blooloop: Entertainment Project Services (EPS), a full-service design development company specialising in mechanical design and project management within the entertainment industry, was tasked with creating the invisible infrastructure for Universal Horror Unleashed. This involved supporting lighting, sound, and effects across all mazes.
4 comments:
It is hard to see the actual product even on their showcase in their website which at some point does show how good of a job they did. I consistently see the pipe grid but not the attachments up to the warehouse roof. I do see the lights that are distributed out through the maze but not much else. Maybe some network boxes here and there as well. It is impressive to transform a space into what you want the audience to see while hiding what you don’t want them to see. It looks like they are a very capable entertainment solution with most of their work with overhead structures and design. From automation to water effects and performer flying the effects that they make are fantastical but some hide away as unseen as possible. It will be interesting to see what they make next and how it will be seen by their audiences.
Over fall break, I was fortunate enough to get backstage lights on tour of the Halloween Horror Nights in Universal Orlando, and the way they did lighting was to get small lights, similar to the size of Source4 Minis, and grab tinfoil. They used the tin foil to make DIY barn doors and half hats for the lights. Then someone on the production leadership was like “I don’t like how its silver”, so they covered it in black gaff tape. Yep, a park that charged over $150 for a 4 hour ticket to this event used black gaff and tin foil to create lighting accessories. It’s safe to say I am very happy they called in the professionals for this thing that is actually going to be staying longer then 2 months, rather than trying to DIY everything like they do in orlando. I do think universal might be dumping too much money into this though, their just doesnt seem to be enough demand for this type of entertainment.
I feel like this really goes to show how much time, effort money and engineering go into the experiences at these amusement parks. As stated in the article there is pretty much a whole planned skeleton of this attraction and how most "run on the mill"haunted houses are built piece by piece. It has been a while since I was at Universal but I think that it would be really cool to go back and go to the attractions with the view of someone who is now working in technical theater. Being able to pick out the elaborate scenic design along with the use of the lighting and atmospherics to convey that "spooky”emotion would be pretty neat. Overall, I think that this truly goes to show how elaborate these things are and if I could ever get the chance, I would love to see how this works from the back end of things!
The technical work that went into this sounds truly insane. I definitely don't think the structural aspect of huge projects like this is ever talked about enough, you just really don't think about it. The haunted house I worked in (granted this was a high school theaters haunted house) was very much the piecemeal installation process the article mentions. The fore thought that goes into a haunted house is already so significant before coinciding how it is all rigged and hidden from guests which makes this a truly impressive feat. I am so curious about if I got to go as a guest and was specifically looking for the well hidden infrastructure would I see it or is it truly invisible so as not to break the illusion at all. I am really curious what the masking looks like and what the height of everything is, this sounds like a very fun haunted house experience that I wish I could see.
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