By KATIE CHRISTENSEN
christensen@newsroom.byu.edu
If a few BYU students are seen running around campus with bullet holes in their heads, burns, black eyes, road rash, or large cuts with blood oozing out of them, don't panic because it might just be makeup.
Janet Swenson, professor of theatre and media arts, said she teaches her classes how to make 'grossies and gories' right before Halloween so the students can use the techniques on themselves for great costumes.
Swenson said she had a student from Thailand in one of her classes, and he put both an entrance and exit bullet hole in his head.
'Against my will, he left class,' she said. Swenson said it was raining that day and so the student started running so his makeup wouldn't get ruined. She said the rain activated the blood, causing it to look genuine. Two security guards grabbed the student and took him to the Health Center, Swenson said. Being so afraid, the student forgot his English and all he could say was, 'Call Janet Swenson! Call Janet Swenson!' she said.
Swenson said she forbids the students to leave class with their makeup on unless they are wearing a sign around their neck that says, 'Don't worry, this is just makeup.'
Swenson said another of her students, who disobeyed her rule, left class with what looked like slit wrists. She said the student went to the Health Center and showed the lady behind the desk. The lady fainted and bumped her head against the wall. She had to get several stitches, Swenson said.
'I did slit wrists and then I went to one neighbor's house and tricked him really good,' said Suzie Haas, 20, a sophomore from Halifax, Nova Scotia, majoring in theater education. 'Don't worry,' she said, 'I didn't let it go too far.'
Haas said it is a big temptation to leave class with the cuts because it looks so real. She said she is not the only student that tries to pull pranks with the makeup.
'I put a bullet hole in my friend's head and went to the video store, but nobody said anything to him; instead, they just gave him weird looks,' said Meighan Page, 21, a junior from Salt Lake City, majoring in theater education.
Buddy Eyre, 21, a freshman from Orem, with an undeclared major, said he went to a concert with his makeup on, and no one got too spooked. He said most people just commented on how cool and real the cuts looked.
Eyre said it is neat how the makeup class has helped him make things look more realistic. 'I love this class -- it is so much fun,' he said.
Michelle Barton, 20, a junior majoring in theater education, is a teacher's assistant to Swenson. Barton said this section on 'grossies and gories' is her least favorite to teach because it makes her sick to her stomach.
Not only do students learn how to make 'grossies and gories,' said Barton, but they also learn how to do old age, corrective, glamour and stylized makeup. She said it is amazing what a little makeup can do.
The students that take the makeup classes at BYU consist of theater education, acting, music dance theater and broadcast communications majors, Barton said. She said they learn the proper makeup procedures for stage, television and film and can easily use their techniques in future careers.