Last Friday, 40 high school journalism and TV production students and advisors from across the state visited Busch Gardens for a behind-the-scenes look at the highly anticipated Howl-O-Scream 2011, “The Dark Side of the Gardens.”
The students and advisors witnessed it all, from a zombie make-over to a “lights on” tour of Howl-O-Scream’s most popular returning haunted house – and you can bet these budding journalists captured every moment on paper, camera or video. They also learned about the audition process that the event’s expert “scare-actors” have to go through to be hired. Students were even given the chance to participate in their very own mock audition where their scare tactics were put to the test.
Loren Bracewell, who heads up Busch Gardens’ costume shop, gave the students an insider look at what it takes to create the extravagant zombie personas. From make-up to masks, costumes to prosthetics, the students witnessed anything and everything “zombie.”
Participants witnessed a zombie-makeover on one lucky student, compliments of one of Howl-O-Scream’s makeup artists.
Howl-O-Scream’s creative director, Scott Swenson, guided the students and advisors through a “lights on” tour of the most popular returning haunted house, Nightshade Toy Factory.
Scott is the “creative mind” behind the event, and he was thrilled to share the behind-the-scenes secrets of how an event of this sort is created and executed.
Student volunteers participated in the audition process that the event’s expert “scare-actors” go through. One of their challenging tasks was to scare Busch Gardens show manager Alex Crow – let’s just say, he is not easily frightened.
The roles are reversed as the budding journalists pose for the camera, exposing their scariest Howl-O-Scream poses – monster claws up!
Next steps… the student reporters have the opportunity to channel their creativity into a news article, video-news segment or public service announcement about their experiences in The Dark Side of the Gardens at High School Journalism Day. In addition to the notes and footage students collected during the event, they will also be given all of the necessary tools, such as official press materials and professional video footage, to create a piece that will be published or air at their high school.
The students are then encouraged to share their finished pieces with the Busch Gardens Media Relations team for a chance to win a Dark Side of the Gardens prize pack.
Story by Jenna Stock // Photos by Matt Marriott
