A former Coleg Menai student has described the 'amazing experience' of working on the new Beetlejuice film.

Mabli Non Jones, 24, from Gerlan near Bethesda, worked closely with director Tim Burton to help create prosthetic body parts and props for the film.

Ms Jones, who studied an art foundation course at Coleg Menai in Bangor from 2018-19, said: "Working on Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was amazing, unlike any experience I've had before."

Her job involves creating moulds for prosthetics, usually out of fibreglass, silicone, or plaster.

These moulds are then passed on to other artists who add detail such as paint or hair before being handed to the animatronics department.

Speaking about her work on the film, Ms Jones said: "I had the opportunity to help with a variety of things, mainly mould-making.

"These include (spoilers!) the guts that explode out of Beetlejuice, Baby Beetlejuice, the sandworm, Monica Bellucci's prosthetic stitches, the 'circular saw in face' prosthetic (all the prosthetics had mad names!), parts of the mummy, mannequin doubles for Winona Ryder, and more."

It was Ms Jones' department that got to work closely with Mr Burton throughout the designing, creating, and filming process for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

She said: "It’s rare to have that close a relationship with the director, but with Burton being a character designer and artist himself, it meant we could work with him to bring the characters to life in the way he was happy with.

"We would have discussions with him and he would present us with ideas, and then we’d begin the process and share the developments with him, meaning he and ourselves could change the idea or take it a slightly different route to achieve the best look and outcome."

Ms Jones' work on the film also involved creating 'lifecasts' - three-dimensional copies of a living human body - with actors Winona Ryder and Willem Dafoe regularly having fittings.

This is not the first time Ms Jones has worked on a high-profile film or television series.

Moulds for prosthetic body parts created by former Coleg Menai student Mabli Non Jones  (Image: Coleg Menai)

She previously worked on Star Wars shows The Acolyte and Andor.

She said: "My pretty life-long enthusiasm for creating creatures in the industry, as well as exposure to those sorts of films growing up, made the experience of working on Star Wars incredible - especially helping bring some of those iconic characters back to life and seeing BB8 roll around the workshop."

Ms Jones graduated two years ago with a degree in 3D effects from the University of the Arts London.

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She currently works at a London film studio in a props and special effects workshop which also creates prosthetics for training purposes for organisations such as the NHS and the emergency services.

She said the art foundation course at Coleg Menai was the most formative influence on her career to date.

"I definitely would not have got into the industry I am in now if it wasn't for the course," she said.

Ms Jones is hoping for more film work in the future.

She said: "I do enjoy the fast-paced environments and genuinely feel the magic that goes into film-making from the prop-making/creature-making point of view.

"Who knows, maybe another Star Wars would be nice, or a David Lynch film would be the cherry on top for me, but I still have time for that."