$20 prop contest ideas

I am still searching for ideas for the $20 prop contest, and I have a couple brewing. The first was originally inspired by this post I found on pumpkinrots site, the image is by rainbowzebra93:
What I like about this is the long flowing ghost, it also led me to the idea of using some form of black mesh to build a very 3 dimensional form, the leave lots of gaps in the cheese cloth to give the impression of a very hollow ghost. Kinda like a previous ghost I built, but with more voids to give the impression of something hollow.
The second idea is for an animated ghost with more of an emphasis on the sculpture than I usually do, and with different animation using a lot of cams with a deer motor. After all, it is a $20 prop contest, and you can make a lot of cams with scrap wood. The basic movement is based on one of my all time favorites, the Green Ghost from Scooby Doo. I would try some ideas I have had to build a very detailed armature from paper mache, give it a basic posture like in the Scooby Doo ghost, and then animate it as much as I can using a deer motor. Another image I want to incorporate is by (Divinity II: Ego Draconis Art & Pictures)
Next step is to sketch something out and start planning the animations.

Hi everyone. I hate moving, I always buy a house with potential, which means it needs a lot of work. I will be done with the last major job this weekend (redoing the wood floors), just in time for the HauntForum $20 prop contest! I will build a ghost, animated with a salvaged deer motor, I just don't know what yet. I am casting around, trying to come up with something that feels new, a posture and a motion that is different. I do know that I want to take the sculpting up a notch, detailed paper mache armature, and introducing a lot of texture with the cheesecloth. Whatever it ends up being, I will be posting updates. More to come soon!

Halloween 2012, looking forward to 2013

Hope all of you had the best Halloween you could. This year was definitely challenging for many, and continues to challenge some of us. I have included a video of my haunt this year, it is pretty wimpy but I at least got some decorations out. I am already looking forward to next year and what I would like to accomplish. This includes laying out a much better haunt, providing a safe path and a scary path. I also plan on redoing the leer and wallbreaker ghosts with mechanical linkages instead of strings. I hope to offer several kits.

New Cloaked FCG

My new Cloaked FCG is done! Some new ideas in this ghost are the arm and the way the head moves. The arms form a 2 bar linkage that causes the hands to raise as the arm is extended. And the head is rigged so that as the body reaches the lowest point the head looks up. Hope you have a great Halloween!

Animated Cloaked Ghost - Final

Hey everybody. Wanted to update the progress of the Cloaked Ghost. This will be an entry about finishing the hands, fixing the hood, and starting the cheese cloth application. My next entry will show how I add all the cheese cloth and display the final ghost. My previous entry showed how I used newspaper, tape and paper mache to make the hands. Once the hands are dry I paint them flat black...

Next I use fabric stiffener to apply small pieces of cheesecloth. I cut plenty of pieces around 2-3 inches square, any smaller and I cannot spread the cheese cloth out after dipping it in the fabric stiffener and wringing it out.

I usually start with the fingers and work my way onto the hand.

The final effect under the black light...

Next, I was not happy with the way the cloak looked in my test run (below) I wanted to keep the void just where the head was supposed to be, without the black cloth blocking any part of the body as the head turned. After some experimentation, I found that trimming the hood gave the desired effect. Here is the trim job...

The result test run with some cheese cloth and black light shows how this technique allows the void to remain without obscuring the body as the head turns... Finally, with the body clearly visible under the void, I decided to add some detail to the cheesecloth on the body. This will be done by cutting ragged strips long enough to reach the bottom, placing them on the body, the applying some Elmer glue/water mix in strategic spots to secure the cheese cloth in place. The idea is shown below with the initial strip placed...

Thanks for looking. The next post should finish up this ghost!

Animated Cloaked Ghost Part II

The hands are just about done, now it is time to dress the ghost using black cloth. I built the hands using the same technique as the previous ghosts. First build an armature using small newspaper balls for knuckles, and masking tape to hold everything together.

Once the hands are together I pose them, and if needed secure them so they hold the pose while the paper mache dries.

The following video shows the ghost with the rough hands and the basic cloak outline in place. I am also getting questions about how I figure linkages. The following video shows how I lay everything out with cardboard and tacks to at least get close (this is after several sketches). I take the final strips and use them to check the fit as I assemble the actual linkages. As I built the ghost, the location of the motor or arms would change, and I would modify the cardboard mock-up accordingly. Note that the head and left arm linkages were close, but the right arm prototype did not capture the complexity of that movement. I also spend a lot of time sitting and watching things in motion, and tweaking until things look right.