Just a quick post to share some photos from our first Fostering Haunting event. These were shared with us by one of our great participants, Tamra, and shows some of the work that was done. So here ya go!

This is Matt again continuing my series on haunted house development and design. So what I got today is the process taking things from a drawing to existing. Probably the neatest thing is thinking of this huge crazy idea, drawing it out and then standing back to see it actually exist but here, anything’s possible. So here are some original conceptualizations from when we first moved in with their result.

The Façade

So here’s the original idea for the front façade area where you wait to enter the haunt. We all serve important rolls when making things at Circle of Ash. I drew this out, Ian figured out the placement, space and size of the front façade. Jeff fabricated the metal frames that make up the canvas walls. Brad orchestrated all the details from supervising the cemetery scene painting with lots of help from regulars, painting the logo and placing stones around the entrance.

And here is the result.

The Outdoor Area

Here’s an overhead of the outdoor area

And there’s the outdoor area our first year after Jess painted our creepy trees and added flowers and other foliage coming out of the walls! This area has been evolving to contain some newly developed severe thunder storms coming 2013!

The Basement

This is a simple three layer wall design to include a brick first layer, wood stud second layer and dilapidated sheetrock third layer area I call the basement.

And here’s the basement as I was building it, there’s actually a lot of detail to see, that is, if your not running from anything.

So if you’re looking for a odd hobby/or are interested in creating some awesome stuff get involved here! And make sure to creep on us on Facebook, in this instance, stalkers are welcome!

Oh and we’re hosting a free class to show you how to easily make cheep/ awesome looking props through a process called corpsification! At the least, come hang out behind the scenes of a haunted house, listen to some good music and hang out with some cool people.

Matt

So this blog thing is kind of new to some of us, and new again to others. So I figured I would take this opportunity to let you know who it is that does this thing called Circle of Ash.

First of all, there is our cast and crew. These are the people who we see when October rolls around. We count on them when the time comes, as they are the backbone of what we do.  However, there are others that we see much more often throughout the year.  These are the dedicated (Read: Especially Crazy!) ones. These are also the ones that you will be hearing from the most on this blog.  By the way, these are in no particular order other than the way they came into my head.

Ian – Technical Ace. Makes all of the lights, props, and sounds run like they are supposed to. In addition he does all of the website stuff so that you can read this.

Matt – Construction Master. Builds a lot of the really cool stuff you see around the haunt. You can see some of his work in the previous post.

Chelsea – Make-up and Costume Goddess. She (Along with Amy) are the ones who make all of the hideous creatures you see roaming our maze. She also has a hand in creating some of the scenes you see.

Amy – Make-up Goddess and Cast Babysitter. Speaking of Amy, she is our lead make-up person. Also, during the season, she makes sure to get the cast whatever they need (and they sure are needy!)

Sam – Props Wizard. If something hops, bounces, blows or otherwise moves, the chances are Sam has had a hand in making sure that happens.

Brad – Painter/Builder Extraordinaire. Brad is our go-to guy for detailed scenes. If something  has an especially detailed paint job, that was probably Brad heading that up.

Josh – Money Guru. He’s the one that handles that, and for that we are thankful. None of us want to do that.

Mark – Marketing guy. Last, and probably least. I am the one that tries to make sure that you come see us when the time comes. You’re coming, right?

So, that gives you an insight as to who we are that lead this thing.
Oh, also before I end this post, I want to give a shameless plug for our first Fostering Haunting event. This workshop on April 11^th, we are going to show you how we make body parts that look like they are decaying and recently unburied. So, go sign up now here.
So, that’s it! Have a good day!

-Mark

Well, with the start of the blog I thought I would document some of the projects I work on for the haunt through the year.

This first project is something I started last Thursday and you can see how far I got in just 90 minutes. This is also my first attempt at making an artificial stalactite for our caverns and cathedrals area of the haunt for set design.

I started off with a flat section of 3/8″ plywood and measured my square so it would be no larger than 30″x30″ per fire code so we don’t block the sprinklers. I found and marked the middle then offset the center points of the 2 main formations in the stalactite making a larger and smaller one. From there I drew a quick outline and cut it with a jig saw.

Next I took two 2″x4″‘s, one longer for the larger formation and one smaller, cut them to the appropriate length and also cut 15 degree angle cuts on the ends to facilitate them later coming to a point as they will be hanging down. Those were simply attached to the plywood.

Next I took chicken wire and wrapped it around the outer perimeter.

And secured that by stapling it on the bottom of the plywood.

Next to add stability to the chicken wire form I put in some small cross braces so the width would be about half of the height of each formation and stapled the wire to them as well.

So this is where the sculpting part comes into play. On each main formation I cut the chicken wire from the top almost all the way down each quarter of the way around the 2″x4″ so I can start making it more of a cone shape. This will cause the wire to overlap it’s self which I just bend together to make it a solid outer form again.

Here are some of my overlaps wired together again.

And this allows you to start making your cone shape and valley between both formations. The valley was made by adding another smaller piece of wire section between both formations, cutting and sculpting it to your desired shape.

And this is what I was able to make in 90 minutes, just about the time I was getting sick of working on it. But with this start it’ll be pretty easy to finish by adding the last of the wire and then covering with monster mud which will be the outer sheathing.  Ultimately it will be finished, detail painted and hung up to accentuate our cavern themed area. Not bad for my first attempt from scratch.

Matt

We have become too sterile.

Yep.  As the haunt has matured from Frightmare Forest to Circle of Ash, we overlooked one seriously critical component:  Our personality.

So, we are going to do what anyone would do that has realized they have lost a part of themselves… we’re gonna put it back.  This blog represents the beginning of this, and while we can’t guarantee that we will update it all the time, we will make an effort.  It won’t be just one of the crew, either.  It will be MOST of the crew.

I hope you find it interesting and fun.  We sure will!