By Jimmy Clarity. Posted September 08, 2015 at 07:30AM on “UO Close Up,” the official Universal Orlando blog:
Summer’s over. School’s back in session. My lumbago is acting up. Things are just tough, you know?
But when I caught a sneak peek of the director’s cut of the Halloween Horror Nights 25 TV commercial, I felt like all was right in the world again. Seeing Jack terrorize innocent victims meant that Halloween Horror Nights was just around the corner.
You’ll probably start to see the :30 commercial on your TV, but the full story is right here. To learn more about what went into creating this masterpiece, I headed to see my buddy Troy Scillian, our Executive Creative Director, who helped bring this year’s TV spot to life.
Tell me about this year’s Halloween Horror Nights commercial.
First, working with psychotic killers and a small horde of undead requires extra focus. For the most part, this was manageable as the “talent” were in cages most of the time and the crew stayed behind a protective barrier.How was working with the undead?
Well, they are inherently not great actors. They just do what they do—try to bite everyone. If it weren’t for our professional wranglers, we never would have gotten the shots we needed. I don’t know how this happened, but we ended up with three more undead and three less production assistants than we started with.What was it like working with Jack the Clown?
Jack was heavily involved in the development of the script, the location details and even selected our young couple. (We’re not sure where he got them; he just brought them to the set.) The couple were great actors. Very method. Even when the cameras weren’t rolling they remained in character and stayed genuinely terrified.What is Jack like as a person?
Jack has none of the attitude you’d expect with many celebrities. Our director brought his son, Brandon, to the set and Jack graciously offered to show up for Brandon’s fifth birthday party. He’s just that kind of guy.How about Chance?
Jack and Chance’s relationship has been well documented in the tabloids, so I won’t go into any of that nonsense. On set, they were nothing but professional. It was Chance’s idea to play a game with the young couple by putting them on the wheel. Jack just kept yelling, “Stop playing with your food.” Then he and Chance would laugh. I never got the joke.Interesting fact: Jack and Chance don’t require make-up—that saved us a lot of time and money.
And there’s scoop, straight from the source. To see more of Jack and Chance, grab your tickets to Halloween Horror Nights and come face the terror yourself.
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