Thread: Transitions!

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I don't know what to do about transitions in my yard haunt... When you go from one "room" to another, I'm not sure what to put "in between"!

Should I simply leave each transition as a dark passage with nothing in it? Or put in some type of divider to hang from above?

Any ideas?

What themes are you jumping from one to the next room ? are they a connected theme or random scenes / themes ?

Well, most of the back-to-back themes will be related, but a few will change completely.

One of the transitions will be from a Laboratory scene to a Boiler Room of sorts.
Another is the switch from a Mansion-type Hallway to a Spiders' Lair Room.
Also one will be where you would go from a Forest into a Cornfield.
One more is the change between a Cemetery and a Strobe Room.

If all else fails, I'll probably just make a dark but brief walkway between each scene, except for the "outdoor" type ones like the forest, cemetery, etc.

The Lab to boiler room, i would maybe do a wall doorway divider,

The mansion hallway to spider lair, I would l slowly add webs as you get to the mansion hallway end & transition it in the lair or add a doorway at the end of the hall & enter the spider room lair ( if you need ant spider sound effect I've got a few )

Forest to cornfield, I would fade to a black hallway at the forest end & come out into cornfield...... ( also have some great SFX for haunted forest & cornfield )

Cemetery to strobe room...... hmmmm How about cemetery to the "great beyond" of eternity or limbo........ end cemetery in a dark hallway that suddenly turns on strobes in final room with the swirling sounds of spirit whispers......( Think I have some spirit chatter / whispers too...)

OOH! Good ideas!

Like you said, I think if the room is geared more toward being "indoor" like the laboratory, I could incorporate the wall background of the room onto the transition door you would go through to exit.

I really like your idea of the spirit whispers in the strobe room! I've never thought of any real theme to that area...

Thanks Dark lord! You set my mind on FI-YAH!

Remember darkness and sounds can be a bigger scare than a room full of props.

I would put the spider room first then the Mansion-type Hallway and in between have a totally dark small hall (24-30 inches wide) with thread hanging from the ceiling and cotton balls on the wall.

After leaving the spider room the mind will take over in total darkness and he thread hitting the ToTs will make then think spider webs and feeling the cotton balls as the feel their way through will feel like fuzzy spiders.

Sound can be used in any of the others. Screams or whispers moving from speaker to speaker...from in front to behind the ToTs will make them feel surrounded. Easy to set up and can be done for under $50 dollars.

Two sets of PC speakers (couple dollars thrift store), 2 relays ($10), a mp3 player ($15) for the sound and a light controller that will switch the relays/speakers on and off and from one to the other ($20). Set one speaker at one end of the hall and the other at the beginning. You could put a slow strobe that goes on and off every few seconds so the ToTs can look for what's making the sound (animals, ghost, monster)

Here's a video of one of the light controllers I make (from Christmas lights) and if you used one instead of lights...it would be the speakers switching on and off starting out slow then faster and faster. I've used it in a wide room and with 4 sets of speakers to make the ToTs feel like they were surrounded. Got a lot of good comments on that room.

Ya the strobe room didn't seem to fit, so just needed to adapt a theme possibility.... a spirit room just seemed to connect it to the rest instead of just being a strobe room. If you had someone in there dressed in black ( reaper outfit ) just moving around a little in the shadows / background would give them something to know was in there with them without actually / obvious seeing a prop or actor,....the unknown with a glimps of movement within the strobes every so often & voices should do it !!

a couple of slow set strobes might be best, creepier than fast.........

as madmax said, darkness & sound can be an awesome scare ! I use a heavy black thread ( canvas thread ) that i hang down that always gives them a chill. & Madmax's idea of small cotton balls on a few ends of thread..... good idea !!

Always glad to help get your mind going....LoL & like I said if you need any sound effects for the rooms, i got ya covered with some creepy stuff !!

I like to use anticipation to fuel my scares. We are using some long hallways to accommodate the transitions. Placing a few small things (beware, high voltage, system under pressure signs for example) gets the subconscious racing about potential. They scare themselves that way.
Good luck. I'm sure you'll find something that works for you.

Thanks everyone!

One of the things I did last year is hang good ol' fishing line from above so visitors would touch it and it would give the feeling of cobwebs. It worked great! Some people complained and were actually trying to remove the webs from their skin, ha ha!