# Escape the Dutchmans curse!



## Upke (May 5, 2009)

Hello everyone and greetings again from across the pond (NL),

A couple of weeks ago I posted a report of a haunt I did in my hometown. It was quite complex (I'm still a beginner) but people really liked it. In the end it won me first prize. It was a cheque for the local Home Depot we have here. I wasn't too sure however if I'd do a haunt next year. I mean its a lot of work and it should be more spectacular.

In the end I decided I'd do a haunt this year. I already had some idea's. I knew I wanted to do something with water, projections and pirates. A local theme park opened a ride themed to the story of the Flying Dutchman (Wiki). The ride itself isn't very good. I just find some concepts of it very spectacular and would like to translate them to my own haunt.

Let me show you two very abstract sketchup models.




In my first rough idea's I had two projections during the show. The first one is still in the final plan, the second one has been scratched. I really wanted to project something on a water curtain. But that would mean I'd have to loan another beamer (I'm going to purchase one myself) from friends, I'd rather not do that with beamers being very expensive and all. Second thing is due to the position of the water curtain (you can see its position very well when you look at the top view image) I can never get the visitors to see a clear and sharp image (so far as diy screens can do) since they're so close. So I've scratched that idea. It'll just be water poring down in a rain like fashion with lighting and smoke effects to simulate fire (instead of a projection).

The second projection is the one I need some technical expertise one. Let me explain. The whole scene is set in the captains cabin. The scene starts out dark. At the same time the music starts faint candle light will fade in from each side of the scene. Two light fixtures will provide the light (fitted with a flame bulb). The projection starts.

I want to show my visitors what captain van der Decken looked like before he got corrupted/cursed. Basicly he'll tell his life's story. Then at one point the feeling of the scene will change. The projection will fade out to reveal the captain as he is now, but a shade of his former self. A three axis skull (see the pictures, X marks the spot) with part of its skeleton (in custom clothing) will talk to the visitors and will conclude the story. He'll basicly dam them to hell or something...something nasty  It will make the ship sink, dragging the visitors with him. Thats when the water will start raining down. Colored lights combined with smoke will give the effect of 'burning' water. But don't be afraid, they'll get out before the ship hits rock bottom 

So my problem is how can I get a projection to be visible to the viewer, and the other moment fade it out so it will reveal the background. (corrupted captain, real table full of treasure maps, stuff, guns etc etc  My research indicates I could go 2 routes. One is a scrim, the other is something with plexiglass (which I happen to have some left from last year). I've tried searching for some cheap scrim material here in the Netherlands. So far I got some mosquito netting and some other type of fabric. I doubt these materials will work, I will post pictures of them tomorrow. The other is the plexiglass, but as I understand you can't just beam on plexiglass and expect it to show up to the viewer.

Perhaps sanding it? Perhaps putting it at a diagonal angle to the projector?

Does anybody here have a tip, clue or an idea how the achieve this effect? Other suggestions are welcome to. I intend to document this project closely so you can see what I do.

Another thing that inspired me was the Little matchstick girl, another kind of ride in the theme park I mentioned earlier. A must see! Very cool stuff with projections. 



 Obviously its in Dutch.

Thanks!

(Not sure if this is in the right forum? Its kinda technological terror, but its also a general haunt idea, brainstorm... If its wrong I apologize.)


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## randyaz (May 26, 2006)

a "peppers ghost" effect sounds well suited for what your wanting to do. do a google search on it.


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## DarkLore (Jan 25, 2009)

I agree with randyaz. The matchstick girl clip you show appears to be a peppers ghost illusion. Pepper's ghost is the effect you see when you look at a window a see a reflection overlapping the view through the window. The scene you are describing would be done with multiple "stages" and a change in lighting.

http://www.phantasmechanics.com/pepper.html


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## Upke (May 5, 2009)

Yes I understand. I did a peppers ghost last year. I used a TV for that. But a tv image is not going to give me a big enough projection. Secondly I do not have the place to create a box in which the projector beams onto a white surface which in turn gets reflected onto a piece of glass directed to the audience. If you see my drawings you see that there isn't enough space for it. Even if there would be, it would mean the viewing area would be cut by 1/3.

Theres noway for me to beam on the ground either as the ground will be themed with a treasure chest, stolen paintings, gold coins, etc etc...

Any idea's?


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## Rasputin (Jan 4, 2010)

Well i don't know if you thought of this but you could use a giant scrim You could do a projection from behind and you can paint the front of it like the cabin and use a port hole(if you do you could project a shot of the water rising in it) It works by being lit from behind and if you do it becomes nearly "see-through" when it is not projected on it is opaque here's a link to a place that has a demonstration http://www.studio-productions-inc.com/retail_home.html (you can buy it here but i think you caan find it cheaper somewhere else)


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## Upke (May 5, 2009)

Yes I've been looking into scrims but can't find the right material here in the NL. Obviously I could import....

I've found a Chinese company that makes affordable (cough) transparent projection foil. (that Vikuiti stuff from 3M costs about 2000 dollars per m2) Which should definatly work. In that way I can exactly create what I have in my head. 

So we'll see how that works.

Next question would be how to sync a projectors video output, to a program/show running in VSA. When the show starts the projection would start at a certain point in the music....after which the 3 axis skull should start. 

(all the rest of the effects, lighting, smoke and water will be hand controlled by myself )


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## Upke (May 5, 2009)

So after three weeks and a lot of pondering I decided to order the foil. It came a couple of days ago. Its about 90% transparent. If you look through it makes what ever is behind the plexiglass a bit fuzzy. I guess that's a fair trade off if you look at the price. Unfortunately I suck at anything which even has a remote connection to home improvement....resulting in a lot of bubbles between the adhesive foil and the plexiglass. I'm using a needle to punch little holes in the foil to release the air and try and fix it up a bit. 

I've ordered a beamer. It should always come in handy (even with world soccer '10 coming up) I can't wait to test it all! My dad has ordered a 1080P camera which should make the whole process of recording the projections a ton easier. 

I'll keep you posted.


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## scarymovie (Feb 14, 2010)

Wow that sure would look cool good luck on making one it looks hard to make!


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## Upke (May 5, 2009)

*Escape the Dutchmans curse! UPDATE: Projection*

Hello,

Got my projector today (an Optoma HD65) and tested it out on the foil. Like I said, I'm not that handy, so I kinda screwed up in attaching the foil to the plexiglass. But I'm confident that in the end result you won't notice it that much.





(sorry about the quality, it's recorded with my Palm Pre)

The foil isn't 100% transparant. Which is a shame, but can be expected. It costs only a fraction of what a piece of Vikuiti film from 3M costs.

In the end, with smoke and the proper lighting this could play out to be really cool.

Problems

The foil isn't 100% transparant. Which is a shame, but can be expected. It costs only a fraction of what a piece of Vikuiti film from 3M costs.

In the end, with smoke and the proper lighting this could play out to be really cool.

Problems I'm going to have to find a solution to:
- Placement of the beamer. (Its going to be place about 6/7 meters above the ground)
- Hiding the beamer, so people don't see the lens when there's no picture
- Aligning the beamer with the bottom of the plexiglass, and table. 
- Keeping the plexiglass level and in the correct position.

The story develops.


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## Upke (May 5, 2009)

*Update*

And I've started working on the captain. The three axis skull is up and running using Graveyardskulls components. Works great. I've showed it to some people and they love it. Obviously I'm still working on the body. Used the well known Pirates song to showcase it to friends.






And here's another video of my projector setup.


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## Upke (May 5, 2009)

*Started setting it all up!*

Call me crazy....but I've started setting everything up in my garage. It's a slow process of dealing with problem after problem, of which I haven't thought of. But so far it's going pretty ok. Here are a couple of pictures showing my progress. This is only the main show. My rain/water curtain is also ready and functioning. I'll try getting some pictures of that on here as soon as I have time to shoot them.











These two video's show my current set up. The walls are painted curtain which I attached to a wooden frame. Not all is finished. I've got all kinds of things collected to put on this damned captain's desk. Books, maps, bottles, candle's. And I've amassed quite a treasure for him. As long as its gold, he'll like it. More to come.


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## hydehaunt (Jan 22, 2008)

Looking Great! Cant wait to see more updates! Do you have a link to where you got the projection foil? Thanks, happy haunting


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## Upke (May 5, 2009)

The foil is from Richtech Systems (Website/)

I have a walk through video showing all the decor, props, and technology I'm using. I hope you enjoy!






Excuse the English


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## debbie5 (Mar 2, 2007)

Upke...just hearing a non-American voice is such a delicious treat! Thank you!


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## Upke (May 5, 2009)

Here you can have more laughs....

The final product.


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## debbie5 (Mar 2, 2007)

HOLY CRAP! How many people came to your place!??


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## fritz42_male (May 5, 2009)

That is awesome! 

Not a criticism (this is far better than anything I could do) but a more gentle fade between the man and the skull would heighten the effect though especially if you got the positioning between the two perfect.


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## Upke (May 5, 2009)

Hello,

@Debbie5, alot..I guess around 300 hundred or so.

@fritz42_male, Thanks, I do agree with you. Making the fade effect longer would've helped the skull transition. Oh well...perhaps next year.


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