victims in your haunt

[jason]

do you have actors in our haunt that play some sort'a role of a victim? do they get a good scare if they are just yelling for help?

[Motograter]

I've always had that same idea but have never polled it off. I think it would be a good effect. An actor blending in with the crowed. Then in a curtain part of the haunt, that "special actor" gets attacked or kidnapped by other fellow actors. Leaving the group of people scratching there heads wondering what the heck just happened?

[Jim Warfield]

The term used to be a "Shill", I think, for someone pretending to be an audience member who helps with the illusion, trick, gag, whatever.
I also dreamt of having an older male shill working here who would be mercilessly insulting me during the tour, then the lights would go out on the wine cellar for about ten seconds, special sound defects would be heard , lights "on" and I'm pulling a very accurate replica of the shill's head out of the chopper blades.
That one second of angst, fear, disbelief would be all worth the effort to set this up and play it out. At least I think it would be.
...actually I guess I play the victim here, victim of the old trully haunted house or maybe a victim of my own mental dieseases, which come and go, making the tour more interesting.

[Jolly Pumpkin]

This is what I would do. I would have a fake couple behind a real group of people. A huge actor would come up and grab the girl and take her away somewhere in the haunt to re appear later in another scene being tortured by that character. It sounds complicated so you may want to do it just few times a night. It'll be something special that people will look forward to. Remember to use a different couple every week so people don't easily catch on.

[BruiseMuse]

I have acted as a "plant" a few times in the crowd, typically as a zombie victim. I've either acted as a girlfriend with a male actor (and luckily I look young enough to still pull of being a high school girl) or as a big sister with another actor's kid. I think one of the best thngs to do as a plant is to socialize with the people in line around you, so that way you somewhat form a relationship with them (it makes the reaction a lot more interesting then when you're attacked).

I wear a blood pack along with intestines strapped to my torso, so when I start getting attacked and mauled, it gets really bloody and nasty. It is a great effect when hte zombies grab a girl, throw her onto the ground, and start ripping out her intestines.

[mindtumor]

I've always had that same idea but have never polled it off. I think it would be a good effect. An actor blending in with the crowed. Then in a curtain part of the haunt, that "special actor" gets attacked or kidnapped by other fellow actors. Leaving the group of people scratching there heads wondering what the heck just happened?

We did this out at the hayride each year and it work well enough to even fool the tractor driver. Maybe we can try it indoors this year.

[Jim Warfield]

At the end of a busy night I still had about five helpers on the clock but only two people at my front door as customers .
We tried a little experiment, I told my helpers(who when outside and were pretending to be patrons) that when I said a certain word in the front room that they were all were supposed to suddenly just jump up and run to the next room.
Everyone seemed pretty relaxed, I said the "word" my people all jumped up, ran to the next room and the two customers were right there with them even though they sure didn't know why?
"Group Psychology", herd instinct in action! Very funny!
I brought the two customers back into the first room and started over again.

[AnandaHexen]

If you are talking about a planted victim in the crowd, it can work VERY well. Timing and placement are very important, but it is fun for the actors and scares the heck out of the customers when done right. Be as creative (not just messy) as you can with blood and guts and the customers will walk away with their mouths agape.

If you are talking about an actor in a set scene being tortured, beaten, eaten, etc by another actor, you would be surprised by how much it DOES NOT WORK. Very rarely is a scene victim convincing and, frankly, it teaches poor acting. Often, younger girls end up playing the victim and it turns into "how short is my skirt?", "how shrill is my scream?" and "how little make-up can I get away with?". It sets a really poor precedent for acting in the haunt.
Victims in a set scene can work, but the actors/actresses should be well-trained and the make-up and costuming should fit into the scene. Short bursts of GOOD scripting make the difference as well. "Help me, Help me" is NOT GOOD SCRIPTING.
Creativity and skill will make it work, without it, your customers will walk away from that scene laughing and saying "go on, beat her/him harder!"

~Beth

[jason]

i just wanted to see what you guys and gals thought before i put in my two cents.

i feel that having actors in a haunt who play monster and such that are out to get you (the crowd) is scarier compaired to an actor who sits there and yells for help in a scene.

having "victims" that are pulled from a crowd does seem to have an effect on a crowd. me and my friends once did that with a small forest haunt. in short, you should have seen the reactions we received from those certain groups. lol