Nuts and Volts - September 2014

end so we can run the cables in, and mount the controllers and devices on the end furthest from the hole (Figure 2). The lid is then sealed with duct tape and the entire assembly is mounted vertically with the hole at the bottom. A garbage bag is wrapped around the entire thing, and lo and behold, we have nearly perfect weatherproofing for less than $10. As straightforward as they are, I have yet to see any of them fail; they easily stay in place for a month and a half with no issues.

Even the best can't do it alone.

Automation is a huge boon to any haunt, and ours is no exception. It's the sad truth of any production that the tech jobs are not the most glamorous nor the most desirable, and with an all-volunteer cast, anything I can do to lessen the need for a person to sit in one place to reliably fire off an effect is worth doing. Manpower is always a challenge for a volunteer organization, and one of our primary tools for fighting that currently is the PicoBoo/BooBox controllers from Frightprops.com. They are dead simple in operation, which comes in handy.

An example of this was at our recent Quest Night event. There was a segment where our beleaguered and battered team of heroes (the customers, naturally) had to enter a ruined abandoned temple to search for the secret hiding place of the dread Lich King. Almost in passing, I made a joke about an Indiana Jones-esque moment where we fired poisoned darts at the customers. (Because what ruined temple is complete without poisoned darts?) The legality of actually darting our customers was called into question quickly, so I set about devising a way to fake it with automation.

The simplest way to accomplish the effect was a series of directed air blasts. One of the PicoBoo controllers has the capability to control four outputs, making it perfect for the effect. I grabbed four solenoids from our supply bin and set to work. The solenoids are pretty standard; they are a five-port model, with two outputs and two exhausts. Perhaps they are a bit overkill for this particular effect, but they were available which is what makes them perfect.

Like a lot of our last-minute effects, this particular effect didn't have an elaborate planning session. The idea came up in a meeting, it was agreed it would be fun, and the next day I was on site building it. Even so, I made a quick sketch on a scrap bit of paper to make sure the logic was sound (Figure 3).

An offshoot of our master air line would enter a four-way manifold to distribute the air to the solenoids. Pneumatic tubing was run from the solenoids, poked through four different holes in the wall, and then taped into place.

The electronics side was easy, as well. An infrared break-beam would provide the trigger signal to the controller. Each of the four solenoids was wired to a separate output on the controller (Figure 4) and a quasi-random pattern was programmed in after a short delay.

Once the beam was broken, a five second timer began. Like any good tech, I decided to test this effect by calling the director over to "check something out." His startled reaction was an indication that the effect was good, and reports from our customers agreed. The manifold, controller, and solenoids were packed in one of our waterproof boxes, and it was screwed into the offstage side of the wall. After it was placed, it didn't need to be messed with or altered until it was time to take down the haunt.

Making sure the customers have a blast.

Quite possibly our most popular effect — both with customers and crew — is our gore cannons. These effects are responsible for the mass-drenching of thousands of people a year, and also the creation and consumption of hundreds of gallons of fake blood. This effect is usually placed in an area of particular significance to the story, be it the demise of the Big Bad at the end of the haunt, or a troubled toilet connected Born out of the ashes of the legendary haunts Britannia Manor and Haunted Trails, and raised from the infamous backyard haunt of local celebrity Jarrett Crippen (a.k.a., The Defuser — winner of Stan Lee's "Who Wants To Be A Superhero?" contest), SCARE for a CURE's talented, creative, and fiendish crew of special effects artists, set builders, audio and lighting techs, costume designers, makeup artists, and actors work year-round alongside volunteers from community organizations throughout central Texas to build the haunt bigger and better each year.