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Improve Your Volunteer Acting Staff
Hey everyone, Ethan from Hundred Acres Manor here. This thread applies to any haunt weather you are 100% volunteer based or if you mix and match volunteer actors with paid actors. Heck, it could also potentially improve the quality of your show from an acting stand point if you are 100% for profit. At our haunt we are challenged with dealing with up to 150 new (never acted in a haunted house) volunteers each and every night of operation. We do have a core group of about 25 individuals who know their stuff, but the newbies, um, YAH. Any whom, here it goes. Over for the first five seasons of our haunt, we had issues with getting our volunteers to do exactly what we wanted them to do. If you put an actor in their assigned location and give them a run down, chance are the are going to forget what you told them to do, get bored and elaborate, or begin feeling like they repeated themselves so many times that they need to "freshen up their act". I also had issues in the makeup and costuming area because I would tell them what to get and they would forget or tell the makeup artist otherwise. So, here was my solution to this problem and it has worked VERY well and has drastically improved our show.
At the beginning of each evening upon sign-in, each and every actor gets a "hot sheet". This tells them their position, their makeup and costume, their lines, how to act, a bit about their character, and some tips on being successful. We do also put them through a quick crash course in haunting but this is a great base line to start with. The actor gets the sheet, hands it to the makeup artist so the makeup artist knows what to apply, they get the sheet back and hand it to the costumer who hands them the noted costume, and returns the sheet to them once more. The actor then keeps the sheet with them for the remainder of the evening. When they are placed in their positions they have time to review and practice before the gates open and ask their zone managers any question they may have about their position. During the evening, the zone manager assigns stars on the actor sheet if they are doing a good job and crosses stars out if they are just fooling around. At the end of the evening we collect said sheets and give the actor of the night a prize (a Hundred Acres Manor tee shirt, four free passes, and a return invite to act in the same spot the next evening).
Here is an example of of of our sheets:
ACTOR HOT SHEET
Hundred Acres Manor 2009
Location Information
Zone - Two
Area - Valley View Hospital
Position - Reception
Makeup/Costume/Accessories
- Dead base
- Scare tissue
- Stage blood (cracked head)
- Medical Scrubs (blue)
- Medical Jacket (white)
- Office Clipboard.
Scare Type
- Startle
Your Job
You are the dead receptionist at Valley View hospital. Your corpse has been rotting away in the reception area since the hospital closed in 1915. Greet visitors as they enter the abandoned hospital. Hide behind door and quickly advance towards the patrons while using one of the following lines. Be sure to project yourself and quickly reset.
Your Line Choices
Please use ONLY the lines assigned to this position. Do NOT elaborate.
- Do you have an appointment?
- All visitors must sign in!
- The doctor will see you now!
Tips For Success
- Scare every group every time no matter how small or large the group may be.
- Scare large groups more than once. If they are in the back of a line of 20, chances are they didn't see your act.
- Scare reset! Scare reset! Scare reset!
- Use only the lines assigned to your position unless otherwise instructed.
- Scare for the middle of the group unless otherwise instructed.
- Scare forward!
Now this is just a simple outline example but you can tailor it to suit your haunts needs. I hope this comes in handy for other haunters out there. I know it sure was a big help for me!
Best Wishes,
Ethan
www.HundredAcresManor.com
www.CostumeFind.com
At the beginning of each evening upon sign-in, each and every actor gets a "hot sheet". This tells them their position, their makeup and costume, their lines, how to act, a bit about their character, and some tips on being successful. We do also put them through a quick crash course in haunting but this is a great base line to start with. The actor gets the sheet, hands it to the makeup artist so the makeup artist knows what to apply, they get the sheet back and hand it to the costumer who hands them the noted costume, and returns the sheet to them once more. The actor then keeps the sheet with them for the remainder of the evening. When they are placed in their positions they have time to review and practice before the gates open and ask their zone managers any question they may have about their position. During the evening, the zone manager assigns stars on the actor sheet if they are doing a good job and crosses stars out if they are just fooling around. At the end of the evening we collect said sheets and give the actor of the night a prize (a Hundred Acres Manor tee shirt, four free passes, and a return invite to act in the same spot the next evening).
Here is an example of of of our sheets:
ACTOR HOT SHEET
Hundred Acres Manor 2009
Location Information
Zone - Two
Area - Valley View Hospital
Position - Reception
Makeup/Costume/Accessories
- Dead base
- Scare tissue
- Stage blood (cracked head)
- Medical Scrubs (blue)
- Medical Jacket (white)
- Office Clipboard.
Scare Type
- Startle
Your Job
You are the dead receptionist at Valley View hospital. Your corpse has been rotting away in the reception area since the hospital closed in 1915. Greet visitors as they enter the abandoned hospital. Hide behind door and quickly advance towards the patrons while using one of the following lines. Be sure to project yourself and quickly reset.
Your Line Choices
Please use ONLY the lines assigned to this position. Do NOT elaborate.
- Do you have an appointment?
- All visitors must sign in!
- The doctor will see you now!
Tips For Success
- Scare every group every time no matter how small or large the group may be.
- Scare large groups more than once. If they are in the back of a line of 20, chances are they didn't see your act.
- Scare reset! Scare reset! Scare reset!
- Use only the lines assigned to your position unless otherwise instructed.
- Scare for the middle of the group unless otherwise instructed.
- Scare forward!
Now this is just a simple outline example but you can tailor it to suit your haunts needs. I hope this comes in handy for other haunters out there. I know it sure was a big help for me!
Best Wishes,
Ethan
www.HundredAcresManor.com
www.CostumeFind.com
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