Thread: Help:Short Notice

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Well, short for us obsessive folk.

My Mother in Law just asked me to do up her classroom for their School party/fund raiser on October 22.

Every year they have a costume fair. Typically, there is cake walks, games, prizes and etc. Everything costing some tickets that parents can buy, or kids can earn in class for being good.

Normally, my mother in law has been in charge of a silly game, or the cake walk. This year, she wants me to set up a "little spook alley".

Now, all my stuff is typically geered to outdoors usage, and very tribal in feel. However, I have a TON of stuff in storage that doesn't fit my yard theme I've been dying to get out and play with.

What I have to work with:

1 classroom
Fred (corpsified bucky)
More skulls than possibly needed
Various animal skulls and bones
hides
2 strobes
4 black lights
NUMBEROUS C7 sockets that either are, or can be made into flicker circuits
3 "plasma balls"
4 wigheads
Witch, wizard, zombie, and scarecrow masks
numberous wierdo homemade 'masks'
300 yards of 5 ft tall black cloth

CAN MAKE in time:

MASSIVE cauldron. (4 ft tall, 4 ft wide)
beakers, bottles, etc
tables, frames, etc.


With the limited space, I'm opting to do one theme WELL, and make it a little show. 3-5 minute skit for the patrons to see.

And, Ive boiled it down to 2 options:

1: The Witch.

Aside from the fun that is nhaving my mother in law portray the role of a witch... (I really love her) it givesme the chance to get the cauldron made, and use te bottles and stuff to make witches jars. Both of which eventually will be used at home.

2: The Mad Scientist.

Frankenstein's experiment gone wrong.

Put fred on a table, covered in a white cloth. Give a little spiel, throw the switch, lights above are switched to a flicker cirtuit, and the strobes under the sheet light Fred up, throwing the skeletal shadow on the sheet. Turning the switch off, pulling the sheet up to see the failed experiment.



Options? Opinions? Details?

Just to throw this in the mix: Since you may have a bit more time with the kids you can also do the feel bags (dried apricots - tongues, et.). Kids love that!

I like the idea of the mad scientist table. Maybe you could make it some type of alchemy laboratory or evil witches' lair - witch's lair she could be trying to bring back someone from the dead. You could look some things up online and if you can afford it or get donations maybe you could even do something kewl that the kids would get to keep or use a ticket to have also when leaving... the thing that comes to mind first is icecream -made chemically (liquid nitrogen) instead of by traditional means. When our local college does their halloween trick or treat event the science dept always makes it, and it's a huge hit.

Yeah...I wanted to do ye olde cauldron of homemade rootbeer. I was told no treats.

The bags of eyeballs, tongues, brains, etc is doable.

I just noticed you had blacklights. How about a dot room?

I like the witch idea best.. JMO

How old are the students?

Elementary age, so ranging from kindergarten up through 6th.

I DO have the makings of a dot room. SOMEWHERE in storage, there IS even an eye room. (glow in the dark eyes instead of dots painted on fabric) with 6 matching costumes. It's kinda my backup if I run out of time to make something new plan.

(Man, I'm noticing I type terribly on the laptop (posts above this one), not that I'm great on a proper size keyboard, but that's near unreadable up there)

Anyhow, the Mother in Law likes the scientist idea best. And, I'll get photos of my sketches (I suck at drawing though, be warned) up soon.

So, furthering the plan:

Students enter classroom, I'll have a wall built to force them down a hall and entering the room. Mary (my mother in law) will be on the far side of the classroom. She'll invite the kids over to show them her new breakthrough, explaining she's found a way to bring back the dead. Removing curtain to reveal me in a rather unique interpretation of the monster, in a cage. I rattle the bars and growl and whatnot. She covers me with the curtains again, explaining she's still working out some side effects.

Then, moves to the other side, of the room, explaining she'll show how it's done. There is the table with Fred on it, covered in a white sheet. Electric wires running and whatnot. She invites one of the kids to throw the switch. Lights go out in the room, strobes (or possibly flicker circuit lights, gotta make sure no epileptic kids go to the school before I use strobes) go on under the cloth flashing the skeletal shadow all over the sheet.

With all the kids focused on the table, I'll 'break' out of the cage. Numberous ways to accomplish this from rubber bars to pre-broke ones. Anyway, I break out, and pull back the curtain to let the kids eventually see the broken cage, and sneak around that wall they first came in on, which they are all facing now.

Mary says something's wrong, turns the switch off, restoring lights to the room. Pulls the sheet off of Fred to reveal the skeletal remains. Will probably have some dry ice loose on the table as well to give a bit of 'smoke' to it even. She's inspecting Fred, muttering something went wrong, and looks up to see the 'broken cage'.

Oh no, He's loose! Kids turn to see broken cage, Mary tells them to hurry out the back exit, and I pop out from behind the wall to um, usher them out the exit.

Good, ~5 min kit or so.

So, what you all think?

Too much, too complicated, too little?

And what details do we need around the room?

Planning on putting a complicated formula on the chalkboard (possibly the one from the movie) easily have access to the lightning balls and a few other 'scientist' things to throw on some desks. Couple skulls here or there. What else is easy, cheap and fitting?

Little test run of the lighting, switch, and wiring. Still need to get the electric sound effects to go when the switch is flipped. Anyone know where to get a good electric sound?

YouTube - Lab Test

Looking gooood!

How about this for a lab room? http://davesworld56.250free.com/labsounds.mp3

Here's where I got it from. They have loads!
Dave's Free Halloween Sounds Page!