A creative cross-course collaboration has seen a ‘real life’ zombie apocalypse take over the University of Bedfordshire’s Luton campus, after it was invaded by the gruesome undead.
Students from the University’s School of Arts and Creative Industries pooled their talents to produce ‘Day of the Beds’ – a deadly day of horror and drama, with realistic zombies taking part in plays, sketches and television interviews.
The event involved approximately 55 students from multiple campuses, including a cast of Acting students from Bedford, who invaded the Luton campus to scare and delight their peers.
Talented Media Make-up students worked hard to turn the participating students into terrifying zombies, continuing to change their appearance throughout the day to coincide with the different scenarios.
Radio students were present at the ‘apocalypse’ creating audio packages for Radio LaB, while Journalism students conducted live-reporting for Bedfordshire’s student magazine. Photography and Film Production students also busily captured the day’s events for BedsTV – the University’s dedicated TV channel, hosted on YouTube.
Rachel Clark, Senior Lecturer in Media Performance, facilitated the experiential day. She said:
“Some of the activity is for assessments, so we’re combining practical work within this immersive activity, however the main point of this experience is to collaborate and have fun!”
Masters students were also involved in the activity, some of whom held an ‘interview’ with a zombie in Luton’s on-campus TV studio.
Rachel continued: “We like to conduct a lot of cross-course and cross-campus collaborations, and to bring in recent graduates and alumni too, as it gives them a chance to offer advice to current students and continue to expand their personal development beyond getting their degree.”
Dr Carlota Larrea, Head of the School of Culture & Communications, commented: “Congratulations and a big round of applause to the students for all their hard work which they’ve put into this experiential day. I know some of our students have spent many extra hours making this happen and their efforts have definitely paid off.
“Not only was it fun but it gave students some great ‘live action’ experience and showcased the variety of creative courses available here at the University of Bedfordshire.”
Watch footage of the zombie takeover on the University’s BedsTV channel on Youtube.
