Exit Photo Album - Tom's Photo Album - Halloween 2016 (Latest images)

dancers_1000 (Halloween 2016)

Mon, 07 Nov 2016 11:37:57 -0800

We had some bony dancers in the second story window.

Creating the dancing skeletons was surprisingly simple. A white translucent shower curtain liner was hung in our upstairs window to act as a projection screen. The dancers were rear projected on it.

The video projector used here was rated at about 400 lumens; In this location there was no need for a high-lumen model like we had to use in our other video based effects.

I must say that this blurry photo doesn't show how fantastic the dancers looked in person. You can see it in action in our YouTube video. But to really enjoy it you need to have been here on Halloween!

By the way, the "dancing dead" video was produced by atmosfx.com.

Date: Nov 07, 2016

talking_pumpkin_proj_800 (Halloween 2016)

Fri, 04 Nov 2016 11:48:20 -0700

The projector and speakers for the singing pumpkins are hidden in a box a few feet away. The box is somewhat camouflaged and goes unnoticed in the darkness.

It was a lot of work setting all this up. But we received many compliments on our haunted house, so it was a success.

We hope to scare them again next year!

Date: Nov 04, 2016

talking_pumpkin_1000 (Halloween 2016)

Fri, 04 Nov 2016 11:51:56 -0700

Another projector is used in our singing pumpkin illusion that is setup near the front door (candy central). The pumpkin heads (purchased at Target) are made of a foam material and are quite realistic looking.

Date: Nov 04, 2016

talking_skel2_700 (Halloween 2016)

Fri, 04 Nov 2016 11:44:47 -0700

A talking skeleton prop is positioned at the top of the stairs on the way to get candy. It is animatronic and its jaw moves naturally while it talks. There's a nearby video camera to see the visitors and a wireless microphone is used to speak with the little tricksters.

Date: Nov 04, 2016

smoke_test_1200 (Halloween 2016)

Fri, 04 Nov 2016 11:42:38 -0700

Here you can see us testing the smoke machine. It's a 700 watt model that was purchased from Amazon.

Smoke is directed through a long cooling tube (4" diameter ADS irrigation pipe) that has a blower fan attached to it. This helps spread out the smoke.

Hidden in the garden is a high powered strobe light and 40 watt audio amplifier for thunder. A MP3 player, along with waterproof speakers, provides the audio effects. The thunder noise triggers the strobe to create realistic lightning.

Date: Nov 04, 2016

projectors_1200 (Halloween 2016)

Fri, 04 Nov 2016 11:37:49 -0700

Some of the spooky special effects are created with video projectors. Here are two of the high powered (2200 lumen) projectors that were used.

Each projector is connected to a MPEG video player that uses SD card flash drives for storing the Hi-Def projection files. The MPEG players are the small black modules on top of the projectors.

Date: Nov 04, 2016

witch_3d_2_1200 (Halloween 2016)

Fri, 04 Nov 2016 11:38:10 -0700

Another example of our holographic witch. In low light she looks very convincing.

Date: Nov 04, 2016

witch_3d_1_800 (Halloween 2016)

Fri, 04 Nov 2016 11:56:39 -0700

Here's an example of the holographic witch. The witch video is commercially produced by atmosfx.com.

Date: Nov 04, 2016

hologram_frame_1200 (Halloween 2016)

Fri, 04 Nov 2016 11:36:44 -0700

The witch hologram is rear projected on a very large piece of ivory colored chiffon fabric (bridal material). A big wooden frame was setup in the living room for holding the chiffon projection screen.

Date: Nov 04, 2016

pile_of_parts_1200 (Halloween 2016)

Fri, 04 Nov 2016 11:41:07 -0700

Late September we began collecting the goodies for our haunted house. Here you can see some of the pieces that are waiting for the big day.

Date: Nov 04, 2016