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Haunted mansion fans: Everything disney's haunted mansion

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239K views 328 replies 69 participants last post by  MikeBru  
#1 ·
Hey Everyone... I know there are still quite a bit of Haunted Mansion Fans out there. Just wanted to set up a thread were everyone could meet see people's "Haunted Mansion" Props, have a place of help on design ideas and lighting...

I have always like the Haunted Mansion... Its just enough spookiness for adults as well as children. Its always Really Magical to see all of the special effects in the Mansion... Not many people know how easy it is to actually create your own professional Mansion. I have always looked at design as looking at one peace at a time. What mostly gets people messed up is thinking about all the things that need to get done. It becomes overwhelming! if you are able to pick one part of that thing you are building.... FOCUS on just that and continue to manipulating it until it is just how you like it! Everything has a shape... Square, egg shaped, ob long, tube, imagine that which you are trying to make and build it peace by peace looking at each part of the structure as a familiar shape.. Build the shape, go to the next one, build it, then put the two peaces together. Simply focus...

I have been working on my own peace Haunted Mansion work with re-designing my office into a large Disneyland Tribute "Pretty large area!!!" I have had to convert two rooms to one. The main room was my office but have taken and knocked out a wall between the office and one of my 6 bedrooms to enlarge the area enough to make all of the props that will be part of this room.

When first working on this project I did not have this in mind... 3 paintings were Changing Portrait :Master Gracey, and stretching portraits Tightrope Bell, and Dear beloved George. I just finished the second Stretch portraits, Dynamite, and Quicksand. After measuring and sizing the second two paintings to fitting the room I have had to go back to the first two and re-do them. Its a pain but after painting the first two I have learned some techniques that will make them even better!!! Master Gracey should be fine for my room but I might end up repainting that also.

also props I am making for my HM room will be the Haunted Chairs, Conservatory Coffin, The candle holding Gargoyles, Working Madam leota Crystal ball with Spell book, Working singing busts, and The stairing busts. The entry will look much like the entry of HM also have some other paintings I have been working, are not part of the Haunted Mansion, But will be Breathtaking!!!

As I continue to build props I will take photos and post them for everyone to see...

Also for any of you HM fans... It has been difficult to find photos of the portraits to do my paintings.... These last two paintings were extremely difficult!!! I pretty much have what I need now except I am having trouble with the Dueling portraits... There are some good photos out there but none are very clear on the faces. I am trying to find one that shows the faces better.... Also Leota's spell book... I think I have found everyone of the ones posted on the internet but none of them that have the lettering clear enough to detail. If there is anyone that might have some good clear closeups of these I could really use them... Anyone going to Disneyland and has a good enough camera to get a couple of photos of them (Faces) and on the spell book, the detailed red lettering... That would be great!!!

Enclosed are two of the Stretch paintings I have finished and are ready for framing... Once I have all 4 of these done I will be doing a YouTube video of all 4 for your viewing...

If any of you have some great props you have made for Disneylands Haunted Mansion or what to share to others your great memories of the HM... or you are needing help on building something HM... Let us know... Someone should know how to give you a hand!!! Cheers Friends!

 
#2 ·
OH YEAH!!!!! Pretty awesome... Although I will be sculpting the HM Candle Holding Gargoyles just as you see them on the ride. I will also be designing another Gargoyle.. Similar to those at the Mansion but also a big difference!!! Think you will all really LOVE EM!!! Cheers
 
#4 ·
Hey Dminor,

Hope so... Its great to bounce things back and forth!! I hope to have everything done by this Halloween... Would really like to have everything to show it all off!! LOL... Keep me up on your progress. Cheers...
 
#5 ·
Hey everyone... Working on the second two of the Stretch paintings and very excited!!! I will post photos soon. I am winging the Spells book it will not have the same detail as HM since I can not make out the red lettering so just have to wing it... The rest of the book I will be cutting out of wood and detailing it carving the wood... should come out looking pretty close to Disney's HM... Will be using this on the table with a short stand the video camera will be inside the stand so once I am finished with leota's Crystal ball it will project the image onto the bust I have for the prop.. should be BRILLIANT!!!
 
#7 ·
For the Spell Book, the words are Madame Leotas incantation(s). The First line reads: "Serpents and spiders tail of a rat....." So on. After that down left side is: "Rap on a table...." "Creepies and crawlies...." Right side is: "Goblins and goulies..." Wizards and witches..." Hope that helps. Ummm yeah, huge Mansion fan here.
 
#9 ·
Here is my take on the Madame Leota crystal ball:


I didn't have a second projector so I decided to incorporate her (and the stretching portraits) into a frame. This video was taken before I antiqued the frame to make it look old.

BTW, the black kitty in the background was hit by a car recently and now only has 3 legs :(.
 
#18 ·
discozombie said:
Im from a crazy Disney family and have been kicking around some HM props. I bookmarked this thread from the forum last year as a project for the future. Static Hitchhiking
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That is a great idea and an awesome job on the trio! I have made some latex head props of some Hm characters. Love doing them! Here are a few.
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Some of them glow with the help of a clear black light sprayed over them!
 
#21 ·
Wow, your paintings are AMAZING! I went the easy way and bought a few prints from the kiosk in World of Disney (Anaheim) for my home. You can custom order different sizes but they are the newer style of the portraits which I am not the fondest of. I am working on a very basic HM haunt so I am happy you posted this! :) I am making everything myself and going as cheap as possible this year so its not my best work but I am curious where you got the hatbox ghost heads? Did you make them yourself? I just finished the PVC frame for my hatbox ghost today and now I am looking for a low cost option on a head and hands. Let me know what you made yours out of please? :)
TFS!
 
#22 ·
Hello TFS,
Actually I did not do the heads these are done by another HM Fan. Yes very good work on his part. Sounds like you will have quite a set up once you are finished. My stretch paintings are Oils. I am working on the other changing portraits as of this moment. I have "Master Gracey" But may re-due him in another size just like I had to do with my stretch paintings. Really didn't have anything I was going to use them for, when I first started painting them. I have always liked HM and wanted to see how close I could paint them to the originals. The Stretch paintings are quite large. They are a total of 8 x 3 foot. once they are framed they will be aprox 10 x 5 and will fit perfectly in my entry way. I have taken out a wall to make 2 of my rooms into one, I then shaped the entry into what looks like the Stretching room at Disneyland. I will be painting the roof to resemble the Stretching room. I have a projector inset into the wall which will loop a shot of a skeleton on the sealing as the light flickers when triggered by the door opening. I have designated a wall for the changing portraits which will also have the same idea as the entry flashing the final dis-formation straight onto the paintings. I also have another family of portraits that I will be adding to my grouping. Different from Disneyland it will not be the ones you see on HM I did want to change up what you might see in HM. These I think you will really like. Will be posting them once they are painted.

I also have another tricked out prop which is used with a real TV screen built into an old frame. These are actually full action shots of decaying and action portraits!! REALLY WILD!!! These will also be placed on the changing portrait wall.

I am still working on the watching busts, Almost finished and will be placed into a wall, My chairs in the room will be the haunted chairs, as seen by the endless hall. These will be used for seating for clients. I have actually made the Leota crystal ball. it is on a loop that is housed in a stand that holds "Leota Spells Book" I am creating out of wood, the pages with the spell will be paintings I will recreate from photos I have. Leota head is encased in a 36 inch globe The hair is a wig I found on ebay.

I have also sculpted the Candle holding Gargoyles that actually use electricity. I sculpted the originals but also have my own design... do not actually know which ones I will use yet.

Other things I will be duplicating for my room is a endless hallway, out of the closet that was in one of the rooms. the conservatory coffin, working... which is going to double for my desk. And the 13 hour clock, I am also carving and working on at this moment. In the second closet will have all of the mechanics that run the room, with live actual music from HM Disneyland, Disneyworld, and Paris, Haunted Manor. I have some pretty good photos of the haunted doors and looking to recreate the door for that room. As I continue to make the props I will post them here for you to see..>Cheers.. Joel
 
#24 ·
I am in awe at everyone's creativity here! It makes me feel like my work is "kiddish" ha ha! Oh well, you gotta start somewhere! :)
Please do add photos of your projects, I would love to see your work! I really LOVE the stretching portraits, I bet they take you forever but wow are they awesome!

I am trying to make a Leota globe myself but for some reason I can't seem to get the Pepper's Ghost trick to work! I was hoping to try it using our IPad but I dont think its bright enough or maybe I need a different piece of plexi glass because it just doesn't glow bright enough to see the details. Can anyone suggest a good, low cost plexi or plexi alternative? Maybe I can try adjusting the brightness on the IPad? Also, how do you guys get the wig to stay in position when using the PG trick?

Thanks for letting me know about the heads, I see below who made them! :)
Can't wait to see what you do next!
 
#26 ·
Hello Kim,

Actually Madam Leota is not as difficult as you are explaining. Doing it as a "pepper ghost" is much more difficult than actually making the actual prop itself. I had my globe custom made by a company that I have worked with in the Movie industry but at "Home Goods" They have glass bowls that are about 30 inches round. The bottom is flat, but, on my first attempt of building Leota I made a special topper for it out of wood, sprayed it an aged silver color drilled a small hole in the bottom of the bowl and attached it... In the end it looked better than the one at Disneyland. Madam Leota is actually a Styrofoam head the wig, as I said, I purchased for 99dollars on Ebay. All you need is a cheap looping projector that you conceal in front of the ball. and project it onto the styro head until it fits. If you are a protectionist, like I am, you may want to find the places that do not look absolutely perfect use a hot knife to cut into the face and use forming putty to mold the face so that you have more definition to the projected leota. up to you... Good Luck Good Haunting
 
#27 ·
Thank you so much for the tips! :)

Unfortunately, I only have one projector which will be running a slideshow of the changing portraits, grim grinning ghosts, and a few other HM things.

So, that is why I was trying to make a Leota using the Peppers Ghost trick. I do have another projector but it is really old and likes to turn off every few minutes because it overheats. I have tried everything to keep it from doing that but it just never seems to work.

Also, the Leota ball is going to be inside of the garage in the window because I don't want kids trying to touch it and I don't trust leaving my Ipad outside so I don't really have room to put the larger projector in front of the ball in order for it to be seen in the window.

So, its complicated :) but I truly appreciate the help! I am stumped! :)
 
#28 ·
Well... doing a pepper ghost is not actually a projector. you would use a tv. Yous aid that you are going to use a window. What you are going to want to do is take plexiglass or regular glass and this will be what your effect will come from. First find a television that has really good picture. 1080dpi is really good, but any will work.

Place a large box at the foot of the window. You want the box to come up to where you can place a flat screen tv on it without it being seen. Any size tv will do. flat screen is best. You will have to adjust this according to the size of the screen and the distance to the plexiglass.

Once you have this in place Take the plexiglass and lean it from the back of the box to the top of the window on an angle, this also will be adjusted since it is the plexiglass that will be moving the image from the tv to your pepper ghost effect.

Remember the closer the tv is to the plexiglass the smaller the effect will be... you will be adjusting this to fit your globe she will look like she is projected into.

Next you will want to find a very large globe, place it on a table behind your plexiglass. Play the loop and go out side to see if leota is fitting into the globe... " this is where adjustment will be needed... 3 things you can adjust is the distance of the table with globe to the plexiglass and or the distance from the tv to the plexiglass.

Walk back and forth in front of the window in order to see if she is always inside the globe no matter where you are. once this is finished you can move on....

Now your situation with the hair... The simplest way of doing this is placing a Styrofoam head within the globe, this will again take more adjustment. once you can see that leota's face pepper ghost syncs with the Styrofoam move to the next step.

In using your technique you will be relying on the detail in the plexiglass for leotas face, the Styrofoam head is simply a mark.

Run down to Home depot and purchased a can of black spray paint. do not spray the head until you are satisfied that your effect is on the mark. Draw a circle around the spot the head sits, so you can replace it, exactly, once you are finished. Spray the head black... you can also spray some invisible black light paint found on e-bay place a black light near the styrofoam head to give it a glow... I suggest blue...

NOTE: Do not get confused... You are still painting the head black... There is black light paints that are invisible and only visible when you place a black light by it... Do not paint the head with blue florescent paint.

Find a cheap wig and put it on the styro head. and you are finished.

NOTE: NOTHING should be seen other than what you want to be seen. You will need lighting in order for the hair to be shown so make sure that you use a black drop cloth behind everything. Use a very dim spot lights in blue and clear or green and clear. (Below) the hair... to hide the light you can use a black painted peace of wood that you will set the lighting behind... Hope all this makes sense to you and your haunt works! Cheers joel
 
#29 ·
Hello HM Haunters.

Here are all of my Stretch Paintings Together. Once I have finished framing them and getting them ready I will be doing a YouTube Video and also doing more photos to put here on this page. I am working on other projects for my HM room right now and will also be posting those as I continue to finish them... Enjoy!
Joel


 
#86 ·
jwproductions said:
Hello HM Haunters.

Here are all of my Stretch Paintings Together. Once I have finished framing them and getting them ready I will be doing a YouTube Video and also doing more photos to put here on this page. I am working on other projects for my HM room right now and will also be posting those as I continue to finish them... Enjoy!
Joel


View attachment 114884 View attachment 114886 View attachment 114887 View attachment 114888
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These are incredible!! You are a very talented artist!!! :)
 
#30 ·
Hello Haunters,

Little off subject but since there wouldn't be Haunted Mansion with out a Disneyland I have enclosed two paintings I have just finished for a client of Disney worlds Magic Castle. They are Oils on Canvas and I have painted them from Pictures my client sent me of which he had taken using HDR Technique... Enjoy Haunters... Cheers Joel
 
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