Night Vision Goggles

[Empressnightshade]

I was chatting with Midnight Evil yesterday (What a great guy!) and he was telling me he'd seen Night Vision Binoculars at Harbor Frieght for much less money. They are made to only see out of one lense which would technically make it a Minocular, but at least the other eye structure is there so the actor wouldn't have to keep their nonlense eye shut all the time.

I couldn't find them on their website, so I'm gonna have to go in the store and see what they have available.

[Jim Warfield]

Look the unit over real good, you wouldn't want to get a surplus one from a killer-cyborg that traveled here from a distant future just waiting for a human to put it up to their eye so they can claim your mortal soul!
(A task usually relegated to the Playboy centerfolds, speaking as a man, that is.)
Yes, pictures of perfect cyborg women, that have never lived upon this planet! The best science can grow!

[Nightmaretony]

Seconded, Empress. I showed him ideas involving a pitch black and night vision. Can make for a different kind of entertainment in there....

[psychomelon]

Hey Gwen,
I found this....hope it helps. Its the cheapest thing I found.

http://www.nightvisionoptics.com/nestmnivimo.html

[RJ Productions]

Here's something else to consider, anyone can see in the dark if your eyes become accustomed to it. Did anyone see the Pirate Special on Mythbusters? They were testing the Myth of the pirate’s eye patch. Theory was it wasn’t to cover an eye injury but to keep one eye “night sensitive”. When the pirate went from the bright light to the darkness of the ship’s hold he switched the patch so that he was looking out of the covered eye and could see in the dark.

Within fifteen minutes or so you gain your night vision. So keep your actors in a night environment. Use a red light if they have to see something. Blast your customer’s eyes with a very bright light in the room prior to the black maze. Now their eyes are over sensitized, think of when you walk inside your house from the bright sunlight, you can’t see anything for awhile!

We did this with a small black maze that dumped into a large empty room. The customers fumbled around looking for the next wall, the actor could walk right up, whisper in their ear! They would lead people around “the exit’s over here…no it’s over here..” It was actually quite fun and MUCH cheaper than using expensive night goggles that have the possibility of not even lasting the first week!!

[Empressnightshade]

Within fifteen minutes or so you gain your night vision. So keep your actors in a night environment. Use a red light if they have to see something. Blast your customer’s eyes with a very bright light in the room prior to the black maze. Now their eyes are over sensitized, think of when you walk inside your house from the bright sunlight, you can’t see anything for awhile!

We did this with a small black maze that dumped into a large empty room. The customers fumbled around looking for the next wall, the actor could walk right up, whisper in their ear! They would lead people around “the exit’s over here…no it’s over here..” It was actually quite fun and MUCH cheaper than using expensive night goggles that have the possibility of not even lasting the first week!!

Does that really work? What if you have an actor that needs to go to the bathroom and needs a floater to take their place? With customers constantly coming, that floater has no time to get use to the darkness and neither will the original actor that comes back. What's to be done then?

[RJ Productions]

IF it's a black maze chances are you will have one than one actor. It only takes about 15 minutes or so before they are acclamated enough. Remember you want to blind your customers before they enter the area so it may not have to be that dark an area for your actors to function in.
If necessary do the pirate thing!

It would go like this, I'm the breaker. fifteen minutes or so before I break you I put an eye patch on. The protected eye developes night vision. To break you I switch the patch to the unprotected eye, so I'm seeing with night vision, the "bright" eye goes into night protection. You as the actor do the opposite you put an eye patch on, go to break. The eye patch keeps one eye protected to retain night vision. When you return from break you switch eyes with the patch so you can function in the room and your other eye gets fifteen minutes to recover its night vision then you remove the patch until the next break.

The trick is to keep dialating your customer's eyes. I used to walk my maze and note the place where my eyes started to gain night vision. At that point I would add a light effect, either a strobe light or a bright light on a switch. Add a horn and you have a nice startle effect that removes their might vision for the remained of your maze.

It's really simple, everyone developes night vision, protect your actor's night vision, screw up your customer's!! One other point, women usually develop night vison quicker than guys!

Good luck.

Rich

[Jim Warfield]

Bright sudden lights in a dark room will "blind" the customer as a loud noise will deafen them, but a flat shovel quickly to the back of their head covers all the bases quite efficiently.
When the come to have a little twerp dressed as a space alien holding a plastic ray gun and have him say, "Don't try that again, I only had the gun set for intermeadiate stun that time."

[Greg Chrise]

I'm not sure I wouls use the term floater and going on bathroom break in the same phrase. I'm not here so here's Mr. Handy the Christmas Poo!