The Haunted Mansion-Northside

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012

2011-12-31T13:06:00.000-08:00

It's at this time that I like to think back at this very same time a year ago and think about what the new year would bring. In this case 2011 held:

I would reunite with an old acquaintance and mentor them in how to draw.
I would get the opportunity to teach animation at the high-school level.
I would later get the opportunity to teach animation at CalArts.
I would gather people together, conceive and animate an animated Steampunk project that would get everybody excited.
I would get a chance to develop concepts for a theme-park style project.
I would make a Temple of Doom within 2 weeks.
My youngest child would start Kindergarten.
I would help my oldest child take part in her first science fair.
I held a job the whole year and everyone was healthy and fine.

...2011 was a very good year for us. I hope it was for you and I hope 2012 holds goodwill and exciting times for all of us!

Backyard Theme Park Project

2011-11-11T01:29:00.000-08:00

Through a friend, I was given an opportunity to design concepts for a backyard project, for a "very well to do" client, on a scale would resemble a theme park. The theme they wanted was "if Indiana Jones had discovered a Mayan civilization that was invaded by pirates...". Cool, eh?

Here are some of the concept pieces I drew up:

HALLOWEEN 2011

2011-10-31T22:34:00.000-07:00

About 2 and a half weeks before Halloween, I "committed myself" to making an Indiana Jones Temple Of Doom in my driveway. (Once you see what I've done, you'll think I should have "myself committed"!)

HOW IT ALL BEGAN...

Well, after working with my good friends at Rotten Apple 907 in Burbank, CA, I realized how much I missed hosting a walk-through attraction as part of my haunt. What I didn't miss was the stress of keeping the display up. I had been using PVC pipe as a frame covered with cheap plastic sheeting - this did not hold - when it rained, it all came down! While I was helping my friends, I saw that they used a tarp canopy. I saw that they make tarp canopies that could run the length of a long driveway and I have a long driveway that runs along the side of the house. It got me thinking...

I remembered for their "Nightmare at the Museum" haunt, that they used a gag which simulated the feeling of darts whizzing by via use of tiny hoses connected to an air compressor. I asked my friend that if I were to make up the temple, could he hook-up the dart gag effect. He said, "yes" and I decided then to go forward!

I did alot of searching for reference and drew up some plans for the entrance:

(My wife was out of town that weekend so it was a perfect time to have a canopy delivered along with large 4' x 8' sheets of styrofoam!)

I stayed up many late nights carving styrofoam. Scratching away, it made a pile of tiny beads that looked like I was knee-deep in snow. The beads were everywhere and clung to everything. (It was pretty easy to clean it up, though.)

I covered everything with a base coat of black (even the kids helped) and then quickly faux painted everything in gray/stone texture. Thanks to my sister and brother-in-law and few other friends, I was able to get the canopy up and decorated just in time.

My friend hooked-up the dart gag and it worked excellently. I got the idea to add some draped vines over the air outlet to give it a visual indication that something was flying out from the opening. (I took video - Check back - I'll try posting that later!)

Here is a shot of the inside during the day (it didn't get good photos of it at night) to give you an idea of the layout. It was a one-way in/one-way back.

I would greet trick-or-treaters at the entrance and have them follow me inside, cautioning them there was danger and to be very careful where they step. the dart gag was activated by an infra-red sensor. Then we'd run to the end and I'd turn around and ask if everyone made it through okay and then offer them some candy from a replica of the Ark of the Covenant (again, borrowed from my friend). The lid was slightly open and I had smoke/fog pouring out of it.

Friends of a friend who stopped by offered to let me borrow their fertility idol coin bank so I had a prop to carry. My next door neighbors offered to borrow an actual prop form the last 'Indy' movie (he worked on it).

My friend Peter did something amazing this year, at the last minute he rigged up the face on the temple entrance to talk! He recorded the voice, hooked-up the servo's and everything! Finally I had an animated piece this year! He also brought his amp and background sfx that he mixed together and it added a whole ambiance to the haunt.

THANK YOU to my family, and friends who helped make and came to enjoy this special night!

That's me on the right. I was 11 and went as Indiana Jones

"...100!!!"

2011-10-21T05:48:00.000-07:00

I never thought I'd see the day. A big "THANK YOU" to all of you out there!

Oh, Wow...we're getting dangerously close to 100 followers...

2011-10-19T09:22:00.000-07:00

Haunted Steampunk Bordello

2011-10-11T03:37:00.000-07:00

Here's a background that I did for an animated Steampunk project I'm working on:

I found this image that someone had done of a Steampunk girl lounging and imported it into the frame (I have the intention to re-place it with my own version so I can call it all my own). It kind of reminds me of the pirate girl in the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction. Also, for all you Mansion fans, note the wallpaper and wall sconce.

This scene is suppose to take place onboard the villain's airship which I wanted to feel like a "haunted bordello".

LAVA GIRL

2011-08-22T19:11:00.000-07:00

I did this while I was sick at home today...

Obviously, I wasn't THAT sick, I did lose my voice which, knowing me, could be considered a good thing - it's keeps me out of trouble! ;O)Here's an added bonus...

Steampunk girl

2011-07-20T02:01:00.001-07:00

Circus Sideshow project

2011-07-20T01:37:00.000-07:00

One thing I take pride in is being able to work in different styles. Sometimes I'll take the same image or pose and see if I can apply a different style to it. In this case, on the left, I was going for a comic book/Will Eisner-style and on the right, I was going for an Earl Oliver Hurst style:

Sorry, but I'm particularly proud of this one, especially around the face in trying for a Hurst-like expression.

Miniature Golf Course at night

2011-07-20T01:18:00.000-07:00

There are several romantic places in the world... camping under the stars, looking over the city lights on Mulholland Drive, Niagara Falls...and a miniature gold course at night!

Here are some visual development pieces I did for a teen-angst animated musical set in the 80's that takes place at a mini-golf amusement center.

Tinkerbell Fairy Playhouse

2011-07-20T01:02:00.001-07:00

Here is a compilation of design sketches for a playhouse for my kids.

Freddie Moore Mermaids

2011-06-04T01:22:00.000-07:00

"...but of course these stories have no basis in fact. They're merely tall tales that should be classed as fiction along with the myths of m-m-mermaids?!"

I love the old Submarine Voyage ride...

My friend wanted me to do some concept sketches of mermaids for a collectable figurine. I chose to do it in Freddie Moore's style:

Here are some rough sketches for other ideas:

"...uh, Mr. Baxter...check the air pressure..."

Caricatures

2011-06-04T00:28:00.000-07:00

Every April 1st, at Disney, they hold an annual Caricature Show in which they invite everyone to participate by submitting caricatures of their workmates (or "victims" as they refer to them). It was started by 'Little Mermaid' and "Princess and the Frog' director, John Musker many, many yeas ago. John is a brilliant caricature artists and most of the show consists o his work but there are several others that do just as brilliant work.

I hear John works like a madman working night and day churning out caricatures the week before. A few days before the deadline, he'll send out an email to the "usual suspects" (meaning those who are known for doing caricatures - myself included) trying to get us to turn in a caricature. He's like Santa Claus: he's knows when you are sleeping and he knows when you're awake.

I've submitted a few over the years and at the time it seem like a good idea but about an hour before the show, I have my doubts. Funny thing is, you think that you might get some flack from the person you caricatured but actually, you get more of a "thank you". I've overheard people say they were disappointed that they weren't caricatured.

"Anyhoo"...one year I did a set of caricatures of Disney executives mocking teh Haunted Mansion stretching room portraits. Here they are:

(from left to right - first panel: Producer Alice Dewey , Directors Will Finn & John Sanford from 'Home on the Range, second panel Pam Coats, Third panel: Michael Eisner, fourth panel: Assistant Pam Watterman and WDFA President Tom Shumacher)

I actually made a reveal mat that you could pull down and reveal the portrait much like you'd experience in the attraction. Disney published a caricature SHow book and included these but they actually "squashed" the image so it would appear to fill both pages.

Another year, I did a caricature of the "Dr. Facilier" crew from 'Princess and the Frog'. Mostly it was a caricature of Supervising Animator Bruce Smith who likes Jack Davis' work so I decided to do it in Jack Davis style:

the story behind this was that everyone wanted to work on "Dr, Facilier". (clockwise from center: Bruce Smith, me, Frans Vischer, Sarah Airriess, Dean Wellins, Andreas Deja and Tracy Lee)

I also did this one which was a common scene in dailies...

(from left to right: Randy Haycock, Randy Cartwright, Ruben Aquino and Tony Derosa)

I made this one poking fun at the low-budget for PATF, the looming layoffs that would happen at the end of production and what we would all be wearing at the wrap party 6 months later...

(I'm such a brat, I know.)

[I'll include more later]

But besides Disney, I would also make caricatures for friends. This was for a friend who turned 50. I matted the caricature and had people sign the mat.

He was know for buying fixer-upper houses and remodeling and flipping them.

This one was of one of the members of the Foundation at my daughter's school. His kids moved on to middle school so as a going away present, I did a caricature/card and had people sign the mat. He was a really good "idea man" and his ideas were always full of resourcefulness (so I gave him an energy saving light bulb above his head):

I did this one of my friend Mike who is now teaching art class at my daughters school (for some reason, I wanted to do it in a Al Hirschfeld style):

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: THE BLACK CAT

2011-01-18T00:04:00.000-08:00

Ever since Disney bought Marvel, I thought it would be cool for the animation dept. to do a Marvel project.

After working on the 'Time Jumper' project, I took a real liking to drawing in what I call "comic book style" and gained a new appreciation for graphic novel illustration.

Despite the studio's current interest, I was looking for a female character protagonist to center a story around and pitch. One that had..."appeal". My friend Javie suggested "The Black Cat".

I did some research and put this is a collage of images together that I found from various websites to use as reference:

Here are my rough drawings:

I don't have plans to pitch this but if they end up doing something like it, I'm ready!

CANDYMAN: The David Klein Story

2011-01-12T03:02:00.000-08:00

Well, it turns out that my friend Bert's dad was the inventor of the Jelly Belly jelly bean...no lie!

After all these years, he decided to make a documentary about his dad and his story of how through a series of ill-fated decisions and corporate intimidation, he lost the rights to his invention under duress. It's the classic story of big corporations taking advantage of the little guy.

The film has been screened in film festivals, been broadcast on cable t.v. and is now on DVD and has had good reception with favorable reviews.

For the broadcast premeire, Bert asked me to do artwork to serve as material for the "bumpers" and those annoying advertisements that pop-up as you are trying to watch your show.

So, I did a caricature of his dad when he was younger and on the Mike Douglas show appearing as "The Gumdrop Kid"

On the Mike Douglas show, Bert's dad would come out and do a funny dance so I screen grabbed the images from different shots, re-sized and cut them togetehr to look like this:

Because of legal reasons, unbeknownst to me at the time, they could use footage from the Mike Douglas show for advertisements so it basically was a waste.

Bert aslo wanted to do some animation of his dad being overtaken by a tidal wave of jeely beans. So I made a caricature of his dad, again but this time in a Rankin-Bass/Paul Coker Jr.-style (don't know if they used it or not):

I also did a poster design based upon a sketch that Bert did that was inspired by artist Saul Bass.

I was asked to come up with an idea the DVD cover, so I came up with this concept of Bert's dad "up to his eyeballs" in jelly beans and did this quick mock-up by doing a quick screen grab of Bert's dad off of a burned DVD copy of the movie and a low-res stock photo of jelly beans:

Everyone loved it...for about 5 minutes...until the director Costa Botes saw it and thought this was the final. Of course, it wasn't intended to be but yet that didn't stop him from coming up with his own ideas.

I also did a peice where Bert's dad had "candy on the brain". They did, however, use this and someone at the cable station actually animated the candies swirling around in his head.:

Anyways, its a good documentary. If you have a chance, its worth checking out. You'll never look at Jelly Belly's the same way again.

Bert's dad is a character! On his birthday, every year, he rents an ice-cream truck and drives around and gives away free ice-cream.

You can check him out on Facebook, here.

or on the official film website, candymanfilm.com.

OUR CHRISTMAS CARDS

2010-12-24T09:58:00.000-08:00

Every year, we make our own Christmas cards. We try to summarize the past year in one single image. My wife comes up with the ideas and I draw them up then I pass them in front of her in a vendor/client relationship. I get revisions (usually on how I draw my wife and her hair) and have to turn them around quickly. Don't ask me how but somehow we mange to come up with a concept, write a letter get them out before Christmas.

Also, every year that I see a CG film (in 3D) doing really well at the box, I have to wonder if anyone appreciates anything that's hand-drawn or crafted anymore. I keep thinking to model my family in the computer and do a lifeless CG Christmas card (and include 3d glasses) but our friends say how much they love our cards and the hand-drawn aspect of it and it gives me hope to carry on.

1996- It was the year my wife (then girlfriend) and I first met and we got a dog. This was before Photoshop. I would draw it in pencil, xerox it, color it in Prismacolor markers, color copy it (at work), cut it out and slip it into a photo greeting card.

Somehow we skipped 1997...

1998- It was the year I took up golf and we got engaged.

We skipped 1999...we were married earlier that year (I guess we were "honeymooning")...

2000- It was the year of the election between Bush and Gore in which there had a to be a recount because of Florida's faulty voting process and the "hanging chad" on the ballots. (It was Christmas and we still didn't know who was going to be president...or at least the Democrats didn't).

2002- Our first child was born and all we could worry about was making sure the baby stayed sleep! (Note: our jealous dog)

2003- Our daughter was almott one and she was saying her first words. We also had to put our dog to sleep (due to a broken back) earlier that year on Halloween of all days!

2004-Our daughter was 2 years old and talking in full sentences. (The situation depicted actually happened!)

2005-My wife was pregnant with our second child.

2006- I wanted a dog, my wife wanted a night out, my oldest wanted a bike, and all my youngest wanted for Christmas was her "two front teeth"!

2007-The girls were really into ballet and I was making an editorial comment on technology vs. traditional methods.

2008-Despite that, I discovered Photoshop! No more second generation copies for our cards-adjusting color copy settings, etc. I could print directly from an image file. My youngest (age 2) was also talking full sentences.

2009-Disney's 'The Princess and the Frog' just came out and my oldest was reading at an advanced level.

2010- Our kids were flower girls in my sister's wedding. My wife and I turned 40 and everything's going A-okay!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!!

ROTTEN APPLE 907 presents 'HOLIDAY NIGHTMARE'

2010-12-11T14:36:00.000-08:00

Well, my friends at at it again!

They've set up a walk-through Christmas display based on Tim Burton's 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'.

One Staurday morning (about 2 weeks before Christmas) I get an "emergency" email form my friend Jason asking if I can help put up their display. It turns out that their neighbor, who is like a "Mrs. Kravitz" from 'Bewitched' called the city on them (as she does EVERY year). Originally, they had approval in the form of a permit from the fire marshal, the mayor and the neighbors to leave up their museum haunt through the holidays to double as their Nightmare Before Christmas display but because of a complicated set of politics between city officials and the fire marshall, the fire marshall made them take the whole thing down and start over. So, I helped them put up walls.

Here is the exterior. It would have been twice as large but since they had to start over, they only would have tome to put up half of it. It would have been an incredible display but still, impressive none-the-less!

This is the exterior meant to be the town hall from Halloween town:

Here's the detail above the door:

You would enter Halloween town and be greeted pumpkins singing "This Is Halloween":

Then you'd see the Pumpkin King:

You'd also see Jack's plans for Christmas:

Then, you'd enter a hallway with presents and a pop-up jack-o-lantern...

...leading to "Making Christmas"

(on the right, you can see one of the "Cast Members" dressed as the "clown with the tear-away face" holding a present. The present was on a...what do you call those things... that would extend out at you.)

The attraction would not be complete with "oogie Boogie"!

Here's me and my friend Jason along with good 'ol St. Nick:

A few blocks away, there were some other incredible Christmas/light displays:

(I like the "Ditto" on the neighbors roof.)

Ludwig Von Drake

2010-11-18T23:41:00.000-08:00

Probably my favorite Disney character of all time is Ludwig Von Drake! I always wanted a chance to get to animate him and fiinally I did! It was for promotion for the Walt Disney World Resort in 3D.

A while back, My friend Bert was approached to do produce a short scene with Ludwig. The only catch was we had to have a finsihed scene in color within 3 weeks! Bert is quite an amazing producer and animation director. He's knows how to get the job done through knowing who to get, coordination & scheduling. He figured the best way to get this done was to layout the entire scene with poses, get the poses approved, then split the scene up between 3 animators (sounds crazy, huh?). He also figured out good spots for which to make the switch (usually between broad actions).

My friend Sandro Cleuzo did the first third of the animation, Bert did the middle part "...brilliant things..." and I laid out the entire scene and animated the last part where he points at the camera and pulls the screen down.

Anyways, here's how it turned out:

Halloween 2010- The Haunted Museum

2010-11-13T14:56:00.000-08:00

People would ask "So, what are you doing new this year?" I'd answer, "Nothing...to my house...BUT...I'm helping these friends of mine with their haunted house."

I helped them last year (see post) with their haunt and I was honored to be asked to help out again this year on the 20th Anniversary of their haunting!

HOW DID YOU MEET?

I never told the story of how we met. Basically, this couple found me through a friend and asked if they could borrow my Halloween decorations for their Haunted Mansion-themed wedding. It turns out he worked for Disney, too so we were practically like family). Anyways, they offered me money to rent them but I declined and said as long as they are willing to haul it out and back and return in undamaged, they're welcome to it! They were grateful and in exchange, they offered their talent and expertise to fix-up my stuff (which was in desperate need of repair!)

They had their wedding and returned my stuff back better than new! They made a new lightweight casting of an arm and rigged up a motor to the arm in the crypt so now it moves again...they made bases for my characters to stand so I wouldn't have to prop them up with lawn stakes..they also made castings of my staring statue/busts and gargoyle/bat stanchions

Anyways...flash forward one year...*ZSCHWAP!*...they asked if I would help them out again this year and invited me to their parent/in-laws house to do some sketching out of ideas. They wanted to do a "haunted museum" (instead of 'Night at the Museum', it would be 'NightMARE at the Museum'.)

Enough explanation...I WANNA SEE PICTURES!

They gave me some reference from which to draw from and I sketched out these drawings for the exterior...

From those I then created the poster/flyer advertising the haunt:

This is what the exterior of the building ended up looking like:

I then collected a series of reference material for them and put sheets together that looked like this:

I also did various sketches of what the rooms would look like as well as possible gags to scare people.

It was alot of fun, almost like doing visual development for a film or maybe even for a Disneyland theme-park attraction. It was like working for Imagineering but on a smaller scale, but when you look at the end result, it easily could have been one of theirs.

I also put together these banners to be made and placed on the exterior of the building:

This year, I thought it would be good to try some projection. They wanted egyptian scarabs (beetles) to be cawling on the wall. So, I took an image I found on the internet of a stag beetle, animated legs on it doing a "walk-cycle", then my friend multiplied it and came up with this (Note: this is a low-res version of the scene):

With the theme of a haunted museum in which the exhibits come to life, one of the rooms was a storage room in which one of the crates had opened and revealed that one of them stored the Ark of the Covenant (from 'Raiders of the Lost Ark').

We wanted to do projection of the angels coming out of the ark on a screen of mist/fog (like the Davey Jones effect in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland) but it didn't work out but here is some of the development I did on it:

MORE TO COME...

Dia De Los Muertos

2010-11-01T19:33:00.000-07:00

With today (Nov. 1st) being Dia De Los Muertos (Day Of The Dead), I'd thought I'd share some artwork I did for an animated project about the Mexican heritage holiday.

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-20T00:01:00.000-07:00

I volunteer at my daughter's elementary school by joining the school's Foundation. I served as president of the Foundation for the past three years. Last year, we held our first annual Pumpkin Patch at the school. We sold 200 pumpkins. We also had a Bubble-Fogger machine which was a big hit. The Kindergarten kids were chanting from behind the chain link fence as we were setting up, 'HALLOWEEN! HALLOWEEN! HALLOWEEN!!!"

This year, we're doing it again!

You're welcome to come on by and support R.D. White Elementary school at 744 E. Doran Street in Glendale.

Here are the flyers that I made for the event(s):

2009 Pumpkin Patch flyer

Here's last year's sign that I painted (the kids helped, too):

After the event, I kept it outside in my backyard and it rained. I didn't want to go through the trouble this year to make a new one so I decided to have a 3' x 8' banner made that'll look something like this:

The Ark of the Covenant - Cherubim

2010-10-19T01:14:00.000-07:00

So I'm working on this haunted house walk-through attraction with some friends called 'Nightmare at the Museum' in which the exhibits come to life. In one of the rooms, is the storage room in which a crate has fallen and broken open to reveal that it encased the Ark of the Covenant (from 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'). My friends wanted to build one but needed someone to make the cherubim on top. I remember those cherubs from the movie and the design facinated me. I always thought it would be fun to have a set of those to put up on my desk so I volunteered to do it.

We did some online research. There are many depictions of the cherubs as you can see here:

I noticed that they all are pretty similar in concept. That's because in the Bible it actually describes how the Ark was to be constructed (even to the exact measurements!). It was to be a box made of wood and plated in gold. On top of the box was the cover or "Mercy Seat". Two cherubs made of gold were to be on either end facing each other with their wings outstretched and touching. You can read all about it here.

The most popular version is the one from 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' so that's what we decided to make.

We found a few sites that had detailed pictures and schematics on how to build your own Ark of the Covenant replicated prop from the movie. Here's is some of that reference material:

(oooookay....I'll keep that in mind...)

so here's mine....(granted, I know it not EXACT. Even with all the reference, it was still hard to see the full detail so I had to take a few liberties and while I was at it, I might as well do it to how I wanted to see it. Its been awhile since I sculpted - maybe even YEARS! When I added up the time spent to make this, it took me about 3 - 4 eight-hour days.)

I set up in the dining room which made my wife a little concerned. (she does that groan that Marge Simpson makes about Homer.) This way, I can be near the kids and feel like part of the family. The kids took over a box of clay and had fun using the pasta maker (which I use to help knead and soften the clay to make it workable).

First, I blew up an image of the cherub to size. Then made a wire armature to match. Then I slapped some clay on, roughing out the forms. This process took about 8 hours.

(if you look closely, you can see a toy box that looks like the Ark. My kids asked, "Can we put candy in there?")

Then I started refining the shapes and adding detail:

The hardest part was sculpting that tiny face. As you can see it was about the size of a quarter. Originally, I tried sculpting it by trying to work my fingers between the wood and wings--this proved to be a useless waste f time. Then, I got this idea to sculpt the face , bake it then squeeze it into the main sculpture. "BRILLIANT!" , I tell you.

As I was sculpting it, I was thinking, "Why am I spending so much time on something no one will see?" Then I thought 1) because I know people will want to look on the underside and expect to see something there and 2.) because I'll know! I'm creating art--I have to feel good about it.

I swear, I could have gone on forever finessing this piece, smoothening it out, taking out pocks and finger prints, etc. until finally I just had to call it "done". At times, it's fair enough to say, "This was my best effort and what I was able to do in the time given."

Now its up to my friend to make mold an cast it up!

FANGORIA 2010 MACHINE/ "Steampunk" Time-Machines

2010-10-01T22:24:00.000-07:00

After seeing my friend Peter's Halloween concept, a friend of mine sent me a link to this which I thought you all would find interesting and fun!

This group of people in England made a Halloween attraction in their garage. IT"S GREAT!

FIRST, WATCH THIS:

(Note: If it doesn't fit, double click on the movie and it will take you to the video posted on YouTube.)

THEN, WATCH THIS (the engineers view):

WOW! GREAT JOB, GUYS!!!

(I like how when they go way into the future, the whole earth is covered in water due to the global warming/melting of the ice caps.)

I always used to call this genre "Jules Verne-style" but I guess the "official"/commonly used term fot it is "steampunk".

WHAT IS "STEAMPUNK"?

According to Wikipedia, the term "steampunk" was coined by a science fiction writer K.W. Jeter in an effort to find a general term for the works that were being written about in the mid 1980's/early 90's with regards to science fiction stories that took place during the Victorain-era (1837-1901).

The style would be derived from how people of that time would have envisioned such machines/devices. Most of these devices were operated via steam power (like a steam locomotive) because that would have been the greatest source of power available to them during that period with a brief introduction to electricity.

Examples of this can bee seen in 'The Wild Wild West' in both the film version (1999) and the television series that ran from 1965-69.

The machines and devices were built of riveted steel and brass but were fashioned with an elegant and ornate feel as opposed to the "grungy" post-modern industrial style depicted in such films as 'Blade Runner' (1982) and 'Alien' (1979).

One of the earliest depictions of Victorian-era science fiction would be the French film, 'A Trip to the Moon' (1902).

Since then, the more popular depictions of Victorian-era inspired time traveling/science fiction devices have been Harper Goff's design for the "Nautilus" from Disney's '20,000 leagues Under The Sea' (1954).

"The Time Machine" from George Pal's 1960 film based upon H.G. Wells' novel.

The inside of the Fangoria Machine and my friend's steampunk drill/Halloween project is reminiscent of the one in 'At The Earth's Core (1976) starring Peter Cushing (after watching it, its hard to believe that he was Grand Moff Tarkin!)

Then there's the time machine form the Nicholas Meyer's film, 'Time After Time' (1979).

and the "Omni" from the (1982-83) television series, 'Voyagers!'

I have to admit, 'Voyagers!' was/is a guilty pleasure of mine. I remember in the episode "The Trial of Phineas Bogg", The time-traveling Voyager, Phineas Bogg is called back to home to stand trial for breaking the Voyager code and the villainous prosecutor, Drake had his own "pimped-out" Omni made of silver which was unique and untraceable.

(a SILVER Omni?! Whoah! How cool is that! --I was 12 yrs. old.)

Drake was eventually discovered to be obstructing justice and fled only to go back in time and be hunted as being "Jack The Ripper" and...

oops...'guess I'm "geeking out". 'better go...

(but first let me leave you with this cool picture I found of the DeLorean time machine from 'Back To The Future')

Alright, now BACK TO WORK!!!

Gargoyle Candelabras

2010-10-01T01:40:00.000-07:00

Here are some candelabras I made last year that were inspired by the stretching room gargoyles in the Haunted Mansion (look closely to see the detail):

Materials: wire, plaster wrap, DAS modeling clay, wooden candle cups and a faux finish with acrylic paint (Liquitex Black & Iridescent Antique Gold).

HALLOWEEN S.O.S.

2010-09-22T22:52:00.000-07:00

After taking a much-needed hiatus last year, my good friend, Peter Montgomery, is back and is planning an awesome Halloween display this year!

In recent years, he's made epic displays such as a sinking pirate ship (which I helped him design and build) and a crashed loco motive accompanied by his very own brand of animatronic animation. This year, he's planning to build a huge drilling machine bursting out of the ground of which the Victorian design is inspired by Jules Verne's 'Journey to the Center of the Earth'.

"Check it"...

(artist rendering)

...but to build it, he needs OUR help!

Peter needs to raise his goal of $2,200 to complete this project and he's asking for contributions through a fundraising program online called: Kickstarter

If you've ever seen one of Peter's fantastic displays and thought "I wish I could do something like that." Well, here's your chance! Think about it, this year you could actually say, "I helped him build that thing!" and mean it because, honestly, he can't do it without you.

To help Peter make it happen and make Halloween special for so many people, CLICK HERE to make a donation.

We Thank You in advance for your support!

Art Show: Creeping Beauty

2010-09-18T10:13:00.000-07:00

My friend Eric Pigors of ToxicToons is having a reception tonight for his art show. I'm going to try and make it.

It's at the Hyaena Gallery located at 1928 West Olive Ave. in Burbank, CA

I love his artwork. I always thought it would make for a cool animated project! Maybe a Halloween television special, hmmmm....

I'M BAAAAAAAACK!

2010-09-13T00:43:00.000-07:00

Why, hello folks! 'long time, no see.

I'm back and I brought my Death Certificate! I see you brought yours....;-)

First, I apologize for not posting updates since April. (I know,...Bad Blogger, Bad Blogger!!! ) but I've been very busy with work and family and I've also been prepping for this special time of year...yep...the Costume Express, Oriental Trading Company and Grandin Road catalogues came in the mail and the grocery store has their candy display up....

Its official...THE START OF THE HALLOWEEN SEASON!!!! HOORAY!!!!!!

(oh, yipee.)

WHO SAID THAT?! hmm...probably my wife...

Anyways, I'm happy and excited to see there's a few more followers joining us. That's good because there's lots of cool stuff coming ahead and I can't wait to share it with you. And to kick it off, I've included a special treat, something from my childhood (and if your of my generation maybe yours, too!).

Back in the mid 70's, Winchells Donuts had a promotion, a floppy (vinyl) record called 'Hear the Monsters'. Do any of you remember it?

My brother and I used to play it on our Show-N-Tell record player. We'd either draw the curtains or turn off the lights and listen to it. It was scary but (*sigh*)it was fun.

Anyways, enjoy!

ANIMATION DAILIES 4/26/10

2010-04-26T03:46:00.000-07:00

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ANIMATION DAILIES 4/12/10

2010-04-11T14:35:00.000-07:00

Here is the animation I did on the "Tap Dance Kid" and "Dr. Facilier (a.k.a. the Shadowman)" from 'Disney's The Princess and the Frog'.

Princess and the Frog-James Lopez from James Lopez on Vimeo.

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ANIMATION DAILIES 3/29/10

2010-03-29T06:55:00.000-07:00

I know that some of you were anticipating to see the animation I did on "Dr. Facilier". I'm still in the process of putting those scenes together and I should have something to show at the next round of dailies in two weeks.

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ANIMATION DAILIES 3/15/10

2010-03-15T02:50:00.000-07:00

BUY 'THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG'

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ANIMATION DAILIES 3/1/10

2010-03-01T03:57:00.000-08:00

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COMING SOON: ANIMATION DAILIES!

2010-02-19T00:18:00.000-08:00

Back in the day, Disney used to show the animator's completed tests for the week at a thing called "dailies". Every Monday morning, we used to walk over to the next building or down to the theater and watch all of the shots cut together (without sound). The silence was deafening. You could hear a pin drop. There would be a quick "flash" of a slate so you you see which animator animated the scene. Then we'd go back upstairs and say, "Hey..."Joe"... I liked your scene in dailies!"

Well, considering all that's going on (or rather what's NOT going on) at the studio these days, I felt as though I had to do SOMETHING so I became inspired and decided to be proactive and vigorously resume work on my own personal projects. To help motivate me, I figured if I hold my own "dailies", it'll keep me productive.

I have several projects in the works and I'd like to share my progress with all of you. Here's the official invitation:

So basically, every two weeks. I'll post a movie of various animation pencil tests and color scenes from my various projects. "What are they?", you ask:

'America Sings': is an animated version of the extinct attraction at Disneyland.

'Sweating Bullets': was the original title of the Disney film 'Home On The Range'. The original story involved a skeletal ghost cowboy named "Slim" and his spectre-like posse, "The Willies" (wonderful play on words) who would steal cattle and devise a plan to run them all off a cliff in one huge act of vengeance for trampling him to death. It would be up to a single calf named "Bullets" and a one-legged jack rabbit named "Lucky Jack" (in which Slim wears Jack's foot around his neck) to save them all! I'm sure it would have been great (or at least better than what they ended up with)!

I figure. why let that concept go to waste? So, for Halloween, I would use video projection to show various Halloween-themed shorts introduced by the vultures from 'America SIngs' and this subject of ghost cowboys, set to the song "Ghost Riders In The Sky". It just seems like the coolest thing.

'Hepcat Swing': is a 5 minute short-film that I am collaborating on with a member from the band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy who is composing the score for this musical set in 1940's Los Angeles during the zoot suit riots.
I love the architecture of the old buildings in Los Angeles, especially on Wilshire Blvd. I love jazz/swing music and swing dancing so I put them all together into one animated film!

Stan Lee's 'Time Jumper' and intro to the "motion comic"

2010-02-18T22:16:00.000-08:00

Disney announced they were purchasing Marvel 4 billion dollars. The ink wasn't even dry when I got a call from the Special Projects division to do a series of model sheets (turn-around poses and facial expressions, etc.) for a joint Disney/Marvel project called 'Stan Lee's Time Jumper'. (To find out more about 'Time Jumper', Click Here.)

They gave me a series of visual development artwork of the characters to use as a jumping-off point.

Seeing that I was in for a challenge as I would be going into territory I've never gone before, I figured I should do a research trip to the comic book store. In this case, it was 'House of Secrets' on Olive Ave. in Burbank.

I spent the afternoon there discovering how much comics have changed since I remembered them as a kid. I was being re-introduced to a familiar but yet strange new world. I bought a few books on drawing style for modern-day comics called 'Drawing Crime Noir for Comics & Graphic Novels' and 'Drawing Cutting Edge Anatomy' by Christopher Hart. They were really helpful.

Through researching, I discovered several classic illustrators such as John Burns and Robert McGinnis and became inspired by their work as well. And so began my "crash course" into graphic novel illustration!

Over a three week period, I did several pencil and pen & ink sketches pictured below:

I showed these to the client and they absolutely loved them! I actually got an applause!

When my peers at work would come by to visit and chat, they'd see what I was drawing and they thought I was doing freelance during work hours. Nope, this was legitimate!

Now, I wasn't done yet. I had to clean-up the drawings. In the comic-book world, they call this stage, "inking". So I went to the local art store and bought me a pack of vellum paper and tried out ink pens. I found the ones I liked and went to town!

Now...about the motion comic....

the client asked me if I saw the show. I had seen what I thought to be, what we would call in the animation industry an "animatic" but it turned out to be the actual show.

It was then that I was introduced to the revolutionary new product called the "motion comic". It can best be described as a moving slide-show.

Words don't do it justice, you'll have to Check It Out for yourself!

The show is available on iTunes. You can download the entire series for $7.99.

Actually, this motion comic-thing isn't new. Back in the 80's, a progressive rock band called The Alan Parsons Project made a music video called "Don't Answer Me" in which the style resemble the motion comics of today.

The 80's: Popcorn N' Kandy

2010-02-07T17:26:00.000-08:00

Remember, tuck and rolling-up your pants? Taping songs off the radio with your cassette recorder? Richard Blade on K-ROQ? Patrick Nagel artwork? Staying up late to watch the premiere of Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' on Friday Night Videos? 'The Cosby Show' and 'Family Ties' on Thursday Night. "Be There!", "Where's The Beef?", "I'll Be Back."...big hair, turned up collars, 'Members Only' jackets...

...gotta love the 80's....

Well, my friends Bert Klein and John Iskander wrote a script for a musical comedy about teen angst set in the 80's. They were looking for someone to do some artwork to go with their pitch packet so a did a few designs.

(So I don't compromise their script idea) The basic story is a love triangle between these three characters. Our protagonist "Popcorn" (which is a nickname given to him because he works the refreshment stand at the mini-golf/arcade) is in love with this girl named Kandy (probably short for Candice). Together, they're "Popcorn n' Kandy" (cute, eh?). Well, there's one person who stands in their way and that's Darwin Lee, the preppy cool kid at school. Granted, it resembles the movie 'Valley Girl" but trust me, the story has an originality and charm of its own!

I like the story because being a teenager that grew up in the 80's, I can relate to the main character.

These are alternate designs for the character Kandy:

Popcorn had a sidekick which was like his "Jiminy Cricket". It was a little boy who idolized "Mr. T" (from the 80's t.v series 'The A-Team').

[NOT PICTURED]

One thing I do is I listen to music of the era or genre that I'm designing for. In this case I was listening to a song called 'Cool Places' by Sparks. When I would listen to see song, I saw a title sequence. At the time, I was just starting to use Flash to do animatic storyboards for Renegade Animation Studio on the 'Hi-Hi-Puffy-Ami-Yumi' show for Cartoon Network. This would have been about the year 2005.

With the title sequence, I wanted to do a "flashback" theme for the audience who experienced the 80's to get thrown right back into it and for the younger audience who hadn't experienced the 80's a "crash-course" in what was popular. I threw in some names as place holders and basically came up with this:

MORE TO COME....

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New stuff for Halloween 2009!

2009-12-02T03:42:00.000-08:00

First, I made the local paper! Click here to read the article.

I made candleabras inspired by the elevator gargoyles in the Haunted Mansion for last year but this year I faux painted them and bought new battery operated candles that ran off of AAA batteries rather than the hard to find cel batteries.

This year I got one of my characters stolen! It was the old man with the earphone. I had it out on the yard one night and in the middle of the night someone took it but left behind a few pieces. I guess this'll learn me to tie my stuff down.

I filed a police report (mostly for the story). The police came and asked for a description of the stolen item. I said,"He was about 5/7"...long white beard...wearing a white sheet..." and we both laughed at how silly the situation had gotten. It sounded more like a kidnapping!

So I had to come up with a replacement quick so I had this tea pot thing Ii had sitting around that I always intended to make as part of my display well...I finally used it! My daughters wanted to help with HAlloween this year so i let them paint the metal rebar holding up the teapot and cup so you couldn't see it.

BTW-the water is tin foil twisted up and covered with plastic wrap.

Haunted House Walk-through in Burbank

2009-10-31T01:21:00.000-07:00

If you we're in the Burbank area and were lucky enough to find out about this walk- through haunted house...

Then you were in for a real treat! These people go all-out every year and the donations they get go towards a good cause!

They asked me to help design the exterior and some of the rooms in their haunt based upon Burbank city hall and teh AMC theater:

This is how it turned out:

It was so cool! You enetered a lobby area and a host would usher you into an elevator. The elevator would shake and wiggle and when the door re-opened, you were in a different part of the haunted house! (You couldn't tell you were actuall moving about 6 feet sideways--it was amazing! All on a small house lot font lawn in Burbank!

They also wanted an underground basement/tunnel section. They gave me reference photos and I put togetehr a sheet liek this for them:

I found this reference photo and used it as teh inspiration for the cryogenic chamber that Walt's Head would bee frozen in.

Funny thing is, the couple that helped put this on were getting married just a month prior to Halloween. They said they weren't able to do a whole lot this year. Man, this is what they do when they DON'T have time?!

I can't wait to see what they do next year!

Congratulations Jason and Melissa!

AMERICA SINGS

2009-03-05T01:29:00.000-08:00

My sincerest apologies...

Because of its "proposed project" status at the Disney studio, I was advised to postpone any postings on this subject pending confirmation as to whether this will go into production or not. If things go as planned, you 'America Sings' fans will be very happy!

I hope you have enjoyed what you have experienced so far. There will be more to come!

Thank You to all of my 31 followers for your kind comments, dedication and support!!!

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The Pirate Ship

2007-10-22T05:40:00.000-07:00

So this year, 2007, a former co-worker of mine put me in touch with someone who wanted to meet me. This person puts on an amazing display! His name is Peter Montgomery. He wrote his own software to be able to automate run his show unattended. He also built animtronics that rival what one would see at Disneyland. We got in touch with each other and agreed to help each other out. I would help him build a ship and he would help me build animatronics.

This year, he wanted to build a (life-size) sunken pirate ship on his front lawn. So I drew up some ideas. Here is the initial concept:

Then it was a matter of plotting out the size and placement:

Here is part of the metal framework he welded together:

Then I drew up some plans on how to assemble the hull exterior to and around the frame. We went trhough a few design approaches because we wanted to avoid seeing the metal famework as much as possible. Here are those plans:

Here's a drawing of the ship's wheel:

The original plan was to use cardboard but then he got a deal on huge sheets of half-inch styrofoam so we decided to make it out of that. Here are some work-in-progress pictures:

I took the above image into a paint program and drew on to of it to see how I envision it to be:

Here's a view from the reverse angle:

He also wanted to do a "dock scene" and make his front doot the entrance to a tavern so here are some sketches I drew up for the general layout and tavern signs:

Here's a picture of the finished sign:

Don't ask me how I have time to do all of this! I took a hiatus from work for a few weeks and was able to work on it about 4 hours per day. Peter must have put in 10-12 hour days. In all, it must have taken us 3 weeks from the time the metal frame consruction was built to completion.

Tuesday, October 30th, 2007
WE MADE THE FRONT PAGE!

...of the Glendale News Press section in the L.A. Times!

Here's a link to the article (Sorry, you'll have to cut and past the URL-I can't get the Link function to work):
http://www.glendalenewspress.com/articles/2007/11/02/news/gnp-halloween30.txt

Here are some pictures of the "close to finished product":

(I carved out and faux painted the signs and stenciled the writing. I also decided to make the arrow out of the skeleton of a dead fish. At the last minute, I came up with adding "DEAD" to Tavern ahead. That's why its written in red "blood" paint.)

(I faux painted the wood texture on the boxes and Peter's friend, John, followed it up by "aging" it with a dark gray wash. Then I painted the lettering.)

First, the entire ship was painted black, then both Peter and I went over it with a wash (using a spray bottle and rag) of two separate colors to create the aged wood appearance. (I carved out the jagged opening with a hot knife.)

Peter and his friends did a fanatsic job rigging up the mast and making the crow's nest. Peter distressed it by cutting-away pieces of the mast and inserting styrofoam to fill the inside of the hollow sonotube. The step-ladder can show you the scale of the thing. I think it's about 15 feet high!

The rocks I formed out of heavy-stock paper that is used for protecting floors during construction. Then I faux painted them using black and brown paint.

The skull I made with wire mesh and plaster wrap and DAS sculpting compound. It was then faux painted by my friend, Ernie. Originally, the jaw was hinged and was going to open and shut with a soundtrack of laughter but alas, time was up!

Here's a short clip of the animation that Peter did for his show. Both he and his writing partner (who voiced the crow) wrote the script. His friend, Dan Bond, did the voice of the skeleton. It's funny banter-you have to see the whole thing!

To see more of Peter's work and his past Halloween shows, please go to his website:
www.socalhalloween.com

Halloween 2006

2006-12-18T01:20:00.000-08:00

I got back pictures from Halloween, 2006. I took them with a film camera using a long exposure and slow shutter speed.

...and here's to my inspiration, Blaine Gibson.

The old man's head I made from aluminum foil and Sculpey. Over time, he fell and cracked, etc. I had to do some last minute touch-up with plaster wrap/bandages and Das Pronto modeling clay. The hair was actually cut from a cat costume.

The gravedigger-same thing as the Old Man with the earphone (but I took better care of it-although the Sculpey is starting to crack.)

This is a mini-graveyard I put together on the patio near the front door. It needs work. One day, I have in mind to make an animated Halloween short film and project it on the wall of my neighbors house (above the fountain). We'll see.

You know, I had this thing stored in my office closet just before putting it out for Halloween and I swear whenever I went to opened the closet door I would see this bride just standing there and it would creep me out, seriously! Go figure. After Halloween, I couldn't stand the thought of this thing still sitting there, so I removed the clothing and kept it in a box. Now it's not sacry anymore. When I was a kid, we would visit my aunt and uncle in El Paso and they had a suit of armor at the top of their stairs. I was so scared of it, I wouldn't go up there! I was always afraid that it would move like the one in the hallway of the Disneyland attraction where they would hire a cast member to dress up in the suit of armor and jump out at you during the ride.

I used to have a jar labeled "Sulfuric Acid" sitting next to the cat-hinting that he replaced the water in the birdbath with the contents and the bird was in mid-shower pose before it discovered that it was too late! Usually I have an atomizer or dry ice in the birdbath to create a boiling/fog effect. But at the time I took this picture, I didn't have anything handy.

Keeping up with the Jones'

2006-10-31T04:22:00.000-08:00

Being Halloween and all, I thought it would be cool to post pictures of homes in my neighborhood that got into the spirit of things.

Literally, keeping up with the Jones'-Davy Jones that is!

And here's my house...

I try and add a little bit every year. New adiitions this year:

HAPPY HALLOWEEN everybody!!!!

My Office

2006-10-31T03:32:00.000-08:00

When we moved to our new house (and seeing all those HGTV/Extreme Makover:Home Edition shows), I decided that I wanted a Haunted Mansion themed office. So I drew up some concepts of what I wanted it to look like:

I'm not sure how to introduce this so I'll just say it..."Here it is!"

Now...people either say it is the coolest thing they've ever seen or I need professional help.

The green wallpaper with the Lily pattern is actually used in the foyer of the attraction. A company up north in Benicia, CA that makes authentic hand-printed Victorian wallpaper called Bradbury and Bradbury Art Wallpapers (www.bradbury.com) happens to sell it (Dresser Tradition 2-Ashes of Rose Code:LYW Pattern:550 ). The purple/blue wall is a stencil that I made. It is of the wallpaper pattern in the attraction as well. It took a few hours to paint-I still have to paint in all the little pupils in the eyes. The oval mirror is actually a two-way 50/50 mirror. Behind it is a relief sculpture of the Hatchet Goul (to be posted later with an update) that shows through via a light on a timer. The effect is an image that slowly appears and disappears much like the Cheshire Cat in the mirror at the Mad Hatter Shop at Disneyland.

I was looking in a lighting shop in Hollywood (LAMF 660 N. LaBrea Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90036 323-932-6000) for a 5-light wall sconce and but by chance, I happened to find the wall sconce of a Griifin/gargoyle that is the exact same one that is in the attraction that is located by the staring statues, just before you get onto the Doombuggy.

(I'll post more pictures and details later).

The Bat in the Birdcage

2006-10-31T03:11:00.000-08:00

"She's only a bird in a gilded cage..."

One of my favorite unused concepts from 'The Haunted Mansion' was this one by the late Legendary Disney animator, Marc Davis...

(I hope one day they might decide to put this in the attraction.)

I was so inspired by this piece that I decided to make it. I sculpted the bat in Sculpey and made a mold and hollow cast of it so I could fit a battery pack connected to two LED lights (for the eyes). I also sculpted the bones. At first, I was going to actually going to construct a cage but I thought to look for one in a pet store that I could use. Originally, I had sculpted the base with the ornate flange holding up the cage but-it fell and broke. Typical. Anyways, this is how it turned out:

One year, we had a huge Halloween party and I invited Alice Davis (Marc Davis' wife) to the party. I was proud to show it to her. She LOVED it! Although...she had one thing to say about it and that was I had forgotten Marc's favorite thing about this concept-and that was the blood in the water trough! Oh, well.

The Coffin

2006-10-16T01:45:00.000-07:00

One year, I decided to build the coffin-where the guy is trying to get saying, "lemmeouttahere!".So, I went to Home Depot, bought some MDF particle board, some molding, etc. and built it. It turned out great-but it was heavier than Hell!!!!

Every year it was a big ordeal-I constantly had to get a neighbor or a good friend to help me move it into place.

I sculpted the hands. The lid was made from styrofoam. I built a mechanism inside that would open and close the lid. I put it on a folding card table and put a skirt around it and whah-lah! A coffin.

THE MECHANISM:
The mechanism worked great-for about 10 minutes, then the motor burned out, Not enough torque, I guess. Here's basically how I got it to work:

THE HANDS:
I sculpted the hands by first making a wire frame.

Then I covered it with wire mesh, then foil to create the bulk.

I then covered it with RigidWrap (plastercloth). I then used a product called Das Pronto*(It's an air-hardening modeling clay). The clay graps on to the natural tooth/coarseness of the plastercloth. It has a fast working time. It usually cures within a few minutes but you can keep it pliable by applying a bit of water to it as you work with it (Tip: ofr storage, keep it in a ziploc plastic bag with a few drops of water in it.). It can then be sanded to a smooth finish.
*Das Pronto-the name suggests that it might be a German-Mexican mix. but now, the package just calls it 'DAS'-and it's made in Italy! Go figure...

I drilled a few holes in the styrofoam lid and mounted candlesticks on the top. I left them a bit loose so when the lid rose up and down, the candlsticks would wabble like they were about to fall over. The candlesticks were a wood craft bought froma local craft store (Michael's) and I faux finished it to look like brass, etc. The candles I made by taking plastic pipe and applying hot glue to make it look like the candle was dripping. (But that's for another post.)

So here's the final result:

The Haunted Mine Tunnel

2006-09-24T02:59:00.000-07:00

Every year the kids asked if this was a haunted house (that they could go in). Every year I had to say. "Sorry, no". Then I got this idea to make one. We had a narrow strip of yard at the top of the steps that lead to the side of the house where their was a huge covered porch. So, I cam up with this idea of building a tunnel. At the time, I was working on 'Sweating Bullets' (a.k.a. 'Home On The Range') and it inspired me to do a western themed "attraction".

In the hat building, the one off of the 134 freeway) they had these production areas that used to serve as the hub for each show called POD's. At the entrance to these POD's, they would construct these huge monstrousities. It was llike entering a theme park attraction (They don't do any more, of course). Well. I was admiring the technique apllied on one of them and found out that someone form the ARL (Animation Resaerc Library) had made it. I made an appointment to meet with this person to discuss how he fabrictated this, etc. He was a really cool guy and happened to have pictures at his desk (like a brag book that one would have of their children). Anyways, I had told him what I wanted to do and he offered to help me buy creating the frame and doing a rough cut of the styrofoam. Here's what eventually came from that meeting:

Anyways...getting back to the tunnel, after learning how it was done, I made the entrance to the tunnel. The rest I used PVC pipe and plastic sheeting and a good thing, too because every year it rained and everything got wet. One year, I thought it wasn't going to rain and built the tunnel out of paper. I used the the stuff that you put down to protect floors
while doing construction. We crumbled it up then flattened it out again and the texture left from that crumbling looked like boulders-it was great! But alas, it rained just a few days before Halloween and I had to rush to reconstruct the tunnel again.

Before I go on, I got to give credit to my dedicated and true friends that helped every year to construct this thing and help set-up. It usually took a whole day, if not two! Thanks, guys!!!! Also, thanks to my brother in law for helping construct the "full attraction" soundtrack. I used clips from the hammer strikes from "Hi Ho, Hi Ho" (the Seven Dwarf's song) from 'Snow White', wind and crystal chimes from the Matterhorn, and thunder sfx from the Haunted Mansion. I also took area music from Frontierland and layerd thunder sfx over it-it sounded great! I got a lot of compliments on teh sound design. People asked where I got it. They were surprised to hear that it was from (the usually "cheery") Disneyland.

I decide to give it a story. It wasn't just any old rock mine, it was a "rock-candy" mine! At the end, I dresssed up like a prospector (with a big paper mache hat that I had made-I looked like "Yosemite Sam") and built a little mine cart to keep candy in. I also made cardboard standees of barrels of dynamite and a little cardboard detonator that was hooked up to strobe lights and a little thunder sfx box and I would pretend to blow up the mine as the kids left. (I wish I had pictures-I'm sure my friends with digital cameras do. I'll have to bug them about it).

I remember one year, I had so much hooked up and a fuse blew. All the lights went out and everyone cheered-they thought it was part of the show. Meanwhile, I'm running around with a falshlight trying to find the circuit breaker.

Adults would come up and I'd offer them candy. They declined and said that they just came up to see the show (and even applauded one time). One kid actually had the gall to say that they liked it better last year. ("Everyone's a critic.")

Yes, Halloween was great. That was before kids. Now, it's a whole different experience-but just as rewarding if not more so!

I keep thinking that until they turn 13, my kids will think that I'm the coolest dad but after that, I can just hear, "Dad, your not going to put out the Halloween stuff out again this year are you? My friends will see."

Here's a video "Ride-through" of the mine tunnel that I built for 2003:

...and here's the "new and improved" tunnel built the following year (2004):

The Old House

2006-09-24T02:35:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of the house that we used to live in (I refer to it as "the old house").

You may notice in one of the pictures a Real Estate sign and some characters. That's for another post. The Real Estate sign was a gag that has a funny story to it. But here you can also see some tombstones that I had made with plywood. They were so heavy! And I had to carry them up and down that hill every year. Plus I was nervous about the kids running up and down the steps. I thought they wouldn't actually climb all the way up but they did.The house to stop traffic. There would be a huge pile up of cars for at least a block in each direction. Mini vans full of kids would drive up, the door would open the kids would pile out runn up the stairs, get their candy, run back down and off they would go. Funny, the kids didn't really seem to care about the decorations but the parents would linger,take pictures and ask questions, etc. Halloween was fun (and still is)!

The Hatbox Ghost

2006-09-23T00:51:00.000-07:00

For those that don't know (and for good reason-beacause they're not geeks like me and have a life-whatever...) there was a character in the Disneyland Haunted Mansion when it first opended up called the Hatbpx Ghost. It was nearby wear the bride (with the beating heart) currently is now in the attic. For some reason, mostly because th effect didn't totally work, they removed it from the attraction (not "the ride"-the "attraction"!). Well. it has created lots of talk by haunted Mansion fans alike.

Here's a picture of the actual Hatbox Ghost from the attraction:

So I decided one day to make one!

I gotta tell you this story....So, I make this skull from a photo in 'The 'E-ticket' fanzine out of Sculpey.

I want to make a transluscent, hollow cast from it. I look in the phone book under model makers, etc. and call around asking if they can do it. Most of them say that they could but I would have to order/make hundreds of them to make it worth their time. "But I only need two", I said. Finally I got in contact with someone who said "bring it by, we'll take a look at it." I did. and tis gu lokked at it and said,"You know where you need to go? There's a place about a mle from here. You go up the street, make left, over the train tracks and then make a right. You go about 3-4 blocks. There'll be a big billboard sign. There shop is under it." "Could you be any more vague", I said. So, I hopped back in the car and folowed his "directions" and miraculously, I found it!!! It happened to be lunch time and the crew were at the lunch truck. I took my ghost head (in a plastic bag, and asked one of them if they knew someone that could help me. They didn't speak english but they summoned me to follow them into the warehouse building. I could tell that I was at the right place based upon all the creatures and Halloween products. They sat me inan office and told me to wait here. A few moments later, a guy walks in and I tell heim what I need. I take out my ghost head and he recognized it right away. He agreed to make a mold and cast. Long story made short, we eventually became good friends.

So, here's how it turned out. I made a solid fugure and hatbox and put a mylon "scrimm" over both heads. I also place a light behind the figure to plunge it into silhouette which made it harder to see the heads. It was a cool effect.

The Staring Statues

2006-09-23T00:32:00.000-07:00

First I made sculptures out of Sculpey modeling clay. The busts measure 17" tall by about 8" wide.

Then, I had a friend of a friend, use a vacuum-form machine to make the positive/negative form. The process basically works by taking a thin, hetaed sheet of plastic, draping it over the sculpture then placing it on a machine-table that has a whole bunch of tiny holes in it that's connected to a igh-poered vacuum. It sucks the air down causing the heated plastic to form around and in the shape of the sculpture. My friend had to re-cast my Sculpey models in plaster because the pressure of the vacuum would crush them to pieces. They power on the machine used wasn't great do it didn't quite capture all of the detail I put in but enough to make an impression.

The effect is basically that the busts seem to turn to follow the viewer's every movement.

Here's a photo of how the effect basically works from "behind the scenes". The viewer is actually looking at the bust/face from the reverse side. A light is placed on the other side to help light and see the details. I seem to remeber reading somewhere that the Disney imagineers discovered the effect while making cast for the 'Great Momemts with Mr. Lincoln' show.

Here's what they look like (using a Night-vison on my video camera).

How I made the Bat stanchions

2006-09-23T00:05:00.001-07:00

First I sculpted the bat out of sculpey. For reference, I took my video camera with Night vision into the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland and took video capturing the details in close-up-so scaled 1-to-1/actual size and it's pretty close to being "on-model" as they say in my biz.)

Then I took it to a friend who helped me make a mold out of silicon (which captures every single detail-even fingerprints! That's how accurate it is!)

When they came out, they turned out great! They were made to fit onto a standard size PVC pipe. The Halloween that I made these, I was in a hurry. They were finished literally the night before Halloween. My friend showed up with them and I thought they were going to be cast in a hard resin but because of time (again) he only had time to have them cast in self-skinning foam (like a NERF footbal, etc.) I tried mounting them onto the PVC but as soon as I connected a chain between them, they slumped over because they didn't have enough strength. So I had to stick a metal pole inside of them to give them a frame/structure (the wings still sag, though).

I also faux-finished them to look like brass by first painting them with a base coat of black paint then dabbing a gold color over the black. (people think they are for real until they touch them.)

Here's the finished product.

How I made the columns

2006-09-22T23:47:00.000-07:00

First I made a "box" out of 1"x 3" wood and doorskin (thin plywood) materials. Then I glued 2" think styrofoam on to the box.

Then I shaped it using a grated wood-shaving tool that I got fom the hardware store. the handle was made of plastic with a metal grate-costing about a couple of bucks.

Then I took a hot knife to it to make the cracks. I then took some black paint and painted teh cracks first then I painted the the face of the columns with a base coat of solid color. I then used a spray "stone" texture (that yu can get at the hardware store nowadays) over he base coat.

2006-09-22T23:25:00.000-07:00

So, here is my house at Halloween. The columns I had made from plywood and styrofoam. Originally I had panied them gray qith stone texture but when we moved to the new house, the color didn't match. So, I found some leftover paint in the garage and painted it. (There are also 5 "mini-pillars" connected by styrofoam chains that aren't in the picture-I post more/better pictures later.)

I like the turret on the house-it gives a "castle-like" quality. The pumkins are the cheap hollow styrofoam ones that you get from the craft stores and if you notice, those are the bat stanchions from the 'Haunted Mansion'. I sculpted and made them myslef (with the help of a frind who made the mold and castings-Thanks, Chad!)

Just wait until you see my home office....

Welcome, foolish mortals...

2006-05-26T02:28:00.000-07:00

...to the Haunted Mansion-Northside!

(perhaps I should explain)

In the mid 90's, Walt Disney Feature Animation had an annex building located by the Burbank airport to house the artists that they didn't have room for in "the Hat building" (just of the 134 freeway in Burbank). The hat building was called "Southside and the other one by the airport was called "Northside". If you've seen my house at Halloween and my home office, I think you'd say that my home qualifies as a "northside" annex to the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. With that said, please scroll to the next post and no flash photography, pleeeease.