Silver Antlers is a very simple story. There are eight scenes which alternate between two locations. There are three characters, only two of which are in any given scene, and very few props. When I think about the story, I picture it in many different ways: a walkthrough. A dark ride. A stageplay. A film. A radio play. An illustrated book. A graphic novel. An album. How can I choose just one medium?¹

We’ve already decided that this will be a walkthrough, but even with that chosen, there is lots of freedom. How large will the models be? Will we create full, three-dimensional figures, or “2.5-D” flats, like a pop-up book? Will the scenes be life size? How close in space will they be to each other? Should the guests travel through corridors between scenes, or maybe we’ll put them all in one large space and light them in sequence?

You can probably guess that I’ve imagined every possible combination of these options and more. The absolute simplest incarnation that could possibly satisfy me would be lightbox-style scenes, a few feet wide and maybe six inches deep, arranged in sequence on a long wall. There would be no special light cues—each box might have some small special effects inside it, but the whole space would be lit uniformly. Think of the way paintings are traditionally presented in an art gallery. The narrative would either be played from a small speaker close to each piece or simply written out and mounted on the wall. This would work, but it wouldn’t be too impressive.

The amazing, world-shattering, best-case-scenario-and-then some version would be life-size models in life-size settings, each fitted with its own speaker for an accurate sonic image. They would be space apart by a walk long enough for a bit of music, so that the viewers truly feel the protagonist’s journey. The lights would be cued both to the viewers’ presence and the story: lights up as a scene comes into view, lights down as it ends, and plenty of other effects to represent weather and narrative beats. The characters would also move—not full animatronics, but a head turning here, an arm lifting there. This would be incredible.

Note that even in my wildest dreams, Silver Antlers is not seen from a cart. I love vehicle-based dark rides but they don’t suit this story. It’s all about walking through the woods. I want you to walk through the woods with the characters².

Where do we settle between these two ends of our spectrum? The issue, of course, is money. I’m making a personal investment in this project, and I hope to charge admission as well. (It’ll be modest.) It just comes down to how excited you are. If you’re as excited as me then we’re going to make the big version, no problem. But I can’t know that yet. Yes, there will be a Kickstarter. Soon.

I’ve been looking at event spaces for rent in New York City (where I live). I’ve been pricing lighting equipment and art supplies. I’ve been sliding scale models around. I’m still working on what I think will be a reasonable goal.

Even if my project isn’t backed, this is still going to be real. One of my first middle-of-the-spectrum arrangements is a relatively cheap fallback:

Imagine a space about 12’×16’ with an entrance in the center of one of the short sides. In the center of the space is a large surface, about 4’ square. This is the woods. All four woods scenes will be staged here, as 1:5 scale models, with only one visible per edge of the surface. The other four scenes are flats, mounted one on each wall. Speakers and lights will be threaded in throughout the space and as the soundtrack plays, lights will focus on the scenes in sequence. Rather than a continuous stream of viewers, the work will be experienced by one (small!) group at a time.

Can you see it? That space is my apartment. I want something more grand but one way or another, The Stag with Silver Antlers will be.

We’re going to keep thinking about this as if it’s the full-scale version, both for optimism’s sake and also to figure out just exactly what we’re getting into. The story is fairly set by now, so our conversations are going to start leaning more technically. Next week we’ll talk about our options for the soundtrack. Sound hardly takes up any space at all, so if there’s any sound at all, it’s going to be wonderful.