Thread: Recreating silhouette effect from exterior of Haunted Mansion?

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How can I replicate the silhouette effect seen after dark in the windows at Disney's Haunted Mansion? e.g. one person slowly following another, passing by the window as silhouettes?

What translucent material would work best for the window? What mechanism could be used to get the figures to "loop" past the window? What about lighting? Just aim a white floodlight or a spot?

Hope what I'm describing makes sense.

Only ideas I've come up with for the motion is possibly any of these:

1) Thrift store record player modified with foam cut-outs and passing through the light

2) Same as #1 but using a toy train set to get a slower repeat and window pass time


... and that's it.


Thanks.

Mike

If i were to do this effect, i think i would use a sheet of milky translucent plexiglass/Lexan as the "window" and illuminate it from behind with some soft lighting source. I would make the figures from some easily cut (but sturdy) material, i.e. plastic or cardboard. I would then make a simple conveyor belt running on a motor and pulley system and attach the cardboard cutout to it and place the whole thing in front of the "window". Make sure the "conveyor" has a long, flat run so that the silhouette's appear to be walking on a flat surface as they pass by the window then they will pass under and then around to start their walk-by again. Use a speed-adjustable motor and there you have it, a moving silhouette/window affair. The whole thing need not be that complex either, i would thing most of the materials could be obtained around the home if not pretty cheaply.

Most people use a projector to blast the images onto the window, that way you can have millions of different shadows in your window.

First thing that popped into my mind for the motor would be the one they make for christmas trees that slowly turn the whole tree.....ZR

I would thing that an ice cream maker motor would be the ticket. Cheap, super slow with a ton of torque.

Originally Posted by Scruffywolf

If i were to do this effect, i think i would use a sheet of milky translucent plexiglass/Lexan as the "window" and illuminate it from behind with some soft lighting source. I would make the figures from some easily cut (but sturdy) material, i.e. plastic or cardboard. I would then make a simple conveyor belt running on a motor and pulley system and attach the cardboard cutout to it and place the whole thing in front of the "window". Make sure the "conveyor" has a long, flat run so that the silhouette's appear to be walking on a flat surface as they pass by the window then they will pass under and then around to start their walk-by again. Use a speed-adjustable motor and there you have it, a moving silhouette/window affair. The whole thing need not be that complex either, i would thing most of the materials could be obtained around the home if not pretty cheaply.

Thanks to all for the suggestions. I'm pretty unhandy / non-mechanically inclined. Any suggestions for building a simple conveyor belt system for, let's say, under USD $50 if possible. Willing to go up to $100, but the cheaper the better. Would prefer using "off the shelf" stuff even if it costs more; e.g. I was delighted to pay double the price to do a simple mod to a commercial green laser unit ($50 total price--the mod only required unplugging a component from a circuit board) versus building one's own green laser vortex from various parts for, say, only $20-$30.

If it's not dead simple, I likely won't be able to build it.

Really love the conveyor belt idea--I think that's the best way to accomplish the effect.

Are there any videos of this?

I'm thinking one of those cheap plastic window blinds... the kind you see in comedies that when released and let go spin.

For the shade effects I'm thinking one of those old timey heat operated shadow throwers. The round cut out kind with the vanes in the top to catch the heat and make it revolve. Made out of cardboard it could be hung from the top rail thingy that holds a lamps shade. Park it in front of the window, bulb on, shade down, BOOM your done and walk away.

Originally Posted by MrNightmare

Are there any videos of this?

Haven't been able to find one yet, but I did find a very cool backwards-turning clock outside of Disneyland's HM. Close-up is 28 seconds in:

YouTube - Disneyland Haunted Mansion Exterior November Nights 2009

I'm heading to Disney late this month. If I'm there at night, I'll video it. In the mean time, I have posted to doombuggies.com to see if anyone can point you to a video of the effect (their forums point to yuku.com):

Silhouettes passing by the window, exterior of HM at night? Recreating the effect - Where Hinges Creak in Doorless Chambers - Hot and Cold Running Chills - Disney's Haunted Mansion - Message Board Yuku

It is accomplished. Turns out I had a high-torque, slow moving motor (3 RPMs) collecting dust. It's a "Rotating 3 Tier Party Platter" from QVC--received as a gift a few years ago but never used. Works perfectly and can accept quite a lot of weight (could use to rotate a small candelabra, etc). Found it when I got to thinking "household appliances" for motors, like a blender or electric can opener.

I tried three different methods:

1) Set a figurine from dollar tree directly on one of the platters and illuminated it with an LED flashlight from a bed.

2) Set two figurines--one for the effect and one for balance--on a bubble level, on a platter. Light source was placed in the middle of the level, pointing only at one figurine, "lighthouse style."

3) Duct-taped a $2 wood cut-out I got from Michael's craft store onto an empty 48" fluorescent tube box. Illuminated it with an LED flashlight in the center. No counter-weight required since the cut-out was so light.

Not sure I'm completely happy with the effect yet, but it's close to what I had in mind. I like the figurines best. The wood cut-out looks a bit goofy. Looked all over, and I couldn't find any decent silhouettes in stores to use. Would be interested to know if there's anything better looking I could order online.

There's another variant I haven't tried yet--it would be #2 with a second LED flashlight and either the same figurine (for more rapid returns) or a different figurine (for a "chasing" effect).

Please let me know what you think. Would love to see others play with the effect and see what you come up with.

I'm uploading exterior and interior videos of all 3 methods to YouTube. For the moment, all that's made it through is an interior video of method #1:

YouTube - Haunted Mansion silhouette effect at home - interior

Will try to update the thread as I add videos. Or, just click my YouTube channel to see if they're already there.

Funny thing is, I learned over on DoomBuggies.com that there's no silhouette at all in the exterior window at the HM--it's simply a rotating light. Well, my version of the effect is how I prefer to think of it. :-)