2013 The second Quarter

June already !!!

This year is just flying by, it seems I have very little chance to sit and catchup on even the simplest of tasks. So what have FunFear been up to? Product testing, designing all sorts of crazy stuff, building amazing attractions..??

Well actually spring cleaning, not the most "Rock n Roll" or technical of terms but yet one of life's necessary evils. I have actually seen the colour of my desk for the first time in months and that is actually the truth! It has been long overdue. A complete restructure has been carried out and some major changes to our equipment storage and workshops. With new products coming in it has been a perfect time to actually throw out some of the crap that we just seem to hoard! Although it is believed that if something is broken we can still salvage parts from it and is often the case, we don't seem to discard the bits we don't need! Well that has been sorted and a very brutal approach and for now a system appears to be in place. With new flight cases, storage system and more racking I think we have it cracked.

So what else is new? The new website is in its final stages and being tested, there are a few nice touches and some additional information on there. Blog links to current stories will also be accessible direct from within the site. With a downloads page being added and a much more streamlined approach we are happy with the progress to date. We have also added a few tweaks to the current site and and testing the downloads page on there right now, so please feel free to have a look at the media pack that we have added as a PDF brochure. www.funfear.co.uk

Projects, well there are a few in the mix right now, our annual projects obviously taking up the usual time at this point in the year. Ensuring both staff and equipment are on site at the right time can be a logistical nightmare at times, but always interesting.

A complete re-design of one of the attractions for Tulleys Shocktober Fest and a revamp for several others is filling many hours currently. Sourcing props and designing both new lighting and sound systems as well as coming up with something new is always a great challenge. The new designs for Tulleys are already turning into lots of fun, I think it is a great concept and really looking forward to seeing this one come to fruition. Below is one of the teaser pictures for the new attraction.

Several other very interesting builds have come our way but at the moment I am afraid two of those attractions are under tight wraps and awaiting official launches and press release. So news will be released at the same time via this blog and Facebook pages.
However work is continuing to produce an amazing lighting system for a very unusual product called wovin wall. Although it is already possible to light this product, we have been approached to create a spectacular display and have risen to this and pictures will follow of that installation upon completion.



 

Hauntcon Continued

Good afternoon, I did promise some pictures of the trip to Dallas. However I found the videos from the trip a lot more informative than my pictures. So here is just one picture of the crazy FunFear Clown on the dance floor at the costume ball and below that are a few videos from the 2013 Hauntcon show. Check out more from this show and previous ones.

Hauntcon Channel

Quick Update

Morning, well I have arrived back safe and sound from Hauntcon, I have to say it was an excellent trip. I have some pictures to share with you however i will put that in another post.

So May is marching on, with seasonal events already being planned and kit being prepared we also have some panels to build in response to the Halloween Show we attended last month.

The emergency panel has taken off, with people realising that safety can be built into their events without compromising the integrity of the designs they have in mind. We have also been working on a unit for customers in the USA and have created the same high standard to suit the 115 VAC market. There is a small amount of clarification left for this but I believe it is just crossing the"T's" and dotting the"I's" now.

Also after many months of working with manufacturers directly to produce a safe LED fitting we have our pre production units for final testing. Yesterday saw a couple of us actually trying to destroy these fittings both mechanically and electrically.

The results are excellent as is the size, 12V DC units, that are capable of being dimmed, using our MOSFET control units or DMX decoders.

HAuNTcon 2013

Three days to go before I leave the shores of this island and head to some warmer climes. Dallas Fort Worth is the destination for the next FunFear road trip. I am heading to HAuNTcon 2013 to explore some amazing haunts and attractions in the pre show tours and then on to network with operators and suppliers thought the 3 day trade show. As well as the opportunity to brainstorm with product suppliers it is always a pleasure to enjoy the education sessions and seminars. This all builds to what is usually an excellent evening of outrageous drinking and partying at the costume ball, this years theme being a "Texas Chainsaw Masquerade". To say I was looking forward to this would be an understatement. I will take pictures and share those on my return.

On another slightly different note, after the months of development time spent on our polarity safe LED fittings, we have a new product coming from our manufacturer. Apparently they have further developed our initial design and have made some minor improvements, we will carry out some testing ourselves next week. I am also happy to announce that we will be offering a matt black version of the unit in the coming months. This has been an enormous challenge and athough the external colour is rarely of importance, (especially as you are supposed to be scaring the guests....not giving them time to be looking at the installations) we have achieved what at times appeared to be impossible.

I will keep everyone up to speed on that and a new updated website is being developed which will incorporate a product page with all of our LED products and control system options on as well as our recommended sound stores and MP3 player.

Further updates to come so watch this space.

Ian

2013 The First Quarter

Well it is fair to say that 2013 is proving to be a very productive and interesting year so far.
The twisted technicians have been working very hard in the R and D office refining a new control system for scare attractions. A modular fully controllable unit that can be integrated into just about any attraction to provide control via just about any switch, whether it be pressure mat, break beam or PIR. Output can then be provided to control either relays, servos or dimming circuits for LED units. We are working with an improvement to enable the controller to work over Ethernet and provide remote control and also ultimately a complete DMX over Ethernet system. That will be a few months away i think but at the moment we have working models and the MK3 unit is proving to be one of the most versatile control systems i have seen for mazes and walk through attractions.

We have also been playing with the now world famous Raspberry Pi, this has been a lot of fun and i think with some more time spent on the programming it will be possible to use this very unique unit to provide a black box system for show control and video output.

So February saw the opening of the London Dungeons new site. Sitting very comfortably on the south bank, it certainly feels like it has been there forever. FunFear were invited as guests to view the new location and attraction with a full technical tour. It was an excellent evening and was very interesting to see the techniques used within. Visitors will be pleased to know that although a new building and some new theming as well a new tag line, some firm favorites still remain, as well as some excellent use of new technologies, i would highly recommend a visit if you are visiting London




March saw the final planning and preparation for the fast approaching Halloween Show at Alton Towers.
A site visit was planned and Sally Duguid from the team behind the show, myself and another one our tech guys spent many hours in the capable hands of the Alton Towers event team, a plan was coming together.

The team behind the Halloween Show had a vision of what they wanted. It was very apparent that Alton Towers would provide a perfect location and back drop that would be very hard to match anywhere else. A trade show, speakers from throughout the scare industry, the presentation of Scare awards in one venue. This was going to be a lot of fun. Many hours of planning were still to come though.

April 10th brings the day of the show, all the hours of planning and organising had come to fruition.
Trade stands in place, AV in the right places as well as the other all important starting of the coffee machines, my guys had been up early rigging lighting and control systems and there had been no time for breakfast, so coffee was clearly required.

Delegates arriving, and they appeared to just keep coming, i am not sure of the final numbers on the day but it was an excellent turnout, with delegates from as far afield as Germany, The Netherlands and Jersey. Some familiar faces and a lot of new ones.

I was giving a talk on technical aspects of running a scare attraction, covering some very basic considerations for both lighting and sound installation, as well as demonstrating a new control panel to the industry which provides an option to change sound effects to suit the audience, so daytime events will probably require a very different feel to a night time or dark attraction. As well as the sound switching the panel also provides emergency switching allowing the show state to be dropped into flood lighting and emergency evacuation sound track. This was certainly received very well and a there was a lot of interest on the trade stand following the demonstration.

A great day all round, with workshops and technical talks running along side business seminars creating a huge variety of interest and catering for just about everybody's tastes.

The evening saw a rare opportunity to have a lights on tour of the sanctuary, as well as a full live run, a pleasure for all us techies, a chance to see what we are up against in the tech rooms of our attractions, very interesting opportunity and thoroughly enjoyed.
The night was not done, with the Scare Awards being presented and a chance to let our hair down, drinking, dining and dancing was also still to come.

Well done to all the people behind The Halloween Show, an excellent job well done, Check out their website via The Scare Network here

I would also like this chance to thank my excellent crew for the hard work and long hours they have put in this year already, it is very humbling to see the dedication and commitment they give to the FunFear brand. Thank you.

Ian

Happy Halloween

Scared senseless! Photos show terror on faces of Halloween revellers as they enjoy theme parks' most frightening attractions

By Bill Mouland
PUBLISHED: 21:50, 30 October 2012 | UPDATED: 12:45, 31 October 2012  

Faces contorted with terror, lungs bursting with screams of sudden fright, the Halloween party-goers hysterically embrace the theme park slogan 'Be prepared to be scared.'

As Allhallows Night – sometimes known as the Festival of the Dead – seizes Britain with its ever stronger grip, these are just some of the people who have paid to be afraid.
Over two nights in the ever longer run up to October 31 – now worth more than £300m a year and Britain's third most lucrative festival  after Christmas and Easter -  our photographer captured these images of customers who have paid up to £40 a head to have their hair stand on end, their hearts beat faster and their wits rendered witless.

Don't look now: A Halloween reveler gets what he has paid for as gruesome-looking character screams at him in the darkness on the Sanctuary attraction at Alton Towers

According to one consultant counselling psychologist yesterday, the desire to be frightened out of one's skin derives from our caveman ancestors who lived their lives entirely on the edge.
'They were not a confident bunch,' said Dr Michael Sinclair, clinical director of the City of Psychology Group in London. 'They were trying to survive in a new and threatening world. They needed to be on high alert all the time so they started to question their environment.

'If they saw a wild animal, for instance, they had no reference point for it, so they would tend to think the worst – their minds racing with the worst case scenario. They needed to fight or take flight.
'Anxiety has been developed as a protective mechanism ever since. It's like wearing a suit of armour – although it feels uncomfortable we are in a heightened state of protection. We know something is there, but we also know it's not real. We also get a feeling of togetherness and social acceptability.'

Surprise: A woman holds her hands up in fear as one of the actors at the Xtreme Fright Night at Twinlakes theme park in Molton Mowbray

No escape: This woman closes her eyes as a hire hand lets out a surprise high-pitched scream in the darkness

No turning back: Screaming, jumping and clinging onto each other in fear Halloween thrill seekers in The Sanctuary attraction in Alton Towers

Nerve-wracking: According to one consultant counselling psychologist yesterday, the desire to be frightened out of one's skin derives from our caveman ancestors who lived their lives entirely on the edge

So that, claims Dr Sinclair, explains why thousands of people line up at this time of year to experience the 'terrifying scare mazes' (part of the £39.50 entry ticket to Alton Towers in Staffordshire) or the 'Farmhouse of Fear' at the otherwise docile sounding Twinlakes Park in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire.
'We have a couple of attractions – Punishment and Pie Factory – where people cannot stand any more and we have escorted them out,' said Dave Rose, a marketing assistant at Twinlakes which is transformed at this time of year into the venue for Xtreme Fright Nights (£14.99 to £22 a ticket, depending on when you want to go.)
Punishment, according to the blurb, pushes punters into a dark simulation of a military boot camp where the screams of the participants are only matched by those of the actors bussed in to create the scary atmosphere.

Covering up: As Allhallows Night – sometimes known as the Festival of the Dead – seizes Britain with its ever stronger grip, these are just some of the people who have paid to be afraid

Lucrative: Now worth more than £300m a year, Halloween is now Britain's third most lucrative festival after Christmas and Easter

Anxiety has been developed as a protective mechanism since cavemen. Although it feels uncomfortable it puts humans in a heightened state of protection

According to promoters revelers at Punishment in Melton Mowbray are plunged into a dark simulation of a military boot camp where the screams of the participants are only matched by those of the actors

'Suddenly you are plunged into darkness,' promises the advertisement. 'The floor creaks with the sound of slow moving footsteps as the prisoners climb high into the castle. Climbing higher and higher you reach a stone step. Screams of pain can be heard ahead.'
The theme park has also forged a macabre link with the otherwise innocent Melton Mowbray pie in an attraction that somehow blends Sweeney Todd with the Texas Chainsaw Massacre under the title The Pie Factory.
'Make your way through the gory pie factory and witness horrific happenings,' urges the blurb. 'Watch your back and try to escape with your limbs intact.'

Twinlakes has forged a macabre link with the otherwise innocent Melton Mowbray pie in an attraction that somehow blends Sweeney Todd with the Texas Chainsaw Massacre under the title The Pie Factory

Entrants are advised to wear sensible footwear, beware of strobe lighting and leave mobile phones, cameras and loose change behind

'It's like watching a horror film through your fingers. However scary it is, you know you are not really out there in the wilderness'

'Going to these places is a kind of stimulation. It's why people bungee jump or jump out of planes. It's thrill seeking and some people have to have it in their lives'

The fact that it all comes with advice to wear sensible footwear, beware of strobe lighting and leave mobile phones, cameras and loose change behind is all part of the comfort blanket that no harm will really come of you.
'It's a safe risk taking because it's not actually a ghost that's going to get you or scare you to death,' says chartered psychologist Ros (correct) Taylor. 'Deep down you know you are play acting and that you can go home afterwards and everything will be OK.
'It's like watching a horror film through your fingers. However scary it is, you know you are not really out there in the wilderness.
'Going to these places is a kind of stimulation. It's why people bungee jump or jump out of planes. It's thrill seeking and some people have to have it in their lives.'

A participant at Extreme Fright Night is given a scare by a bloody-faced man

Faces of fear at Xtreme Fright Night, but just why do people pay so much money for the pain?

As one reveler appears to run for cover at Twinlakes another turns away in fear

A bit of Halloween fun from Ben & Jerry's

Halloween | Ben & Jerry's