As a 10 year technician for a pair of fairly large haunted houses (a friend ran, and I was the resident nerd, so I got 'make it all move and blink' duties, they were creature effects artists by trade) Id just like to say..... OH MY FREAKING GOD YES!!!! I LOVE BEHIND THE SCENES STUFF!!! IT DOESNT RUIN THE MAGIC IT MAKES IT BETTER!!!! Thanks for sharing your tricks! The industry (themed effects, creatures, animatronics, from movies, to stage, to practical, everything) has a real problem with people not sharing their craft with others. Sure, maybe at a meeting of some sort, either a gathering, or convention, or whatnot. But the way its been for a long time is unless you happen across someone in the same industry in person or the off chance in a forum, there is simply no viable way to gain this knowledge and experience. It has legitimately crippled sections of the industry. There are classic effects that everyone over 60 knows how to do, but everyone under 40 hasnt the slightest clue. And eventually that skill, that knowledge, gets lost to time. All because no one shares the techniques, tips, tricks, methods of achieving those effects. Its honestly saddening the amount of knowledge that gets forgotten because some old salt either doesnt want to share how he does a thing to ensure future work or whatever, or simply because he never talks about it, no one asks, and it dies when they do. Forever lost. As technicians, I love nerding out over all the weird, inventive, techniques and especially the fevered panic 'THE SHOW IS STARTING IN 5 MINUTES!!!! AND I NEED TO GET THIS GOING!!!!' or my favorite "Ok, hold the next group for a minute, I need to get a ladder in here and fix that thing stuffed up on top of that wall......SHIT! Thats the show just before this room! I told them to hold......fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck DONE!!! CATCH THIS TOOL BAG AND RUN!!! [slides down ladder and makes it out emergency exit just as the tour gets to that room......wait for them to pass......slide back in behind them, play it cool, just another person in the group......then slide through a secret door into the control room to trigger the next show before the guide figures its glitched and moves on]" stories weve all accumulated over the years. I for one enjoy knowledge dumping on newbies looking to get into effects tech, watching them come up with solutions, some old but they figured it out on their own, some absolutely out of left field but is a far better way of doing things. To prevent the crafts from dying we need to welcome people into taking backstage tours, seeing how its done, showing off the other side of the stage and what goes on. Because, lets be honest, unless youre the actor type, backstage is where the fun really is ;) It doesnt take away from the magic. It makes it better.
Love these videos! Elevator can be solved with a lot less backstage real estate using pretty simple (and not expensive) dynamic circus trapeze rigging attached to a platform with a couple of vertical rails for stability and noise reduction. It would work with the same 2 assistants that deal with the falling platform, in climbing harness moving up and down a fixed ladder on either side of the elevator as counterweights. Any aerial act that goes up and down has this setup, and it's a lot more compact and performance focussed than stairs, and safer than a ladder for that stuck elevator trick. The original cast had to do a lot of circus training in order to safely do the slapstick, so this can be integrated fairly easily.
Looking at your flat frames for the collapsible walls, are they made from 1x4's? They look thicker than the other flats. They also look like 6'x8'ish wide, not the standard 4x8. That header is really long (18ft?), did you have any issues with it sagging in the middle? You must have had those pillars secured well to the stage floor to keep that whole side secured, especially with the door flat being in the middle.
Would love to see you approach "The Comedy about a Bank Robbery" (also MTC, did 3 years on West End) - another very physical and technical build but great fun.
The actress hit by a door to unconsciousness, how's it done? I'm fairly sure all the slapstick dragging thru the window is done to a mannequin (however I always question myself on it while watching), but if that's true, how do you replace the actress with a puppet on a moment's notice in front of everyone? Thank you for the very interesting video!
Good question! So in the original, it was the actress being tossed around and pulled through the window. But the complexity of safely performing the gag the same way that it was done as on broadway is a bit difficult for the everyday community actress. What we ended up doing was have a cast member go ahead and enter the room to “help” push Sandra through the window. That way it was easier on the actress’ body and safer to maneuver her out of the room.
I would really love to see a picture of the toggle for the door as I cannot for the life of me figure out how they actually unhinge so they don't get seen. Are they modified in some way. Do you have a poroduct name for them. I love how that works. Getting ready to do this with my high school fall 2023
As a 10 year technician for a pair of fairly large haunted houses (a friend ran, and I was the resident nerd, so I got 'make it all move and blink' duties, they were creature effects artists by trade) Id just like to say.....
OH MY FREAKING GOD YES!!!! I LOVE BEHIND THE SCENES STUFF!!! IT DOESNT RUIN THE MAGIC IT MAKES IT BETTER!!!!
Thanks for sharing your tricks! The industry (themed effects, creatures, animatronics, from movies, to stage, to practical, everything) has a real problem with people not sharing their craft with others. Sure, maybe at a meeting of some sort, either a gathering, or convention, or whatnot. But the way its been for a long time is unless you happen across someone in the same industry in person or the off chance in a forum, there is simply no viable way to gain this knowledge and experience. It has legitimately crippled sections of the industry. There are classic effects that everyone over 60 knows how to do, but everyone under 40 hasnt the slightest clue. And eventually that skill, that knowledge, gets lost to time. All because no one shares the techniques, tips, tricks, methods of achieving those effects. Its honestly saddening the amount of knowledge that gets forgotten because some old salt either doesnt want to share how he does a thing to ensure future work or whatever, or simply because he never talks about it, no one asks, and it dies when they do. Forever lost. As technicians, I love nerding out over all the weird, inventive, techniques and especially the fevered panic 'THE SHOW IS STARTING IN 5 MINUTES!!!! AND I NEED TO GET THIS GOING!!!!' or my favorite "Ok, hold the next group for a minute, I need to get a ladder in here and fix that thing stuffed up on top of that wall......SHIT! Thats the show just before this room! I told them to hold......fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck DONE!!! CATCH THIS TOOL BAG AND RUN!!! [slides down ladder and makes it out emergency exit just as the tour gets to that room......wait for them to pass......slide back in behind them, play it cool, just another person in the group......then slide through a secret door into the control room to trigger the next show before the guide figures its glitched and moves on]" stories weve all accumulated over the years. I for one enjoy knowledge dumping on newbies looking to get into effects tech, watching them come up with solutions, some old but they figured it out on their own, some absolutely out of left field but is a far better way of doing things. To prevent the crafts from dying we need to welcome people into taking backstage tours, seeing how its done, showing off the other side of the stage and what goes on. Because, lets be honest, unless youre the actor type, backstage is where the fun really is ;)
It doesnt take away from the magic. It makes it better.
Thanks for such a thorough overview
Ive been really enjoying learning about the stagecraft of the show. So many classic effects.
Good call on the door hinge issue! Magnets would have given you a lot of problems! You'll have a good career if this is what you want to do.
Love these videos!
Elevator can be solved with a lot less backstage real estate using pretty simple (and not expensive) dynamic circus trapeze rigging attached to a platform with a couple of vertical rails for stability and noise reduction. It would work with the same 2 assistants that deal with the falling platform, in climbing harness moving up and down a fixed ladder on either side of the elevator as counterweights.
Any aerial act that goes up and down has this setup, and it's a lot more compact and performance focussed than stairs, and safer than a ladder for that stuck elevator trick. The original cast had to do a lot of circus training in order to safely do the slapstick, so this can be integrated fairly easily.
These were super interesting videos! I always love to see behind the scenes stuff, it's always really impressive to me!
Glad you enjoyed them. Thank you!
Love the behind the scenes info! Regards from Baltiimore.
Saw this play in the West End, it's so funny and it's cool to see how you have achieved the same effects!
Looking at your flat frames for the collapsible walls, are they made from 1x4's? They look thicker than the other flats. They also look like 6'x8'ish wide, not the standard 4x8. That header is really long (18ft?), did you have any issues with it sagging in the middle? You must have had those pillars secured well to the stage floor to keep that whole side secured, especially with the door flat being in the middle.
Fantastic! Great work!
Would love to see you approach "The Comedy about a Bank Robbery" (also MTC, did 3 years on West End) - another very physical and technical build but great fun.
The actress hit by a door to unconsciousness, how's it done? I'm fairly sure all the slapstick dragging thru the window is done to a mannequin (however I always question myself on it while watching), but if that's true, how do you replace the actress with a puppet on a moment's notice in front of everyone?
Thank you for the very interesting video!
Good question!
So in the original, it was the actress being tossed around and pulled through the window.
But the complexity of safely performing the gag the same way that it was done as on broadway is a bit difficult for the everyday community actress. What we ended up doing was have a cast member go ahead and enter the room to “help” push Sandra through the window. That way it was easier on the actress’ body and safer to maneuver her out of the room.
Hi! What did you use for the fire extinguisher?
We used flash paper for the fire and a small fire extinguisher from Lowe’s.
I would really love to see a picture of the toggle for the door as I cannot for the life of me figure out how they actually unhinge so they don't get seen. Are they modified in some way. Do you have a poroduct name for them. I love how that works. Getting ready to do this with my high school fall 2023
We used something called a "Draw Latch" to hold the door hinge pieces in place until it was time to be removed.
The gag isn't as funny without the entire wall falling down. It looks more contrived to keep the header and pillers in places.
The header also stayed in place on the Broadway and touring productions.