***If you like this, please rate it and VOTE for it in the DECORATIONS CATEGORY in the HALLOWEEN CONTEST**
Thank you so very much!
I created a "spooky face in-the-mirror" special effect in 2009. The effect is of three green glowing framed mirrors that have a spooky face which appears to move from frame to frame on a continuous loop throughout the event. The effect was created with 3 UNG DRILL frames from IKEA, which I painted fluorescent green. The UNG DRILL frames come with clear plastic which you can either use as a measuring guide to have 2-way mirror custom routed/cut, which I did, or you may try to use a 2-way mirror film to apply to the included plastic. I purchased 3 of the most inexpensive widescreen 19" LCD's I could find. The initial installation enabled me to place widescreen LCD panels behind faux walls, mounting the frames flush on the walls. I wanted to be able to use the frames elsewhere when I would have to have the LCD display taking up space behind the frame, so I designed an ornate black frame inspired by wrought iron filagree which was cut from black Sintra, a pvc sheet product which can be computer cut by a CNC router. I used a heat bender to raise the framework out from the wall just enough to accomodate the LCD panel. It works very well at hiding the display and visually anchors the mirror to the wall.
To make the video I recorded my friend Ryan's face with a black t-shirt pulled over his head to expose just the very front of his face. I wanted it to look like a floating face, not a whole head. I lit his face from below to enhance the ghoulish quality of the image. This was all done in front of a black backdrop. His face had white makeup on it, but I'm not certain that was entirely necessary. Because the LCD displays are mounted on their side, the camera was also on it's side to record the footage.
The video was then edited in Final Cut Pro to enhance the contrast of the face and the black background. Then an important step was to alter the color to look as though the face was lit with black light and was U.V. reactive. U.V. reactive white looks blueish under black light, so I gave the image a tint that matched that same hue of blue. Because the LCD display gives off an illuminated image, the whole frame is fluorescent painted and lit under black light. The altered face footage now also visually appears to be glowing from the black light, which makes the whole effect a bit more mysterious and avoid simply looking like a "tv behind a mirror". Both the fluorescent frame and the face glow at the same brightness. The effect isn't as bright in the attached video, but looks the way it does in the photos when viewed in person.
To create the effect that the face moves from frame to frame and never is in two places at the same time, I created three seperate video tracks, one for each frame. Then created DVD's in DVD Studio Pro that automatically start playing when the dvd player powers on. Then I used three dvd players of the same manufacturer and model, one running to each mirror/video display. By using a remote control I am able to turn on all three dvd players at the same time so they are synced. The dvd's are programmed to automatically loop. They seem to stay in sync at least for 8+ hours.
Visit Our Store »
Go Pro Today »
-The video displays I use for this effect are only held in place with vecro straps and I use them for other projects as well.
-Also, I believe that a round frame makes this effect stronger as the mind doesn't immediately view this as a video effect. You could still use a round frame with your TV. The tv is smaller than the frame in my example. The face image never extends off the edge of the video frame, so you don't see an "edge" through the two-way mirror.
Hope that helps. Have a fun Haunted House!
Very easy to do and follow.
I see that you indirectly lit the picture frame from above with the 18" fluorescent black light in a hidden cove .
Do you think that it would be possible to find mirror / picture frames such as you have but are made out of a clear acrylic of some type ?
The mirror / two way glass could then be backlit using most anything or even the glow of the monitor itself.
I was thinking about neon accent glow tubes ,LED strings or even E.L. wire or strips.
Some of the accent neon glow tubes sold in automotive stores are of the cheaper plastic tube variety and could be bent into a curve to some degree.
What do you think?
Let me know if you try something out! :-)
That is actually a great idea ,I like it.
The light would be MORE focused to a certain direction than any bulb would be and make it easier to conceal it.
I do know that you can buy individual LED's in virtually any light color wavelength.
I have found oddball colors like "Ocean Green" ones on Ebay and most of them come from China sellers and shipped through the Mail as they are not that large or heavy even when buying 1000 of them at a time !!
So a person could choose a certain color wavelength and then make their own light panels in any shape ,size and brightness.
BTW I used the "Ocean Green" Led's for light source on underwater ROV video cameras due to the color of most of the lakes around here and also most Black and White video ( surveilance ) cameras respond well to that color it seems.
That color of light seems to make a lot of the suspended particles in the water not as visible to the camera.
3 dvd-players,3 LCD screens etc and a license for Final Cut Pro doesn't seem like a cheap build to me.
but it looks good, so I'll give it heads up :)