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HALLOWEEN
PROPS & SPECIAL FX |
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VORTEX EFFECT
 As your trick or treaters walk
into your foggy yard, ahead of them is a swirling vortex glowing the air.
This is a really eerie effect that is guaranteed to
impress your trick or treaters. And it requires only a few items to create.
Holiday Light Projector
Fog Machine
Black Construction Paper
Holiday Light Projectors are those lighting
devices used to project a festive image onto the side of your house, your garage door, or
just about any flat surface.
 They can be found at most department stores
during the Halloween and Christmas seasons, and generally cost anywhere from $30.00 to
$50.00. These consumer versions usually have a 50 watt light bulb that has just enough
power to create the desired effect. They come with an assortment of round film images that
project different pictures.
Fog machines like the FogFX fog machine
work great and are available through our Got Fog? website. You'll also want to get a
Timer Remote so you don't have to continually run back and forth clicking the standard
remote button.
 You can create a vortex of just about any
color but using the blue creates an ethereal look, while green generates what we call the
"X-file" look, red is good for a demonic look, etc.
While the instructions below are for the
particular image projector we used, the Holiday Projector from Mr. Christmas, the method
should be similar for any brand.
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First, select from the film
images included with your image projector, one with a background color you would like the
vortex color to be (we used blue). The image film is the transparent part inside the outer
circle that has the actual image on it. Now, you need to block the picture part of the
film image with a paper circle so that it does not show in the projected image. The paper
circle needs to be about a quarter of an inch smaller than the film (image) portion. |
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Using a ruler, measure the diameter of the
image film within the outer circle. Ours measured 1-1/8", so we needed a
7/8" paper disc to cover the actual image. Now draw the circle (7/8" in
our case) on a piece of black book cover paper or construction paper, using a compass. We chose black book paper because it is thin,
yet still opaque, but you could use any similar material at hand. Carefully cut out the
circle from the black book paper. |
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Using double-sided tape or glue,
carefully stick the paper circle onto the center of the transparent film image. This
should leave a one eighth inch (1/8") border of the background color exposed. Be sure
to place it on the back side on the disc, not the side that says "THIS
SIDE FACE UP". This way the paper disc is not directly exposed to
the light bulb. |
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Put the adapted film image back
inside the image projector and reassemble the projector unit. Place the fog machine up
high with the image projector just above it so that its light shines down through the fog
at the angle your visitors will approach. As a final touch, we place a CD player and
speakers behind the fog machine playing an eerie sound effect.
As with any fog related effect, wind is the enemy!
Even a light breeze will disrupt the look of this effect. If its windy, you might want to
use this in your haunted garage.
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