Cgi

[carnagecrew]

So after attending TW last year, and visiting some of the "big boy" haunts I can see CGI technology is going to become the norm fairly soon - but I just can't get into it - I want to, I just can't. Clearly looks fake, and cheesy to me - even in the most professional of setups (I even have one mirror effect with tv setup in my haunt) - that's my .02 - what do you guys think?

[monsterwax]

Just another in a long line of cookie-cutter toys that haunts with too much money and not enough imagination turn to. Expect to see the same exact effect at Ripley's Believe It Or Not and a slew of other corporate haunts big on budgets, with plenty of animatronics, and few if any real scares.

[zombietoxin]

mmm... my experience has been mixed. Last year we had one snake-on-the-floor projection that got a few comments on the exit interviews, and then a few more this year- but in the form of "where did the snake go?" - as we changed things up and took it out. Last year there weren't many snake effects out- maybe just the one I found, and it was pretty weak.

This year I took a different approach- probably the only real way it incorporate a projection- as either a distraction for the actor or just as eye candy. This year we have three- two distractions and one eye candy. They do what they are intended to do and thats about all you could expect.

As for being too expensive- not really. I find projectors on ebay for under 2 bills, use walmart dvd players for 30, video effects dvds are around 40 and you get multiple effects, and I edit my own loops with software I already had. The software cost more than everything else, but it wasn't purchased for this so I don't count it. Windows movie maker might be able to do the same thing- I don't know.

I think they have their place, but I don't think anyone expects to startle-scare people with them.

[wipp]

i couldnt agree more. i feel the exact same way as you. they look very unrealistic and cheezy. one of my haunt crew was telling me i should get some and i explained to him that it looks like exactly what it is. a tv screen behind a picture frame

[Cincyscreams]

Cgi will only work in a haunt when haunt owners are willing to pay top dollar for top quality. My father has been in the cgi business since I was child, and its not cheap. If you want cgi that is realistic and will work, you will be paying a good amount. I just don't see anyone paying that much for cgi work. Plus, how is a cgi video scary? Compared to a 13' animation? It's not, it's cheap, it's lazy, and its disappointing. Only a few cases does it work, such as projection bugs, rats, shadows etc.

[zombietoxin]

Well now you got me curious- what exactly does a high-dollar cgi scare actually look like? I don't believe I've ever seen one.

[kpolley]

Well, I may be biased...but I think most of these comments are short sighted. Maybe you don't like video effects in your haunts and that's fine but you seem to be discounting all video effects as useless in haunts which I think is as ridiculous as when people say that about animatronic characters. I have seen lots of terrible actors in haunts too...but I don't suggest removing actors. As haunters, we need to use everything at our disposal to scare, wow, and overall entertain our customers. Hollywood sets the bar really high and customers aren't impressed by the same things that got their attention twenty, ten, or even five years ago. Video effects are popular in haunts these days and I feel that they have their place along side actors, animatronics, drop panels, air cannons, and the like. As for them looking like a tv in a frame...that has to do with the presentation. Go to Universal and look at the video portraits they did for Harry Potter. Those don't look like tvs in a frame. Sure...they're Universal Studios...but all they really did is control the lighting and consider the placement of the effects and how the guests would see them. The end result is flawless.

Video effects may not be for everyone, but to chatise haunts that use them as being lazy is a really strange attack to offer. The same could be said for any haunt that buys anything...