Haunted Disco
Immersive Environment & Prop Fabrication
Project Overview
Inspired by 1970s disco music and the campy "Spooky Island" aesthetic of the 2002 live-action Scooby-Doo film, Haunted Disco is a high-impact experiential installation built around a massive, custom-engineered hero prop. Designed as a high-energy, entertaining party space, the project fuses nightlife club iconography with classic Halloween imagery. When the time-intensive fabrication of the centerpiece compressed the production timeline and limited the creation of other scenic elements, I adapted my strategy, focusing on aggressive atmospheric staging to deliver a completely immersive, high-energy environment.
Credit & Collaboration
Project Lead & Art Direction: Joshua Winklhofer
Construction and Engineering Support: Brian Winklhofer
Scenic Elements
The "Spooky Island" Disco Skull (Hero Prop)
The Disco Skull is a massive, 21-spiked centerpiece designed as a direct cinematic recreation. Built over a structural plywood core with an integrated vertical steel pipe armature for rigging, we sculpted the form using mixed-media fabrication (insulation foam, cardstock, and structural reinforcing elements). The surface encompasses 25 square feet of hand-cut, flexible mirrored plastic tiles. To achieve a distinct, irregular mirrored surface, we individually cut, hand-trimmed, and carefully glued thousands of custom trapezoidal and triangular tiles across the highly contoured surface—ensuring every inch was wrapped, from the individual teeth to the eye sockets.
Cantilevered Rigging
To safely suspend the 50-pound hero prop directly over the environment, we designed a custom, heavy-duty wooden outrigger arm engineered to handle the load. Securely bolted to the patio's largest tree, this cantilevered support system managed the weight while hiding the rigging within the canopy. With a strong paracord we could easily raise and lower the skull, serving as a dynamic moment of live activation and theatricality throughout the night.
Scenic Elements
Dynamic 3D Spider Webs
An efficient and highly graphic environmental solution deployed to optimize installation time. I rigged large cobwebbing dynamically to span the physical gap between the trees and the perimeter fence. By altering the mounting heights and depths, and zigzagging the lines back and forth, I broke up the linear visual boundaries of the backyard and introduced a classic Halloween motif with dynamic physical depth.
Kinetic Lighting & Atmospheric FX
The primary environmental layer used to unify the space and cultivate an immersive club vibe. I paired two fog machines equipped with custom fog chillers alongside saturated purple, magenta, and blue ambient lighting washes. To heighten the kinetic energy, I integrated rotating standard disco balls and moving head lights. This combination dynamically activated the thousands of hand-cut mirrored facets on the disco skull, bouncing light across the environment and causing the three-dimensional webbing to glow.
Fabrication & Process
Cinematic Reference: Scooby-Doo (2002)