bottomless pit

Spartan005 · #1 09-09-2007

Alright so as the guests step into the elevator that leads to hell, I want them to look down at a bottomless pit that will act as the elevator's shaft. The problem is I don't know what they should step on so that they can see the shaft below them and still be supported. There will be about 4 people on the elevator at a time which is about 5' x 4' so what should they step on? Plexiglass came to mind but I figured it would be too expensive. I also thought of making a wood floor with maybe 2x6s facing vertically so there would be a fair amount of space where you could look down but I don't want it to take away from the effect. Has anyone ever tried something like this before? Any suggestions?

Sickie Ickie · #2 09-09-2007

Maybe a window in the floor?

BadOleRoss · #3 09-09-2007

I'm thinking that people standing on a window might break it.....However, if the viewing window to the bottomless pit was elevated about 2' so it looked more like a shaft it would work. Plexiglass is still the best idea but you are correct regarding cost........

Sickie Ickie · #4 09-09-2007

Hmmmmm....what about an elevated box that people could look into for the bottomless pit in the elevator?

How about a bridge that leads to the elevator, and on either side of the bridge is the bottomless pit?

Kurt · #5 09-10-2007

If you bottomless pit is some sort of print, perhaps on high quality vinyl, you might get away with a sheet of acrylic and have the acrylic just sitting on top of the image.

However, I don't have much confidence that this will give you the effect you really want. I would suspect that you would really wan to have some actual drop (say 3 ft just to guess) and then use a print to give the bottomless pit impression.

IN that case, you need really thick acrylic to take the weight. You might get away with only kinda-thick acrylic if you build it into some sort of grid where each block is only 6"x6" and supported by a metal frame.

All in all, sounds like an expensive prop that might be hard to pull off.

Just my 2c either way.

Kurt

1031fan · #6 09-10-2007

not exactly sure what you want here - if they are going to ride the elevator - wouldnt it take up the room of the shaft and make the "pit" unnoticable?? - i just put my pit together in the haunt tonight - 3 feet high - 4x8 with a bridge over top - it was a very expensive project but the effect is well worth it - ill post pics soon and try to help with any Q's you have about yours - riley

Spartan005 · #7 09-10-2007

Alright, just to make myself clear... there will be two elevators in the haunt. In the first one it will drop but in the second one (with the bottomless pit) won't due to height restrictions. Anyway I want them to be inside the elevator which will be 4' by 5' and directly below the floor that they are standing on is the bottomless pit/ shaft. The floor that they are standing on is an elevator floor so it can't be a bridge because the floor must touch the walls.

Basically they have to see through the floor and I want to know what materials I should use to do this that will support everyones weight.

GOT · #8 09-10-2007

If you made the elevator a little bigger, you could put a window in the floor and protect it with a guard rail. That way, they could look down without standing on it. Otherwise, I say use heavy slats with several 1" spaces in between and cover it on top with chicken wire. That should be strong but visible enough. You can buy sheets of thin plastic at Garden Ridge. If you support that with wood slats, that should work too.

Spartan005 · #9 09-10-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by GOT

If you made the elevator a little bigger, you could put a window in the floor and protect it with a guard rail. That way, they could look down without standing on it. Otherwise, I say use heavy slats with several 1" spaces in between and cover it on top with chicken wire. That should be strong but visible enough. You can buy sheets of thin plastic at Garden Ridge. If you support that with wood slats, that should work too.

hmmm... not a bad idea with the window but I'm not sure it would look good if the elevator was bigger than the mirror... because if anything the shaft should be bigger than the elevator itself. But then again maybe they wouldn't really notice the size difference because the elevator won't be directly on top of the box (in order not to break the mirrors)

Oh, and I remember a while ago someone talking about using plexiglass with I think the window shrink wrap stuff that gives the illusion of a 2 way mirror.... can anyone confirm this or know what I'm talking about. I know I can get mirrors half off b/c I just tell them that the haunts for charity, but if I do I'd probably need to get a really thin version to keep the price reasonable.

dflowers · #10 09-10-2007

How about using glass (cheaper than plexi) but build your elevator in such a way that you use expanded metal for the floor over top of metal supports. What I am imagining is like a freight or mine elevator that you can see through the metal grating. Just a thought.