Thread: Haunted mirror prop finished

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Threw this together today. Didn't turn out too bad. The pictures are not that great, basically it is a mirror with an image behind that lights up when the light it flipped on.
In the pictures the teeth of the skull in the background picture washed out with the light. In real time the skull comes out very clear.













Thanks for looking.

Looks great, we did something similar for our garage maze this year. We intend to project an image as well, but we r running out of time, so we may have an actor instead. I love it where is it going??

I saw something very similar on here a while back, that is what gave me the idea.
I originally wanted to put an old flat screen computer monitor I have behind the mirror and run a pop out video but time is running out fast.
This is going in a pirate themed haunt. If time permits we will have a large pirate ship facade with a haunted house / tunnel extending behind. The haunted house will be set to the interior of the ship. There will be a walkway through from one room to the other, maybe a maze maybe a stationary vortex tunnel type of setup with a homemade moonflower type light if that makes any sense. Still in the planning phase there. This mirror will be somewhere inside, probably at the end of the tunnel as it opens into the storage room / stockaid room of the ship.
All going up for one night at a campground.

How did you go about making this? And would it be possible to make it motion activated do you think?
Great work, I love it

It was very simple to make, took about 3 hours in all.
First I used an old mirror that was laying around the house. It was a plain mirror about 2' x 18". I started scraping the coating off the back of the mirror but it was going too slow and scratching the glass. To speed things up I took it outside to my shop and soaked some paper towels in carbeurator cleaner spray. I laid these towels on the surface where I wanted the picture to go and let them sit a few minutes. That softened the coating enough that it scraped off easily with a razor blade. I was careful not to scrape all of the coating off as I did not want to scratch the glass. I used carb cleaner and scrubbed what was left of the coating off. I then tested it with a picture I downloaded from the net, but the picture did not show up enough. I got the thick dark coating off the mirror but not enough of the second coat. For this coat I used sandpaper and sanded the back of the mirror where I wanted the picture to show. I used very fine sandpaper, I think 800 grit. The same paper I use to wetsand cars and bikes after paint. I sanded until it was almost seethrough.
After getting the mirror the way I wanted it I laid the mirror on a piece of plywood I had laying around. I cut the plywood 4 inches bigger than the mirror so 2 inches of wood stuck out beyond the mirror on all sides. I then cut a square out of the plywood where the picture would go. I used 2 1/2 inch wide pieces of scrap plywood to frame in the mirror and hold it to the backing wood. I went ahead and boxed it all in to hold the light behind the picture. I had a bulb fixture from an old broken night light my kids had and attached that inside of the "box" behind the picture. Then I painted the frame lightly with black and brown spray paint to make it look less like clean plywood and more like weathered wood. I allowed the paint to overspray onto the mirror surface to blend the square I cleaned off the mirror backing.
My regrets are one I cleared off a square where the picture went, I wish I would have faded it a little more. Two, I made things out of 5/8 inch plywood that I had. I wish I would have used thinner wood for weight. It is heavy so will take some planning to get it to hang.
Oh, I used 3M spray adhesive to attach the picture to the back of the mirror.
Something to think on, light colors or white shows through well. Black does not show through well.
I am sure it could be setup on a motion sensor, or if a 12 volt light was used could be easily setup on a pressure mat. I did not because I am cheap and do not have any motion sensors. Also, I want to run it with a switch system. My hope is the viewer will look at the mirror, see themselves, then when they least expect it flash the light to flash the picture. When just looking at the mirror with no light the picture does not come through very well. The image can be seen if you look hard, but most people will be distracted from that by their own reflection. A trick of the mind, you see what you expect to see..... until the light comes on.
Hope this helps. When removing the backing from the mirror, go slow. Take a little off then check to see how your picture comes through. Then take more if needed then check again. When checking your progress be sure to mess with lighting. Lighting on the mirror surface will enhance the reflective nature of the mirror while lights behind the mirror will enhance the picture.