[Kim's HM Halloween]

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!

 

[jwproductions]

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

 

[Its the Great Pumpkin]

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!

I made the Haunted Mansion Ghost heads. They are made out of latex from clay sculpts I have done. Thanks for your compliments too.

 

[Kim's HM Halloween]

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!

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

 

[Kim's HM Halloween]

Hi! They are really great! Are you still making them? I would love to find something similar that I can paint for my Hatbox Ghost's head.

 

[jwproductions]

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

 

[Kim's HM Halloween]

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!

 

[jwproductions]

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

 

[jwproductions]

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

 

[jwproductions]

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

 

[jwproductions]

Hello HM Haunters,

I have also enclosed some of the all important props for a realistic haunt... All props that I have created and you can do yourself... Cheers Joel

 

[mamadada]

How did u do the candles and the spider. Love them????

 

[skullandbones]

Savage that is AWESOME!

I have yet to ever go to Disney, but I've wanted to go on the Haunted Mansion ever since I saw it existed when I was in grade school! It's on my list of to do's!

 

[AthenaHM]

Savage that is AWESOME!

I have yet to ever go to Disney, but I've wanted to go on the Haunted Mansion ever since I saw it existed when I was in grade school! It's on my list of to do's!

It was a very important event in my childhood. You simply must go.

All of these props are top notch. Very nice work.

 

[Kim's HM Halloween]

Really awesome! You have some amazing talents!

 

[SavageEye]

Savage that is AWESOME!

I have yet to ever go to Disney, but I've wanted to go on the Haunted Mansion ever since I saw it existed when I was in grade school! It's on my list of to do's!

Thanks for the compliment!! It definitely got peoples attention on Halloween. I put it with the candles that I made (similar technique as JW) and my Haunted Ouija board. BTW, you have to make it to Disneyland… I am amazed every time I go. If you like detail, you will get some great ideas!

 

[SavageEye]

Here is another Disney inspired prop that I have made. I got the idea when we were in Big Thunder Ranch in Frontierland. All I did was take a $6 lantern at Wal-Mart and converted it to use a flicker light bulb. It is amazing when turned on…

 

[jwproductions]

Hello mamadada,
Thank you for the kind words. The candles are made from pvc pipe there are two types that I have done... One is done by battery and the other electricity. battery are the t-lights and the other one is using regular cords and parts that you would have if you took a lamp apart. Mine was a bit more difficult since there are multiple lamps. it takes some knowledge of wiring to do....

The simple ones are the t-lites... You first take a pvc pipe... there are several sizes that the t-lights fit so bring one with you when you go to your Home Depot you can decide which one you will want when you are there.

There are several ways that you can do this. The most simple is first cut to the sizes you will want. Spray paint them with bright white or what ever color you are wanting the candles. You then can take a can of " Spray isolation foam " spray it inside the tube until it is full let it sit and dry. Once dry you will want to cut down about 1 inch into the tube and remove the harden foam. put the candle in and make sure that you are only able to see the flicker part of the candle. You then take a glue gun and using clear glue sticks run up and down the tube in long strokes from top to bottom. This will take quite a bit of time and glue sticks. Continue to do this until you are satisfied but I layer many coats. Once you are finished you can start to build up around the top with glue, as it drys continue to put layers until you can no longer see the wick. ( Your candle will flicker though this.) You can also use plastic milk carton to start it out and build up on that,. A bit harder but rewarding.

As for spiderwebs this is a two step process. You must first build yourself a spiderweb using nails to form the web and running string from one arm to the next for the webbing. ( It is hard to describe the process I use in doing this, I have had many years of training to be able to do professional props as I do) Don't get discouraged though yours will look pretty spectacular if you follow these directions... After you are satisfied with the web you have built you can spray it with webbing. I made my own gun but you can find one for yourself on e-bay. Spray back and forth over your string web until you are happy with it. You can also spray onto your prop, such as the skeleton I did above, to get the detail. The spray webbing is very easy to remove after you are finished so do not worry about spraying it on your props.

Another effect you can do is use string that is black light radiant. When you do this along with spray web you will get the effect that you see in Disneyland Haunted Mansion. Looks very professional... Good Luck and Happy Haunting!!!

 

[mamadada]

JW, did I miss the part on how I am supposed to still be able to turn on the tealight???

 

[SavageEye]

JW, did I miss the part on how I am supposed to still be able to turn on the tealight???

The tea light just sits loosely inside the PVC pipe. So you can take it out, change the battery and turn on and off. There are threads here in HF that show a complete tutorial. I'll see if I can find one.