CREATE A DIGITAL HAND SCANNER EFFECT

Here is a neat tutorial that I have stumbled upon for After Effects on how to create a digital hand scanner effect. It's the perfect thing for anyone doing a sci-fi or spy genre flick. Details and more here.

DIY MOVIE FOG

Here is another look at building a Fog Chiller courtesy of Indy Mogul's BFX:

HOW TO BUILD A TAUNTAUN COSTUME

Here is a insanely detailed log on how one man went out and made Tauntaun costume for Halloween. I'm not a Star Wars geek but this, you have to admit, is damn cool! (h/t to Make Zine)

THE ART OF STOP-MOTION AT ANIMAZING

Here is something fantastic I got in my email this morning:

The SoHo art gallery, Animazing, is hosting a Art of Stop-Motion exhibit and sale of the films of Tim Burton and Henry Sellick. The exhibit will showcase props, storyboards, and conceptual art from films such as The Nightmare Before Christmas and the more recent Coraline.

The event will start on Thursday and run until December 31st and is free and open to the public. The gallery is open seven days of the week. The gallery is located at 54 Greene Street on the corner of Broome in Soho. More information can be found at the Animazing website and the exhibit will go online at the site after 7PM on November 12th. Go here for more details.

Click on the image below to read the official press release:

BUILD YOUR OWN HOT GLUE COBWEB GUN

WARNING: I feel that, although this tutorial is seemingly safe, I must caution everyone to build this at your own risk. After all you are dealing with a hot glue gun so be sure to take safety measures to protect yourself and property. Do this at your own risk!

Now that I'm done covering my butt; here is a brilliant tutorial on how to build a hot glue web gun. The genius thing about this gun is that it eliminates the need for a air compressor and instead uses a air inflator commonly found with air mattresses and swimming pools. Check it out:

YET ANOTHER COOL BRAIN IN THE JAR PROP

Man, The Mad Lab, is one of the coolest sites out there for propmakers like us. Here is yet another Brain In the Jar tutorial which has more a steampunk to it.

HOW TO BUILD A BRAIN IN THE JAR PROP

This prop is seven layers of awesome! Over at The Mad Lab is a brief tutorial on building a brain in a jar prop. It's the perfect thing for any home haunt or mad scientist film. More found here.

THE PROTON PACK - COMPLETED PICS

Here is a few pics of the completed Proton Pack project I made for my daughter as part of her Halloween costume. As you can probably tell it was not a 100% accurate compared to the ones seen in both films. However, it received tons of positive comments and turned a few heads. There were even a few kids and adults who begged their loved ones for one. Because let's face it owning your own Proton Pack is pretty damn cool in any part of the world.

I'm working on a tutorial on how you can build your own. In the meantime here are some quick facts.

The number one question was: is it heavy? Which me and my wife would have to explain, to everyone who asked, that it was mostly styrofoam, so no it was not heavy. It was a bit awkward to wear but my daughter had no complaints.

Believe me I took the weight issue seriously and did everything I could to lessen the weight of the pack including building everything mostly from styrofoam or cardboard and foamcore sheets. As a dad I would have never ever let her wear the pack if she found it too heavy, so lots of testing was involved to get the weight way down for her to wear properly and without burden.

However, whenever she wanted to we would take off the pack in the middle of trick-or-treating and put it back on her when she asked for it. We didn't mind it and in fact was glad to give her breaks whenever she needed it. Being a better parent was more important than showing off a cool prop.

The cost of the pack itself was around 30-40 dollars when you factor in materials which were mostly pink styrofoam sheeting and pvc pipe and tons of hot glue and paint. There is some PVC pipe and a Pringles can used in it. We also added some tap lights and a blue glo stick bought from a local dollar store.

I did spray paint it but didn't like the finish so I repainted it with acrylic black with a Modge Podge gloss and fake metal dry brushing for extra weathering detail. But before painting was even started I used Modge Podge (I got the idea from Fickle Frank) to seal the foam in a protective shield which helped tremednously when I spray painted it and also it gave it a bit of protection when it would occasionally bump into a wall or person.

The gun itself was also in no way close to the original. Yet to make it unique I took a cordless power screwdriver I had laying around and inserted a blackened dowel rod into it with some hot glue. Then using extra long glo-necklaces I attached them to the rod as curvy as I could get it. The result was awesome to see it in the dark as it spun it really did have a Proton laser effect and everyone was floored by it.

If anyone has any questions feel free to drop me a comment. Now I'm off to write the tutorial.

INSPIRATION: FICTIONAL MAPS

I stumbled upon this cool link which has pics of some well known fictional places including the map from THE GOONIES and a map of ZELDA'S Hyrule. Check it out. (h/t to Ephemerist)

A QUICK LASER GUN PROP TUTORIAL

I posted this back in May but thought it was worth repeating for any one in search of a no-budget laser gun for their Halloween costume or low budget sci-fi flick.

HALLOWEEN DECOR IDEA: A WEREWOLF HEAD HUNTING TROPHY

It's the perfect thing to have at at den, home office, or anywhere else in your creepy castle. Full instructions on how to build one can be found here.

TIPS ON WEATHERING COSTUMES

I originally posted this article back in June of 2007 but I thought it was worth repeating for those looking for techniques on distressing their costumes for Halloween.

Here is a great article on distressing or weathering costumes. After all not all costumes should look brand new. Go here to learn more.