Thursday 22 March 2012
Wednesday 21 March 2012
Scarytales - Best Attraction Yet?
Well its all over but what a show Scarytales was. We had some great attendance figures, raised some great cash for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance but, more importantly for us, got some great reviews. So, enjoy this whistle stop tour of the show.
The attraction started outside an old wardrobe where the gatekeeper interacted with the group and delivered the essential do's and dont's before they headed in. Once through the wardrobe they had to navigate a Harris fence maze which took up the entire auditorium. On the first bend the group came up against a wall of teddy bears, nailed to it, ripped to shreds and splattered in blood of course! Here they encountered the first character, the Gingerbread Man. He was responsible for giving a good startle scare whilst setting off some special effects and following the group around the Harris maze to the first big themed section. The group then encountered a very evil tooth fairy who came at them with a pair of rusty pliers inside a child's bedroom scene. The makeup, done for us by Lianne Keeling, Jamie Corfield and Brooke Mimms was really spectacular in this location and was commented on by everyone who ventured inside. Next the group entered a corn field scene where they met a demonic scarecrow who forced them to join hands and follow him down a spooky yellow brick road. From here the group entered an enclosed double corridor section, lit with an intense strobe light whilst being attacked from all side by the 3 little pigs. The group then entered a large space inside the auditorium where they were forced to sit down to watch a strange version of a Punch & Judy puppet show. Whilst the performance was taking place a real life Mr Punch launched an attack on them from behind and forced them back out of their seats and moved them out of the area.
From here the group had to navigate the stage area of the theatre which was themed to look like a woodland scene complete with a gingerbread house. The group had to walk a path lined with shrubs, giant lillipops, giant candycanes and flickering lights. Upon entering he house they were greeted by a wicked witch who interacted with them before sending them deeper into the maze. The group were now in the wings part of the theatre where they had to move through 2 quick rooms which lead to the back of the theatre and into the changing rooms. The 2 scenes we used here were a child's toy room complete with a giant Jack-in-the-Box and a very evil Santa's grotto. This then led them to the backstage areas where they were greeted by the Boy who cried wolf. His sole job was to give a startle scare and direct the group inside the 4 back stage rooms.
The first of the 4 backstage rooms was inhabited by the Child Catcher from the Disney film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. His room was covered from floor to ceiling with missing posters of Victorian children (not to the budding scare attraction designer, avoid doing a room like this, putting up over 600 A3 posters on your own almost sends you insane!!). The child catcher initially seemed nice but soon turned VERY sinister and forced a member of the group into a chair. Here he humiliated them, swore at them and generally behaved very badly to them. After leaving the child catcher behind the group them entered a crazy (or should that be even more crazier version) of the Mad Hatters Tea Party. This room was worked by a crazy Hatter and a very messed up Alice who invited the group to sit down at their tea party. Humiliation and interaction continued for a good few minutes before Alice declared the group had made the food go off and once again they were sent on their way.
The next themed location was designed to look like Grandmas house from Little Red Riding Hood. Here the group encountered a VERY slutty version of the character who demanded that "the boys got on their knees" and moaned at her! After this the group then entered the competition winners room that was made up to resemble the fairy story "the girl with the red shoes".
From here the group then traversed a dark corridor section before entering the haunted wood. Here they met the final character, the woodcutter who, along with screaming at them, chased them into the bar area with a chainsaw ending they adventure in the land of Orenda.
The feedback we got has been amazing, the reviews we have had have really blown us away. So, I will update this again soon with all the details and plans for Project Fear which is pencilled to be down at the beginning of June.
Gaz
The attraction started outside an old wardrobe where the gatekeeper interacted with the group and delivered the essential do's and dont's before they headed in. Once through the wardrobe they had to navigate a Harris fence maze which took up the entire auditorium. On the first bend the group came up against a wall of teddy bears, nailed to it, ripped to shreds and splattered in blood of course! Here they encountered the first character, the Gingerbread Man. He was responsible for giving a good startle scare whilst setting off some special effects and following the group around the Harris maze to the first big themed section. The group then encountered a very evil tooth fairy who came at them with a pair of rusty pliers inside a child's bedroom scene. The makeup, done for us by Lianne Keeling, Jamie Corfield and Brooke Mimms was really spectacular in this location and was commented on by everyone who ventured inside. Next the group entered a corn field scene where they met a demonic scarecrow who forced them to join hands and follow him down a spooky yellow brick road. From here the group entered an enclosed double corridor section, lit with an intense strobe light whilst being attacked from all side by the 3 little pigs. The group then entered a large space inside the auditorium where they were forced to sit down to watch a strange version of a Punch & Judy puppet show. Whilst the performance was taking place a real life Mr Punch launched an attack on them from behind and forced them back out of their seats and moved them out of the area.
From here the group had to navigate the stage area of the theatre which was themed to look like a woodland scene complete with a gingerbread house. The group had to walk a path lined with shrubs, giant lillipops, giant candycanes and flickering lights. Upon entering he house they were greeted by a wicked witch who interacted with them before sending them deeper into the maze. The group were now in the wings part of the theatre where they had to move through 2 quick rooms which lead to the back of the theatre and into the changing rooms. The 2 scenes we used here were a child's toy room complete with a giant Jack-in-the-Box and a very evil Santa's grotto. This then led them to the backstage areas where they were greeted by the Boy who cried wolf. His sole job was to give a startle scare and direct the group inside the 4 back stage rooms.
The first of the 4 backstage rooms was inhabited by the Child Catcher from the Disney film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. His room was covered from floor to ceiling with missing posters of Victorian children (not to the budding scare attraction designer, avoid doing a room like this, putting up over 600 A3 posters on your own almost sends you insane!!). The child catcher initially seemed nice but soon turned VERY sinister and forced a member of the group into a chair. Here he humiliated them, swore at them and generally behaved very badly to them. After leaving the child catcher behind the group them entered a crazy (or should that be even more crazier version) of the Mad Hatters Tea Party. This room was worked by a crazy Hatter and a very messed up Alice who invited the group to sit down at their tea party. Humiliation and interaction continued for a good few minutes before Alice declared the group had made the food go off and once again they were sent on their way.
The next themed location was designed to look like Grandmas house from Little Red Riding Hood. Here the group encountered a VERY slutty version of the character who demanded that "the boys got on their knees" and moaned at her! After this the group then entered the competition winners room that was made up to resemble the fairy story "the girl with the red shoes".
From here the group then traversed a dark corridor section before entering the haunted wood. Here they met the final character, the woodcutter who, along with screaming at them, chased them into the bar area with a chainsaw ending they adventure in the land of Orenda.
The feedback we got has been amazing, the reviews we have had have really blown us away. So, I will update this again soon with all the details and plans for Project Fear which is pencilled to be down at the beginning of June.
Gaz
Wednesday 7 March 2012
Scarytales Live Almost Here
We are now just one week away from the launch of our latest scare entertainment experience, Scarytales Live, so I thought I would put together a quick update on where we are. Well, everything has come together nicely, probably more smoothly than any other show we have done. The maze is all ready to go and we are literally waiting now to get access to the building so we can put it all together. The good thing with using the theatre is that we dont have to build anything. Its all about using the space we have to our best advantage and making sure every inch of the building is used to its best advantage. The obvious thing to work on is the main theatre space and stage area. This large, open expanse of ground cant be built on, particioned off or changed in any way so, what do you do? Build a harris fence maze in it, thats what! We didnt want a boring, simple zig zag maze so we have designed quite an elaborate path for you to take that will take in 4 seperate themed zones before you even get to the stage area. We felt this was the best way to go with it as wondering around a fence maze with nothing really happening can get quite dull and it shows a distinct lack of imagination!
This is a rough layout plan of the attraction
This is a rough layout plan of the attraction
We received the sounds from Tollbooth Music last week for the themed locations and we are VERY impressed with them all. Once again Paul Davis has out done himself with the level of sound scapes he has put into the finished product.
So, everything is ready to go, the props are finished (building giant sweets is a lot more hassle than you can imagine!), the lighting rigs are ready, the music is done and the actors are fully rehearsed. The costumes are all finsihed and the makeup team have put together some amazing concepts for the characters. We have a press launch next Thursday night and then its show time! Roll on the 16th!
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