Scary Mine

Mines are scary.

They're deep pits into the guts of the Earth, with dark depths kept light only by poorly-supported lights extending in front of you, they're enclosed and claustrophobic, they're dark, they're cold, damp, there's death by crushing piles of earth held off your head by now-rotting wooden struts, there's jagged rock everywhere, the poor lighting causes shadows that seem to change as you pass them, the chugging rattle of creaking, aged machinery, stalictites that look like sharp, predatory teeth gnawing upon the path you're heading towards....

We're desensitised to most the usual horror spool. Zombies are now things to make comedy with (Sean of the Dead, Dead Rising), Vampires are now irritating teenage boys that sparkle in daylight and are in dire need of better dialogue, personalities, and plots, and skeletons are generally seen on the cover of celebrity magazines, sporting the newest Size -2 dress.

But on the news we see people being ferried out of collapsed mines, shaken and crying, blinded by the sun and mentally broken from being lost, alone, and trapped amidst cold, merciless rock and infinite darkness, waiting to starve. People get lost in mines. People die in mines. Mines are scary beyond any arm-flailing monster. A skeleton is six feet tall and even if you get caught by it, it'll just stab you or something.

But a mine, with proper application of horror, is a mile-square monster of earth, with teeth that hang from the cieling, grinding people up who have come to take from it the treasures it held. And you're already standing inside it's mouth. Add to this making the mine derelict, no longer used, shut down due to accidents, but something tore down the yellow tape, and there's a trail scratched in the floor, and the lights are flickering, still on the grid but dying of age, and they swing loosely on the breeze, the shadows extending and shrinking, like some kind of gullet pulsating around where you're standing and oh mercy get me out of here the walls are going to eat me.

I admit to being a big fan of horror, in all it's forms. Something bursting from the side of the room is startling, not horrifying. I was told when designing my track that it looked a bit too short. That's true. I haven't made it very long. If it was long, I'd be going at a decent pace. The track is simple and slow, and it dosen't wind or flip about. Horror comes in two speeds. Slow, and the heart pounding rush of stumbling for your life. My track has both, in what I believe to be the correct amounts.

Going back to horror, I believe that something mildly scary, that feels utterly believable, will cut a thousand times deeper than clearly fictional monstrosities. The works of H.P Lovecraft and Stephen King show this well; They create believable worlds and characters that are slowly sunk into the paranormal. Contrast this with the movie Van Helseing, where Hugh Jackman is regularly run-and-gunning with thirty vampires.


Of course, allowances must be made. The ride dosen't have the time to build up enough suspense and context to make something mostly insignificant horrifying, so I rely on other techniques, such as minimal actual monstrousness. The more something is seen, the more normal it becomes to see, the less it is paranormal, the less it is scary. So what I aim for in the flow, is to have the first scare event focused primarily on the fear of an unseen action taken by the presence in the mine, the second event based on a brief glimpse of the presence, followed by the aforementioned escape rush, and the final event being utterly overwhelmed by multiple sightings of the presence. At the moment the first two scare events are set in stone, but the third is up in the air.

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Events

As brief descriptions:

Scare 1:
As the minecart slowly enters the first main room (Area A, coming from Tunnel A), the main light source is the flickering light from a minecart that has fallen from the tracks, lighting an area to the high left for the audience. As the light draws attention (possibly with some kind of event such as a small crumbling fall of rock in the area of the main light), a quick sound of breaking glass is heard from the direction of the abandoned cart (the audio must be clearly from the abandoned cart, nowhere else, possibly emphasised by a minor audio blackout a moment before the shattering) as the flickering lightspot on the wall is instantly extinguished (done by simply removing the light presence in 3dsMax and playing a sound in the editing at the same time).

Following will be the faint sound of footsteps moving away from the abandoned cart, and a faint rattling, with the area now significantly darkened.

Overall: A minor scare event designed to build suspense. In my hopes, an effective event created with only minor visual and audio interaction, leaving most of the work to what isn't seen.

Scare 2:
As the minecart reaches the end of Area A, which is now darkened following event 1, they are pulled further along the tracks towards Tunnel B. The tracks appear to be torn out and broken, but these are largely prosthetic parts of the track, with the true forward track being hidden to the eye of the rider by darkness, angle, colour, and distraction. As the viewer moves forward, the lights behind dim slightly and the cart light becomes brighter, increasing the viewers focus on the front, where they see a dark pit ahead of them. At this point, with the viewer looking ahead, the figure of a miner is moved onto the track behind them. When this is complete, the minecart light blows out with an audible pop as the lights remaining in Area A become a little lighter and an audible rattle plays once more, this time from close behind. This likely would bring the rider to turn around and see the sudden presence behind them. Following this, the cart immediately enters tunnel B quickly, and several events take place.

Overall: An event that utilises some startling, but primarily relies on directing the viewers attention and using the audio connection of the rattle, rather than jumping out. Nothing jumps out, the figure is still and only moving at a normal pace towards the cart, but it is unexpected. Event relies primarily on controlling and directing the audience attention.

Scare 2b
Following the first part of scare 2, the cart enters tunnel B. Tunnel B is designed to create the feeling of extensive and dramatic movement within a small area, by combination of several factors:

• Audio: The ride has a constant sound of bumping connections in the tracks, running at a pace concurrent to the carts speed, coming from a speaker within the cart. This will increase in tempo dramatically.
• Textile: A fan will be hidden within the walls, and will blow air directly towards the rider to simulate the feeling of wind when moving quickly. Not actually done in 3dsMax, but hopefully the effect will be clear.
• Instability: The cart will rattle slightly from side to side and front to back, as if becoming unstable from the speed.
• (Possible) Visual: A sheet of material designed to appear rock-like, surrounding Tunnel B will be blown by the fan and dimly lit, with the rapid flapping hopefully appearing similar to a rapid passing of the walls. Otherwise, simply use complete darkness and rely on other factors

Following this, the cart will reach the ground and enter the rest of tunnel B leading to Area B, a part of the mine that is slightly flooded (a splash of water as the cart stops 'Moving' sprayed at the viewer will emphasise this and nicely transition from one to the other), the cart now drifting on a slight current through Area B, in near complete darkness.

The exact event that will happen within Area B is yet to be decided, but it will be the most powerful, using elements of both previous scare events, and finally throwing the rider to the exit of the ride.

Note: Considering a few things I am considering altering the presence in the mines to be something more Lovecraft-inspired, rather than the skeletal things I was thinking of. Hopefully this will add some more originality; I'd imagine there'll be no shortage of skeletons and zombies, but I doubt many people will be including Yog-Sothhoth and the Great Old Ones. At this stage in planning, such is very much still possible.