Thinking about the projections that a lot of Haunters use, and I was wondering if any of those companies make designs which aren't "fun" or "whimsical." That's not a veiled insult of course, as I love Haunts that have fun elements and, more importantly, kids eat that stuff up. The homes in my neighborhood who have the "fun" decorations usually have a lingering crowd of kids and parents. So I realize these digital effects companies wouldn't make any dough off of the suggestion I'm about to suggest below. But I'll suggest the suggestion anyways...
What if projections were subtle, realistic, and not very animated? Wouldn't that sell too?
Maybe a Poltergeist-like ghost - materializing, and then swaying, moving, roaring, and then vanishing.
Then how about some skeletons rising from the ground. Like they did in that amazing scene in Jason and the Argonauts. One by one, they appear from the earth, like some unholy army. Then they charge towards the viewer in a cloud of phantasmic (word?) mist and disappear.
And then, of course, any kind of Zombie or Ghost they could think of, as long as they didn't move very much, and as long as they looked like the below (and as long as they didn't burst into song).
15 comments:
There are many projection files that are scary and not cute. Most seem to be fairly motion-oriented, though
Yeah, I’d like to see shadows like tombstones, branches swaying, a gravedigger. Stuff that would look good on the house and not require a screen.
Hey, I dig those shadow ideas.
An occasional large, winged creature shadow flying across a house... like the Mothman or a vampire humanoid bat shadow...
This is something I've dreamed about for a long time. Seems like it's not rocket science....right??! The only one I've been able to bring myself to use is a simple one of spiders scurrying across the porch ceiling. It's not terrible but still doesn't quite hit the mark.
Love the tag BTW...."Thinking out loud." : D
And....totally love the idea of shadows and winged creatures. I think if they made them a little more subtle the effect would be so mush stronger. And yeah! Ditch the song and dance stuff!
I forgot all about the ones of scurrying roaches or spiders. I recall being creeped out the first time I saw those. So that's another great one.
Shadows of thin creepy "people" darting back and forth would be neat too. Demons I suppose. But fast and not overly obvious. Stuff you'd catch out of the corner of your eye.
I really dig the idea of the thin demon creatures kind of flitting across the lawn, maybe leaping into flight. I've wanted to see a dragon myself, like the shadow of one lit by a flickering light, tail swooping around as it settles into a curled up giant ball to sleep. Breath wafting out from it's cave.
That's a very neat idea. A massive shadow.
I've been using the Atmosfx Sam startle scares (still too cute), and also their bone chillers fear the reaper where ol' grim takes a swipe at you with his scythe. The Halloween moon ones are appealing but gotta have the right location. Lot of these look goofy projected into a door/window/wall out of context. I agree that most of them are too friendly, and more like watching a short film clip than a haunt prop.
Singing pumpkins? Barf
They also don't work very well in any amount of daylight, which sucks
A gobo (shadow casting light filter) can fill some of these shadowy ideas, but IDK I still like a little bit of movement/sway. Something for that person who lingers just long enough to go "look at that! It moved!" But then I also think a gobo fitted light is easier to set up and leave out in the weather than a whole projector setup.
For what it's worth, there are some more subtle effects out there, but with some minor single-scene exceptions, generally don't seem to be available from The Big Boys.
For example, I've got a collection of shadows that were produced by a smaller independent (read: one-man band) outfit that I've had some great success with.
It's super ugly as a link, but if Rot approves it, there's a quick view of one of the more 'subtle' effects we use (gravedigger) at the 5:28 mark here:
https://youtu.be/fA5PwZ0I1GQ?list=PLhi-fuomu5CKoZHQ0DQTVCROK605x36EJ&t=317
Hey, that's really perfect. Shadow projections seem to be a great untapped resource for Haunting. That gravedigger looked amazing.
I started using AtmosFX's "Paranormal Passage" on a blank tombstone a couple of years back, and it works really well. It has skeletal hands and faces pressing through the projection, but there are long pauses in between, so half the time people only catch the motion out of the corner of their eye. The effect is pretty convincing, too.
https://flickr.com/photos/cdwhalloween/45049056894/in/album-72157700092750002/
Hey, that looks really neat in the photo.
I remember featuring your haunt back in 2017! Thanks for leaving a comment.
Just checked out this year's display and it's amazing.
Thanks! I haven't been able to add much the past couple of years due to the sudden appearance of several new babies in the house, but it's fun to tinker with what I've got.
Also, I just wanted to say how amazing it is to have your posts coming to my inbox again - there's nothing online that feels quite so much like Halloween for me, and it keeps me thinking about projects during those 3am baby feedings.
Hey, congratulations on the new babies! : )
And thanks! I really appreciate that. It's nice being back at it. Keeping the Halloween torch lit.
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