# Scenic painting



## cyre (Apr 24, 2014)

I'm trying to find information on scenic painting of haunted houses. I'm trying to learn the colors of paint and light to use based on the colors of paint I have, and what different colors of light will do. I guess it's some a bit of theatrical scenic painting, but more dark.


----------



## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

Be aware that as the lights get dimmer that colors turn more and more to shades of gray.
Way too many people do wildly colorful stuff only to have all of their effects lost because of this phenomenon. The darker it gets, the more the color goes away, so with that in mind you need to light your scene the way it would be for your haunt, then play with the makeup to see what works for you and your situation. There's a reason all of the old black and white movies, silent movies in particular, had everyone looking like ghosts (pale, white skin), the darkness of the scenes made the contrast of white and black so important. You also need to keep in mind the amount of time a guest will have to see any given prop or actor. Doing tons of detail and shading for something they will only see for a second or two is a waste of your time and paint or makeup.


----------



## Batbuddy (Sep 3, 2014)

Fontgeek is right. I use a lot of colored light and more importantly weird angles for light to come from to make scenes eerie. I find that scenic painting for Halloween props and sets need to be very contrasting so that it looks good and you can see the detail. for example look at these two shots of the same archway. The paint colors a washed out and duller at night with colored lighting.


----------



## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

Also take into consideration how close guests will be to the scenery, props, etc., between the time they have to see the object(s) or people, and the message or idea that prop or scenery needs to convey should be part of your formula in planning. If a specific detail needs to be seen and noticed, then it needs to have more exposure time, and be blatant enough that they can't help but see and notice it. Not everything can, or should be, of major importance. If there are too many things trying to draw the viewers attention then it's kind of "the boy who cried wolf". they get overwhelmed and don't get the message you were trying to convey. If color is needed for an effect or message to be carried through, then that scene or prop needs to be better lit. Colored lights or lights with gels can negate or distort what and how we see colors, so true white light will give you the truest appearance of your colors. Sometimes, you may find that you only need to have an effect shown once in the well lit version, with more dimly lit versions or variations later in the haunt being understood by the guests' initial view.


----------



## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

something else to add to your knowledge/design plan, Use flat black paint when you want things to "disappear" or look like a "hole" or cave. Because the flat/non glossy/non reflective nature of flat black paint, it won't reflect light(s) so it appears to a hole or recess . Putting a pair, or maybe just one, glowing eye in the middle of these flat black patches makes it look like something is peering out at the viewer.
To play with perceived depth, paint areas/props/panels with the location of light sources in mind, painting darker "shadows" and lighter painted "hi lights" on objects or surfaces that you want to appear to protrude from the wall or prop helps fool the viewers eye. The shadows will always fall on the distant side of a protruding object or surface, while the surface facing the light source will be lighter. And the further the "protruding" surface or object is from the light source, the less the light will reach it, making both the hi lights and shadows get darker and darker the further away they are.


----------



## Screaming Demons (Jul 12, 2009)

That's great advice fontgeek.


----------



## IMU (Apr 8, 2009)

cyre said:


> I'm trying to find information on scenic painting of haunted houses. I'm trying to learn the colors of paint and light to use based on the colors of paint I have, and what different colors of light will do. I guess it's some a bit of theatrical scenic painting, but more dark.


If you check out Allen from Stiltbeast Studios he has some videos on that topic. https://www.youtube.com/user/StiltbeastStudios/search?query=scenic


----------

