# Carnival X 2012



## studiokraft

Hello All,

First time posting pics to this forum! We were among those who had Trick or Treating postponed from Halloween, but consider ourselves lucky to have avoided Sandy's wrath. We had spent a couple of days that we would have spent preparing for Halloween preparing for Sandy instead, so the postponement meant that we would actually have a display this year - for that we are thankful. Our hearts go out to those who are still without power and who suffered damages from the hurricane.

We don't set up our display until the day of, and this year we had to start at around 7AM in order to be ready by 3PM (Official "start" of ToTing according to the town) The theme is a carnival which is "summoned" on Halloween, so the fact that our yard is bare the day before and after fits nicely into that idea.

We probably had around 50 guests, which wasn't bad for a Monday that isn't Halloween I guess, but we are hoping for better weather and a better turnout next year.

And now, some pics:

The Ringmaster and Ringmistress welcome you!










The mascot beckons you to enter:










Gitana the Gypsy tells guests their fortune:










The Carnival has two games ("Dead Ringer" and "Cemetery Shootout")










Hopefully more to come, we have enjoyed seeing what everyone in the forum has done, it is all very inspiring.


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## studiokraft

*More Pics*

Some more pics of Carnival X:

"Shall we play a game?"










"Excuse me, do you have a ticket?"










The interior of "Cemetery Shootout", a functioning shooting gallery:










ToTers loved the games:










Here's a brief video:


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## Sawtooth Jack

Love your welcome sign and the way the flat graphics are integrated into your Skellie's wardrobe!


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## studiokraft

Thanks, Sawtooth! It means a lot coming from someone with your obvious talent!


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## Joiseygal

Very cool! I love the pics!!!


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## kauldron

Great set-up. The games for the ToTs is an awesome idea. I hope you really had a lot of fun, it looks like it was.


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## Haunted Bayou

That is really good. Love the costumes.


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## RoxyBlue

Those first two photos set the mood by capturing the look and feel of a carnival perfectly. The ringmaster and ringmistress look fabulous - I love the costumes and makeup!


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## Headless

studiokraft said:


> The mascot beckons you to enter:


Absolute class studiokraft. Love a carnival theme. Well done!


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## studiokraft

Joiseygal said:


> Very cool! I love the pics!!!


Thanks! I hope to be posting some more and some short videos as well.



kauldron said:


> Great set-up. The games for the ToTs is an awesome idea. I hope you really had a lot of fun, it looks like it was.


Thank you! The kids loved to play the games and earn an extra treat. For some reason a couple of the targets in the shooting gallery stopped working the minute I set it up, but most of them still worked so it was a hit.



Haunted Bayou said:


> That is really good. Love the costumes.


Thank you! That is my lovely wife's work, along with the makeup. The costumes are a blending of items purchased and handmade.



RoxyBlue said:


> Those first two photos set the mood by capturing the look and feel of a carnival perfectly. The ringmaster and ringmistress look fabulous - I love the costumes and makeup!


Thanks! We hope to add more detail to our theme as the years progress. There was still a lot that was less than refined that we want to improve upon, but we were happy with the costumes (although they could be a bit warmer if we are going to continue to have Halloween temps in the 40s)



Headless said:


> Absolute class studiokraft. Love a carnival theme. Well done!


Thanks! We want to refine the theme to be more Victorian/Steampunk, so perhaps next year we will be more on that track. We did love how the entry arch came out, he's a keeper!


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## creeperguardian

Wow i like it very very creepy


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## beelce

SOOO cool....! Love your theme look


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## tdhg

Wow !!! I raise a salute to this!


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## Hairazor

Hot Dang! I want to play your games and run around drinking in your awesome set up


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## CoolDJTV

love the games


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## studiokraft

creeperguardian said:


> Wow i like it very very creepy


Thanks! We weren't trying for anything gory (obviously), but we'll take "creepy"!



beelce said:


> SOOO cool....! Love your theme look


Thank you, we hope to continue to refine it and add more details, etc.



tdhg said:


> Wow !!! I raise a salute to this!


Major Thanks, General! <salute> 



Hairazor said:


> Hot Dang! I want to play your games and run around drinking in your awesome set up


So long as you're drinking some apple cider or something, sure! 



CoolDJTV said:


> love the games


Thanks, we hope to add some more next year! The kids loved playing them!

I also hope to put together a better video than the one that is currently on the 1st page of the thread, I'll post it there when it is completed.


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## turtle2778

Absolutely love the mascot, I have wanted to do a carnival forever and this is just exactly what I thought of for the entrance. I swear you guys pulled that out of my head and made it even cooler.


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## studiokraft

Thanks, Turtle!

This was our first year with the carnival theme and hope to do it even better next year! I put together a short video which I have linked from the first page, but here is another version:


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## Hairazor

Taking in, taking in (drinking in)


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## Pumpkin5

:jol:This is a wonderful haunt! I love the entrance, it is perfection! You totally captured the carnival theme and your costuming was spot on and so creative. You guys looked fantastic and it reminded me of the movie, Something Wicked This Way Comes. Lots of fun, with ominous undertones.....Very well done!


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## MapThePlanet

Very cool setup and imagery. Love the projected Ferris Wheel! Interaction with the kids (and their parents) is always a win-win!! I had the same thought as Pumpkin5, "Something Wicked This Way Comes."

Dang it! Way to many cool ideas for only 338 days til next year!!


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## weezllane

In your shooting gallery, did the props move or respond to the targets getting shot? If so, how did you achieve it?

Lovely designs, btw. My wheels are a spinning now.


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## studiokraft

Pumpkin5 said:


> :jol:This is a wonderful haunt! I love the entrance, it is perfection! You totally captured the carnival theme and your costuming was spot on and so creative. You guys looked fantastic and it reminded me of the movie, Something Wicked This Way Comes. Lots of fun, with ominous undertones.....Very well done!


Thank you for the compliments! I actually did use Something Wicked This Way Comes as inspiration, along with others, so that is good that it came through a bit! We wanted to do so much more, but as always, never enough time...



MapThePlanet said:


> Very cool setup and imagery. Love the projected Ferris Wheel! Interaction with the kids (and their parents) is always a win-win!!


Thanks! The Ferris Wheel was tricky to accomplish, glad you noticed it! The kids absolutely loved the games, and the parents appreciated the whole setup and decor.



weezllane said:


> In your shooting gallery, did the props move or respond to the targets getting shot? If so, how did you achieve it?


Yes, the Shooting Gallery was entirely functional, the ToTers would come up and pull the trigger to start the game, and then get 5 shots to try to hit the targets. If they hit a target they got a bonus treat (Bag of Cotton Candy) Getting the targets and gun together took the majority of time in creating this year's display, without a doubt.

The gun uses a low-power laser to send a beam out to the targets, which sense the laser light in the case of a "hit" and send a signal to the prop to operate.

Each of the props are store-bought items, from Big Lots and Wal-Mart and such, that were modified so that instead of being triggered by motion or sound, they were triggered by a little electronic board that I made to detect the hit on the target and start the prop.

Whenever possible I tried to use the "Try Me" feature of the props since that tends to be a shorter routine than when they are triggered by sound, light or motion, but for some props it just wasn't possible. Those "Boogie Men" in the front of the Gallery would sing almost the entire song when they were triggered.

The gun was connected to a coffin-shaped box that contained the electronic "logic" for the game as well as a Tenda MP3 board that would play the gunshot sound when the trigger was pulled as well as welcome and game over music.

Each of the props had a small microphone attached so that their sounds could be heard through speakers in the front of the gallery (the props were 12 feet away from the shooter, and our ambient music may have overpowered the sounds the props made)

I am still mad at myself for not getting a video of the Gallery in action! I hope to post something in the Technological Terror forum regarding how the Shooting Gallery was all designed and put together but I am not sure when I will be able to do so...

Thanks to everyone for looking!


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## weezllane

I will keep an eye out for the how-to. I'm already formulating a plan for a shooting gallery thing next year. If I can, I'd like to incorporate some of the pneumatic props I built this past year. I need to read up on some basic electronics first, tho.

Good job.


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## Mystic Manor

That's the coolest thing I've ever seen! Very creative. Video was entertaining as well.


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## The Halloween Lady

Your work is very creeepy and captivating. Excellent work.


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## HauntCast

The ticket booth is worth the price of admission.... ba dum dum


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## GhoulishCop

StudioKraft,

Terrific pictures of the haunt! Where in NJ are you located? I'm in northern NJ and would love to be able to see your set up next year in person. Great job!

Rich


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## studiokraft

Well obviously I never got around to posting a how-to. :\ Busy with getting the targets ready for this year's shooting gallery. I hope to make it fit the theme by convering each of the targets to tombstones, thus becoming more of a "cemetery shootout". I hoped to complete my groundskeeper animatronic, which would heckle the players, but I don't think I have enough time left for this year 

I will have a new window projection, the entranceway is animated now, and some other changes are in store for this year - pics will be posted soon.


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## hpropman

Wow, I can not wait - I was thinking of doing a carnival for next year now I know that I want to do one! the shooting Gallery Heckler is a great idea. Now I need to grab some of those Guitar playing props from this year I think that they would work great in the gallery.


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## ATLfun

studiokraft said:


> I will have a new window projection, the entranceway is animated now, and some other changes are in store for this year - pics will be posted soon.


Your theme is very well done and I look forward to pics of this year's enhancements.


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## BunchOfHocusPocus

I love the theme and the costumes! Everything looks fantastic! Wish I could have been there.


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## hpropman

how did this years Carnival turn out?


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## studiokraft

Hope to be posting some pics and a video of the shooting gallery in action soon! Time got away from me this year so unfortunately we didn't have as many "new" pieces to our haunt as we had hoped, and had about as many ToTers as we did last year, but I think we had a better projection and a better Midway this year - stay tuned!


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## ATLfun

We look forward to seeing them, even if they are essentially the same as last year. Every time you take pictures there is always one or two that perfectly capture the essence of your haunt. And with all the effort you put into it the carnival set-up, I think you can milk that theme for several years.

.


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