Thread: Do your actors act?

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I been trying for a few years now to get my actors to act! I try to tell them what to do or how to act in certain rooms, they all say yes I can act like that and then when the nights come... all they say is "boo"!
What I would like to know is how do your evil clowns act? and what do your vampires and devils say and do? You can t get mad at your actors , cause you want them to have fun ,especially since all of my help is family and friends. And witches!..... I can t find anything for my witch to do. I don t want her to stir a cauldron, everyone does that. I don t want anything cute! I want everything to be down right FRIGHTNING!!! any Ideas?
Thanks in advance

You need dedicated actors to get them into character. A group of us who didn't have our own haunts for some reason [apartment, no ToTs in neighborhood, disapproving spouse] help a friend run his haunted maze. Because we all wish we could have a haunt, we're really into it. He has everyone over on Labor Day and we plan out what things we want to do based on the props in storage, new ideas, the people who are willing to help, etc. People then take responsibility for a room or scene. One couple takes the grave yard every year and they add a couple stones to expand it or replace cheap commercial stones or damaged pieces. I built a mausoleum for a vampire's coffin. One of the tall skinny guys [unlike me] wanted to be a vampire so he was the actor in my room and I was the go-fer for everybody else. because I wanted to make a cool prop, i got to build the coffin. Because Craig wanted to be a vampire, he did a good job. tim gets almost 400 kids on a Halloween with nice weather. Getting to be on crew is by invitation--I handed out candy my first year; I was a faceless thing in the fog maze room [which another guy was in charge of--I was just acting] for 2 years and I got to have my own room/area my 4th year. Good luck!

Buy, make, or get a gift card or some kind of prize and tell them the most creative actor gets a prize at the end of the night maybe that will get their juices bubbling. I don't have people within my scene mine is pure display. Would love to have a walk thru haunt but I don't know anyone who is into it as much as I am besides my hubby and my dad. That's it around here. Other houses most I see is a flashing strobe on the porch and spooky music but at least they have that. Most just hand out candy.

G'Luck with your actors...

This is an annual issue for us. We have mostly teenage boys who help us out. None of them are very "demonstrative" and while they like a good scare, they don't really get into character as much as they could. We coach them a little before each year but know they could really amp it up and give the patrons a good show if they wanted to. That said, we're happy to have the help since we need no less than 8 helpers to man the haunt. We've never had complaints though so it works.

I'd offer some sort of incentive... Scariest, Funniest, or Best Actor... Have the people who come through vote which areas/actors they like the best, and then reward them accordingly!

I volunteered for a Museum here in Daygo when I was in HS many moons ago, and they had people vote at the end which room they liked the best and which one scared them the most. The winners got a bag of candy, and $10 gift cert to the museum. My best friend was one of the winners. We all knew there was a contest going on, so we worked harder, had more fun, and scared people better.

Just an idea, but motivating teenagers with rewards are always a good idea... even if it's pizza, candy and junk food. =)

I dont have any hired actors for my gig, but its a group of creepry critters that love to spook! They know that they will hear feedback from the TOT's if they suck! Lol! So they tend to stay alive and very intense. It is only a 4-5 hour deal most so they always give it their all!

Now my kids on the other hand just watch while handing out candies to the TOTs...

Are these paid actors or friends/acquaintances who volunteered to help? Because if you're paying them they should do their job or payday for them.

We just set up for one night and have volunteers. We've learned to only use certain people for talking roles.

For the most part as soon as the kids hear a persons voice the scare is over, They've just related something scary to just being a person. Silent works best for most of our volunteers, unless they are gifted. It seems few are lol. But a creepy silent person staring at them and getting in their personal space does the trick every time ...until they talk lol DON'T TALK please!

A few years ago one of the actors refused to go with the script. What he was saying and doing was just...well, stupid. He was frustrated and kept saying the kids weren't scared. It's so hard to not hurt someones feelings while saying "We told you to stay in the dark corner, you didn't, we told you to stay silent, you didn't, We told you to keep a serious face, you didn't"

He was supposed to stay crouched in a dark corner and then start crawling along the wall toward people turning his back to them as he got closer to expose the evil twin crawling out of his back. He walked right up to people and said "I have an itch can you scratch my back" Why he didn't get why that wasn't scary I don't know lol.

Try pumping them full of Slurpees just before you start.

Seriously, you need to be selective in whom you put in an acting situation. You don't want characters simply going through the motions. We had a Sweeney Todd exhibit several years back, 1993. AN old friend of mine from Australia grew his hair out and went so far as to grew mutton-chop sideburns. He already had the accent and with costume and make-up, he was the very picture of the Demon Barber, but he just couldn't get into character. A few times he let loose, but for the most part, his room was the least scarey of the entire set-up. We even had rehearsals, but Rodney was a disappointment on the Big Night.
And yet, other people are naturals. We get characters ad-libbing, interacting with guests, it's great. Ya never know.

I don t want [my witches doing] anything cute! I want everything to be down right FRIGHTNING!!! any Ideas?

How about gutting a rat or bat. A rubber bat, some latex glove fingers filled with cotton balls (or something) for guts and some fake blood. Pulling the guts out and putting them in a little pot? Sounds gross to me.