Swamp house is also coming along. Next week we'll start installing the equipment needed to make the thing rock back and forth. From there we'll finish the floor and move the props in... hoping to have this done next week.
One no I don't do tons of the physical work ANYMORE...
When I first started in the haunt business I did everything from building of the sets, building the walls, making the props, acting, and all the marketing.
And I continued to do all of this for years and years... many nights I slept at the Darkness because I was too tired to drive home, only to wake up the next day and do it all over again.
As time goes on some people get really good and doing one thing, and you break off and do something you are really good at. Today I have some really good carpenters, sculpters, painters, creative people, animation guys, you name it.
And some cases I don't have the best lighting person so I'll get someone else to come in and help. If I want web cams set up I get the web cam guys to set them up, if I want the best toys for my website I have to hire the best people I can find.
I'm involved in EVERYTHING we do...however we have some pretty creative people working with us, and they create some amazing stuff. I try to find the best people I can find to help the overall company grow.
Nolan who just directed Batman didn't make the movie himself, he didn't write the script himself, he wasn't the camera man, but still he gets most of the credit. It is just how it works isnt it... The Darkness is awesome because there are A LOT of great people working on it including myself.
I go by the place every week and tell everyone what I like and don't like, what to change, what to add, what to leave and what to take away. Am I down there doing much of the physical work...no not anymore.
Shane, I personally installed over 50 haunted houses around the world, and I went on almost EVERY install we EVER DID and worked like a dog, I would always be the last one to leave ask anyone.
These days I don't go on very many because the business requires me to do other things, which I am doing. As your business grows you have to rely on more and more people to get the job done and that is what I'm doing.
I don't know why I keep wasting my breath answering your questions but...
I AM involved in EVERY aspect of our haunted house... actually to the point that I drive some of my staff CRAZY! LOL
I'm the do over king...if I don't like it or it wasn't done exactly how I wanted it it is a do over. When we worked on Kennywood that was a big bone when they guys who were working on the graveyard got the TEAR IT OUT do over speech. They wanted to kill me... I ended up doing the Graveyard myself more or less. At Kennywood every prop, every animation, was put in place by myself, I pointed out where I wanted everything.
Jim for example would say...ahhh we're not putting anything in until Larry tells us where he wants everything, because we're not doing it twice! LOL
That is how we operate. At Kennywood about the only thing I didn't have a say in was the colors the painters painted everything, our head artists picked everything and did an awesome job at it. But say for example in the Darkness's new scenes I did tell Jim who told the painters what colors I wanted the rooms. Sometimes I'm totally involved and other times I am not. Sometimes I'm the one moving all the props into place and sometimes I am not.
BOTTOM LINE... nothing is done at the Darkness be it marketing, new scenes, what we buy, what we design or build nothing without me involved. Period!
So yes I am involved in everything and have been since day one! The point of this thread is education, not debates. I want everyone to enjoy the photos and be inspired by them. I am personally inspired by all the photos everyone shares!
Things are really cooking at the Darkness this week. By weeks end the whole place will be done theming wise, and construction wise. The final steps will be lighting, cleaning, some painting and animations.
All work will switch to Creepyworld and I will start a new thread simply on Creepyworld.
There will be a few more pics coming on Darkness over the next few days.
Also here is one pictures of the steel truck that showed up for our building add on... BEAMS already went into the air folks. Today the first beams went up. Within three weeks the whole structure will be up in the air. For Transworld 2009 show it will be done and a second haunted house will be built.
That is a huge canvas that we painted with real paints, then went over it in blacklight to make it looking like a deep forest. You barely see it because the room is covered in vines but it looks cool its lit with blacklights.
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