People are working around the clock on Knott’s Scary Farm, both backstage, after hours, and even outside the Farm. As the clock ticks closer, many makeup artists are working at their homes and garages to create custom masks for Knott’s Scary Farm streets monsters. This collaboration of artists and scare actors to bring monsters to life. It begins with a nightmarish idea of a new monster character/design, complete with an elaborate backstory, personality, and a completely original look. According to KSF MUA, Sarah Navarrette,

“A monster who gets cast into a mask, you either take the standard given mask or they can take their character into their own hands and get a custom mask created. I feel like it’s a little bit more ownership and the character really develops and becomes more when it’s a mask molded off of their head and creates from their concept. And it’s like a little joined marriage between the monster and the artist that gets to create the mask.”

We join Sarah throughout the entire process of creating customs masks for the street monsters from Ghost Town Streets, The Hallows, Fiesta De Los Muertos and Carnevil. It all begins with a nice summer’s night when several scare actors visit her home and get their head life casted.

Being casted that evening were Mikael Zenteno, (this is his 2^nd experience of going through this process), Riley Polymanteer (his first time), and Brandon. With the help with a team of makeup artists, Sarah gets each scare actor into the chair and starts the process. They make a hair cap on each actor with seran wrap and protecting their eyebrows and eyelids with Vaseline. She pours alginate, which is a powder when mixed in water turns into a wonderfully gooey mixture, onto the heads of each actor. They make sure the gooey concoction is thoroughly covering their heads then Sarah and her team begin the next step. They take wet strips of cloth and place it over the gooey substance.

Some time passes and their work hardens into a shell, they remove the shell slowly from the actor’s face and they return to the light. It is quite funny seeing them wriggle out of the cast which holds a copy of their face in full detail within. The team fills each shell with cement.

Once hardened, she removes the cast, and it is ready for Sarah to begin bringing the character to life. With the guideline of the ideas from the scareactors, the facial structure of the actor and Sarah’s mad skills. She begins slapping clay onto the actor’s headcast and sculpting the character. With time and precision, the monster takes form. Sarah builds the clay on top of the base, smoothing it, adding more, and creating detail.

It was amazing seeing the process of the creation of a monster from clay. It’s like magic.

After going through the next few steps of cementing the design, pouring latex into the mold and finally holding that latex mask and painting it…. There is so much time and hard work that goes into creating the mask.

Every mask and costume must be looked over and approved by Tim Barham, who was featured in last week’s behind the scenes article/vid. Every mask you see in these pictures and video have been approved by him and you will see them all in action this season.

It takes a team to bring each monster to life, as we speak, MUA’s are finishing up monster’s masks and the game plan come this Thursday! Without them, the monsters would not look as terrifying or as amazing as they do. It is wonderful that monsters are so dedicated to their craft of the scare they go above and beyond to bring that character to life. MUAS and Monsters working together, side by side to create the characters that will HAUNT YOUR NIGHTMARES!!!!!! 3:)

Thank you Sarah Navarrette and the Scary Farm monsters for being apart of this article and vid… sharing your passion and excitement! We are excited to see your hard work in action. Thank you for reading, link to the vid to see the entire process in action is down below. We hope to see you all THURSDAY In The Fog!!!!!

See More Pictures of the Masks, Her Work and other Scary Farm Monster Goodness on Sarah’s Instagram, Link Below!

https://www.instagram.com/super.nava/

During a warm summer day in July, many people (who are 18+ of age) line up on the side of the Gate, waiting to be ushered in to show Knott’s what they are made of, to become Scary Farm Scare Actors/Monsters. They are invited in through security check and into the backstage area of Knott’s to check in and to auditions, which were held in within the haunted penitentiary of Paranormal Inc. They were casting for their infamous event Knott’s Scary Farm. They were looking for people to unleash their inner monster to become Clowns, Zombies, Ghosts, Witches, Creatures, and Things that go Bump In The Night. Hundreds of people, young and old, newcomers and returning scare actors, audition every year to become the fear that lurks in The Fog and In the Darkness. But before they can become monsters of Scary Farm, they must show what they got and what they are made of to a panel of Scary Farm designers and talent coordinators. These are the people who have a keen eye for evaluating actors’ strengths and where they will fit best in their twisted family. There is NO Failing in this Audition. Everyone has a place in the realm of Scary Farm. From line control, to a Zombie in infected, blackout, maze monster or even t streets.

Prospective monsters congregate where guests await their next great terror before venturing in during the haunt season. Excitement, anticipation, and nervousness linger in the air as they talk amongst themselves about what may come during auditions and where they hope to be casted. Time ticks by quickly as groups of future monsters enter and exit Paranormal Inc. with excitement on their faces.

We are then escorted into the showroom where a panel of talent captains and designers Jon Cooke, Gus Kruger, Nathan Hale, and Andrew are waiting for the next group. The group is escorted into the maze, a perfect atmosphere with eerie music playing in the background to audition to. Cooke welcomes everyone and asks each person to introduce themselves, state specific talents (like stilt walking, contortions, etc.), haunt experience, and where would they like to go. Each one steps forward with enthusiasm, expressing their love for the event. Then comes the fun part, lol. Jon instructs the group of future haunt monsters to show their best ZOMBIE, CLOWN, and WEREWOLF. The room erupts with a terrifying menagerie of everyday people becoming your worst nightmares. Throughout all of this the panel are writing down notes. No Makeup and No Costume… these people become all of these in a snap. Then Cooke goes down the line of scare actors and asks for their best pop out scare, each one gives their all to scare him.

The audition ends, and those who are trying out for streets stay behind in Paranormal Inc. while the rest of their group wait for them right outside. The ones who are moving forward for Streets auditions state which of the four infamous zones, Ghost Town, Fiesta De Los Muertos, CarnEvil, or The Hallows, they are interested in. They are then asked how they would portray a monster of that zone. Each actor gives their wild spin on the zones they are interested with energy and dedication.

They are then excused from the room for the audition is over. The panel of designers and talent coordinators talk amongst themselves about the results of the auditions and where each person would fit best in their world of nightmares. After deliberating, going over notes and finishing up their paperwork. They invite the actors who passed the audition for streets back into the room and congratulate them on succeeding. As Jon Cooke calls this part, “Making dreams come true.” 🙂 Those who are selected for streets are brimming with excitement because it is a position where they can roam outside the mazes and scare all guests who cross their path.

Speaking with Cooke and the designers, we asked what piece of advice they would give to those who wish to audition next year?

“For me, the biggest piece of advice is just to come in and Don’t Be Afraid to look Silly and Dumb and Just Have Fun with It.” 🙂

Returning with the actors, they are looking forward with curiosity to which maze they are going to be placed in. So everyone, including the future street talent, are escorted next to processing where many dedicated Scary Farm employees look over the actors paperwork and place them in their mazes. They go over which every actor, their character and their maze. Also, a lot of important information regarding working Scary Farm is also gone over in this room.

Next up, now that the actors know their character and maze they will call home during the haunt season, they head over to warehouse P…. Wardrobe. They enter a giant warehouse which has a sign for Scary Farm Costuming. Future Monsters check in and they are called individually to be measured and to be fitted into their costumes.

Many talented women and men of wardrobe are bustling around inside warehouse P, they enter the many rows of racks of costumes. From samurai armor to clown outfits, this is an important part of bringing the monsters to life. These detailed costumes tell part of the story of the monster. When they bring an actor back, they look at their paperwork, measure them and swiftly grab their costume. The actor goes into the changing room and gets into the costume. When they emerge out of the curtain, they are slowly becoming their character. Then they go over what they need along with the costume, such as props, makeup, mask, etc. Also, what is recommended to wear under the costume and how often the costumes are washed. They also pin the costume for the best fit.

Leading the team of wardrobe is Tim Barham, he designs the costumes for Scary Farm and does so much for Berry Farm as Area Manager all year long. He works alongside the designers of Scary Farm going over what kind of costumes are needed for each maze and how they can bring that to life. Going over the fabrics, materials, design inspiration. For example, for Shadowlands, he delved into the fashion of that era and an authentic kimono was brought in for research and inspiration. He collaborates with so many talented tailors of the wardrobe dept. in making the best costumes for Scary Farm. With each costume, so much love for the event and care is put in it. Especially with zones, where the costumes correlate with each other. Also, if scareactors create their own original character and they wish to make their own costume, they take the design and get it approved by Tim. Tim guides the scareactors who are creating their custom costume so it is of the amazing quality of all of the costumes of Scary Farm. He and his department do such a fantastic job with costumes every year. When you look at a monster, they appear to be of the worlds they come from. The costuming really brings that to life.

See everything that is from this article brought to life in our vid! With interviews and even more good stuff! Link Down Below!! And be sure to visit Knott’s Scary Farm This MONTH and see the hard work of all of these talented people in action! Thank you for reading and thank you to everyone who participated in this article/video. And Thank you to Scary Farm.

Hello everyone, this is Mary Imagination of The Knott’s Network. I would like to announce something very special Tim and I have been working on in collaboration with Knott’s Berry Farm since this past Summer. But first, I would like to start this off by thanking Knott’s Berry Farm and their amazing marketing team and many others for being so amazing and always kind to us. And everyone who has collaborated and worked with us so far.

I am so happy and proud that this project has come to full fruition this year. Over the years I have been making baby steps towards this project. It is my Love and Passion for Knotts Scary Farm’s Halloween Haunt and the people who bring it to life which sparked the idea for this project. The first step was an article I wrote on HorrorBuzz.com about the Makeup Artists who bring hundreds of monsters to life every night. Thank you to Vicki Woods for bringing me backstage for that wonderful haunt night. I wanted to write an article so Fans and Guests can see and appreciate the many talented people and artists that come together every night to bring the monsters of scary farm to life. I love make up artists, I believe it is a special magic, talent, artistry, and science they have to change a normal person into something terrifying or beautiful.

So this year, I wanted to expand upon that but with everyone, all of the talented and hardworking people who work together to bring Knott’s Scary Farm to Life! From design, to wardrobe, to build, to the MUAS, to props, to paint, to special FX, to EVERYONE involved. Starting TOMORROW we will be releasing an article and video Every Friday until our final article/episode. Peer behind the veil of the fog and shadows to see the hard work and passion that goes into Scary Farm.

My greatest hope with this series of articles and videos will give Fans and People who are curious about Knott’s Scary Farm will gain a deeper appreciation for the event and the people who pour their heart and souls into making it one of the scariest haunts in So. Cal. To shed a light to the unsung heroes of Scary Farm and all of their amazing work to bring the event to life.

Perhaps you are someone who has never attended a year of Scary Farm, but curious about the event. I hope these Behind the Scenes entice you further to attend your first year of Scary Farm. Sometimes it’s the peek behind the curtain will get you excited and even more curious about what lurks in the fog.

Perhaps you are someone who has a Passion for Haunted Attractions, maybe this series will give you greater insight and inspiration on the many roles that go into bringing Haunt to life.

We love Scary Farm so much and we hope you all enjoy what we set out to create for our Haunt Community of Southern California and for anyone who loves KSF or even those who are curious about the terror that lurks behind the gates of the farm.

Our First episode of “Scary Farm: What Lurks Within” PREMIERING TOMORROW here on The Knott’s Network is about Open Auditions for Scary Farm, featuring the Wardrobe/Costume Dept.

This series is dedicated to all of those who have worked or work haunt, past & present, to the living and those who are not with us anymore. We love you all and can’t wait for what nightmares you have created for us. Thank You All from the bottom of our hearts. I hope you all have a wonderfully spooky day.

-Mary Imagination