Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Question (good one)

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Question (good one)

    Why don't any haunted houses have an area where the customers picture is taken as they walk through?

    I never buy the pictures on roller coasters, but I think I would want my haunted house picture. I think it would sell a lot just because its a new concept. (all the ones I've been too don't have it anyways).

    With all the strobe lights flashing in a haunted attraction, a camera flash might barely be noticeable. Do it right after a scare.

    The only possible concern is how to time it properly so the customers can see their photos on the TV's at the right time when they come out. And obviously might be trickier to do with an outdoor haunt.

    Either do it at the final scare, or have an actor hand out ticket numbers around the corner right after the picture is taken.


    Thoughts?

  • #2
    Rob,
    Because a system like that can cost 10s of thousands of dollars. it might pay off in the long haul but many can't wait for the long haul (the economy). It takes equipment and people which adds to overhead.
    We have a scene in the exit lobby with stocks and a skeleton and folks can take pics with their own camera of each other for free. It adds to the entertainment of the haunt as they are ready to leave.
    Tom
    Creator of the Dungeon
    WWW.BRICKTOWNAMUSEMENT.COM

    Comment


    • #3
      This has been brought up many times. I have heard lots of ideas of how it was going to be done but I have never heard of anyone actually doing it successfully.

      Part of the problem is timing and having the camera pointed in the right direction. As a little experiment, walk across the room and pretend like something scared you along the way. Now visualize where you would put the camera to capture your expression at the exact second of the scare. But some people will just jump back, some people will turn away, some will drop their heads and some will close their eyes. And in a group of five, how many in that group might show up well enough to get a saleable photo? Then you need to have a photographer perfectly synched with the person doing the scare. Then you need someone at the end of the haunt who can find that exact group as they come out and hopefully sell them a photo. And then there is the problem of redeye. When you're in the dark, your pupils will be wide open which makes the problem about as bad as it will ever get.

      Has anyone ever done this successfully?
      Last edited by shawnc; 10-07-2010, 08:21 PM. Reason: typos

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by RobfromErie View Post
        Why don't any haunted houses have an area where the customers picture is taken as they walk through?

        I never buy the pictures on roller coasters, but I think I would want my haunted house picture. I think it would sell a lot just because its a new concept. (all the ones I've been too don't have it anyways).


        Thoughts?
        Not only do some haunts already have systems like this, there was a vendor at Transworld this year marketing this. (It's a company that does pictures for rides and such, and were marketing the same services and equipment for haunts.)
        sigpic

        There are three rules to designing a haunt. Unfortunately, nobody knows what they are.

        Website: www.HauntedMidsouth.com
        Haunt: www.ScarecrowTheater.com

        Comment


        • #5
          Redeye might be a problem, but it seems fairly minimal on the roller coasters.

          The camera could be on timer/sensor or could be taken by pressing a button as the actor scares. Certainly some will hide their faces from fright, but that's part of the picture, seeing yourself cower in fear.

          Hmmm, if the cost is truly 10k +, that certainly is an issue. I never imagined some tv's, a printer and a camera system could be so pricey.

          Comment


          • #6
            Ghostly Manor in Sandusky Ohio has an ICTV machine which can record and upload a video of your experience at the haunt instantaneously. Bill Criscione is the owner and I believe he's a rep for ICTV.

            http://www.ghostlymanor.com/ghostly-manor.html



            The Edge of Hell in Kansas City does take pictures of you but they're posed (sorta). I'm not going to give away what they do...
            http://www.bigscaryshow.com
            http://www.rabidbadger.org

            Comment


            • #7
              In a haunted house, I can see a VIDEO being worth 1000 more words than a picture. I just feel it wouldn't be worth the investment. Watching someone getting scared is a lot more fun that just seeing a still-life of them in a scare position. A local amusement park offers DVD's of your whole roller coaster trip, although I wouldn't buy it, it's novel!! With the volume of customers who go through an average haunt, I can see it being a problem tracking customers and finding the photos later. I could be completely wrong though! If someone is marketing and selling this for haunts, it must work in some capacity. KEEP US INFORMED!!!
              O'Shawn McClendon
              Creative Chair -- Operator: Cayce-West Columbia Hall of Horrors

              One mans junk is another mans kick-ass new prop...

              http://www.hallofhorrors.com

              http://twitter.com/hallofhorrors

              http://cwchallofhorrors.blogspot.com

              http://www.youtube.com/hallofhorrors

              http://www.myspace.com/cwcjc_hallofhorrors

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by freak 'n' stein View Post
                With the volume of customers who go through an average haunt, I can see it being a problem tracking customers and finding the photos later. I could be completely wrong though!
                I would think you're right.
                I've been to the amusement rides that have them. It's not just a little one person booth doing it. You'd have to have the space and employees for a high volume crowd (if you're a busy haunt). Displaying the pics on several monitors for folks to find their pics (which would require some sort of hardrive for each monitor). Several employees to print off the pics (requires equipment, paper, ink) not to forget the time folks take looking at their pics, standing there deciding if they want them.
                I've checked out the systems a couple years ago and unless the price went down drastically, they aren't cheap.

                But here is a post from over a month ago of the same topic and a simple idea but not yet tested as of the time of the post.
                http://www.hauntworld.com/haunted_ho...ad.php?p=98609
                Tom
                Creator of the Dungeon
                WWW.BRICKTOWNAMUSEMENT.COM

                Comment


                • #9
                  Then if you have a large group of people, how will you seperate the group and get each persons picture?
                  Tom
                  Creator of the Dungeon
                  WWW.BRICKTOWNAMUSEMENT.COM

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    I think it is a cheap way to up value VIP or speedpass tickets and make them get more bang for their buck.

                    Include a picture with a monster or something with the group.

                    Eastern State took pictures of people before they went in the haunt and handed everyone a ticket with a number on it to get it afterwards. Didn't seem like too many people were buying them.

                    Maybe if your multi-haunt single ticket, do it between the scare zones or something to that effect.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Pictures in a haunt

                      Greetings~

                      For us we "toyed" and also discussed at a quite lenght with this idea that you speak of .. doing pictures as they go thru the haunt .. much like they do on some roller coasters..

                      It just wasnt feasble for the itmes mentioned.. timing.. ammount of people per hour .. etc.. etc.

                      Now what I think WOULD potentially work .. is as mentioed if people did a "upgrade" of thier ticket... they would have exclusevly a person possibly following around with either vid cam or still cam .. then they COULD potentially get the pics or the vid if they wanted to at the end of thier experince.. but that woudl have to be a hell of an upgrade of a ticket. Considering the cost it would take to have either a pro or semi pro photographer ( or multiple) goin through you haunt to get the "just right " scare from the patrons on film.

                      But this would have to be timmed correclty epsecially if it was still cam pics. .. as as we all know you cant really "time" how long a person is in .. any more than you can say to another potential customer " well you have to wait cause we have a person that wants vid or still shots of them goin through" that COULD potenially kill your customer influx and out flux.

                      Good concept, however .. i don't think rationally feasable considering we as haunters want high number of p'eople going through on a given night ...

                      Juust my thoughts.
                      ~Jeff

                      P.S sorry for the spelling errors .. im dong this in a bit of a rush..

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        The IX Center's Terror Tunnel Haunt (2001 I believe, in Cleveland), would sell disks of video clips of you and your group getting scared in the haunt. It was a fun concept and people seemed to like it, but I never saw it used after that.
                        Katie Lane
                        Partner/VP
                        Raven's Wolf Art Productions (www.ravens-wolf.com)
                        sigpic

                        Bansheette Morningstar (www.bansheette.com)

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Pictures

                          If anyone still cares, we do it and do it successfully. Let me know.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Okay. I have officially seen haunt pics taken successfully!!! Last weekend, some friends and I went to a local amusement park that hosts a halloween event every year. One of their mazes had a movie theater theme and I noticed from the que line that they were selling your pics from inside the attraction. Long story short, I tried for the life of me to figure out where they were taking the pics and it wasn't until they let my group in that I saw...

                            ...they have a group of four line up for a "posed" picture in front of a red curtain/theater background. They take the picture as normal and as soon as the pic is taken, they blast you with air and noise in hopes that your group looks terrified and they snap another picture. Upon exiting the attraction, you have the option to purchase either or both prints in the form of standard 8x10's, wallets, etc or a key chain. I bought the key chain because it was most practical for a pic like that and it was one for $8 or two for $10 so I gave one to a friend.

                            <--- there you have it. a successful haunt pic taken!!! (I MIGHT have to implement this one too)
                            O'Shawn McClendon
                            Creative Chair -- Operator: Cayce-West Columbia Hall of Horrors

                            One mans junk is another mans kick-ass new prop...

                            http://www.hallofhorrors.com

                            http://twitter.com/hallofhorrors

                            http://cwchallofhorrors.blogspot.com

                            http://www.youtube.com/hallofhorrors

                            http://www.myspace.com/cwcjc_hallofhorrors

                            Comment

                            Working...
                            X