Thursday, October 19, 2006

Son of Frankenstein


I have a new level of respect for anyone that works in a haunted house as a cast member! Last night they let the makeup team take over a section of the house at Rocky Point,
and I was chosen to play Frankensteins monster. The makeup wasn't difficult to endure, it consisted of a full face foam latex prosthetic, (which if you have not had the chance
to experience having one of these stuck to your face, take it from me- they smell AWFUL!) and some masterful airbrush work. Chris Hanson, the art director at Rocky Point
did my makeup and it looked great- It is pretty crazy to see your face transformed into someone you cant even recognize. Once the makeup was done, it was off to the costume department
to pick up my black shirt and pants, shredded suit coat and 5" KISS style frankenstein boots. It took a few minutes to get used to walking in those boots, but that was nothing compared to what
was to come! They hurried me into the laboratory set and gave me a quick rundown on how to go about scaring people. The lab set is unbelievable, the detail and the amount of work they put into
it is staggering! The main gag consisted of having me stand on a body length wooden platform that rotated back, much like the actual table in the original Frankenstein movie. They would lower me back
and I would lie on the table pretending to be lifeless. Once the que was triggered letting us know that people were on their way through, the actor playing Dr. Frankenstein would begin a spiel about
bringing his lifeless creature to life, and then he would throw a switch, activating a very noisy and crackling blast of electricity. That was my que to "jolt" into action- I would do the "electric twitch"
on the table for a few seconds, then pull myself up and forward, which caused the table to rotate and slam down onto the floor feet first, and I would launch myself off the table into the line of unsuspecting
guests, growling and grimacing all the way. Very fun to see people cringe in terror when I came flying off the table that way! However, after doing the gag about 4 times, I was sweating like crazy and thinking I
was going to die well before the night was over! I managed to make it through the night, but I cant say the same for my voice! After 4 hours of growling and yelling in a monster voice, I couldn't talk at all!
Even this morning my voice sounds pretty thrashed. All in all, I had a ton of fun doing the role, and I am glad that I got the chance to do it, but at the same time, I can't imagine doing it night after night!
Taking the makeup off was interesting- two artists would slowly brush adhesive remover into the edge of the appliances on my face until it was finally off. Of course, plenty of adhesive "boogers" were still embedded
in my sideburns and my hairline, and all over my neck. Lots of scrubbing involved to get that stuff off! Taking off the KISS boots revealed two huge nasty blisters on both of my big toes, so playing the monster
didn't come without it's painful side effects! I am also enjoying the pain in my back and shoulder blades from laying on that slab table all night... Ahhh, the joys of getting old! Here are a few photos for you to
enjoy, and a poster I created in photoshop for fun. Wow, this has been one crazy October for sure!!

8 comments:

Unknown said...

The makeup looks great! I've had experience in remove an appliance piece from my face. It was quite painful. Of course, I didn't have the remover liquid available. Yikes.

Jason said...

Dude! All of the recent posts regarding the haunted house make-up effects are stunning! That's some quality work. It certainly puts my butterfly on my neice's cheeck to shame! You've got my admiration. I'd love to see some "action" shots with the characters scaring people TO DEATH!! Again, GGGGREAT work!

Eliza Jäppinen said...

I am so envious of this haunted house... Finland sucks when it comes to halloween, they haven't figured out yet that it's fun... Cool make up.

Kevin Keele said...

Cool! You make a great Frankenstein.

scottra said...

Awsome stuff!

Eliza Jäppinen said...

Happy halloween! A bit late, but anyways, wanted to wish you one.

Chrissie A said...

Amazing stuff, Patrick! I really loved seeing all the photos...I think you were born to be Frankenstein. ;)

Daniel Davis said...

Man, I love it! Looks great. The way that your teeth are bared looks really cool.