how many of you allow your actors

[jason]

how many of you allow your actors to get involved with the theme of your attraction? why do you let them? is your haunt then a patch work of themes (one room is clowns, the next is jason, the next is dracula, ect.)?

[MMManiac]

We tried once doing the entire haunt with one theme and man let me tell you... I thought it would be easier but thats not the case. You spend way more $$ and its alot harder. Now we have the house split up into four mini themes. We still get the theme feel, but its still randome rooms. Works out good for us. As far as our volunteers go their imput is very important to how the house runs. I think the more u let them be part of the design/ build area the more lilkly they are going to work harder when it comes time to open the door

[Empressnightshade]

Last season, I allowed the actors to become involved with the theme by having a "Decorate Your Scene" contest. Everyone pulled the name of a scene out of the hat and that was "their" scene to decorate. They were allowed to use the props and materials here and could also use items of their own. I figured it would be easier on me if I wasn't responsible for decorating ideas all by my lonesome.

MISTAKE!!!!

Most of the crew didn't have the correct sense of how a commercial haunted house should look. This is due to lack of experience. So, some of the scenes did not look professional. I have learned my lesson and will have more of a hold and say-so over what is used and what is put where.

[ClusterOne]

Everyone is involved in our theme. We use the same theme every year, but we change the about %75 of our scares/rooms and the story line is different as well. This allows us to use a lot of the same props and costumes, but we put them in different places and mix&match the costumes, so it looks completely unique each year. This also saves us $$.

And since our theme is a undead/western theme, I have lots of my cast members bring me goodies they find throughout the year to add to the set. Nasty old cowboy hats, candle sticks, heck even old western looking saloon doors...it works great! I get goodies, and they get a feeling of ownership.

[Spookyfinder]

It's useally best to let the actor craft their character to the theme.

For example: A haunted saloon where the whiskey was poisoned and turned the townsfolk into nightmarish killing machines. It's OK to let them come up with their character as long as it stays within the cowboy/saloon/old west theme. You can dictate a MAIN character or host, but let your characters get creative.

You'll be surprised at, with supervision, what your actors can come up with. Just don't let them totally theme out a room. -Tyler

[Duke of Darkness]

There are two ways that we allow actors to be involved. The regular actors get together with us early in the new year for a brainstorming session. They can suggest themes or changes/additions to ideas that we already have. I borrowed this idea from a haunt that I used to be involved in, and I think that it is valuable not only in terms of gaining ideas, but in keeping your cast and crew feel involved in the off season.

During the season, we will allow actors the opportunity to develop their character, within limits. What those limits are depend on how important the character is to the storyline and how experienced that actor is.

As far as building/designing scenes, many of our actors come help with build out and we are open to listening to their suggestions, but the final approval on any design changes rests with us.

Don't underestimate the creativity of your people, but remember that it is you that is likely to have the best overall picture of what is going on.

Dave

[Nicole]

Our returning/vet actors have imput and are encouraged to submit ideas for rooms/scares and characters - and if it fits in with what we are trying to do - we'll incorporate it/build it into the haunt.

We like our actors to develop their own characters so they take ownership of it - we've discovered that if they develop their own character, it literally becomes their own "baby" - some of our best performers/characters are "born" this way!

[xxxdirk]

Good answer Nicole. I listen to everyone and if the idea is god, I will let them run with it. After all, I am by no means the only idea person. Of course, if someone really wants a room and it fits in the haunt, they better be there building right next to me....

Ron

[Jim Warfield]

The single worst idea helpers here usually come up with are costumes that are too bulky, too fancy, impossible to see out of or walk in, I mean these people are supposed to lead people through the place.
One time a young man showed up here to work dressed as "The Lady-In-White" the perpetual wine cellar ghost here(a real ghost) he was wearing a white brides dress(he supposed he was virginal?) After about 10 minutes he had to leave his place in the house because he had to return to his car and remove the big bulky dress, that he couldn't stand up in.
One young woman working here, who was an nice looking person, physically, was so hurt by a drunk's saying she was "Ugly" (and she certainly wasn't but she was recently divorced and had low self-esteem)
that the next night she showed up wearing a black veil so nobody could see her face at all!
Then the third night, she never returned.
I thought she had overcome her negative feelings.

[spookologist]

We tried theming a few years back and the customers were disappointed. Although a lot of haunts do it and are very successful.

Empress,
I learned the hard way too......I made the mistake of letting some newbies design their own scene and what a nightmare.

Nicole,
I also encourage and appreciate input from everyone and when people actually work on their scenes it creates an ownership type of feeling for them. They take pride in their scene. I will usually build the actual scene and they will do some of the detailing. Same applies to acting, we give them an outline and let them develop the character. (We keep a close eye on them though)

We also have the Golden Ghoul awards at the end of the season. Some of the categories are for: Best scene idea, Best scare idea, along with our actors and "dead"icated awards. We also recognize rookies.

Wayne

www.trailofterror.com

[Greg Chrise]

This last year one young guy that was going to help set up and be an actor walked up and asked

" Hey I worked one year at this other haunt and they had this rubber wall that a person would be behind and make it look like the walls were possessed. Can we have one of those?"

No.

[Jim Warfield]

Wood that have been "The Birth-Control" wall?
Most guys would feel totally intimidated by such proportions of this product.
(I wouldn't!)

[Empressnightshade]

Of course, if someone really wants a room and it fits in the haunt, they better be there building right next to me....

Ron

That brings up questions:

What do you do if that particular actor has helped build the scene and then take on the attitude, "This is MY scene." PLUS, what if they've been working in the scene for several nights and then POOF, decides not to show up? Should any actor be given the feeling that they own a scene? We had two actors take such an attitude and they both wound up being flakes before the season was over. How do you nip such an attitude in the bud?

[Jim Warfield]

Stopping or circumventing attitude , especially totally negative emotional attitude as emitted from a human being is almost impossible to do.
Change the locks, passwords,addresses, always be kind to them but remain wary.(Don't co-sign anything)
Feelings of insecurity are usually to blame and some people cannot overcome their learned , built-in need to fail, actually most of us can't overcome that.........never mind.

[SpFXChic]

Of course, if someone really wants a room and it fits in the haunt, they better be there building right next to me....

Ron

That brings up questions:

What do you do if that particular actor has helped build the scene and then take on the attitude, "This is MY scene." PLUS, what if they've been working in the scene for several nights and then POOF, decides not to show up? Should any actor be given the feeling that they own a scene? We had two actors take such an attitude and they both wound up being flakes before the season was over. How do you nip such an attitude in the bud?

I'm with Nicole on this. We have veteran actors with us that have been around for a long time. We make them a part of the planning process. There have even been some folks who were so impressive in their first year helping out, that we invite them along, too.

We all come up with ideas throughout the year. Some of them we use. A lot of them we don't for one reason or another. If the person who came up with the idea has a lot of details and a good vision of the room, they are encouraged to draw it up and present it. If they have a partial idea, then we build upon it. We never expect them to build the room themselves, we all help eachother building the whole show. We also let them know that they may not be acting in that room. Now, they usually do get first dibs on acting in the room, but if they just don't work out there, then we move them on to another position where they may fit better. We also let new actors know that they can be moved from spot to spot to best fit the show, as well. Generally, they are pretty cooperative, and much of the time excited to get to try something new.

I don't recall ever having an actor get a major attitude because it was "their" room in the whole time I have been with this haunt. It's always been pretty much a team effort. (Don't get me wrong, there are those who let us know they are disappointed because they can't be in a certain room, but we try to get them in there at some point during the run of the show - and if they work out well, then we try to keep them there.)

If they've been working a scene for several nights and then they flake or disappear, you fill that spot with someone new. Hopefully you will have someone who will adapt to the situation and make that room better than ever. Train your actors to fill a variety of spots/situations so that they can act in multiple rooms throughout your run, if necessary.

Oh my....I rambled, didn't I?