Portico of Doom

[OzAz]

Thread for my Halloween show.

Current plan is to close off my portico with curtains. Black on the sides and white on the front.

Projector (basic projection mapping) onto white curtain with spiders, other ghouly things and warning messages.
Inside portico, talking animated skeleton, large spider and web and a few other spooky things, UV floods, fog machine, etc. Second projector onto (open) front door projecting some ghouls and ghosts.

Concept is, children will have to enter portico to get their treats and talking skeleton will say scary things to them (insert evil laughter here) and they'll get spooked by ghouls at the front door.

Phase 1 completed 24/09/17
Installed 3 curtain rods and put up curtains for testing. portico quite sealed off should look good with props and lighting.
Attached is pic of portico, pic of portico with white curtain up (may have to weight bottom down so it doesn't blow about too much) and link to short video test of projector onto curtains. (kept test short so didn't spoil surprise for neighbours)

 

[djgra79]

Nice work Oz, following with interest! I should start my own thread...

 

[marmalade]

should scare off any potential door to door salespeople as well Great work!

 

[OzAz]

So, reasonably successful Halloween, lots of trick or treaters (ToTs) (for me at least, not like others who got over 400!, I think neighbours would lynch me if that many turned up).

All ToTs were directed into the portico, by partner dressed as a witch, which was decorated with 2 large spider webs and large spiders, and the talking skeleton sitting on a tombstone (disguised speaker box). I was sitting outside dressed in a skeleton onesie with wireless headset microphone, people couldn't see I had the microphone. On entering the portico from the side, through the black curtain, ToTs were greeted by talking skeleton which was a lot of fun for all. Skelli told them to ring the spooky doorbell, which got the ToTs to look at the front door (many hadn't) and see the projection of clips from AtmosFX Macabre Manor - a few screams were heard . Also had a fog machine (manually triggered) to create a little more atmosphere inside the Portico of Doom (more rightly called the Portico of Minor Surprise )

As usual I forgot to do videos and take pics, did a quick video (see link below) just before I packed up, so did partners mum and one of her mum's grandchildren (his name is Hunter), hence the background voice-overs.

attached pic of "graveyard" approach to house, spooky eyes courtesy of boscoyo, sadly hardly anyone noticed them as it was still fairly light by the time the last ToT left.

Outside (test from Saturday night)
Inside Portico (halloween night after everyone had left)

Lessons Learnt:
lollie bags was a great idea, but need more - bought at reject shop $1 for 30 clear bags with self sealing top
Outside projection was a waste of time (but fun to try, and I learnt video editing and projection mapping a bit) as most ToTs had gone before it was dark enough to use.
Remember to turn the UV lights on (maybe have them triggered as ToTs enter)
Need a BIG sign - Enter here <---
Need to warn parents of very small children how scary it can be (then again Hunter is only 4 and he loved it)
Need to set up the blowup 'ghosts in pumpkin' as a photo booth (a few people took photos of their children in front of it, but could have it set up better)
Have more outside "graveyard" stuff - David and Graham have great examples.
Take more photos!

Overall Impressions:
I enjoyed the experience, though a lot of hard work on the night, looks on kids faces and screams was entertaining. Loved watching kids drag their brothers/sisters into the portico so they could scare them
Pleased that just about every kid had dressed up and even quite a few of the parents!
Most people were very polite and asked first if they were allowed to take pictures and videos, which was nice.
Lots of people thanked us and said they thought it was amazing ( though knowing what some other people do I felt a bit bad, as my 'show' was quite small )
Quite a few people asked about my christmas light show and told me they were looking forward to it ( no pressure or anything )

Hope everyone else's Halloween show went well, I'm sure it did from chat responses last night, see you all next year.

 

[David_AVD]

Sounds like everyone had a good time at your place. I too forgot to take photos and videos until way too late in the evening.

Not having DST here helped with the dark issue. I also had a sign up for 2 week beforehand specifying the date (to avoid confusion) and a start time (6pm). I think the first ToTs arrived just after 6pm, then there was a lull before getting several mini waves of them up until about 7:30 or so.

Even though both sides of my yard were lit well, many needed a prompt to got look at the side away from the door path. Maybe some fencing to corral them past there then to the front door might work next year.

 

[marmalade]

that looks fantastic! Really well thought out and constructed. Can't wait to see your chrissy display!