Day 2- Air cannon installed!

Lot's of freshly brewed frogsbreath on hand as we finish up the last parts of the haunt and work well into the early hours with all the goblins and ghoulies from halloweens past! Yes, the cannon looks like a go after all!. I've never done anything with pneumatics in the past and decided to try this out. The misconception on these cannons on my part was that it isn't the rush of air that scares people, it's the loud noise (see video)! It sounds like an air gun that carpenters use for nails etc only louder. This one was easy to set up and does work very well. Actually 'DC props' who make these are very nice folks who respond quickly to emails and provide great customer service. They told me exactly everything I needed to get this to work safely and properly. More of a hassle is the air compressor which you have to buy separately (I didn't know that at first. Many vendors who sell these do not give even a hint that anything additional is required). The compressors use a lot of juice and I tripped several garage outlet fuses before realizing I had to use an outlet from inside the house! Keep that in mind. However, once the compressor is full it does not make noise at all until it has to refill. I had it unplugged and fired off many shots before it needed more air.

Finally we got the end hall framed out. Can't believe I am still building with 2 days to go, but it went up quickly and now the haunt structure is done! The end hall is also simple and will have some hanging props, strobe light, fogger, actors entering the hall to scare people from the left side. And then on to the vortex....let's hope it survives the snow!

Day 3- Winter storm approaching

Unbelievable! Last year we got hit with a rain noreaster but now it's 6-12 inches of freaking snow! I give up. The canopy is definitely NOT rated for any significant snow loads! So I suppose I will have to be out there every hour getting snow off of the roof. This will be interesting to say the least. Monday on the other hand is supposed to be fine weather wise so perhaps I should be thankful that we will have 2 days for snow removal!
Today we will see if in fact the cannon can be used this year. The end hall framing and sheeting will be finished off. This is going to be very quick and simple with a straight hall leading into the vortex, strobe light and hanging props. From the sides there will be a couple actors entering for scares. I hope I will have time for some video before the show begins!
We discovered yesterday after some testing in the front hall that you can't attach anything to the drop panel. I destroyed unintentionally 2 of my 'gortraits' trying to secure them to the panel. Unfortunately there is too much impact force for anything to last, so for now we will leave it as a blank black panel almost as though a picture has been removed, and the ghoul actor will pop his head out from behind the panel when it drops.

Day 4- Mansion entrance hallway

This image shows the completed hallway entrance. In the 'walkthrough' parts of the the haunt which this is, we often use these small openings in the wall I call 'hand ports' which can be used by people behind the wall to stick their hands through effecting a simple scare. We also have in the front hall as we showed previously, the drop panel, now complete with overlying picture on the right. When guests enter, a mat switch triggers a sound card which plays a segment from the Disney Haunted Mansion. The sound is directed toward one of those simulated lightning boxes which causes the downlights on the portraits to flicker. All these portrait props are seen everywhere, perhaps overused, but basically to set the scene for the main events later. I would love to build all the sets from scratch but there is no way I can start this thing any earlier than I do!
What is left over the next 4 days is the end hall, the entrance door which can only be completed when the garage is open, a few details in the crypt room, vortex lights and lightproofing, hopefully the cannon (I did get the clamps I needed) and lots of testing. We have Sat and Sun actors and helpers coming for walkthroughs.

Day 6- Some front hall details

The entrance hall is a standard mansion set with the pictures along each wall. Please refer to the plan diagram in post on the right side of this page. Last 2 images show a quick and dirty 'drop panel'. We will have a picture mounted on the black board. The wood is a very dense particle board. I used some aluminum frame pieces from a shower door we took down for the side slots and greased the insides. We will have a ghoul actor stand behind the picture. As the guests go by the latch on the backside of the board is slid over to the left and the board falls with a crash!  The panel can be 'reloaded' using the eye bolt and latch. Very simple and cheap and took about 30 minutes to build. We also have our standard haunted chandelier. I wanted to make one but didn't have time so instead we are using a prop I have had for several years. It does have a shake feature which we will activate using an X10 module.

Day 7- One week left!

Well it's been pretty crazy this time around and I can't believe how fast this came! While it's going down to the wire it looks like we will barely make it. The elevator platform was completed at the end of July and just yesterday I finished the ceiling, sound and light! We spent many hours on the detailing for the elevator and map room as expected, but I think it was well worth it. The vortex interestingly this year was almost like an afterthought in terms of the build. It went up easily without any glitches. Actually it's totally done now except for the lights and some lightproofing we want to improve on this year at the end of the tunnel. Really the only thing left is the front and back hall which will be a quick frame and sheet, a couple of lights for the ghost hall with some sheeting there and a little finish stuff in the crypt. Unfortunately we might have to defer the air cannon to next year. I was going to set it up yesterday only to find out I didn't have the clamps I needed to secure it. We'll see if they can get it here by week's end and if I have enough time to deal with it. Over the next several days I will try to post as many images as possible, not necessarily in any order.

Day 10- The Final Countdown~!

The fast and furious pace continues as we race toward the finish! Today we installed the elevator weight drop. The idea is once everything is completely dark in the elevator for a second or 2 we drop this 20 pound weight onto the elevator ceiling and the whole thing shakes suddenly before the wall panel is moved! I found this old bird house in the garage that just needed a little modification to contain a dumb-bell standing upright which could be pulled upward using a pulley about maybe 5-6 inches before being stopped by a 2x2 bar inside the box. Then when you let that drop it causes a thud with a shake. The pulley is routed over the elevator to the back 'service area' where the elevator 'operators' will be stationed. The birdhouse is screwed onto a dense plywood board spanning the 2x2's as shown. If you look closely in the video at the moment of impact you can see the elevator shake a little!

Day 11- Live Foyer

We installed 'Cam 1' in the foyer with a good vantage point for guests entering and leaving the elevator and entering the map room