LV-426 Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Something I'd like to see is a house where the scares are lower in number, but each individual scare is more intense and comes after a foreboding period where you never know what's going to happen. I posted my idea on HHNRumors already, so I'll only re-post if someone specifically asks to see my house plan, but the basic premise is prisoners from a supermax prison break out and start a citywide riot. The house takes place in an office building that's been broken in to and the occupants slaughtered. You would spend four or five BIG rooms and hallways with no scareactors. You'd have corpses, blood, signs of destruction, and distant noises. No music, just distant screams, gunshots, and shattering glass. Every so often you would hear someone walking in a nearby room or a loud thud, but nothing visible. Then you enter the bathroom, the lights flicker, and everything goes to hell. HHN has gotten to the point where, given enough time, scares can be predictable. You can spot the booholes or point out good places for a scareactor to hide, like the mysterious hatch-shaped outline in the wall or the shadowed alcove that you can't see into. Scareactors have to rely on the people being too distracted to notice and expect the scares; for someone like myself, who is super-attentive in houses and often spends the first run memorizing the house layout, it can be hard to get something out of me. A house like my own design where everything seems like a potential scare serves to unease you. You walk through every room, expecting something to appear from every corner and doorway. But nothing comes for the LONGEST time. You might start to brush off the house as an empty, atmospheric environment walkthrough. Or you might get more and more uneasy with the expectation of something around every corner and in every closet. Sometimes the best way to build tension and fear in a horror movie is absolutely nothing: prepare the audience for a jump that never comes. Sometimes throw the scare in right when they've figured that it's an empty buildup. There's the long buildup to the scene behind the diner in Mulholland Drive, where you might easily forget that there's something terrifying behind that wall. Or the scene in Alien when Brett is looking for Jonas the cat; reportedly half the audience during one of the first screenings was too scared to stay in the theater when the Xenomorph kept never appearing. Only to realize that it was hiding in plain sight, disguised with its biomechanical appearence. This house works off of that classic filmmaking trick. When everything is a potential scare, you see scares in everything that moves. A broken fluorescent light gently swinging from the ceiling becomes a corpse hanging in the shadows. Muffled scratching behind a door is a sign of someone bursting out with a baseball bat. And when the scare hits, it hits when you've already seen an empty house. And it hits as hard and fast as possible. Another way to build fear is to base the locations in recognizable places. None of the houses in 2010 looked like regular buildings; Legendary Truth was the closest to a "real" location and there was still always something that felt off about it, something to remind you that you were in a set. But present the house with an extremely realistic office building, where every surface looks and feels like your own workplace. Could something happen like this at the office YOU work in? Somewhere right here in Orlando? Probably. You might very well be seeing it. sounds kinda cool for a house with many rooms, probably from 25 to 30 rooms, like a haunt or something, but with a small size house like the ones in HHN, I could see a lot of people very upset that there aren't that many scares, I can totally agree that the scares become predictable, but having rooms with no scares will send people screaming for the hills in anger though, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abdul.Alhazred Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 (edited) Wasn't the cat's name "Jones"? But I digress. Your idea is an interesting one, but I don't think it would work. In a film, you see and hear exactly what the filmmakers want you to, when they want you to. You're alone in a scary place, trapped with the unknown. Is that a monster around the corner, or just my imagination? Well, the monster (or one of the monsters) IS your imagination. It's your mind that transforms even the most mundane sound or environmental element into something sinister and threatening. In a Halloween Horror Nights maze, you're walking in a line behind a thousand other people. You're certainly not alone. You hear the screams/laughs/drunken shouts from the people standing 2 feet in front of you . . . and 2 feet behind you. There is none of the intimacy that you feel while watching a movie, none of the isolation. Long periods of walking through scenes with absolutely no scareactors does not equal suspense in the way that it does in the cinema, it means there's a Cast change. Short of a pulsed house, or even the on-your-own-style house (like Busch's Alone), you're not going to be able to achieve that suspense that's so crucial to this idea. Edited January 21, 2011 by Abdul.Alhazred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmonk Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 As long as the "Pepper's Ghost" trick doesn't make a return this year, I will be a happy camper. It was laughably bad in every house it was used in last year imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Director of Horror Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 As long as the "Pepper's Ghost" trick doesn't make a return this year, I will be a happy camper. It was laughably bad in every house it was used in last year imo. Can you please tell me why. My home-haunt this year will have a Pepper's Ghost effect, and I don't want to waste a scene. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LV-426 Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 As long as the "Pepper's Ghost" trick doesn't make a return this year, I will be a happy camper. It was laughably bad in every house it was used in last year imo. what was that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 As long as the "Pepper's Ghost" trick doesn't make a return this year, I will be a happy camper. It was laughably bad in every house it was used in last year imo. That was less of a Pepper's Ghost and more the modified version used in Disaster. The traditional Pepper's Ghost uses solid objects and reflective glass, while this uses digital screens. That's why even though they have more detail than a traditional Pepper's Ghost (like you'd see at the Haunted Mansion at Disney), they have the appearence of being something shown on an invisible screen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LV-426 Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Which room was the Pepper's ghost? I'm confused Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Director of Horror Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Which room was the Pepper's ghost? I'm confused One was featured in a long hallway of LT, with the Storyteller behind a destroyed wall. The other was at the end of a hallway in PS (If I remember correctly). Another example of Pepper's Ghost was in the Ghosts/Skeletons room from The Hallow, Mary appeared. Did that help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
armyofrobots Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 As long as the "Pepper's Ghost" trick doesn't make a return this year, I will be a happy camper. It was laughably bad in every house it was used in last year imo. I don't think it was bad, but what do I know... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 So I remember from threads of the past year or so at least a dozen mentions of how awesome it would be to use Dead Space as a house. The reason this came to mind was because of the release of Dead Space 2, along with my watching of the demo and Smashing Pumpkins trailer. I figured that this would put it at the front of wishers minds once more, so I decided to give some serious thought to what appears to be a popular subject for houses. Yes, Dead Space is one of the scariest modern games you can find. The developers are pros at making it creepy and terrifying, as well as getting some good jump scares; the same kind HHN is built on. We've done similar houses, with Interstellar Terror being based on a ship (like the Ishimura in the first game) and The Thing being a major inspiration for the necromorph design. It could be an epic soundstage house with a big budget and plenty of badass effects, costumes, and tricks they can use to fully immerse us in the world. Despite my constant wishes to have original content rather than another year of movie houses, I don't hate them. Houses based on existing IPs can be extremely good (Dead Silence and All-Nite Die In 2 will always hold a place in my 5-year heart). As such, I'm not opposed to using Dead Space on the grounds that it's a video game. What I think would be the problem is technology. Dead Space has quite a bit that would be difficult to do within the grounds of live action horror. One of these is spaces: Dead Space is mostly corridors and air vents, so confined hallways are no biggie. But the developers balanced these with massive, open rooms like the Ishimura bridge, the tram stations, and in Dead Space 2 the cathedral and massive exterior windows that look out onto the Sprawl. This can mostly be solved with having windows looking out into space and the occasional hull breach (like in Interstellar Terror), but it doesn't give the same effect as the expanses of open ground. Contrast is important, and a budget-conscious Dead Space house would mostly be a corridor scroller. The biggest problem is movement, but not of the guests. I mean the necromorphs. One of the things you can remember about necromorphs is their movement; necromorphs move very fast and twitchy, with one in particular being supernaturally quick. They're full of flailing parts and quick swipes of their arms and tentacles. That's what makes them dangerous and gives them a distinctly alien appearence compared to the few human characters. Along with the feasibility of having flailing latex and rubber so close to a guest's face, how do you make them move like that? Very few people can move like a necromorph even when totally unburdened, and rubber and plastic weigh you down. An actual human or puppet just can't move that fast, and animatronics can't do that without stressing their parts. It would basically be The Thing all over again with animatronics and puppets (which don't always work as intended) and like the cyclops in Creatures with humans; slow and pondering. However, I'm not against this. I'd love to see a Dead Space house done well, which means they'd need to get past these two major handicaps. I'm considering doing a write-up of a Dead Space house the way I would do it if budget was of little consequence, and posting it on here for criticism. I'd like to hear your thoughts on the same matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Director of Horror Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 The biggest problem is movement, but not of the guests. I mean the necromorphs. One of the things you can remember about necromorphs is their movement; necromorphs move very fast and twitchy, with one in particular being supernaturally quick. They're full of flailing parts and quick swipes of their arms and tentacles. That's what makes them dangerous and gives them a distinctly alien appearence compared to the few human characters. Along with the feasibility of having flailing latex and rubber so close to a guest's face, how do you make them move like that? Very few people can move like a necromorph even when totally unburdened, and rubber and plastic weigh you down. An actual human or puppet just can't move that fast, and animatronics can't do that without stressing their parts. It would basically be The Thing all over again with animatronics and puppets (which don't always work as intended) and like the cyclops in Creatures with humans; slow and pondering. The actors could flip on a AAT (Actor Activated Trigger) strobe, making it appear as if they are moving very fast. But then again, I've never played or seen the Dead Space games, so the strobes might not work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 The actors could flip on a AAT (Actor Activated Trigger) strobe, making it appear as if they are moving very fast. But then again, I've never played or seen the Dead Space games, so the strobes might not work. Strobes kinda work, but they're best for limb movements and someone moving across a room. Necromorphs have a lot of fast-moving parts like mouths and tentacles that are there just to look creepy. Animatronics could do those, but I'm not sure you could put them on puppets and animatronics so close to guests. I'm remembering the corpse on the table from The Thing with the whipping tentacles (I believe done by pumping air through them). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LV-426 Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 One was featured in a long hallway of LT, with the Storyteller behind a destroyed wall. The other was at the end of a hallway in PS (If I remember correctly). Another example of Pepper's Ghost was in the Ghosts/Skeletons room from The Hallow, Mary appeared. Did that help? yes thank you I was confused about it, thank you for the answer, I have to say I didn't mind the pepper's ghost either, I didn't love it but didn't hate it, it was okay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronPaHHNFan Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 I don't get what the big deal about the "peppers ghost" tricks being used is. They really weren't that bad. I didn't mind them at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Director of Horror Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Would it be possible to recreat the Pepper's Ghost effect by using a projector, as opposed to a prop and a light? I'm wondering this because I'm planning to use this effect in my home-haunt this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Would it be possible to recreat the Pepper's Ghost effect by using a projector, as opposed to a prop and a light? I'm wondering this because I'm planning to use this effect in my home-haunt this year. I understand the science behind it: with a traditional Pepper's Ghost, you light up a recreation of the room the guest is looking into (sometimes the room is painted black so light objects stand out more) and let the image of the prop reflect off the glass in front of them. It's hard to do properly because the lights need to change brightness accordingly; you keep the empty room bright and unseen room dark, and then raise the lights in the mirror room while slightly dimming the empty room the viewer sees, allowing the ghost to appear out of nowhere. I believe a projector is what the Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios uses for the effect of the family's ghosts appearing in the hallway. In this case it would be the image from the projector being reflected by the glass, rather than a physical object. I couldn't honestly tell you how to set it all up, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 As long as the "Pepper's Ghost" trick doesn't make a return this year, I will be a happy camper. It was laughably bad in every house it was used in last year imo. I don't think its that bad of an effect. They just use it as more of a filler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Jimmy Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 the most effective use of the Pepper's Ghost effect (if indeed that is what it was) last year was in The Orfanage. The floating girl was far more eerie and spooky than any other such things in LT or Psychoscareapy, and also was used as a distraction to set you up for scares by the scareactors in the room. i would hope that this sort of thing would be used more next year than the "hole in the wall at the end of the corridor" trick that relied too much on perfect timing. Many times going through LT or Psychoscareapy this was missed altogether, but you never missed the floating girl in the Orfanage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freak Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 the most effective use of the Pepper's Ghost effect (if indeed that is what it was) last year was in The Orfanage. The floating girl was far more eerie and spooky than any other such things in LT or Psychoscareapy, and also was used as a distraction to set you up for scares by the scareactors in the room. i would hope that this sort of thing would be used more next year than the "hole in the wall at the end of the corridor" trick that relied too much on perfect timing. Many times going through LT or Psychoscareapy this was missed altogether, but you never missed the floating girl in the Orfanage. Weird. I have been through the Orfanage twice and I don't remember seeing a "floating girl". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Weird. I have been through the Orfanage twice and I don't remember seeing a "floating girl". It was about halfway through the house in the nursery-style room. She was floating outside a window right in front of you as you entered, and you turned right just before the window. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Director of Horror Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 I loved Good Harvest, I miss it. But I had no clue that the floating girl was a Pepper's Ghost! I agree, that was the best use of the effect last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LV-426 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 the most effective use of the Pepper's Ghost effect (if indeed that is what it was) last year was in The Orfanage. The floating girl was far more eerie and spooky than any other such things in LT or Psychoscareapy, and also was used as a distraction to set you up for scares by the scareactors in the room. i would hope that this sort of thing would be used more next year than the "hole in the wall at the end of the corridor" trick that relied too much on perfect timing. Many times going through LT or Psychoscareapy this was missed altogether, but you never missed the floating girl in the Orfanage. I kept trying to mention the floating girl last year but no one said anything, I was really really surprised that the floating girl was used for the orphanage and not the Legendary Truth, I Loved that effect, she really looked like a ghost, (Well except during the day when you could see how she was being held, but at night it really looked like a ghost, the first time i saw it, i was impressed, it was one of the highlights of last year, that floating girl effect is what i was hoping to see in Legendary truth, legendary truth was cool but very disappointed when it came to stuff like this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fallow Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Wait, I was under the impression that the floating girl wasn't a Pepper's Ghost, it was a regular floating prop on a wire... (an insanely cool/creepy effect either way...) The Legendary/Psycho Pepper's Ghosts were weak. They looked like video monitors, I couldn't even really tell it was a Pepper's Ghost unless I really peered into their "rooms". Didn't help that the two scenes that utilized them were essentially identical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freak Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 After thinking about Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan, I think it would be cool to have some sort of maze that takes place in New York. It could either take place in the Disaster queue, or in Nazarman's. Although I would prefer the latter location, I'm not sure if that location is still open after that Starbucks has been built there. The maze set in New York can have one of these two scenarios: 1) It could be a sequel house to Havoc, but have it set in New York where their secret experiments on feeding power from energy, testosterone, and glucose (That's their experiment, right? I forget the back story. lol) go completely awry and end up attacking the people in New York. 2) It can be a world apocalypse house like they did in 1999, but have an apocalyptic 2012 theme. Crazed and blood-hungry people everywhere after you for food because of the massive disaster that has happened. Something like this would probably be more suited for the HHN XXII, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mae Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Besides having dead pirates, and skulls everywhere? what can a pirate house give us? I am liking the idea for a pirate house but I would Hate if they do what they did in PS last year, just a bunch of pirate "ghosts" with costumes and face make up, I dont know, like I said before, they should look like skulls, have masks, but maybe we could get a giant squid? or octopus? maybe the kraken? I would love to see that, have a room with pirates and then tentacles coming in from the windows Oooohhh, you should look up Edward Low and Charles Vane....these two were definately scary! Plus, Anne Bonny was no precious lass to be faintin' at the sight o' blood, to be sure... Mae Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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