So The Shining event is almost upon us and I could not be more excited. I have been writing lists of everything I need to organise and am setting myself deadlines to ensure I am on top of things. As a group we are in very regular contact and I am helping to keep members of the group calm as the pressure is building.

I have been keeping the budget up to date and we are still on track. Luckily everything has arrived in plenty of time and we only have a few last minute things to buy like cigarettes and paper.

Some of the props and costumes have been more difficult to source than others, for instance I have been searching for a bear costume. I found a couple of masks but realised they would be too small for a man to wear. I did eventually find a bear mask and a fleece hoodie with ears and am hoping this will work effectively.

I have found that asking around for different pieces rather than buying them has been useful. I had been looking for a door for a Photo Booth area we are going to have on the night and a member of staff at Watershed had one that she no longer wanted. This was brilliant as it meant we could easily arrange when to pick it up and we got it for free so could use the money assigned for that on other things. I also got a trike for free off a family member which was particularly useful as the others I had found were very expensive so we were possibly going to have to decide against having one. Now all I have to do is alter these slightly so they are appropriate, for example add A frames to the door so it stands upright and spray paint the trike a different colour.

I am pleased with all of the props and costumes and think they are all going to hugely add to the experience for the audience.

I have been planning when the set dressing will take place. Luckily we have plenty of time during the day before the event. There will be a change around in the bar area in the middle of the event but as this will be when the audience are in the cinema watching the film it will be ok. We will keep the doors closed to the bar so that if any audience members go to the toilet during the film they won’t be able to see the change around taking place.

Half of our group are going to be in the screening so they can watch the reactions of the audience. Some of the group shall start clearing up and Alex and I plan to be setting up the bar area. I am going to prepare a bag of different items we may need during the day for example scissors, blu tac, paper. I think this will help us work most effectively as we won’t be rushing around trying to find things all the time.

I am a little worried at the moment that we won’t have enough props and set pieces to fill the space but hopefully once the bar, cloak room and other elements have been set up it will look good. If it does feel a little sparce then we can use more tables and chairs which will add to the ‘Hotel lobby’ feel anyway.