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Singing Pumpkins, Hologram Ghost Face & More!

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Decorations I created in my building's courtyard for Halloween featuring an original hologram ghost face and singing jack-o-lanterns (grim grinning ghosts from Disney's Haunted Mansion attraction), as well as life size lion statues, hand carved pumpkins, fire torches and more. I live in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago.

12 comments

191

Nov 4, 2011. 5:03 PM

scoochmaroo says:

Ok wow. Now I definitely need to know more about what went into this build!

Nov 4, 2011. 7:07 PMgatina6 says:

I love it! Really cool display.

Nov 4, 2011. 8:08 PM

davidandora (author) says:

Yay! Thanks! It was lot's of fun to come home to every night!

Nov 4, 2011. 8:16 PM

davidandora (author) says:

Here's a few secrets and tidbits: All of the pumpkins, with the exception of the very largest were all hand-carved FUNKIN brand cast-foam pumpkins. The singing jack-o-lantern faces are front projected from a hidden video projector and are matched for color and brightness to the carved pumpkins, which are all lit with clear C7 Christmas bulbs on individual channels with flicker generators which make them look like they are candle-lit. The Lions are relatively lightweight fiberglass statues with a custom weathered paint finish. The existing courtyard lights have had nearly-UV (blacklight) dichroic glass filters put in them to give the purple cast to the trees. The flame torches are a new style of patio heaters wich are totally safe and run for many hours on a small tank of propane. The ghost face hologram is a custom video projected onto black tulle netting strung invisibly between two trees.

Mar 9, 2012. 10:32 PMtinker234 says:

i love the pumpkins could you explain to me about rear projecting onto the pumpkins

Mar 9, 2012. 10:27 PMtinker234 says:

amazing job

Nov 27, 2011. 4:41 AMchristian.gindorf says:

Hi, that is awesome! Sorry, but I have a bunch of questions...
I was wondering how you controlled the whole show? Was it just all running on its own or is there some sequencer beeing used to keep everything in sync? How did you create the faces to project and how did you sync them to the music?

Thanks!

Nov 27, 2011. 7:34 AM

davidandora (author) says:

Hey Christian,
Thanks for the compliments! There is nothing controlling everything as a whole. Please see my reply above for some of the basics. In addition, the face "hologram" was created initially for another project of mine which just won an award in the recent Halloween contest. You can read how I created the video with that instructable:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Spooky-Face-in-Mirror-Special-Effect/
The custom animated pumpkin faces are synced with their music within the video program, and output through a dvd player to the projector and to an amplifier with a speaker hidden near the pumpkins. I did not animate the faces, but I did make some significant enhancements, including a natural flicker to the footage to exactly match the effect to the surrounding carved jack-o-lanterns. The animation was created by a very talented computer animator and can be purchased directly through him:
http://www.themightymicroscope.com/windowcreeps/

Nov 5, 2011. 1:44 PM

cdawisconsin says:

This is really amazing. Wondering what song the pumpkins are singing to? BTW, I love the uptown area of Chgo. I lived at North and Dearborn and really miss the city.

Nov 5, 2011. 2:52 PM

davidandora (author) says:

They are singing "Grim Grinning Ghosts" a song from the
Disney Haunted Mansion attraction. Thanks for the compliment!

191

Nov 4, 2011. 10:12 AM

scoochmaroo says:

Looks cool! Do you know who made it?

Nov 4, 2011. 2:49 PM

davidandora (author) says:

Thanks! ...and yes, it was mostly me with some help. I create themed environments for a living. Halloween is always my busiest time of year, but I managed to have time to do more at my home this year. :-)