Welcome
to Dark Works 2004...
I can't even begin to
tell you the amount of time and work that went into this seasons
haunt. At the start of the year I decided to sell off a large
number of props built over the years. I also decided to completely
change the look and style of Dark Works. The main haunt has
been cut down to 448sf from last years 600sf. The maze design
has been replaced with 8 rooms giving it a back woods cabin
look. Yes, it's smaller but the detail will blow you away....
Enjoy!
Starting at the front of the house I replaced
all the boarded up windows with hanging Dorp panels.
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The new Scarecrow looks a lot better than
the one before, not as happy to see you.
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This one you have to see upclose to really
grasp the size and realism of it. Like all of my props he
is larger than life and proportioned to the mask.
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The first picture top left shows the post
lamp bases that we used a few years back. I decided to remove
the spikes & skulls then cut the posts down to 3"
high. The rules sign hasn't changed at all. The Dark Works
sign has replaced the crawling gargoyle prop.
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A section of deck was removed for construction
of a storage room that doubles as the first room you enter
before walking into the courtyard. The red light in the corner
is turned off briefly to signal the doorman to let in the
next group. The picture above is the new arbor gate that serves
as the exit and closes off the courtyard.
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Above the arbor gate sitting on 6' pedestals
are the two new gargoyles looking up to the gods.
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Well I learned that if you want someone
to notice a sign you need to put it in the hands of a prop.
The hairy bastard above is our deadicated doorman. Who is
unable to speak to the guests so he holds a two sided sign.
The other side reads " 2-3 per group". The sign's
purpose and him not talking was to eliminate unwanted questions
all night.
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Once inside the first room, opened by our
doorman, you looked down the hall shown above. This is one
of the few static props we still own.
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Although not very clear in the pictures
this first room is sectioned off with hanging frame walls
draped with Dorp. The two black cases each hold a fogger and
large blower which are ducted out throught the walls into
the courtyard. The new coffin prop is shown bottom left in-motion.
The good old wall fountain is still flowing like new.
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Turning another corner heading for the door
outside you come upon last years pop-up prop sporting a new
head on his shoulders. One of the nice things about this room
is that you can see throught the walls so everyone can see
what the first person of the group is screaming about.
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Aaah Yes, this brings us to the courtyard
where I would meet my guests. While walking backwards down
the cleared path I gave them there instructions before going
into the cabin.
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The center piece of the courtyard, other
than me of course, was our smoldering fire pit. I often would
tell guests" aaah you're just in time he's almost done.
Tastes just like chicken." The pit is constructed out
of 32 GraveStalkers half skulls.
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Two of our remaining beasts watch over the
courtyard...
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A few closer shots out front of the cabin
before going into the haunt.
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Opening the front door reveals the foyer.
Many things happen here starting with a lighting change. It's
almost black when you walk in, after 8 seconds the lights
come up for only 5 seconds. This allows for a brief look around
and the realization that you're not alone in the room. There
is a lot of eye-candy through out the haunt most of which
you never see unless you go through several times. The slat
board floor is really painted pylwood. Almost all of the lighting
in the haunt is flicker bulbs in candle fixtures. Several
areas use custom made spot fixtures with C7 orange bulbs for
accent lighting hidden in the ceiling. The entire inside is
webbed with a hot melt glue webber. The ceiling through out
is 1x3 slats spaced randomly.
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In the chair sitting in the corner of the
foyer is our first live effect. He sits quietly reading his
favorite book waiting for the lighting event timer to time-out
and shut off the lights. At the same time when the lights
do go out he slaps the book closed, points it in the direction
to go, and pulls a cord to open the curtains covering the
doorway to the next room.
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These pictures show the curtains closed,
open and what you see directly in front of you as you walk
into the "mirror" room.
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As you walk through the doorway to this
room the prop mounted in the ceiling slams his head down into
the opening.
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This is where the room got it's name. On
the wall to the right is a 46 x 42 mirror. The artwork is
etched into and illuminated from behind the glass. It looks
unbelievable and takes your attention away form the next prop
waiting to be triggered.
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This guy is chained to the wall across from
the mirror and leans forward as you walk by. It is lighted
when triggered from inside the barrel.
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The guy in the foyer will also move from
his chair to follow you into the mirror room. The picture
above right is the way out of this room.
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As you turn the corner you head down a dark
hall to another door. White hand prints indicate the doors
are to be pushed open. The light on the wall is only lit for
a brief period while opening the door.
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The next room is the library.
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Standing in the corner is our librarian
who takes the time to look up from his book as you walk past
him.
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Passing a book case on your right you open
another barred door into a very dark room. Lighting comes
up as you enter.
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This room would be concidered the torture
room as reflected by the artwork and corpse bound to the wall.
The picture frame also doubles as an additional scare through
which our foyer friend watches you with his good eye.
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As you round the corner, hidden back in
the wall is another pneumatic gem. It seem to come out of
nowhere into the candle light then disapear back into the
wall. Also at the same time this prop is triggered, another
sensor sets off an organ music soundtrack. The soundtrack
is set to time-out before you get to the music room.
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Throught another door you enter the den.
Off to your left is a desk and chair. As you pass the desk,
the chair moves out away for the deck as if there was a person
getting up.
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Leaving the den you head toward another
book case, or is it? As our guests turn the corner they our
witness to our second live effect who sneaks out from behind
the book case door to follow them. The books on the shelf
are only 1 1/2" deep.
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You will also notice that the floor in this
area is painted to look as if boards are missing. Lots of
weird things to look at here.
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The next room is the music room which contains
the new pipe organ prop. At this point the music that was
triggered back in the torture room has ended so it looks like
the organ player is just sitting there. As you walk past him
toward the door he swings around and faces you.
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The door out of the music room is sort of
designed to slow you down. The report is not in yet to see
how well it worked. All I did was simply paint the hand print
on the hinge side of the door.
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This is the fireplace room. Just as you
enter the room, Ozzy who now is shorter, flys around from
the shadows.
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The rocking chair corpse prop is also in
the fireplace room. Just before our second actor goes through
the book case door, which is in this room, he starts the chair
rocking. It continues to rock on its own long enough for the
guests to witness as they come into the room.
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There is so much detail in this room that
you will never see it all unless the house lights are on.
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Past the rocking chair you enter a small
room where a witch is perched up in the rafters. Walking by
her she looks down at you suddenly.
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Once past the witch around the corner is
another picture frame window that worked very well.
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Before seeing the exit and after getting
the shit startled out of you from the live artwork you see
a mirror that reflects the Stork waiting around the corner.
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By the time you exit the cabin you are about
18" higher off the ground than when you started. To avoid
steps I build a wood boardwalk that takes you down the side
of the haunt back toward the courtyard. I would sometimes
startle guests, who thought it was all over, at the end of
the cabin, asking them "are you sure you don't want to
stay for dinner? Where having chicken tonight!"
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You can't get away from Dark Works without
a blast of air being fired at or around you. This new barrel
prop changed several time during the corse of construction.
The guy was first designed to be inside the haunt but due
to size limitations and room designs I took him out. The end
result was this barrel that blasts a fine mist of water up
into the air sort of in your direction. It has a self contained
5 gallon reservoir which holds enough water for 3-4 hours.
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Exiting through the arbor takes you back
out to the que line.
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Well here we all are in our moment of glory.
The tall dirty and tired looking one in back is yours truly.
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I also completely redesigned the surveillance
center that we have been using for the past several years.
Dark Works is now monitored and recorded with 16 IR cameras.
The cabinet above houses the VRC's, haunt audio, switch bank
for all outdoor prop and lighting control, and 4 - quad monitors.
I also decided to upgrade our communication system with new
radios so that everyone is in contact with each other and
security watching the cameras.
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Well thats about all I can remember at this
point. I'm trying to forget about all the problems and stress
I put myself through to get this project completed on time.
It was down to the last few days but it turned out fantastic
if I say so myself. Before calling it quites Halloween night
we spent some time taping the entire proformance along with
a daylight shoot. The Dark Works 2004 Tour video will be our
first straight to DVD release. |
