I've made a few additions to my yard haunt this year. The first new addition was some new cemetery columns:
The old ones were covered in carved foam, were too narrow, and were showing their age. These are much larger (19x19 inches) and are just plywood and paint. The paint job was done with a brick-sized sponge and red paint, with some white and tan dabbed here and there.
Next was a cemetery arch:
I chose this design because it was easier than creating a curved arch. THis is currently unfinished. I plan to add some scroll work and other designes, cut out of Coroplast (corrugated plastic).
Finally, I added some webs to one of my trees: This is beef netting , stretched and cut. I plan to add quite a bit more in the branches and around the trunk. I'll probably stuff some bones and skulls of the 'victims' in the webbing for a more gruesom touch.
I had originally planned on doing this on our porch, but my wife nixed the idea. Whe was concerned that the small kids would be too scared to come to the door. So we compromised and i did the tree.
It looks like a simple FCG (flying crank ghost) mechanism used to animate the rats. Be sure to look at the flash video of the rats 'eating'. I especially like how one of the rat's tails move. I'm sure it was a completely accidental but eerie effect!
A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog entry about sound effects in my yard. It was about how I place small speakers and cd players around the yard so the sounds can come from many different directions.
Well, my battery operated speakers have given up the ghost. I've had a heck of a time finding any new battery operated speakers anywhere. Additionally, I wanted to start using MP3 players, so I wouldn't have to burn new CD's every time I had a different sound effect I wanted to use.
I think I've found a few solutons to my problem. At the local Big Lots store, I found a small COBY MP3 player on sale for $12 (regularly $15). It has 1 GB of memory, which is about 500 songs (your mileage may vary).
And I also found a sound accessory case, meant for students. This has a battery operated amplified speaker, plus a zippered case to contain your mp3 player. It's a steal at $5.
Put it all together and you have this:
When closed, it looks like this:
The speaker is inside the case, but does not sound muffled at all (I'm sure the case was designed with that in mind). It's only 1 speaker, so don't expect stereo sound.
Now, this is NOT a loud speaker. You could use it only for close-in sound effects. I would not try to play loud music, or ambient sound over a large area. But for my purposes, it works fine for a total of $17.
A cool feature is the 'share port' that can be found on the amplifier in the case. This is a mini phono jack, meant to be used with other accessories of the same brand. I suspect it is simply a line-level output. So you could attach other things to it, such as a "Talking thru Boris" skull or a "Talking Douglas Fir" christmas tree to give these props an additional speaker along with the soundtrack.
I was looking online for bat stencils today, and came across this great product: bat-wing ceiling fan blades!
Sadly, these are sold out over on etsy.com. Since they were a one-of-a-kind product, it is unlikely that there will be any more.
However, it's a great idea for a unique gothic touch to your house. I imagine that you could even make these out of cardboard to slip on your ceiling fan for a Halloween party!
Hey all, Check out these dinosaur costumes being used at the Los Angeles Natural History Museum. How would you like to go trick-or-treating as a raptor? (If you can't see the video below, then check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX3QCaqLtJ8
