I’ve finished the new layout and added some interior walls to the mockup. It’s starting to feel cramped, which is worrisome, but it’s hard to tell exactly how it will feel at full scale yet. Watch the latest video now (or on YouTube if that’s your jam):
The middle scene is still utterly unfinished, and I might cut it entirely to free up more room for the other two. I also drew backdrops, which are hard to see in this video but I think they add a lot to this in general.
I’m finding that the more fidelity I add to this mockup, the more offensive I find the generally low quality of the materials I used. A lot of the early work on this project has been an excuse to burn through all the garbage materials I’ve collected over the years (mostly in the form of corrugated cardboard, cereal boxes, and wire coat hangers). The next one will be made from nicer materials, and I plan to rebuild parts of the scale mockup once I’ve confirmed a location anyway, so this problem should resolve itself in time.
I mentioned that the video is feeling cramped. I need to know if 1000 square feet is actually workable for this design, and I know that no matter what, I’m going to have a skeleton scene and a ghost scene. So I’ve started making the full-size skeletons. I cut out armatures for all the limbs; designed the hips, torsos, and skulls; and started experimenting with different approaches to the hands and feed. Here’s one hand that could turn into something:
I’ve gone over this before, but the plan for the skeletons is: wire wrapped in tape and foil, coated in monster mud, primed, and painted. With enough layers and plenty of sanding, this thing should look pretty professional and not weigh too much.
I won’t have room to stage the whole thing until I have the real space, but the skeleton scene is about 10'×20' and I should be able to squeeze that into my apartment if I move some furniture around. Having a sliver of the real show set up life-size will help me understand how to interpret the scale model. Will it really feel that cramped? We’ll know soon.