Rocking the Hard Rock!

Halloween at Hard Rock Hotel San Diego, California

It was the last weekend of October. The Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego invited Scream Team Productions to scare at their annual Halloween at Hard Rock the night of the 27^th. This time they sent Sgt. Hacksaw, Porcia, Vladimir, Izzabel, and Dr. Trauma.

The Elite Monsters arrived at the hotel and were led to their designated break room on the second floor. As each creature suited up Sgt. Hacksaw went over some of the basics: no sliding, no hitting walls with the metal pieces on the mitts, stay on the same floor, etc. The most important thing they had to remember, especially with alcohol involved, was safety first. Watch out for teammates and never go for a scare if it seemed unsafe for either monster or the intended target. That night Dr. Trauma was with Izzabel and Sgt. Hacksaw while Porcia and Vladimir had each other’s backs.

Before they knew it the clock struck 8pm. They put their hands together one last time and barged out the doors back downstairs. Music was blaring through the speakers, the sound intensified as it reverberated off the floor and walls. It was slow to start, a few people here and there, the perfect pace to feel out the place.

Vladimir jumped in front of passerby’s starling them before moving on. Porcia had a way of luring the person in closer then snapping at them with her Monster Mitts™. Dr. Trauma had the height advantage with plenty of opportunities for overhead frights. Being short Izzabel went in low and popped up in people’s faces. Sgt. Hacksaw, even without his blade, maintained his killer presence with every victim he pursued.  As a team the Elite Monsters moved back and forth from the first to second floor hallway and back. Getting a terrified scream requires reading the mannerisms of the patrons before reacting with the appropriate action. It’s the difference between an ear piercing shriek and a punch to the face.

A few hours passed when the Elite Team headed to the break room to re-energize and swap stories of flighty damsels and adamant stalkers. Having worked the Hard Rock the past two years Scream Team warned their monsters of alcohol induced changes in the patrons after 10pm. The break was over and the monsters were ready for more fun.

However the fun loving crowd they left was not the one they came back to. Patrons were stumbling around or no longer in the mood to play. Some became aggressive or irritated while others wanted to get frisky with the monsters. By 1am the fun was over and Elite Team returned to the break room to call it a night.

First Experience in Entertaining

First Experience in Entertaining by Elizabeth Garcia

Team member Elizabeth Garcia In high school I decided there’s only one thing I wanted to do with my life: be a performer on a stage! Oh, I did show choir and a couple musicals in those four years. I also took a couple acting classes my first year of college, but that was as far as my experience went. Then I saw a Haunt Ad on Craig’s List (yes the same one everybody else saw) and figured, “Why not?” It’s common to feel nervous when sitting down to be interviewed by someone you don’t know for what could be your first entertainment job. Thankfully, my jitters dissipated not too long into the first and second interviews. It felt like I was talking to average people instead of those (who at that moment) controlled the fate of my job status. Even when auditioning I think I was the harsher judge between myself and them. A few days after the audition, I received an email saying I was an Elite Monster. The first thing I learned in getting hired was how badly I wanted this job as I scared the crud out of Mom with a high-pitched squeal of joy I didn’t know I was capable of. I loved Orientation! Getting to meet the rest of the team and seeing familiar faces from auditions were exciting in that none of these people knew me from high school or former jobs. Also, I’d get to know the Scream Team Productions Staff and get a feel of what the next couple months would be like. I have to admit that I left Orientation somewhat intimidated, not because of the people though. I had never worked on something at this level before or in the haunt industry, except a couple small scale haunted garages at home. The physical training was brutal in the beginning—for me anyway. Granted I was out shape from a lack of exercise. Roger Leon Thompson III, our fitness coach, pushed all of us as hard as he could, using a positive attitude and encouraging us to encourage each other. I have to admit during our five weeks of preparation I have never felt that close to any groups I’ve been part of in my life. When running the mile, if one person fell behind we would cheer them on until they caught up. Sometimes one or two of us would run back to the other person to finish the last leg with them. It felt really good to see and be part of that. After our final run the (I guess we’ll call it) mental portion of training was engrained in our brains by Tim Deddeh, our talent supervisor. The first part of each session was decently easy even though we kept getting it wrong the first couple weeks. We had to have certain key things memorized (natural born fears, different scare types, etc.). It was a little harder coming up with creative examples that hadn’t been said already. The staff’s always telling anecdotes about past haunt seasons to reinforce the objective of safety as a number one priority or to illustrate how one scare is more effect in this situation than another. They were willing to work with our groups and adjust their teaching methods. See, in one of the sessions it was discovered that all of us understood the concepts mentally, but we seemed to have problems getting it down to physical movements. I know for a fact I’m both a visual and verbal learner. As a result our team participated in more activities practicing different scare tactics on each other. Willie May Creative Producer and CEO, and the rest of the STP staff would join in every now and then to show us what they were looking for. Patience and peer support are ideals adults try to instill in us while growing up to make us better people. It wasn’t until I worked for Scream Team Pros that I truly understood why. When the main attraction for October fell through all of us were thrown for a curve. I won’t lie—I was frustrated and a little pissed, but after thinking a bit I realized there was no point. I wasn’t the only one taking a hit from this, nor did I take the biggest loss. Besides, it’s an entertainment job. One of the things my teacher stressed in high school was, “You have to be in it for the passion, not the money or job stability. Unless you get a lucky break, there is none.” All I could do—any of us for that matter—was hope that some of the side gigs were still going ahead as planned. They did! We had work Halloween Weekend. For the first time in a while I felt that old, satisfying adrenaline rush I used to get in high school when on the stage! I can tell you I hadn’t experienced exhaustion like that since senior year weekends during choir competition season. I think I managed to get an hour of sleep Sunday morning before working the first of three events that day. It’s one of the best learning experiences I have had, the most enriching night being the Hard Rock Hotel event in San Diego that Saturday. I was the only female in a group of six monsters. I’ll start off by saying it was a good night, but not my best. When people have no fear as a result of alcohol or whatever else they’re on it’s harder to scare them and it did bring my confidence level down at a certain point in the night. During the “Dinner Break” I received a lot of encouragement and tips from the guys. I also got a little grief for not paying attention to a couple things I did. The biggest thing I pulled from it was just to stand tall, get back in there, and do my best. The remaining gigs were a breeze compared to Hard Rock. Overall, I came away from this experience with a slightly better idea of who I am and what it takes to be a professional performer. I plan on putting what I’ve gained towards my future endeavors, but for the moment I’m just looking forward to scaring again. For more information about Scream Team Productions visit us at www.screeamteamproductions.com.