into the industry as a whole.”
The event, which is a culmination of the students’ work over the last two years, was a chance for the students to flaunt their skills to industry contacts, potential employers and professional photographers.
Real models were used for the students to present their chosen look, selected from character make-up, period or special effects. The final result was a dramatic display ranging from gory horror special effects to the fairytales of the Queen of Diamonds and the Mad Hatter; from over-the-top make-up of drag queens to the subtlety of war-time women – the show had something for everyone. 
Professional photographer, Amanda Hemphill from Amanda Hemphill photography commented “It was a pleasure to capture the wonderful work of the James Watt College make-up artist students in the Oran Mor. I was extremely impressed with the dramatic looks created and the amount of time and effort they had obviously put in to create their individual looks. I spoke with many of the students on the evening and hope to work with some of them in the future on different projects.”