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Helena New user Belgium 1 Post |
Who can give me suggestions or tips on how to create a modern (and cheap) version of the Pepper's Ghost Illusion? I will use a videoprojector instead of an actor, but the material of the screen gives me a hard time here.
The screen should disappear at the end of the show, so please don't suggest me with a glass one, that won't work;-) |
John Bundy Regular user USA 193 Posts |
You will find that projecting on black scrim will work for your illusion. It is important that your video is produced with a dead black background and the contrast is increased. When you project the image, you may have to experiment with some irregular "barn doors" on the projector, and adjust the brightness + or - until the frame of the image vanishes. You do not want to see the frame of the image projected, only the ghost. Scrim can be bought from any large theatrical supply company that deals in soft goods. In the US I would go to Rose Brand Theatrical Fabrics. NYC or North Hollywood, CA
If you are confining your ghost to a small enclosed area, you might consider a clear plastic that can be attached to a roller shade. Treat it as you would glass in the illusion. This may work for a thru a window or doorway view. Now if you have a huge budget, you can proect on water vapor. But that's another story. Good luck |
NFox Inner circle I Do Mentalism Now?! 1101 Posts |
Remember that if you are using a black scrim to also have a black background behind your subject when filming to help eliminate the frame around the edge of the image.
Nick Fox |
Mike Ching Regular user Honolulu, Hawaii 192 Posts |
I've had a chance to design a number of larger Haunted Houses and have staged "PEPPERS GHOST" (AKA the "Blue Room" Illusion)many times in a number of variations. Solid subjects offer something that projections can not: an amazingly Sharp convincing 3 Dimensional image.
For most work we used Plexiglas,3/16" width. (Thinner Plas sheets sold cheaply is fine for smaller work) The larger your "Ghost", the larger your reflective surface must be, remember, the image hits the "Glass" at a 45 degree angle meaning your person/dummy must be seen through a sheet about 1 1/2 times as wide as itself (standing). Your "Glass" may need to "go away" but then again it may not. If you describe your application perhaps there may be a way around it. For the beginning of one tour, a curtain was pulled away and our crowd saw a Pirate Skeleton inside a decrepit cabinet. They saw the bones visibly morph into a living "Zonbie" Pirate. The curtain was dropped, (allowing the Pirate to go around the glass) he jumped out through the doorway he was initially seen through. He then took the guests through the attraction. The actions made sense and the crowd was none the wiser. The "Guides" loved being part of this spooky special effect too. Certainly there are some things you can only do with a projected image including several special FX, wipes, animated images & continuous play, Though I am very partial to using a 3D subject as you defeat the ultra-realistic image Peppers ghost is so famous for. Make no mistake, the REALISM & CLARITY of the image is what truly STUNS... To me, even HD video ALWAYS looks like video. We are used to the look of it and we can tell almost instantly. Have experimented with plastic and maybe haven't discovered the right one, table-cover plastic sold by the yard doesn't seem reflective enough to be effective. Have heard that some type of Plas stretched over a frame is lightweight & actually workable. Anyone know exactly what it is? (Shrink wrap over a frame? Something to that effect.) (In the world of Haunted House efects, Abb Dickson is THE MAN.) Hope something here helps; Good luck & Happy Haunting.... -Mike C |
dsilverfield Special user 752 Posts |
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