Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

The Darkride Show Scene Simulation Experiment

About a year I had an idea to create a working miniature of some of Bill Tracy's classic darkride gags.  If you don't know who Bill Tracy is, well he's "the greatest designer and builder of dark attractions the amusement industry has ever seen." I got that quote from the home page of The Bill Tracy Project were you can learn more about Bill Tracy's career if you wish too. 

Anyway I toyed with this idea, and then dropped it.  I didn't think anything new would be learned about Tracy's legacy.  And frankly, I didn't know where to start, or what I'd do with what I created when finished.
I mean, how big will this thing be, and where would I store it.  I've got enough clutter in the basement.

Then I had the idea of creating my own original darkride scene.  Obviously the appeal of this is doing something I designed, and not aping someones existing work.


I gave this some thought.  Sketched a few ideas.  Then I wondered how to do it, how much it would cost, and again, what to do with what I created when finished. 


There would certainly be a steep learning curve. I've never built anything like this before. The mechanics of getting my scene to work would take some serious R&D, and building miniature the sets and figures would take time with plenty of trial and error.  I eventually procrastinated long enough that I basically lost interest in doing it at all.


Wrapping up long winded intro, I finally came up with the idea to do something quickly, and on the cheap.  This "spooky darkride show scene simulation experiment" (it just rolls off the tongue) was built pretty much entirely with stuff I had in the house, and was constructed in about 8 hours total spread out over a few days.


Hopefully this looks like it came out of a small amusement park's haunted house...




Postmortem: Behind the Scenes...


The only real pre-planning I did for this scene was drawing one sketch for the Frankenstein Monster.



I liked the idea of doing a Son of Frankenstein costume mixed with a I Was a Teenage Frankenstein look.  I manged to get the Teenage Frankenstein, but didn't have the sewing skills or the fabric for a Son of Frankenstein costume.  I settled on the bandages look because that was something easily doable.    



I sculpted the head out some old air dry clay I bought years ago.  The clay had become pretty dry, and hard to work with but I managed.  I had some sculpting tools from a high school ceramics class that I wanted to use, but unfortunately I couldn't find them.  I ended up using toothpicks and my fingers to sculpt with.




The body is made of scrap wood, wire and duct tape.  If you notice I remade the legs. The originals were way too small. 



Once dry I gave the face a black base coat.  I thought the green florescent paint would really pop on the black, but the florescent spray paint was old and wasn't very opaque. 


I did spend about $13 on fluorescent paint.  I thought I was smart when I found this Puffy Paint Neon 12 Pack...




... but I didn't look very closely and notice that "& Bright" under the "Neon."  Only 5 of the 12 colors fluoresced under black light, and I had to pick up a separate bottle of blue florescent paint. Later, I saw this company makes a glow-in-the-dark color 12 pack that I really wish I had used instead.  I'm sure that set could have worked a lot better.


Also if anyone else reading this ever thought about using "Puffy Paint" like regular paint, well, it kinda works.  As you can see above the paint is streaky and isn't very opaque when brushed around.


Now with the "work lights" on...


Show Lights On


Work Lights On
 
You can see how extra crappy everything looks with regular lights on. The black light hides many, many sins, and for that I'm very, very grateful.  

  


The lab machine are various food boxes I raided from my pantry.  I spray painted them white, glued on some plastic junk, and then dry brushed them with the florescent paint.  I was thinking the dry brush technique would make them look like old corroded metal.  Mixed results on that idea.  I put night lights in two of the boxes hoping to achieve a 
LITE-BRITE effect, but I don't think the tiny plastic "lights" I used really show up very well.


Another thing that didn't show up very well was the tree outside the window.  The tree needed its own black light, and the strobe I was using for lightning should be brighter.   


Here's a nice close-up of the Monster...


...and a side-view just for the heck of it.
 
Now since this thing basically didn't cost anything I can chuck the whole thing in the trash without any remorse.  Well I'll hang on to the Frankenstein Monster for now, but the rest goes.   



Monday, October 22, 2012

Scary Animation Demo

I animated this a few years ago for some guys I've never talked to since.  What exactly it was intended for was always confusing, but I think it was never used.

It's a quick motion comic kinda deal that's a little scary, and fitting for Halloween...


Scary Motion Comic Demo from David Witt on Vimeo.

I was only the animator, and had no other role in this short.  If the creators/owners find this post, and would like the animation taken down just let me know.  As it stands now I'm purely posting this as a demo of my animation skills.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Mystery Creature Sighting

Earlier tonight I snapped a picture of a mysterious creature...



Actually this is a unintentionally blurry shot of something I'm working on for Halloween.  I thought the shot was sorta artistic, and it works as a little tease for an upcoming post.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Preternatural Peculiarities: The Tulip Staircase Ghost

I have a little tradition of making some sort of animation to celebrate the holidays.  Unfortunately this year I've been busy with other projects, and haven't had much time to devote to a new animation. Well, certainly nothing as elaborate as what I did last year

However I did find some time to conjure a short spooky animation for Halloween.  Although first here's a little biographical introduction...

I vividly remember this book,  Haunted Houses by Larry Kettelkamp, in my elementary school library...


That cover was fascinating, and I leafed through the book a number of times while standing in the school library.  I don't remember ever checking it out.  I think I was probably too scared to actually take that book home with me.  It was safer to just leave it in the school library.

Anyway that cover photo is Tulip Staircase Ghost, and for my money, probably the best ghost photo ever taken.  If it's a hoax it's pure genius.  The way the figure is distorted and elongated is truly otherworldly.

If you'd like to know more about the Tulip Staircase Ghost photo please click this link.  If you'd like to watch a short animation I made using this photo simply click play if you dare...


Hopefully I'll find the time to do another quick "Preternatural Peculiarities" before the month is through. Are there any ideas out there?

Monday, October 1, 2012

This is Halloween...

Hey it's October, and that means it's time once again for a month long celebration of Halloween and other spooky stuff.

If you know this blog, you know not to expect a new post every day like some of my fellow bloggers are doing for Halloween.  I'll have a couple of new posts each week. Frankly I'm not even sure what I'm really doing yet, but that isn't anything new.

So to kick things off here's a few pictures of my first ever attempt at Halloween decorations.  It might be surprising, but the last year I went out trick-or-treating was in the 4th grade.  The next year I thought it would be more fun to set up a haunted display on the front porch to hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters.

One dummy siting next to a fake fence...

... another dummy on the porch..


...and a kid in an alien mask pretending to drink a dry ice infused drink.

It's a little sloppy, but it's completely kid made.  Over the years I got a lot better with my homemade props and other decorations.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Monster Mask Mash-Up

I'm still alive, just preparing for tomorrows "festivities."  In case you still need some ideas on what to wear for Halloween here's some monster mask ads from the 70's and 80's...

Famous Monsters 1976

Leave it to Famous Monsters to have a collection of "classic" monsters, and a nice selection of hands too.  I was curious about the adjusted for inflation price on these masks, and so I checked out the CPI Inflation Calculator. The basic cost of these masks are $40, and figures out to $159.50 in 2011 dollars!  Kids of the 70's, I guess you saved up your allowances for like 3 years if you bought of these.

With the release of Star Wars comes the Star Wars masks...

Starlog 1978

... and the Star Wars knock-off masks too.  I'm a big fan of Spacetrooper and Death Invader.

Starlog  1978

If you bought those Star Wars masks back in 1978 for $39.95 I've got some good news and bad news...

Fangoria 1981

The good news is that in this 1981 ad, Darth Vader is $49.99, and Chewbacca is $64.99.  Good move on purchasing early. Although what's with that price jump?  Did the cost of fake hair go through the roof in 3 years?  Sorry if you bought C-3PO back in 1978, you could have saved five bucks if you simply waited a few years.

Here's some interesting and original masks from Death Studios who are still in business...

Fangoria 1981

I think like the Astroroth the best.  The Hell Spawn's "bony finger-like" mouth is a unique design.

Next is a Count Fangor mask.  Count Fangor was a comic that ran in the pages of Fangoria for a short while.  I don't think he ever caught on, but I guess he was popular enough for his own mask.

Fangoria 1980

Finally here's an ad for the famous (well sorta famous) Halloween III (1982) masks...

Fangoria 1983

These masks are supposedly fetching big prices from collectors today.  I'm actually surprised that original "Silver Shamrock" versions even exist.  Every rubber mask I had when I was a kid started to rot within about 5 years.   If any mask collectors reading this who would like to leave a comment on how you preserve your old  masks I'd be interested to hear about it.

This ad also gives me a reason to post this clip...



Hmm, maybe I should have made this post 7 days ago.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Cheap Costume Ideas from 1976


Here's some cheap (and I do mean cheap) Halloween costume (well more like makeup) ideas from Dynamite #20 from 1976.  If you were a elementary school kid in the 70's or 80's I'm sure you remember this magazine. 


If I was the kid who had to wear the macaroni and Honeycomb cereal glued to my face I'd be pissed (actually he doesn't look too happy).  Maybe these ideas would work as a rainy day fun activity, but it would be very embarrassing to try one as a serious Halloween costume.

Also if you read the article they call for "surgical glue" to glue all the stuff onto the kids faces.  First I don't know where you would buy surgical glue (the article says the drugstore, but really?), and secondly that sounds like a horrible idea.  From what I know surgical glue is very similar to super glue, and super glue isn't an acceptable makeup adhesive.  Spirit gum has been used for decades in theater and film to glue things like fake mustaches and beards on actors, and this seems like a much safer adhesive to use for your space alien makeup.

Ultimately let's face the cold hard truth people. These makeups are simply not very good.  Now some might say, "Oh but it's fun for kids!" and "This was good for the 1970's."  I say no. No it's not.  I've seen much better makeups for kids in books from the 70's (maybe I'll do a post on them).  Kids would much prefer to learn makeup techniques that look like they come from film or TV.  Even if it's something extremely challenging for children to accomplish it would have been better to try something more advanced than this lame "face odyssey."   

Monday, October 3, 2011

Alfred Hitchcock's Ghost Stories for Young People

Here's the cool cover art for the Alfred Hitchcock's Ghost Stories for Young People vinyl LP...

OK I know, that's an easy one to find online, but how about the back...


That's not so easy to find.  Now future internet generations (or as long as this blog exists) can see the B&W illustration of a child terrified by a huge ethereal letter from Alfred Hitchcock.
              
If you would like to listen to this recording you can thank YouTuber, VintageHorrorSounds,  for uploading the entire album...


Also the album is available on CD or download at Amazon.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Trick or Treat or Tease


It's October, and that means it's time for a month long celebration of Halloween stuff.

If you know this blog, you know not to expect a new post every day or anything extreme like that. I'll certainly be more active this month than in the past, and I'm hoping to have a few posts each week.

The finale for the this month will be a new Halloween animation. I don't want to state explicitly what I'm doing, but if you remember those Disney Haunted Mansion concept art animations I did in 2009, I made a little comment in a post that might give you an idea of what I'm doing. You can hunt for that post if you like a challenge, or simply look at the picture above.

So when finished will this animation be a trick or a treat?  Heck I don't even know yet, but for now you get a tease...

 

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Sir K. Daver's Mortuary Theater

Yes it's time for another Channel 12 holiday promo (you can check out my Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and Valentine's promos if you'd like to see more)...



I remember thinking this was an epic production way back when. I made the candelabras, the gravestones, Lover's Lane sign and a cobweb machine (which I explained how to make here). Today you can buy a fog machine at the corner drugstore for about $19.99, but back then they were a bit more rare. I borrowed mine from the local fire department. Did it all turn out perfect? No, but I was pretty satisfied with the results.

Dennis Moylan played the faux horror movie host Sir K. Daver. Looking back, I'm thinking I should have given Dennis some sort of ghoulish makeup to wear to make him look cadaverous.

Bob Hamlin, (who played the Pilgrim in my Thanksgiving promo) played the Zombie. Bob Zimmerman and Sue Duminsky play the high school lovers. Bob and Sue had never met before the shoot, and I forced them to kiss on camera. I still feel kinda dirty about it to this day.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Makeover Leftover

When I was redesigning my blog for the Halloween season I planned to have a animated gif as my profile picture.

You know what? You can't use a animated gif as your profile picture. Well you can use an animated gif, but it will not animate.


You see this is what I wanted. Oh, well at least I got to use it someway.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Unique Haunted Attraction Ad #1: Wonka's Fear Factory

From the 2001 Fear Finder...

To the best of my knowledge this particular attraction ran only one season, but I'm sure that damn boat ride was terrifying.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

And so it begins....sorta


You know, I seriously considered participating in that Halloween Countdown thing that so many of my fellow bloggers are doing. But I just didn't have the time to properly prepare a "quality" post each day for the entire month of October.

So instead of a post each and every day, what do you say to a post about 3 times a week? (Well that's a rhetorical question, it's not like you're gonna have a choice).

To kick off this whole month long celebration to Halloween (and anything kooky and spooky) I have some retro Halloween napkins to share with you. Yeah I'm surprised as much as you are that I'm back to posting about napkins after my Groucho napkins posts. But I like the graphics on these - especially the one with the haunted house.

Also maybe someone who Googles "retro Halloween napkins" will find just what they were looking for, and I'm happy I could help. So you're very welcome possible future Google searcher, and these napkin close-ups are just for you...




Thursday, October 30, 2008

Retro Haunted House Newspaper Article

Check out this page from the October 24-25 1973 edition of the Northville Record. It's about the local Jaycee Haunted House which are now a thing of the past around here.


Here's a close-up of the "giant spook" they placed outside of the haunted house...


OK Michigan peeps, here's a nice close up of beloved horror host Sir Graves Ghastly who made an appearance at the haunted house.



Sadly, here's the YouTube video of Sir Graves obit on Fox 2 ...




One last Halloween-ish video for all Michigan folks, a Highland Appliance commercial for the Electronic Thing...

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Mr. and Mrs. J. Evil Scientist & Friends

Mr. and Mrs. J. Evil Scientist are possibly Hanna-Barbera's strangest creations.

They're not strange because they are obscure, or creepy Addams Family-like creations. They're strange because they only appeared as supporting characters in three Hanna-Barbera shorts, never had a show of their own, and yet still managed to get their own comic book "series."

Let's take a look at the three Hanna-Barbera cartoons that Mr. and Mrs. J. Evil Scientist appeared in. For comparison sake I've included a frame grab of each character. This way you can see how the designs change from cartoon to cartoon.  Once upon a time I embedded a YouTube video of each cartoon, but they inevitably got yanked.  So now I've simply posted the title cards from each cartoon - you're on your own if you want to watch these somewhere.

The Evil family's first appearance in Surprised Party 12/03/1960



_______________________________

Looking very green in Fraidy Cat Lion 02/20/1961



_______________________________


The design of the "Evil" family changes once again in Chilly Chiller 10/6/1961


Junior seems to be the only one doing any science


It's funny, for a family named Mr. and Mrs. J. Evil Scientist, the toddler Junior, is the only one depicted doing any sort of "evil scientist" type stuff in any of their cartoon appearances.

All the Hanna-Barbera cartoons featuring Mr. and Mrs. J. Evil Scientist were written by the famous cartoon writer Michael Maltese. Michael Maltese worked with Chuck Jones on some of the most memorable Bugs Bunny cartoons, and it's here I suspect some of the roots of the J.Evil Scientist character began. Oh sure, the Addams Family single panel cartoon in The New Yorker are certainly the biggest influence (the Evil's were on on the tube years before the ABC TV show), but not the only I think.

Chuck Jones directed Hair Raising Hare in 1946. It was written by Ted Pierce, and featured a Evil Scientist without a name that looked and sounded exactly like Peter Lorre.

Hair Raising Hare 1946


In 1952 Jones directs Water, Water Every Hare which was written by Michael Maltese. The Evil Scientist in this cartoon no longer looks and sounds like Peter Lorre. Nope the Scientist is now short and greenish, and sounds like Boris Karloff. Although the Evil Scienti still has a flashing neon sign outside on his castle.

Water, Water Every Hair 1952


Take these two Evil Scientist characters mix together, take the "J" from Michigan J. Frog, from One Froggy Evening which is another cartoon written by Michael Maltese, and you have J. Evil Scientist.

So is that a total crackpot theory for the origins of Mr. and Mrs. J. Evil Scientist or what?

All 4 covers grouped in one convenient picture

Now we come to my exclusive addition to the internet - an entire Mr. and Mrs. J. Evil Scientist comic book story. Mr. and Mrs. J. Evil Scientist had four issues of thier own comic published right around Halloween time from 1963 to 1966.

However, I don't know which comic this story originally appeared in. "A Visit from Granny" was reprinted in a issue of a Flintstones comic from 1970. Here I present it to you in all its four page glory.





Well there you have it. It's a shame Mr. and Mrs. J. Evil Scientist never had their very own show. It's certainly fun to think what it might have been like. I don't know maybe some animation historian will turn up some lost footage or something one day about these almost forgotten characters.

If you wish to read more about Mr. and Mrs. J. Evil Scientist, you can check the Wiki entry,  fellow blogger I'm Learning To Share post, and last but certainly not least, there's a number of posts over on Monsterama.

UPDATE:  I've come across mysterious evidence of a lost Mr. and Mrs. J. Evil Scientist show, and I have the TV promo for it right here.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails