# Your best 2008 improvements



## arcuhtek (Oct 5, 2007)

So what thing or things did you improve this year in a way that ultimately turned out to be a good idea? I will start:

The prop: Large floating projector screen

The problem:
HW2007 I erected a 4 mil clear plastic (9'x12') sheet over my garage door. On the floor I put a power point projector with a Big Scream DVD playing. The image appeared to float...it was a major hit. Problem was it was last minute so the plastic was attached via duct tape to the wall. Even though it was not windy, the sheet is so large that any air movement makes it into a kite, and therefore pulled the plastic off the walls. It did not come down during the haunt but it had me babysitting it all night. Since it was such a hit...I had to do it again.

The improvement:
Went to Lowes and purchased two 10' x 3/4" PVC plumbing pipes, 40 feet of small rope and two eye bolts. Screw the eye bolts into the ceiling. Duct taped the edge of plastic sheet to the first pipe. Rolled it up three turns...taped again. Repeated this process at the bottom of the sheet. Ran rope through top pipe.....the each end of rope through corresponding eye bolts at ceiling. Instant pulley! Eye bolts stay in for next year. Worked AWESOME!!!! People kept asking me how I got the floating movie to work! During tear down I simply rolled it up like a scroll......used rope to wrap around outside to keep it secure....ready for next year!


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## mixman (Oct 1, 2008)

The best improvement I made this year was in lighting. I do a fairly basic "blue flood lights on the house" setup. I also have columns and a fence out front along the sidewalk. Last year, they ended up as silhouettes against the blue lighting on the house. This year, I added lighting to the columns -- and to a number props as well. It really made the difference. I found some $2 key chain LED lights at Harbor Freight that worked well. I also used a couple 5 LED lights that are sold as head worn lights for bicyclists. I've got quite a few night shots that show the lighting in my slide show here:
Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket


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