How long does it take.....

[dr0zombie]

I am trying to figure out what time actors need to show up. Every book out there on haunting seems to have a different variation on this topic. So I have a few questions to ask everyone to share some gems of learned wisdom....

* How many actors do you have?
* What time do you have them show up?
* How do you distribute and collect your costumes to your actors?
* Do you do masks or makeup (primarily)?
* If makeup, how many makeup artists and how long do you give the artists to work per actor?
* If makeup, how far do you go with your makeup? Full on prosthetics, some black and white zombie, or something in between?


This is my first time at setting this type of thing up. In the past events I have been at this was decided by the existing owner or group.

[Jim Warfield]

My personal make up is old-guy (crazy), genetic. It nevers comes off.
This has set a bad example for help here, since I wear none of it, they assume that means they don't have to either.
They each do their own mask, make up, we give more moolah to those that do dress up this way

[screamshow]

I am trying to figure out what time actors need to show up. Every book out there on haunting seems to have a different variation on this topic. So I have a few questions to ask everyone to share some gems of learned wisdom....

* How many actors do you have?

thirty to fifty

* What time do you have them show up?

An hour to an hour and a half before opening. Many actually scrape in just prior to opening.

* How do you distribute and collect your costumes to your actors?

Unless it is expensive we generally don't worry about it too much. They tend to stake out what they want. 90% of our costuming started at a thrift store prior to us thrashing it. We do pay attention to who is wearing the more expensive, favorite, or hard to get articles of clothing. For example, this year I found a BEAUTIFUL white antique dress in a thrift store. The thing might be a hundred years old for all I know. I also know who is wearing it.

* Do you do masks or makeup (primarily)?

Makeup. We have masks for those that don't want makeup. And, of course, some scare locations aren't using either masks or makeup.

* If makeup, how many makeup artists and how long do you give the artists to work per actor?

Three. As much time as they need. If they aren't done with everyone we can send out the excess with masks and rotate them through if we have to.

* If makeup, how far do you go with your makeup? Full on prosthetics, some black and white zombie, or something in between?

Everything from full face prosthetics to five minute quickies. Obviously the actors who arrive early tend to get the best makeup jobs. We generally only do full face prosthetic appliances only on select characters (and actors) where the lighting has been designed for it. These actors are instructed to arrive early. All of our Prosthetics are supplied by Larry at Boneyardfx.com and I won't use anyone else.

[MMManiac]

We have roughly 45 actors this year

We ask they show up three hours prior to the haunt opening

We have a costume supervisor who over sees the costumes each night

We use primarly makeup on our actors

we have four different makeup artist who gets 10/20 minutes per actor

We use all types of prothetic peices mixed with makeup

Hope this helps!

Sean

[imax]

The reason there are so many answers to this question, is because each show is unique and different.

Some shows are mask & cloak shows. Your cast could show up 10 minutes before the doors open and no one would have any problems. Other shows are complete makeup & physically demanding, so there might be 'warm-ups' or other blood moving excersizes done before, which require more time.

The best answer I can give you is to come up with a reasonable time to accomplish everything you know you need to get done. Then, tack on an extra 30 minutes for the first few nights, because it will never go as smoothly as you can plan it to.

Our show is 100% makeup and full costume, and it's physically demanding in some roles. We ask that people with complex makeup arrive 2 hours before showtime (clowns, extremely detailed face work, etc). Others that only need an appliance and some blood can show up about 1 hours before showtime, and some security staff shows up about 30 minutes before we open. The tiered arrival pattern works well for us. We have a nightly meeting 30 minutes before showtime, so no one can be later than that. Our actors that have physically demanding roles are asked to stretch and warm up in small groups before hand.


To answer your questions:
* How many actors do you have? Minimum of 30, some nights as many as 50

* What time do you have them show up? Again, depends on the part. 2 hours before doors open for complex makeup.

* How do you distribute and collect your costumes to your actors? We have someone in charge of this.


* Do you do masks or makeup (primarily)? Makeup. Most people do not like to wear masks, and I have issues with exactly how sanitary it is, even with lysol. A couple of our people do have and use masks, but they own these individually and do not share them.


* If makeup, how many makeup artists and how long do you give the artists to work per actor? We usually have 2 - 5 artists per night. Clowns take the longest, up to 20 or 30 minutes each, and other characters can be done in as little as 5 minutes.


* If makeup, how far do you go with your makeup? Full on prosthetics, some black and white zombie, or something in between? Depends on the character.


If your show does not focus on characters, you might want to start there. Remember that people who have little or no light in their areas do not need a lot of time spent on them. Spend that time on the staff that is well-lit and very important to the story line.

Good luck! Don't be afraid to adjust your schedule as you get it worked out.

-- I