I've mentioned on this blog that I'm a fan of the old Fritz Lang silent film METROPOLIS. One October, years ago, my own cheap version of "False Maria" (the classic robot in the movie) was made. My niece Devin calls her "spooky robot lady"...the name's stuck. It's one of the oldest customized Halloween props I still use. She's displayed on the dining table every season as the guardian of the party food. She was once a used and broken mannequin. Her creation became a team effort. Two friends helped give her life (2 years apart). Not that it's so special or unique that it needed the help to make, it's just what happened over the years. Click on pictures to enlarge.
Back in 2001, Paul Pistore and I were working together on another project when Halloween came around. I told him about this old mannequin I wanted to make look like a "False Maria" for Halloween that year. He wanted to help create. The figure was missing a hand and he custom made a "un skinned" robo-skeleton one. I love it. The best part of the figure. Paul made low tech construction, elegant.
He also made glowing purple eyes with Christmas lights and a fun LED blinking antennae. After 5 Halloween seasons, this year was the only one the lights failed to work. Kudos to Paul's electronic genius...twas' an exceptional run for something only expected to work for one Halloween. I've known union electricians who take 14 hours to get a store bought practical light I've put on a set to work. I'll fix before next year. In the meantime, here is a cheap photoshop enhanced image of what it looked like when working...
In 2003, with friend Jason Garner one night, with nothing better to do, we got creative and decided to detail her. Jason added small "tech" screws everywhere. It sold the robotic feel. The open back of her head (opened by Paul to add the lighting) once had the cut out piece to put back in. I've lost it since. Jason helped create the exposed faux electronic brain in it's place.
"False Maria" is an old woman now and falling apart. Spooky Robot Lady deserves a full blown makeover before Halloween 2008.
Most ideas start with a sketch. The first incarnation of this prop was a smaller creature made in 1996 (I know I have a picture of, but still looking for). This doodle was well after that creation depicting the ideal version.
Halloween 2000. Pressed for time, I went with a clunky robotic looking neck.
Halloween 2004. A makeover which fell apart shortly before being finished. A pity because it was looking far closer to the original concept.
Halloween 2006. I went Great Stuff foam crazy. It was planned to be part of a larger radioactive dump idea with many more canisters strewn about, but never happened.
Halloween 2007. Dressed it up with ivy and placed in a garden pot. Actually turned out looking pretty good especially adding a few more potted plants around him.
Halloween 2008. Moved the monster eye idea into a window becoming a cool illusion that it follows you. For details on that, click here.
The eye took a break in 2009. Halloween 2010? I'm thinking about combining the original idea with the moving eye illusion version creating a new character. We shall see.
The past few years trying to post something daily counting down to the best day ever, I fail. Why? Because my job on this TV show I've been lucky to work on has consumed my life for 4 years. And now we're going into year 5.
I've decided to try something different this year. I'm just gonna blog daily as we prep and create Halloween for our set and make each post a behind the scenes as to what each day is like for my prop crew and I working on Hallmark's Home and Family leading up to our big Halloween show.
So day one... I'm sitting alone in our "prop garage" on the Universal backlot on a Saturday prepping our first Halloween DIY segment of the season for Monday (more about tomorrow).
But I'm not really alone, my crew of prop pirates pulled this old friend from storage to inspire our Halloween efforts placing in a corner. Hello October. I've missed you.
P.S. Jamie Lee Curtis will be coming to set Monday as a guest, not a bad way to kick the Halloween season off. Stay tuned.
A quick back story first. I know it might seem nuts to be so into Halloween decorating but it's just too much fun. It's also hard not to go bigger (and I hope better) every year when I know I've created some good memories for kid's in the neighborhood. A parent told the Fiancee last Halloween, his kids make our house the first stop of the night and the last stop after making the rounds trick or treating. To me that's a huge compliment.
So far the yard has been traditional...gravestones, zombies, pumpkins and the usual. That's not a bad thing. It just always feels a bit eclectic and thrown together no matter how good an individual prop looks. I always intended to design the haunt as I would a set for work, creating a theme, tying it all together. I talked about wanting to do this last year, but I fell into my usual pitfall. I jump right into making prop after prop having fun without giving much thought to how they all relate. So, before I pick up my hot glue gun and a skeleton bone, I'm going to sit down at my drawing board and design the space.
The finished yard last year. Click on to enlarge
Here's where I need your help for the fun of it. I have many possible themes in mind that I'd love to do but need to narrow the list. I'm curious which ones you like best...I don't expect a ton of responses but if by some miracle a ton do come in, who knows, maybe I might actually take this a step further and have a "Halloween Idol" and all can vote for the yard theme I will do.
Here are my ideas so far...
Traditional Haunted House Our house itself really becomes the focus dressed up with all the details. Boarded up windows, ghosts in windows, etc. Indiana Jones The yard is done up to look like the opening of Raiders leading kids to the idol (and candy) on the front porch. They walk past Mummy skeletons, spikes, traps and maybe a giant rolling boulder. The house would be given a jungle temple like facade. '50's Alien Invasion. The house gets a simple 1950's Halloween decor (pumpkins, classic cardboard bats and ghosts in the windows) but the Martians have landed. Crashed UFO on the roof, Martian war machine on the lawn, aliens climbing everywhere with ray guns, giant robots. Giant Monster party This would take all the time spent on little details and focus on a few huge elements to blow the kids away. A life size King Kong arm holding the candy coming out of the front window. Maybe seeing the top of Godzilla's head peering over the roof. Giant squid tentacles reaching out from the bedroom windows. Giant bugs. Massive foot prints in the lawn. Pure Frankenstein The front porch becomes the laboratory with all the equipment and the monster. The front lawn has Igor searching for body parts in a graveyard. The house gets a dark Gothic facade, torches, gargoyles, etc. Pirates A popular theme by many in past years but I'd love to give it a shot. Ghosts This would be all ghosts with personality, similar to Disney's Haunted Mansion graveyard. Subtle but Spooky This is an idea I've had for awhile. At first glance it doesn't look like any decorating at all. Everything just has a added creepy twist. The trees have faces. The flowers in the garden bed all have teeth. The chair on the porch is constantly rocking with no one in it, etc. Any of the above themes are a challenge but I think possible. I'm going to post sketches of the ideas as I draw them, but welcome any thoughts now.
My temporary Halloween themed public art installation, also known as a yard haunt, back in 2000.
This was literally thrown together in a couple of hours one afternoon a day or so before the 31st. Everything had been at my girlfriend's condo where we hosted a Halloween party the weekend before.
The sitting ghost mannequin was a favorite of mine. Her simple customizing (just paint, some draped fabric and hollowed out eyes with a light bulb shoved in her head) looked good and creepy in the low light. The open bench space made a fun photo-op for a few folks that night. I acquired her through my Mom in '98, who was working for Robinson May Co. at the time. They were closing down their Sherman Oaks department store and getting rid of old display stuff. She was missing an arm and had numerous cracks... no, not my Mom, the mannequin.
She was actually one of two figures I was able to get, the other became my False Maria aka Spooky Robot Lady who still haunts our dining room every October. I ended up selling the "sitting ghost" at a garage sale when I moved to a new place and I've regretting it ever since.
This mummy and coffin were dressing for Sci Fi Channel's SCI FI Buzz, a set I designed years before. Both props have long since fallen apart and just crumbled away. As a matter of fact, the electric chair that I use every year (and you can sort of see silhouetted on the porch in the top picture) is the only remaining prop I have from that show. I'll never get rid of it and try to keep it in good shape, as both a great Halloween decoration and nice memory from the series.
The Area 51 alien eye was the one all new prop I had made that Halloween. It's still around today, but it's gone through numerous stages of evolution over the years. It's last appearance was 2007 as a one eyed plant type creature.
My zombies back then were just painted "bluckys" with minimal, if any, customizing. Parts of these guys have been used in some of the undead characters I've made in recent years. The gravestones were last minute additions I knocked out really fast using chunks of leftover upholstery foam from a job and pieces of old drywall panels.
With a little pushing, nagging, and general creative ranting from their humble propmaster, Home and Family producers are now inspired to go all out decorating the set's front yard in true Halloween haunter fashion based on a rough design sketch of mine. The entire month of October will feature weekly DIY segments creating it!
Some projects will be Halloween yard 101 to inspire possible new haunter's. Some will be advanced. Some will be a few old personal haunt projects once posted here redone with a fresh spin and a better tutorial, that I hope bridge 101 and advanced. I guess that means, those would be medium skill then.
Here's the best part for me. We're on the Universal backlot, the trams drive by everyday, the big Universal Halloween Horror Night mazes are close by. So the Home and Family yard display will be connected in a third cousin twice removed kind of way, sort of. Don't crush my delusions of grandeur.
The whole plan will be revealed on the show airing Oct 1st, but here's a sneak peek of the current design sketch. Oh yes, that's a crashed UFO, the one personal Halloween project I never did finish will happen. Producer approved, so it has to now.
I know what your thinking...it's not even August yet. For me though, I've set a start date to begin creating Halloween props and decor for my yard haunt on August 1st. It gives me 2 months to make new stuff and improve old things for when I dress the yard in October.
Truth is, it's 2 months of selfish, creative bliss I'm looking forward to, spending a couple of hours in the workshop every evening (more time on weekends). Sure, I could make stuff (and do) any time of the year, but focusing the Halloween work into a certain time frame makes it special.
I'm going to try and make the countdown posts this year a real journal of the process. From concepts to the kid's trick or treating on the big night. I hope this to be interesting, interactive and plain fun to read for any of you who follow along. They'll be "how to's", tips, tricks, ideas and links to other great stuff on the web. Best of all, I guarantee sordid tales of expected creative trial and error so you can laugh at my pain.
My usual random posting will continue. I'll be adding a special sidebar to the blog linking to all the Halloween posts in case some get buried in between non holiday stuff.
I've always enjoyed how folks have named their haunts and created fun back stories. I've always wanted to do the same for mine. The tale for the display has been evolving over the past few years and is coming into focus, but thinking up a good title has been really tough though. It actually had become something I'd ponder countless times a week. Then I realized it's a silly thing to be obsessed over and just let it go.
Cut to a few days later. I started to sketch an idea of double stacking my foam cemetery posts to create taller ones and adding large lanterns on top. Without thinking, I doodled an arched sign between them and scribbled in a name that should of been the obvious choice from the beginning. I just didn't realize it.
Ladies and gentleman, ghouls and goblins: my annual temporary Halloween themed public art installation will now also be known as...
I think it's going to be a lot of fun merging both the comic and the Halloween yard. Who knows? Maybe even create a small book of cartoons to give out to trick 'r treaters telling the back story. We'll see.
Look for www.paraabnormalthehaunt.com soon. I hope it to be a fun companion site. It will be more of an online portfolio for my Halloween stuff rather than a blog. My usual Oct 31st prep, project updates and occasional how-to's here aren't going away any time soon.
I'm not a big fan of extreme gore at Halloween, but a touch of it is okay by me, especially if creepy and mysterious such as an unseen severed head wrapped up waiting to be disposed of or saved for some unspeakable reason. The fun of this prop is it actually can drip blood for upwards of 2 hours (depending on how you make it) and is easily refilled as needed.
It's really simple to make and requires zero high tech. Basically you just wrap a plastic jug full of colored water and poke a few holes in it. It also lends itself to numerous variations creating different hanging "parts" using different sized containers. A bunch of these will be dangling around my Frankenstein lab this year. Imagine a tree full of these that folks have to walk under Halloween night and get hit with a few drips doing so. It would give me the "willies".
The one pictured here is sort of a quick "proof of concept" version. I hope to make improved ones later with added details in more natural shapes. One with visible strands of hair or an ear or nose poking through the burlap would look great. Fake hands and feet attached to longer thinner bottles are definitely planned on.
Materials: Used milk gallon container, red food coloring, pitcher of water, nail (or something similar to poke small holes with), burlap, rope and black spray paint (I suggest Krylon Fusion for plastic).
Step 1 - Spray paint the milk container. This will help disguise it if seen through any gaps in the burlap weave.
Step 2 - While the paint dries, mix up some blood in the pitcher of water by adding red food coloring. Make extra and have standing by for refills on Halloween night. Store bought fake blood will work but thin it out, thicker fluid doesn't flow as well through the small holes.
Step 3 - Once the paint is dry enough, fill the container about 3/4 full and close cap tight. Having a funnel on standby is a good idea, especially for refilling.
Step 4 - Place on your piece of burlap. Tie the rope to the container handle. This will be taking all the weight when hanging so use a good strong knot.
Step 5 - Pull up the sides of the burlap, wrapping the container and tie off with a separate piece of rope. Fray and trim the burlap if needed. Some extra looping of rope will help create the illusion it and the hanging rope are one piece. Keep loose enough to open or untie easily should you want to refill.
Step 6 - Test hang from somewhere and make sure all the knots are good. While at it, a good time to embellish with paint if you like creating blood stains or adding other aging.
Step 7 - The fun part. Hang where you like and poke 2 or 3 very tiny holes at the base of the container. Don't poke any above the water line as this will allow air in and create a stream of water flowing out (unless that's what you want). Also don't poke any too high on the sides as once the water decreases below the hole, it will affect the same way. You might try experimenting on another spare container first. Red food coloring can stain, so make sure where it's dripping will not damage anything or has a catch basin. Small push pin sized holes will drip slow and should last about 2 hours before refilling. Obviously the larger the hole the less dripping time. The one I made here has 2 fairly big 1/8 wide holes and lasted about 45 minutes.
Hello All, I haven't updated this blog in two years - but the long held Countdown to Halloween tradition has inspired me to get back to.
If anyone is still following or reading, I've been through some epic life changes in my time away, but who cares about excuses. It's about Halloween right now.
I don't have a home or a TV show set to decorate and create props anymore like I used to, so I'm just going to draw everyday. My goal is a Halloween inspired sketch everyday for 31 days. Ambitious maybe, but good practice to still be creative daily.
I got warmed up last night with this one. I'll post my official Day 1 sketch later in a "Part 2" post.
Here I end my well over a month long series of Halloween posts. I'm going to take a blogging break for about a week. Para Abnormal cartoons will continue daily so please visit if you haven't yet!
I've decided to keep the custom decor making creative flow going with Christmas. I'm planning on decorating a little more than our usual 2 strands of lights this year. Mainly because I believe the neighborhood thinks we're some weird cultists only into Halloween. I wanna assure them we have a less dark side.
I say goodbye to a fantastic Halloween 2008 by sharing a book written and illustrated by my Niece...
My past annual Halloween night routine for Trick or Treater's has been being the Frankenstein monster sitting silent and motionless like a dummy in an electric chair. I'd give 'em a BOO scare as they reach for the candy bucket. An old bit, but never fails to work and lots of fun.
When I got the flu, I had a momentary worry knowing some kids might expect the same fun as usual and I didn't want to disappoint. Before I even asked, my brother Ted called and volunteered to be this year's scare maker and treat giver.
Ted had a good idea, he'd return as the Dr. Frankenstein character he played for my niece's Halloween party last year and the monster would actually be a dummy he would move holding it's back.
Was Dr. Ted-enstein a hit? You tell me...
Now, experience it as many of our visitors did all night...
Two days ago, I thought it was going to be a mediocre, blah year, but it turned out to be one of the best. I'm happy to say niece Devin reached the all important non-contagious flu stage feeling a bit better. She was able to visit and get some trick 'r treating in.
A huge thank you to my brother Ted for making it a great, great night and a Halloween to remember.
We shot the Halloween episode of "Home and Family" today, which will air tomorrow morning on the Hallmark Channel. Hope you watch. It was kind of epic (for our show).
My prop gang, the wardrobe crew, and the hair/makeup team really came together capturing the fun of Halloween I think. Here are some photos from the day.
