Haunted Wood's Woods - Halloween 2005: The Lost Leprechaun Fun Facts

A green tail coat was too expensive and tricky to track down, so a white one was purchased from a discount tuxedo outlet, then given several coats of spray paint (the first coat of which was a neon green, shown above), and later hunter green, gray, and black. Along with tattered edges and thread-bare portions, this gave the coat an ugly, worn-in look.

Rather than use a particularly-small actor, the decision was made to use a short actor, and then enlarge his head and hands, creating the illusion that he is smaller. Stephen wore the half-face mask, hat, and gloves (below), and was able to be the scary leprechaun with no makeup.

Halloween 2005's smoke-filled bubble machine assembly: The downside was that the bubbles were less dense (the commercial bubble machine added a lot more air). But it also created more bubbles, less of a mess, and was easier for guests to operate than last year's automated model. All things considered: a good upgrade.

Styrofoam boards make the workshop windows look condemned in the front yard. This simple effect is created with 1" styrofoam, painted with a rough wood grain, and then pressed onto nails that exist in the trim around each window. These nails also serve as a hanging point for wreaths or garlands during Christmas.

The troll scene's fireworks were crafted by Matt, made of empty cans, oatmeal containers, and even a can of spray paint. All were first fitted with a cartoony conical top, then painted, and finally a wooden stick was added to the side of each. These, combined with our dynamite from years past, made for good "explosion" ingredients, even if the explosion was only a leftover 4th of July firework, coupled with some light and fog effects.

A dim orange light needed to just barely light up the front of the fireworks display, so an indoor/outdoor fluorescent spotlight was fitted with an amber gel. Only using 23 watts of power, it has the same output as a 90-watt floodlight, and also runs cooler. Fluorescent lighting was used whenever possible, as the overall power budget of the woods needed to be taken into consideration.

One of the biggest "ohhh ahhh" effects was the fairy scene using a mirror ball and a light blue pin spot. Careful placement of both the light and the mirror ball allowed for maximum effect, without it being terribly obvious what was creating the effect. Wooden cut-outs were attached to the tree (see left of photo, and behind mirror ball), so that as the tram was approaching, the spinning ball wouldn't be seen.

A brand new cemetery was fabricated by Peter and Christie this year, including a few celtic crosses, and classic tombstones missing pieces and cracked; this run-down look was created with careful paint job and jagged edges. Much like tombstones in the past, these are 1" styrofoam, painted with grays and blacks, then impaled on wooden dowel rods coming out of the ground. A nice green light, low to the ground, completed the effect.

Also featured in the celtic graveyard was our low-lying fog chiller, controlled by the zombie actor, and masked by a large black sheet. The wind was in our favor, so not only did it look creepy and hug the ground in the cemetery, but by the time the tram was over in the pookah chase / witch scene areas, it had slowly risen and drifted through the trees, creating a nice haze.

The witch's cauldron sported a 15-foot span of ropelight, set to fade up and down with some flicker, casting a spooky green light under her nose and chin. While the exterior of the cauldron was painted flat black, the interior kept its glossy black finish, which helped to give the interior a nice glow.

Across from the witch, this high-tech black bedsheet allowed Craig, who played the witch's banshee, to hide undiscovered. While painfully visible in the daylight, this panel was almost undetectable at night, making it comfortable for him to remain hidden, and creating a very good misdirection scare for tram-goers focused across the path.

For the crucial pot of gold, a similar technique was used as Halloween 2004's treasure chests (seen here). A circular base was cut out, then a mound of expanding foam insulation was placed on top, and dozens of plastic coins were embedded while the foam was still tacky. After drying, it was given several good coats of gold spray paint, and a yellow pin spot in the trees gave it a hyper-realistic glow.

The large screen was a king-sized bedsheet, stretched within a frame designed for use as an outdoor movie screen by the Wood family. This back view shows the black cloth at the bottom, which stopped the light from getting through, and therefore allowed the leprechaun actor to lay undetected, while his digital counterpart sat up and did the disappearing act.

More fluorescent lights were employed, this time to create a rainbow effect behind the scaffolding units, and colored with red, green, and purple gels. Trees were especially targeted, so as the tram approached, a handful of colors were visble on the trees behind the pot of gold: in theory the end of the rainbow.

For the blue in the rainbow, a special mercury vapor light was purchased, using 175 watts, but having a blue-white light output as bright as four 90-watt floodlights. This was then gelled with a dark blue gel, suspended in a wooden frame above the fixture. Originally an area light, aluminum in several forms had to be wrapped around the diffusion plastic to get the light aimed upward at tree branches, and not in a 180-degree pattern.

A more powerful amplifier was utilized this year, to make sure the music and effects were heard over the rumble of the diesel tractor. Additionally, the speakers were mounted higher, and faced inward, making it harder for the cast members to hear their cues, but increasing the sound quality within the tram significantly.

Our witch, actually a mannequin, is dressed in all black, and fitted with a mask, hat, and broom to look the part. Having a lifeless figure allowed for an even better misdirection scare: as passengers watched for something to happen on their right with the witch, a banshee jumped out on their left.

A view of the multi-colored mirror ball high in the tree above the final scene. This had two pinspots aimed at it, which when turned on, created a dual-spot effect all over the area, as though the leprechaun had exploded into little rainbow bits. Also note the yellow pinspot at bottom-right, used to highlight the pot of gold.