Making Six Flags Fright Fest quite the scare

"Around this time each year, as the sun begins to creep below the horizon, dozens of regular people take form into evil ringmasters and unearthed zombies all with the help of a little makeup magic. From now through Nov. 2, three days a week, over 200 scare actors take to Fright Fest at Vallejo's Six Flags Discovery Kingdom to transform into their nightmarish looks. At the forefront of this year's fest is lead makeup artist Sophia Giordanelli-Jones and her team of 11."

"Surprisingly, each night of the event, the process for the whole scream-seeking production takes about three hours from start to finish. But first, it's with costumes that the scare actors start to take shape into their terrifying characters. Beginning in their street clothes, the actors funnel into the park just a few hours before sundown, when all the spookiness takes place."

Fright Fest at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom runs now through Nov. 2 on three nights each week and features more than 200 scare actors. Lead makeup artist Sophia Giordanelli-Jones heads an 11-person makeup team that creates looks ranging from grunge-style vampires to orange- and red-hued undead clowns. The nightly transformation process takes roughly three hours, beginning with costumes fitted by three costumers, followed by props like chainsaws and wigs, then hair and makeup. Face charts are created for each zone, with themed designs for areas such as CornStalkers, Club Fear, Dead Water Hallow, Last Stop, Lost Souls, and CarnEvil.

Read at www.timesheraldonline.com