{ when shadows fall | summer 2016 }
when shadows fall was an exciting new form of interactive entertainment, combining live performance with clever interactions and fully immersive environments to create an entirely unique experience.
players explored a hyperreal world filled with shocking visuals, live actors, a rousing original musical score, and cinematic lighting, and interactions that brought familiar video game mechanics to real life.
this experience hijacked featured unconventional storytelling incorporating the audience into the story as main characters. actors and audience members were equals in this collaborative, branching, ever-changing narrative that included multiple timelines and endings for maximum re-playability.
set in the dystopian society of PENUMBRA, the experience's imaginative spaces were designed to entice discovery of endless secrets, allowing players to safely push personal boundaries, take risks, reap rewards - and face consequences across a 15,000-square-foot stylized space.
the experience was staged in orlando, fl. over its 10-week run (july-september 2016) it connected more than 1,000 players.

players explored a hyperreal world filled with shocking visuals, live actors, a rousing original musical score, and cinematic lighting, and interactions that brought familiar video game mechanics to real life.
this experience hijacked featured unconventional storytelling incorporating the audience into the story as main characters. actors and audience members were equals in this collaborative, branching, ever-changing narrative that included multiple timelines and endings for maximum re-playability.
set in the dystopian society of PENUMBRA, the experience's imaginative spaces were designed to entice discovery of endless secrets, allowing players to safely push personal boundaries, take risks, reap rewards - and face consequences across a 15,000-square-foot stylized space.
the experience was staged in orlando, fl. over its 10-week run (july-september 2016) it connected more than 1,000 players.
{ video | when shadows fall }
{ photos | when shadows fall }
{ music | when shadows fall }
beyond the set design, branching story, lighting, and actors, it was the soundtrack of when shadows fall that helped immerse players into the world of PENUMBRA.
more than 60 individual looping pieces of original music were created by william dodson of sideshow sound theatre.
scored in four moods (stasis, momentum, unrest, and tension), the soundtrack was unique to each of more than 25 individual rooms found in the experience, seamlessly blending together to create a cohesive overall sound that escalated as the experience became more intense.
below is a small sampling of music from when shadows fall.
{ the office - work room }
{ the office - surgery }
{ the labyrinth - minotaur }
{ penumbra - chapel }
{ the office - surgery }
{ the labyrinth - minotaur }
{ penumbra - chapel }
{ the office - perception }
{ the labyrinth - identity }
{ the labyrinth - oracle }
{ penumbra - town square / finale }
{ the labyrinth - identity }
{ the labyrinth - oracle }
{ penumbra - town square / finale }
{ creative team | when shadows fall }
creative director, director, co-producer, co-writer:
sarah a.s. elger
co-producer & technical director:
ricky brigante
lead writer:
nikhil menezes
set designers:
sarah a.s. elger, nathanael white
composer:
william dodson
costume designers:
winter ramos, lauren morrison, kellie rhianne smith
makeup fx designers:
alan ostrander, kayedee parrish
interaction designer:
irene pynn
logo designer:
adam mccabe
web designer, photographer, videographer:
ricky brigante