[CombichristGirl]

wow holy heck. i love everything uve done and cant wait to see the " decked out" product

[paddy_babe]

I agree, the stocks look really realistic! nice one.

[AmandaMzMetal]

WOW! Can you like..adopt me??

[mesmark]

WOW! Can you like..adopt me??

Of course! We're always looking for helpers that will work for room and board



Well, here are the finished sets.



We had the stage lights off and covered the window next to the stage with black plastic wrap. We had the curtain closed for the beginning of the party and then turned off all the lights. It had gotten a bit overcast so the room was somewhat dim. I opened the curtains a bit, just to show the dungeon and got lots of "Oooh"s and "Aaaah"s.

I have to say, it felt pretty good.

Here are my two oldest being punished in the dungeon.



I guess I didn't take a picture of just the corner set, but here it is with me and my wife in it. It was designed to be a picture spot and we tried to user as many people as we could over to it to get some nice pictures.



In the end, it looked pretty good. the torch in the corner scene looks really small for some reason. For the dungeon they seem OK. Also, the fire was too intricate and could have just been two or three solid flames (not all that mess I cut out.

However, the torches looked good in person and looked good when people got closer. Next time bigger torches ...

Thanks everybody for all the nice comments as I've been bending your ear on this

[CombichristGirl]

wow very awesome! i love ur costumes love love love !

[gregh3196]

Great photos, looks loke a lot of fun and the walls turned out incredible!

[sodajazz]

Looks excellent your hard work really paid off

[blueikaos]

This looks incredible!
I was way behind and just read this whole thread in awe.

Great work!

[Zombie Pumpkins!]

Well, I would say that all the hard work certainly paid off. The final sets are just amazing. Think about all the kids and parents that will be talking for quite a while about how Mark and his family do such great Halloween celebrations. As I've said before, you're making great memories for your own kids too. It's gotta feel good.

So do you feel any pressure to top yourself next year? You really went all out this season, so don't feel bad if you want to reel it back next time. You've earned yourself a break if you want it. But either way, I look forward to seeing what you do next. Thanks for all you do to bring the Halloween fun to Japan.

What a year.... with gargoyles!!

[Dadja]

Digging the beard It's always fun when people adjust their whole appearance to their costume instead of just putting on a costume and be done with it.

[mesmark]

Thanks everybody for the nice comments. We got some great pictures out of the day and the guesets seemed to really enjoy the party. Although the bubble fogger (which I just bought and set up) was the hit of the day

So do you feel any pressure to top yourself next year?

Yeah ...

It would be tough to top this year and it seems a waste to just store all that stuff and redo everything in a new theme BUT I have the next two themes down on paper ... We'll see.

My kids and the party kids really enjoyed it. Of course my wife got most of the praise and comments for her work with the costumes. Most of the adults were Moms so I'm hoping it's just that they relate better to how much work that was for her.

No disrespect to my wife, she did a great job, but "Those costumes were amazing! We were so impressed. It must have taken you so long! Great job!" ... "Was the stone wall new?" - stings a bit

After the whole thing, it does seem a bit sad that the event was just 3 hours, but the pictures live on and i have posted pictures and a write up of the party here
www.marks-english-school.com/news/2009halloween/

if you guys want to see a few more pictures.

What a year.... with gargoyles!!

With gargoyles indeed! They really complemented the theme. A great year to unleash them Thanks!

Digging the beard Wink It's always fun when people adjust their whole appearance to their costume instead of just putting on a costume and be done with it.

It's fun to go all out. Although I think a few of my students were disappointed. They were really going with werewolf based on the beard.

I've shaved down to a goatee this week and I might try another look next week before I shave it all off ... The wife doesn't care too much for the furry face

[purple1worm]

Wow !! What an awesome job. The bricks look so real. You must be so happy you didn't go with the store bought wall covering!! This is so much more real looking.

[mesmark]

Wow !! What an awesome job. The bricks look so real. You must be so happy you didn't go with the store bought wall covering!! This is so much more real looking.

Thanks! Yeah, it was a really great Halloween. I still have the family pic on my computer as the background

It was a lot of work but it sure beats sitting around and watching TV.

The big problem is next year's theme ...

[GUS]

Mark, don't trash all your hard work or you'll kick yourself further down the line.

How about making additions to the set, ie, castle cellar lab / castle tower lab (ie a few removable scene setter silhouette windows,...not cut in), so they could be made to hang/ stand & enhance what's already there?

Perhaps make a door / rack (double purpose) with a basic stretching wheel.

Going back to the window silhouette theme a lightning fx effect could really bring new life to the existing (slaved over) set pieces.
Build on it don't destroy it & make it as interchangeable to avoid conflicy further down the line, (multi-modal I suppose is the descriptive word I guess I'm looking for).

With all you've done you ought to build on it if storage is not too much of a problem.
When you think about it you've got a shakespearean type backdrop that covers a plethora of scenarios...
Perhaps hook a (removable) smoke tube allong the longest wall witha hidden fogger /water mister unit's (dependant upon building control regs & health.. for either a concentrated area / wispy effect pouring through cracks in walls (visuals)
A proper cooking tripod frame to hang a (mesmark-made) lightweight cauldron on (filled with whatever) easily stowed,

Don't start from scratch each time or maybe it'll all take it's toll & not be so much fun for the family, (we need a large element of understanding for our fixation) ..the sort of thing that has over a few years worn into myself ("mehhh")
I try (limited funds & storage) to add one big thing per year, this year it was the projector & hallowindow.
kid's as we know respond well to sound effects so maybe fx trigger or two (creaking door), vocals from within the coffin.
small to store for future use? ..you've made the basics, time to embellish rather than flog yourself with a whole new look?

[CombichristGirl]

wow that is fantastic!!!!!
might i ask what cookie recipe u used? and how u got the fingers to look so nice and not fat or burnt? lol if u wanna see something more horrifying than death watch me bake. for some reason i can bake all sorts of foods but not deserts be it cookies or pies or whatnot...usually though i did make an ok homemade pumpkin pie lol