Thread: Maybe I have a unique indoor lightning storm?

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Hi Folks,

I haven't seen a post like this, so I'll share my "Indoor Lightning Storm" that I have perfected after a couple of years of playing around with it.

In one area, our home has a really longgg room with a Wine Bar and dining area on one end and a living room area on the other. The ceiling has a middle peak about 12 feet high that runs the entire length. Just above the bar )(near the ceiling) is a trapezoid-shaped nook that is about 4 feet wide, 20 inches tall and 24 inches deep. The pics show it better than I may explain.

So, I wanted to use it and came up with the idea of an indoor lightning storm viewed through a pseudo-skylight. I used a Sony X-Plod boom box (it has a special booming bass -- great for the thunder), a sound activated lighting control box, a 100-watt bulb, a reflector lamp, and my old MP3 with thunder/lightning sounds followed with about 8 minutes of silence that would repeat/loop.

I made a false frosted skylight via thin wood framing and frosted plastic that goes in 4-bulb fluorescent lighting fixtures in kitchens. I hot glued white foam "wood" strips around the frame on the front side to make it look like frosted glass panes. I hot glued dead tree branches at different distances behind the pseudo-panes. I then rigged it to be held at the edges of the front lip of the nook when I slid it into place.

There was already power up in the nook for the long fluorescent light that was there. I just had a friend put an electric outlet for power up there, too.
I removed the fluorescent bulb and placed my goodies described above.

With the whole thing running throughout the night on Halloween, it would look like there was lightning storm outside with the shadow of tree branches showing up with the crash of thunder following. It would flash and thunder of and on for 90 seconds, then there would be nothing for a several minutes. Little kids kept looking up and trying to figure how the lightning storm would appear to illuminate that end of the room, yet not in the yard. It would happen infrequently enough that they didn't figure out a pattern as they toured the house. I decorate the front yard, the entire inside of the house, front porch, pool deck, made the cemetery in the back yard and folks get the 20 minute tour when they come by.
































Tell me what you think!

-Doc

Nice use of your nook. The faux skylight was a great idea and really sets off the show. I've been pondering a lightning show for next years haunt.

my god, that room alone is the size of the top floor of my house! :O

That's a nice effect there.

Nice effect! The dead branches really sell the effect.

That's one awesome idea for a storm! I just love the braches as they flash in the light. I might have to try something like this for next year. Thanks for sharing, and I can't say I've seen this idea before either. Nice work!

Hi, that's a brilliant effect and I've got to say also: Never seen something like this before. I plan to do some framework with something similar than you did to hang it up at an existing wall. What I think it'll be difficult ist getting the needed depth.

the branch totally adds a bunch!! i have done something similar to make a ghost room in my living room, so i'm posting details since they are related!

we're DL haunted mansion fans, so this has been my tribute 2 years in a row (and it only keeps getting better!). i don't have vid, but we had the thunder/lighting setup under the table and behind the curtains...CFL blue lights lit the area, and thank goodness for LED pillar candles (esp with parties of children and drinking adults!). extra sound effects were the entry music to the haunted mansion and the ticking of a chess clock amplified behind a fake grandfather clock i made! spiders and black crows were hiding out in various places...waiting...LOL

Excellent! This has some great possibilities, and something I will have to look into more. I tried using the light dance to the music outdoor christmas box this year, with MP3.. Didn't work very good. The sound output was very low, so I ditched the idea.

May I also add that I am rather jealous of your home?

The branch and frosted glass make this effect so believable...great job!