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Best prop response I got this year

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  • Best prop response I got this year

    So this was our first year doing this professionally. I had an idea for something completely different from anything I had seen before (I live in the LA are and have been to Knott's, Universal and the QM several times in the last 30 years so I have seen a lot) and came up with something that freaked out those who have height phobia's. I designed a bottomless pit that you have to walk over. To make it worse I added a laser switch that turned on the effect just as you were taking your first step into space (I was also going to add about a 3" drop in elevation at the beginning edge as part of the effect but thought it might be too much for some to handle after testing it out on a few people)

    While I was building it, I even had an "oh Sh*t" moment when I leaned over it the first time (yeah I'm one of those people who HATES heights) My stomach actually dropped.

    pit.jpg

    So it worked... It was the biggest response I got and many people even refused to walk across it. We had to end up stationing a live monster behind them to get people to walk across the damn thing... the whole time they were freaking out screaming. my security people would just stand there watching and laugh all night long.

    I placed 2 of them in a row(with about 5 feet of "normal" walkway between them) and the on the second one I fabricated a way for a live monster to spring out underneath your feet while you were walking across, nothing like getting people a second time with the same effect!

    So my question for the off season is whether or not anyone on here would want one built for their haunt? Obviously price is a factor in anything we do but I wanted to get an idea of what people thought and I could look into what it would cost to make one that is transportable for shipping/storage etc.

    thanks for the input
    Brandon
    What?? You dropped your cell phone in the Haunted house somewhere and wanted to know if I could go get it for you? Sorry, that's against the rules but I will let you go to the front of the line so you can go try to find it yourself. Just give me a moment to let the monsters know you are coming through again...Alone.

  • #2
    We did something like that this last October, and it worked out great! Definitely want to do more like that.

    C.

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    • #3
      I think about 1 n 3 haunts I've been to have one. My fav was one that you had to crawl out a window and then you were on the ledge of a building looking down .. Which was a bottomless pit. People tried to slide on the ledge but eventually fell.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by tonguesandwich View Post
        I think about 1 n 3 haunts I've been to have one. My fav was one that you had to crawl out a window and then you were on the ledge of a building looking down .. Which was a bottomless pit. People tried to slide on the ledge but eventually fell.
        And where did you see this?

        C.

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        • #5
          Did you use plexi glass for the top and actually walk on it? How do you keep it clean?
          Thanks, Pete

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          • #6
            Originally posted by captpete View Post
            Did you use plexi glass for the top and actually walk on it? How do you keep it clean?
            Thanks, Pete
            Probably not an issue in dim lighting.

            C.

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            • #7
              I was going to build a grated bridge that you walk on over the bottomless pit. We are inside and outside haunt, so there is a lot of debris tracked through.
              Probably not as big of a concern on an inside only. I was thinking the grating would allow a view through, and keep debris off the top mirror. You wouldn't need as strong of plexi either.

              Pete

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              • #8
                I put thinner, cheaper plexiglass over the thicker stuff, thinking I would be cleaning the thinner stuff or replacing it if it got too scuffed up, but then I got too busy to even remember to check this. I spent years building mine and it only impressed maybe one of 30 who walked over it, not dynamic enough lighting, I guess? (But then my design was a little different) There are numerous "Shutters" hiding the pit which are manully controlled via a large lever as the lighting changes showing the pit.
                I spent 20 minutes sewing up a monster arm/claw and it terrorized a great number of people regularly. You never "know?' 20 minutes versus three years. Maybe I will get a minor modification done on the pit and make it work better?
                I know that even if this display works very good, that for what it is will still pale by comparison to what happens to the human sensations elsewhere within my house... in the Bad Dream bedroom.
                Last edited by Jim Warfield; 12-10-2012, 11:50 PM.
                hauntedravensgrin.com

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by captpete View Post
                  Did you use plexi glass for the top and actually walk on it? How do you keep it clean?
                  Thanks, Pete
                  Yes I used 3/4 inch plexiglass as the floor.

                  dust and scratches were a huge concern I had at the beginning. There was a dark, pitch black in fact, hallway you were walking down when approaching it which adds anticipation to what might happen. We put indoor/outdoor carpeting on the floor (which we had to fire proof) but that cleaned most of the dust and crap off of their feet. We would then just use one of those large dust mops every night before we opened.

                  The change in light from pitch black to bright light in your face and the fact of where their eyes were focusing on (the bottom of the pit) really made it irrelevant how dirty it got. I was amazed at the end of the night how dusty it would look when all the lights were turned on, but you really didn't notice it when the effect was working. I was half expecting to have to polish the thing once a week to get scratches out from high heels, but it never presented any problems either.
                  What?? You dropped your cell phone in the Haunted house somewhere and wanted to know if I could go get it for you? Sorry, that's against the rules but I will let you go to the front of the line so you can go try to find it yourself. Just give me a moment to let the monsters know you are coming through again...Alone.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by captpete View Post
                    I was going to build a grated bridge that you walk on over the bottomless pit. We are inside and outside haunt, so there is a lot of debris tracked through.
                    Probably not as big of a concern on an inside only. I was thinking the grating would allow a view through, and keep debris off the top mirror. You wouldn't need as strong of plexi either.

                    Pete
                    If I were you, I'd put it inside towards the middle or end of your inside portion, that way most of the tracked debris would have already fallen off. I used some carpeting on the floor leading up to it which also helped with the dust.

                    The problem with the grate is that you will still have the debris and dust fall through the grate anyways and be seen just as much as if they were standing on the plexy, but more importantly they will just be standing on the grate, and loose the "leap of faith moment" and adrenaline rush when they step off into open space. We originally had a monster stationed in the corner right behind them to just keep people going. This ended up turning to be a location that all the monsters fought over because it was such an easy scare. EVERYONE was so distracted that they had no idea someone was 12 inches from their face. So they got it whether they were afraid of heights and refusing to walk or just trying to figure out what the hell was going on and whether or not it was real. It was the best distraction effect by far.
                    What?? You dropped your cell phone in the Haunted house somewhere and wanted to know if I could go get it for you? Sorry, that's against the rules but I will let you go to the front of the line so you can go try to find it yourself. Just give me a moment to let the monsters know you are coming through again...Alone.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Raven I love it. How it the effect achieved tho? A slanted mirror underneath? Noob question lol

                      Thanks

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by ravensmoon View Post
                        If I were you, I'd put it inside towards the middle or end of your inside portion, that way most of the tracked debris would have already fallen off. I used some carpeting on the floor leading up to it which also helped with the dust.

                        The problem with the grate is that you will still have the debris and dust fall through the grate anyways and be seen just as much as if they were standing on the plexy, but more importantly they will just be standing on the grate, and loose the "leap of faith moment" and adrenaline rush when they step off into open space. We originally had a monster stationed in the corner right behind them to just keep people going. This ended up turning to be a location that all the monsters fought over because it was such an easy scare. EVERYONE was so distracted that they had no idea someone was 12 inches from their face. So they got it whether they were afraid of heights and refusing to walk or just trying to figure out what the hell was going on and whether or not it was real. It was the best distraction effect by far.
                        Good info. I agree the bridge would be a bit un scary. I was thinking of the high cost of 3/4" plexi with that design in mind, but if it takes away from the effect I would not opt for that.

                        Thanks, Pete

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by scottylmt View Post
                          Raven I love it. How it the effect achieved tho? A slanted mirror underneath? Noob question lol

                          Thanks
                          It is the classic " infinity mirror illusion" AKA bottomless pit. A box with a mirror on the bottom, and a two way mirror on the top.
                          When the light in the box is brighter than the outside light, the items in the box reflect between the two mirrors giving a infinity effect.
                          I did one as an escape hatch:


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                          • #14
                            I Could Only Get

                            Relatively thin plexiglass, so I bought a lot of it, stacked it up, fastened it together. The side span is as small as I could make it and still have people fit through it, everyone has fit so far, we have a walk-around passage if needed.
                            The straight ahead distance is maybe close to 8 feet with steel supports ever so often, these are what the moving shutters attach to. All the shutters move in unison as the control lever is moved as if they are being dumped to an area below. That space is only about 3 feet down but the red light alternating with the green light makes it hard to tell how deep it is. I was originally going to have a body, living or not under there but it probably works better without one.
                            They enter this passageway and are inside a real brick tunnel with a curved ceiling, the bricks curve sideways making a 90 degree entrance, then flair out at the other end for the exit. All the bricks are actually really old bricks from the 1850's and this fact is not hidden nor lost on most people and this part of it did take most of the three years I was building it. (I could not work on it full-time being open every night of the year.)
                            It all needs some "Tweaking" ... yet.
                            hauntedravensgrin.com

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                            • #15
                              You Know, Actually...

                              The best response I got this year was probably from a small piece of everyday junk that thousands of us throw away everyday that I got people to flinch, scream, jump, even run across the room to get away from me once I began talking about what it was.
                              The real truth showing how good this routine was , was when ten people are all watching the others react, then they also,inturn scream or jump too! And all the lights are "on" , big and bright the whole time too!
                              Everyone left that room laughing at one another, mostly.
                              The fact of what I told them is true, then my own acting (or was it "Salesmanship") took it from there.
                              Most of my acting proceeds at a normal, everyday pace, which helps "sell" it better, in my opinion. Maybe because they then can't really tell if I am acting or not or just a crazed-looney SOB!? (Which is a good "card" to be holding sometimes because it sure ain't The Old Maid!
                              hauntedravensgrin.com

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