Monster Mash 2018 Set & Props Design and Production

Design & Production: Natalie W., James G., Emily H., Coleson B., & Anthony Miguel B.

Table of Contents

The Lab: Items pulled and bought…………………………………………..1-2 Props (Character and Set)...................................................2-3 Experiments…………………………………………………………...4-5 Inspiration……………………………………………………………...5-6 Renderings…………………………………………………………......6-7 Setup…………………………………………………………………….8-10 The Graveyard: Items pulled/bought………………………………………………11-12 Props…………………………………………………………………….13 Set Pieces……………………………………………………………...13 Rendering……………………………………………………………..14 The Lagoon…………………………………………………………..15-16 Seaweed……………………………………………………………….16-17 Final Look…………………………………………………………….17-18 Reflections: Before Monday/Set Up…………………………………………19-20 After the show…………………………………………………….20-21 Flipgrid links………………………………………………………21 Pinterest/Set up/Performance……………………………...22

The LAb (RIght side of the yard) Anthony B. James G. and Coleson B.

What we pulled

● White sheet that goes around the back of the flats. ● Flats: We have the four we used last year, and there are some that were used for 1984 that already look like a castle, but they have windows cut out of them so we are not sure if we can use them. ● We will also need metal or wood shelves to put test tubes and beakers on them with different substances in them. ● Various jars and oddities ● Tables to be used for the experiments and to put oddities on. ● An impromptu electric chair that we use in place of the slab. ● White sheet used to cover Frankenstein ● Prosthetic legs used for a mortuary ● Beakers, Vials, glasses, etc from science teachers.

What we Bought ● Other oddities, such as fake bugs, eyeballs, fingers, etc.:

https://www.amazon.com/JOYIN-Pieces-Plastic-Realistic-Bugs/dp/B01N69ONX1/ref=s r_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1540057185&sr=8-4&keywords=fake+bugs​ Fake Bugs.

https://www.amazon.com/Meat-Market-Value-Halloween-Decor/dp/B00770CH2A/ref

=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1540052043&sr=8-15&keywords=fake+body+parts+halloween Body Parts

https://www.amazon.com/Dental-Acrylic-Denture-Halloween-smiledt/dp/B01FX8XJB K/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1540053456&sr=8-3&keywords=fake+teeth+halloween Fake Teeth Set Hand Sanitizer-(oddities) Severed Body Parts: (Lab design, zombie arm, etc

These cubes, pictured on the right, were used to store props we had, such as: jars, body parts, and medical equipment. It fit with the overall theme and solved our problem of having too many props and knickknacks here and there.

Character Props ● Mad Scientist: Flasks, Lever, Body parts.

● Igor: Chain, Flasks, Lever

● Frankenstein: None

● Bride of Frankenstein: None

Set Props The Lab: Fake electric lever, Oddities, Flasks. Scientific/Health equipment, Fake Body parts.

Oddities: ● Jars (more variety the better) ● Hair Gel ● Food coloring ● Body parts/organs/animals etc.

https://youtu.be/G4g-u_C61LA

https://youtu.be/tXkiliMUq6E

Some Oddities used in the Show

Experiments Elephant Toothpaste​: What we need - 20-volume hydrogen peroxide liquid, dry yeast, warm water, liquid dish wash soap, food coloring.

Video - ​https://sciencebob.com/fantastic-foamy-fountain/

Tornado in a Bottle What we need - Two 2-liter bottles, water, food coloring, cyclone tube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LfZFGcGc_I

Lava Lamp​- What we need - water, vegetable oil, food coloring, Alka Seltzer Antacid https://youtu.be/ugzsjlBMmKI

Oobleck What we need - Highlighters, Water, 1 pound bag cornstarch https://youtu.be/JFBk3hlEcio

Final Looks Tornado in a Bottle: https://www.facebook.com/100006417786468/videos/2295491910674713/

The tornado in a bottle was probably the most consistent experiment in the show. We never had to change it out with a new bottle or something like that. It did the exact same thing every time and with low effort as well. I’m happy with how the tornado in a bottle came out, but I regret not having multiple bottles of different colors and effects, things such as glitter; it could have made the experiment that much more interesting to the kids.

Elephant Toothpaste​: The results of this experiment vary heavily depending on the amount of yeast put into the tube. The more yeast you would have, the more of a

reaction you would get. Many times our experiments themselves would have way less of an explosion thanks to us not using much yeast.

Lava Lamp​: The lava lamp was consistent throughout the entire show. We could use the same bottle of vinegar about 3 or 4 times before it would have to be replaced with a new one. Each time with the same bottle the reaction to the alka-seltzer tablets would become less extreme until eventually, there would be no reaction at all. The lamp would last around 2 minutes before it would stop moving around, the time decreased the more the same bottle was used.

Oobleck was not done due to it not being a big spectacle as the other experiments, so we decided to just make one to be an oddity in the lab.

Lab Inspiration - Frankenstein

For more images and videos of our ideas and inspiration for the lab, please check out our Pinterest here. ​https://www.pinterest.com/sshstst/monster-mash-set/

Renderings

First Rendering: ​This was our first thought with the lab, while it changed a lot from the final result, this is where our thoughts for the lab began; we initially thought to have tables in the front of the lab, and have it on the left side of the yard, however, we realized we would not be needing this much space, and remedied this in our final rendering.

Final Rendering: ​Changes from the first rendering include: the side of the

yard the lab is in, where the experiments are located, and the inclusion of the flats.

Setup

Lab: ● Flats: ​We had a total of 4 stone painted flats to use for our lab. We saved time

considering the fact they were already painted in the stone design that we wanted to use as representation of a castle. We then connected them together so that they would fold. We split them into two. The process of setting them up involved placing them in front the bushes to the left of the yard, and the tree in front of the house. For the tree, we had to break off a branch so that it wouldn't pierce our cover through the window of the flat. Once those were setup, we began adding the shelves onto the windows for the oddities. We originally tried to use a power drill, but opted to a hammer instead. Once the nails were placed in we hung the shelves onto the window with hooks. We then took a white sheet and pinned it behind the flats to cover the house and alleyway to the backyard.

We also cut strips in between the opening of the two flats so that the lab characters could make their entrances and exits.

● Electric chair: ​Originally we wanted a slab, but opted for the cheaper

and easier option which was a electric chair. We already had a chair pulled from the shed, and draped chains on it as part of the design. There was also an electric switch we attached onto the flat that jolted the characters in the chair to life when they were in the chair, and there was also a sheet we used to drape over frankenstein.

● Oddities: ​Throughout the lab we had various oddities placed around the

set. We placed a majority of the oddities on the shelves. These included jars of body parts, slime, cotton balls, lava lamps, etc. We also hung numerous body parts and weapons onto the flats as well. We also set up a miniature morgue and included prosthetic legs as part of our design.

● Experiments: ​There were two tables in front of the entire lab, this was

done so the kids could see the experiments easily and feel as though they are apart of the experiments themselves. We had preset all the ingredients behind the flats in these little buckets, the ingredients stayed there until it was time for the experiments themselves.

The Graveyard (Left side of the yard) Emily H.

What we pulled: ● ● ● ● ● ●

Fence from Nightmare before Christmas Coffin Keyboard and 50s mic (band) Tarp Skeleton Skeleton Dog

Putting up the fence from “Nightmare Before Christmas”

Carving pumpkins for the band

Adding padding to make the coffin more comfortable

Putting together of/placing gravestones

Use of the skeleton/skeleton dog and more gravestones

What we Bought: ● Gravestones: https://www.partycity.com/halloween-tombstone-decorating-kit-681104.html? q=gravestone&start=14 https://www.partycity.com/tombstone-decorating-kit-739420.html ● Bag of Bones: ​https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bag-of-Bones/27713149 ● Pumpkins (band), spider webs

Character Props

The Band: Pumpkin Drumset, Keyboard, Microphone, the dummy.

Ghoul: None

Skeleton: None

Swamp Monster: None

Zombie: Fake Arm.

Dracula: Cowbell/Triangle/Tambourine (whatever instrument he picks up.)

Wolfman: None

Set pieces: Skeleton/Skeleton Dog: Originally we were going to use these as a place in the graveyard to distinguish where the characters in the graveyard were going to stand/dance for the Monster Mash song, We ultimately decided to scrap this idea for two reasons, One being that there was not a whole lot of room for these places because of the dance, and two being that it was difficult to think of ideas for all of the characters. We decided to just keep these, but out of the way near the porch.

Pumpkins (Band): The day before Halloween we had people from the band and people who weren’t working on anything else carve pumpkins to be used as drums for the band.

Gravestones: To make the graveyard look as such Fence: We decided to use the fence because we thought it would give the graveyard a little something more than just having the gravestones.

Rendering: Graveyard:

This rendering is of the graveyard including positions and set pieces before we scrapped that idea, It also includes the placement of the gravestones and the lagoon/coffin

The lagoon

Rendering:

Rendering is of the lagoon, after we had pulled things like the lobsters and decided to use those.

Making of the Lagoon:

We ended up using the top of a sandbox, the sand from the sandbox and a tarp to create the entirety of the lagoon, We used homemade seaweed (see below) and lobsters and shells from the shed.

Seaweed: I found a way online to use trash bags and scissors to create some “seaweed”. This was done by cutting the bags into strips, and stretching them in a way that made them curl. I did this with several trash bags and then used green and brown spray paint to give it a little color.

The seaweed after cutting and stretching

The seaweed after spray painting

Mini Tutorial: https://photos.app.goo.gl/1bakeJ2yd8vfw7Lv9

Final Look

Final Look

Pinterest: ​https://pin.it/byhhzmndgzufo7

Reflections (before Monday/Set-up Day)

Anthony: ​Being on the set crew was more challenging than I thought, and overall I

could’ve done more to help out my team. At times I came up with ideas that worked but never executed on. Over the next 3 days I need to do as much as I can to help my set team to ensure the lab gets done. I was also put in charge in props, and put a major focus on oddities. I learned that hair gel (we’re using hand sanitizer instead), food coloring and mix of water can create a cool effect n the jars to place things such as body parts, organs, bugs, etc. We also had to pull for the lab as well. We pulled flats for the lab, that already had the medieval castle theme we were looking for. And we also borrowed many beakers, flasks, glass jars etc. for the lab as well(mainly getting the beakers and jars from science teachers). In the future if I’m ever on another set crew I’ll need to do a much better job in executing on created ideas, and helping my team out more.

Emily: ​Being on the set crew has definitely been a challenge for me. I feel like I have

kind of let my team down but I’m working my way back up there. I’ve definitely had some cool ideas in regards to set and I’m hoping it will all come together when we set up on Monday. I’m excited for what the set is gonna do to help the show as a whole and really give it a good setting. I’ve learned that you really just have to be creative and do a little research to find ideas and find how to make things (like the seaweed). It was interesting making the seaweed for the lagoon but it was fun getting to paint it. It was also fun having my boyfriend help me make it and help with ideas on how to paint it.

The seaweed as a whole turned out better than I expected and the spray paint looked better than expected. I sadly forgot to take photos so I will make a few more pieces later and make sure to take photos.

James: ​Being on set was pretty challenging for my first Halloween show and use of

dramaturgy. I wasn’t expecting the amount of work we had to do for set, I knew it would be a lot, but I didn’t think it would be as much as it was. I tried my best to get work done but at times my laziness and procrastination side came out and I didn’t get anything done. It was fun though, looking for the different setpieces and coming up with ideas for set made it worth getting through those lazy times. I hope next time

however, that I get my work done faster and don’t procrastinate and keep everyone waiting for a response that I’m not even sure myself that I have, since I had not thought about it at all yet.

As for the actual work, figuring out how to get the flats to stand on their own, and how to connect the flats were the biggest challenges. We tried to find hooks that were big enough for flats, but in the end had to buy some. Getting the shelves nailed into the flats was difficult as well, as the wood in the flats are already, well, flat itself; it was tough to get the nails to get in.

Reflections: (After the show)

Anthony​: I believe our set turned out better than expected. Being on the lab crew, we were able to save time with the flats considering they were already painted stone.

Putting them up was a difficult process that needed better communication to get them up. The hardest part for me was attempting to put up the shelves. We tried to drill holes to place nails where the shelves would hook onto, but the nail wasn’t cooperating. We eventually discovered that using a hammer was much more effective.

After that I helped out with the graveyard, and carved pumpkins which was a part of the bands design. Overall our set turned out amazing, and it was one of the biggest shows we’ve ever done for halloween.

Emily​: I am honestly so proud of how our set turned out. I was really nervous at first

about how it would turn out but I think it looked amazing. This was my first time on set and it was defined a challenge, but it was also a good learning experience. I’m proud of the way the set as a whole worked out and I was definitely really proud of the lagoon. At first I really wasn’t sure as to what it would end up looking like but I think it turned about pretty good. The overall setup at the house on Monday I think went pretty well for the graveyard, in part thanks to Theo who helped tremendously with the fence.

James​: ​I like how our set came out, I was worried at first that we wouldn’t have

enough space due to how our renderings were a bit larger than the actual space we had. The way that we got the flats up on the house was much cooler than we had on

our renderings, the way we got them to look crooked a bit made our set seem much more “mad.” Setting up the set at the house went decently in my opinion, we had to be directed quite a bit by Mrs.Rice, but she wasn’t looming over us the entire time. I feel like we really made the set our own, sure we had help from many other people, but our ideas were generally ours. There were a couple of hiccups here and there with our communication and how well we worked; mainly in the beginning. I think overall however, we worked well and got what we needed done, even if other groups had to come in to help, for my first time, I believe it was serviceable, not really good by any means, but it worked out okay in the end.

Getting to set up the flats in the yard was extremely challenging, we had overestimated the size of the yard, we had to break a couple branches off of Rice's tree just to get them to fit. Nailing down our props to the flats worked well enough, they had stayed on the entire time as well. Bringing out the tables for the science experiments wasn't too hard as well, just keeping the cloth on the table was difficult thanks to the wind; we had decided to to put the cloth under the table legs to have it stay.

Coleson: ​This was my first time ever being on the set committee. I was also on the

costumes committee but I actually ended up enjoying set more. Our original plan was to make flats and paint them to look like stone, but thankfully we found flats in the shed that already were painted like stone. Although, the flats did have window cutouts in them. We decided to hang either metal or wooden shelves in them. We ended up finding some metal shelves in the shed and used those which turned out perfect. We had trouble figuring out how to hang them but using screws and zip ties we finally got them secure. The next order’s of business were what we were going to use for the slab and dressing the set. We played around with many options for the slab but ended up going with a chair because it was easier to get in and out of. The dressing of the set was the best part because we got to make all of these different mixtures and experiments for decoration. All and all I think the set process went smoothly but we have to do better with our work ethic and communication.

Flipgrid (Vlog) links: Anthony:​ ​https://flipgrid.com/ece2da8f James: h ​ ttps://flipgrid.com/3162d023 Emily: ​https://flipgrid.com/e2d62058 Coleson: h ​ ttps://flipgrid.com/15f967ec

Pinterest: ​Monster Mash Set Dramaturgy https://www.pinterest.com/sshstst/monster-mash-set/

Set-Up: ​Photos and Videos

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOcoUmvwocA777rBOvolSe1LANeOUBSkTV6SF GbBFxv-_-UnIg-t6yQlPZXcwWM-A?key=YUlqOXp5NlphS196TEhXc2V2Rm9JTGlZRFV OVWp3

Performance: ​Day-time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siu0cKR8jqc

Night-time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REb7-qsh4BM

WITCH’S LAIR (DRIVEWAY) NATALIE W.

Table of Contents

First Blush Ideas & Images…..……………………………1-4 Rendering………………………………………....………..…..5 In Need Of/Purchase List....…………………………..…..5-6 Making the Lair….…………………………………………….7-11 Reflections……….......………………………………………...12 More……………..…………………………………………...…...13

First Blush Ideas for Props and Set:

★ Need a backdrop to hide car ★ Will the witch’s lair be inside (more like a study) or outside (more like a field)? ★ Potions room scene ★ Paint cabinets with books and spells ★ Maybe even paint a black cat, or get a fake black cat to put somewhere ★ Shelves with potions and small items ★ Potion Bottles ■ https://acecsas.com/44-witch-potion-bottles-gallery/witch-potio n-bottles-photo-diy-jars-y-witches-decor/

■ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhmgnIZUBuM

■ https://blog.freepeople.com/2012/10/diy-love-potion-cast-spell/

★ Toads ★ Mushrooms ( & other vegetation) ★ Leaves/sticks ★ Skull

★ Spells (spellbook?) ★ Scrolls, old papers ★ Candles ○ On shelves ★ Lanterns ○ Hanging on backdrop or on shelves ★ Cauldron ○ Fog in cauldron ○ Will the cauldron be on the ground or hanging? ○ Fake fire under cauldron

Purchased this fire prop online. Somewhat small but has a nice effect.

This is the image I based the design of my cauldron on.

★ Broomstick

Purchased from Party City

★ Space should include a “touch” table concept where children can get up close with props and have gross things to touch. ○ Gooey eyeballs and etc. in liquid ○ Possibly some fake fingers ○ Non-breakable potion bottles ○ Spells kids can look at

Witch’s Lair (Rendering for possible placement)

Decision made to have a traveling witch feel using travel boxes and for the lair to be outside, not inside.

ISO (in search of) List:

★ Cauldron (done) ★ Broom ★ Candles (I think we have enough to not buy more) ★ Lanterns (found in shed) ★ Mushrooms/frogs/Moss/etc.

★ Bottles (Should have enough) ★ Plastic spiders (done)

Purchase List:

★ Broom (Party City- I can get it) ★ Skull Head ○ https://www.amazon.com/Gifts-Decor-Grinning-Realistic-36245/dp/B00 9LGCO4O/ref=sr_1_3?rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1540230920&sr=8-3&keywo rds=skull+head&refinements=p_85%3A2470955011

★ Fake Fire ○ https://www.amazon.com/Lightahead-Portable-Artificial-Hanging-Reali stic/dp/B07CJ22DLL/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1540166719&sr=8-14&ke ywords=fake+fire+prop

I found the perfect cauldron at Party City! I can drill holes in it to chain it to the three sticks idea.

Making the Witch’s Lair: Cauldron:

I found three large sticks in the woods by the school. I tied the sticks together to make a holder for my cauldron.

To hold the sticks together, I used tape and green string. Balancing the sticks proved difficult to begin with because the driveway is on an incline. However with the right amount of patience the sticks were balanced.

After the cauldron holder was sorted, I drilled three holes in the side of the cauldron and put hooks in them.

Then hung three chains from the sticks and attached them to the hooks.

I was able to use real chains to hold the cauldron and then dressed the cauldron with flowers to resemble herbs on the side. I added a bowl inside the cauldron to put dry ice in, hoping to create the neat visual of fog, but the bowl was too far down inside for the fog to come out.

I put firewood underneath the cauldron with a fake fire we bought.

Oddities:

To create the lair’s oddities, I used two small boxes to make this leveled platform. I had boxes of rose petals and bugs that I was able to throw in my cauldron like I was making potions. I had an automated cat that would meow as people passed by, as well as automated books that would move and make noises as well.

The following links go to videos of the books and cat moving: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNYGKxRemiFYdRLh1dusuAj2BBZNzOiYsfFbL9 9Vb8UNiNRy8HtdBZco-ZgDcy44w/photo/AF1QipMp_3_REfMxa3h5mB4pBO20kCqpBO H6vzlDb8QL?key=QmRHSDdFbGl5MlRkUXJNZmhsZmhGcl9fU2tNVFhR

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNYGKxRemiFYdRLh1dusuAj2BBZNzOiYsfFbL9 9Vb8UNiNRy8HtdBZco-ZgDcy44w/photo/AF1QipOcFmo51Q3GKOG9rO6gjoXBOtrnxgz On0wBVB9-?key=QmRHSDdFbGl5MlRkUXJNZmhsZmhGcl9fU2tNVFhR

Both of these sections were also stands with little knick knacks on them that were used for decoration.

Touch Table: I had worms, bugs, and gooey eyeballs all soaked in hand sanitizer for the kids to put their hands in and they loved it! I also had fake spiders and bugs in slime on the table. This table was a huge hit with the children! They loved touching all the bugs and especially the eyeballs soaked in hand sanitizer.

Here is a video of the children at the touch table: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNYGKxRemiFYdRLh1dusuAj2BBZNzOiYsfFbL 99Vb8UNiNRy8HtdBZco-ZgDcy44w/photo/AF1QipObm_ZjoFC6cYhSXFkSpHTUn4N-j R3UyfnOpMmw?key=QmRHSDdFbGl5MlRkUXJNZmhsZmhGcl9fU2tNVFhR

Reflection (Before Monday/Set-up Day)

Natalie: ​I have had a lot of fun creating this space for my character but it has

definitely been difficult. Being in charge of set, props, and almost every aspect of this area, has been difficult, especially with making sure I think of everything that I will need, and thinking through anything that could go wrong so as to fix it ahead of time and be prepared. I feel like I have done a decent job with this, but I could have done a lot better.

The cauldron has been the hardest part, trying to figure out how to hang it. I am still worried about it being too heavy for the sticks I have chosen to hold it. I’m hoping to be able to do a kind of tripod look with the cauldron hanging in the middle above the little fire. I have a feeling it will work out on Monday when I start putting things together and getting a feel for how it will really be. This has been a stressful few weeks but I have loved it and I hate that we only have a few more days of this work.

Reflection (After the show)

Natalie:​ ​Creating my witch’s lair was a lot of fun for me. I got to bring out my

creativity in arranging all of my items on the tables and boxes, and in hanging my cauldron. I was so relieved that the cauldron worked. That was one thing that I was the most worried about, and it turned out great! The fog did not work well coming out of the cauldron, because the dry ice did not rise up enough to come out of the cauldron. I was able to have the fog in a glass cup on my touch table though, and the kids loved that.

I loved the process of finding ideas on Pinterest and coming up with some of my own, and being able to make them work.

In the beginning I was wanting to have flats behind me to block the cars, then have a bookshelf with all of my trinkets. We ended up scraping that idea, and instead using a white shower curtain hanging from the tree to the fence to block the cars. Instead of the bookshelf idea, we went with the idea that I was outside, so I had little boxes and tables with all of my items on them.

More:

Flipgrid ​(Vlog) link Midway Reflection: ​https://flipgrid.com/90a29640

Pinterest ​board (Tech) I mentioned in my reflection: https://www.pinterest.com/Natfran1228/holidays/witchs-area/

Pinterest ​board (Dramaturgy): https://www.pinterest.com/sshstst/monster-mash-characters/witch/ Photos and Videos​ of the process and final product: https://photos.app.goo.gl/GFWCTenB3FMVQ8id7

Final Production Monster Mash ​Daytime Show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siu0cKR8jqc

Final Production of the Monster Mash​ Night time show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REb7-qsh4BM