Thread: Indoor forest help!

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My idea this year is to create a spooky forest inside my venue. I am having the hardest time finding trees. I could just throw up some plastic scene setters but I HATE the way they look. I've always LOVED the cardboard trees they have at the the Spirit Halloween stores but I know they aren't available to the public. Stumps carries some okay ones but I don't like the way they look. They USED to carry some better looking ones but they don't anymore. I can't really rent any faux trees that aren't palm or ficus. Where do I go from here? Know of any descent prop trees or any great ideas for creating the look of a forest indoors? I thought of getting a bunch of artificial Christmas trees, but I think they would be too obviously CHRISTMAS trees. Just conceptualizing here thanks!

On a side note, paper mache isn't really an option for me given the scope of the entire project. Thanks!

In ours we used a combination of camo netting, real braches (as trees), vines and leaves from Hobby Stores that have those fake flowers and it turned our really well. Another option is those Cardboard formers used for concrete and either creative paiting or monstermudd with strands of errosion cloth.

I am making ATM a 30'x10' camo net back drop for the dark woods section of our walkthrough. It is just netting with frayed and dyed burlap woven into it, it is essentially a giant ghillie suit. If you get creative how you hang it, it can be very much like a thick pine forest. It also is amazingly effective to have a ghillie suited actor in

every year i go in after christmas and buy some christmas trees at 90% off. i use them in my haunt and don't feel they look to christmassy. if you do a search there are a couple of tuitorials on here on tree building. and i believe it's martha stewart who has one

I got Lucky and was able to get 15 Trees and 8 Stumps from Spirit Halloween Store This Year for Free. That is the one thing about Spirit This year that i was really impressed with there Haunted Forest, much more then there props.

Save spring cleanup branches around the yard. Nothing beats what nature makes, even when it's dead! In fact...all the better! I'm saving quite a bit, including saplings I cut down. They have such a great spread, it makes it easy to drape fabric and such to finish it off. As far as trees, I'd consider making cardboard structures, especially if it's indoors. I don't think you can beat the ease of cardboard for that, as long as it doesn't need 3-D dimension. A flat cardboard tree of good size would seem perfect.

Dan

I have some pictures of the trees from spirits that might help with ideas
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Originally Posted by Rohr Manor

I got Lucky and was able to get 15 Trees and 8 Stumps from Spirit Halloween Store This Year for Free. That is the one thing about Spirit This year that i was really impressed with there Haunted Forest, much more then there props.

you were lucky. trees and stumps huh? i'm drooling

We made a BIG tree last year for our float.... We are using the same idea this year for a woodsy room....
What we are doing... lining walls with Camo netting. cutting pieces of netting and hanging from the ceiling. hanging camo burlap and shredding it.
Then we are building trees with carpet tubes (usually can get those free). On the tubes we tape on vines that are made from long pieces of news print that is twisted into vines. Rub on monster mud and while wet apply a layer of landscape fabric. Some of the fabric is formed around the vines, while some of it is left kind of loose. ( this gives a look of the bark.) On top of the landscape fabric apply more monster mud, but only on the 'high" spots.
Let dry !
In the monster mud we used brown paint.... This will give the 'wood' look to the bark...

The landscape fabric we used was black... I think you can get it in brown... That would probably work too. But the black gave all the 'recessed' area a black shadow look.

We are going to add limbs to the trees too. For that we will probably attach either pieces of foam cut into the shapes we want then apply the fabric and mud. Or you could just make larger 'vines' and use those as limbs. They wouldnt be ridged so you would probably have to hang the ends from the ceiling...? Anyway, the tubes with the vines, landscape fabric and monster mud looks VERY real!
Hope this helps if you decide to build your own.

Collect branches that had fallen, enough to make a pile.
Purchase wide/ long dowel rods (like center of artificial xmas trees) from hardware store. Cover the dowel rod with dark spray paint to color match the branches. Drill holes at a angle into the dowel rod. Either hot glue or other adhesive to attach the branches in holes.