(Mis)Direction - Building Fear Part 6A

 

Misdirection is a term often used in magic.  Some claim "misdirection" is a misnomer, that really it is simply "direction".  Of course, it is the act of directing your audience's attention away from whatever you do not want them to perceive.  So, whether it is direction or misdirection, the goal is to make the audience believe something happened that did not.

"So, what?!", I hear you cry.  well, misdirection in its many forms is important in setting up scares as well as magic tricks.

We want the patrons to never be sure of their surroundings, or to make them sure of something that is incorrect.  :-)

I was on a haunted hayride once.  About midway through the ride, the wagon stopped to pick up someone who said he had jumped off the previous wagon because he "needed to pee".  A few minutes later, the wagon was attacked by ghouls and that guy was pulled (completely at random, I'm sure) and "killed" right in front of us.

As far as I could tell, no one doubted the guy's story when the wagon stopped.  The act of him being pulled, kicking and screaming, off the wagon and brutally killed with a shovel was very surprising.  The driver's snide remark about breaking the rules was funny.  It was a well-played misdirection.

Misdirection does not have to be so elaborate.  Patrons tend to head towards light, especially in dim surroundings.  If the room is dark enough, and the light is focused into the patrons' faces, an actor can literally stand right under the light and remain unseen.  As patrons approach the light, suddenly the actor can pop out or shine a light on her own face and scare them.   It would be good to immediately make the real exit available, or at least to have another actor attack from a different angle, scaring the patrons in the right direction.

This brings to mind some other tricks of misdirection.  A haunt with limited actors but some animatronics can use them in tandem.  Instead of a prop firing off alone, put it where it can be seen.  It will become the focus of attention.  After it goes off, the actor can scare the group from a different angle.  No one saw him there because they were looking at the obvious "threat".

You could even do this with a couple of animatronics.  Maybe have one poorly hidden and another well hidden, and time them to go off one at a time.  The one they see does NOT have to be the first one to go off!  The more uncertain they are of their surroundings, the easier they are to scare.

One more example for now.

Did you ever play Hide and Seek?  Did you ever see someone who was hiding but left a telltale clue where they were?  It was fun to catch them out! In a haunt, patrons expect actors to be hiding.  If they see shoes sticking out from behind a curtain, what will they think?  They will be "sure" they have found the actor hiding there.

Imagine their surprise when the scare comes form somewhere else entirely!  You might even set it up so they must go through the curtain to get out, only to be startled by a second actor - maybe in the ceiling!

Misdirection is about playing with audience perceptions.  It's HUGE in movies, books, magic shows, and yes, haunts.

Happy Halloween!