# Scene Setters and wall papers.



## Lambchop (Jan 28, 2011)

I have been using "Scene Setters" brand wall covering for my home haunt for the last 4 years. It's a simple plastic sheeting you can tack up to just about anything to tranform a plain wall into a stone wall, or a catacombs scene, ect...I am wondering if there is something more out there or better out there.

The benifits I have found are:
A) cheap and reusable.
B) looks good even in the light.
C) you can cover the inside of your house, and tear it down in a day with a friends help..

However the down sides are:
A) limited scenes and coverings.
B) does take some time to put up if your covering a lot.
C) only comes in 4ft tall sections which are folded so you often times get a crease or wrinkled section.

I guess what I wish was out there was a product that comes in a roll like plastic table covering comes on. As well as much more to chose from. Even creepy wallpaper would do. Does anyone know of any other wall covering products that are not permanent? I am trying to avoid making/painting false wall sections that I would have to store.


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## debbie5 (Mar 2, 2007)

I hate Scene Setters or any brand like it. It never lays right and the creases- even if you try to blow dry them out- never fully come out.


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## Bone Dancer (Oct 7, 2005)

I have used scene setters now for 7 years. No, they are not perfect, but you are getting what you pay for. I have seen other products that came in rolls and I think was on paper stock, and was in a catalog for decorations for parties and dances. I will dig through my stuff an see if I can find them for you.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

You might do some searching in the live theater industry, there's all kinds of stuff made for stage productions. As far as the great selection goes....
You making your own is by far the best way to get what you want/need, but don't limit yourself to working on rigid substrates/materials, consider painting on cloth. I've done stuff for theater on cloth (stone walls, log cabin walls, brick walls, painted cinderblock/alley walls, Damask patterns, etc.) that could be washed, rolled and stored, and easily hung in almost any shape (around curves, corners, ceilings, etc.).
The benefits of making your own are that you can decide what things look like, the scale, the color, placement, shading, and special features. You can paint in carvings, windows, doors, niches, exposed bones, peeping eyes, exposed brick or stone, exposed lath, chains, manacles, etc.


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## scareme (Aug 29, 2006)

One year I found some grey and balck material to looked really creepy for just a dollar a yard. Hubby had mentioned he wanted to paint the entry room, so I stapled it to the walls in there. It looked like old victorian wallpaper. Really cool effect. Turns out hubby wasn't planning on painting that room for about a year. It just moved his plans up when we took the cloth down. I wish I had thought to get some pictures. The room looked great with torn lace curtians and candle light.


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## Lambchop (Jan 28, 2011)

fontgeek said:


> You might do some searching in the live theater industry, there's all kinds of stuff made for stage productions. As far as the great selection goes....
> You making your own is by far the best way to get what you want/need, but don't limit yourself to working on rigid substrates/materials, consider painting on cloth. I've done stuff for theater on cloth (stone walls, log cabin walls, brick walls, painted cinderblock/alley walls, Damask patterns, etc.) that could be washed, rolled and stored, and easily hung in almost any shape (around curves, corners, ceilings, etc.).
> The benefits of making your own are that you can decide what things look like, the scale, the color, placement, shading, and special features. You can paint in carvings, windows, doors, niches, exposed bones, peeping eyes, exposed brick or stone, exposed lath, chains, manacles, etc.


I like this idea. What kind of fabric did you use? Is it expensive? What kind of paint did you use? Thanks everyone for the feedback.


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## Lambchop (Jan 28, 2011)

Bone Dancer said:


> I have used scene setters now for 7 years. No, they are not perfect, but you are getting what you pay for. I have seen other products that came in rolls and I think was on paper stock, and was in a catalog for decorations for parties and dances. I will dig through my stuff an see if I can find them for you.


 Thank you. :jol:


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## scarynoyes (Sep 6, 2011)

I bought canvas painters tarps to reproduce one of my favorite scene setters on. They were about $40 a piece but perfect and when I want to we can paint over them.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

Lambchop said:


> I like this idea. What kind of fabric did you use? Is it expensive? What kind of paint did you use? Thanks everyone for the feedback.


Most of the time we used a painter's canvas, but we've also used bed sheets/flat sheets. We used ash gray/grey sheets and then used (primarily) Createx white and black paints and airbrushed in the highlights and shadows for stones, with the color of the sheets providing the basic color of the stone.
You can brush on (using traditional 'hairy" brushes) Createx and other textile paints too. I've used other acrylic paints to tint Createx white to get various effects. We had the person who does the costuming add pole pockets (sleeves we could slide a pole or a section of pipe through) on some, others, we just added grommets every two feet along the top edge, though my preference is pole pockets and grommets in combination. The poles keep the material from sagging, and the grommets give an easy way to tie the panels up to frames. We didn't worry about wrinkles, they helped with the intended look of the stones rough surface. We roll up the panels and stored them in pillowcases and the pillowcases in black, plastic trash bags for storage. The panels are machine washable, and have lasted for many years (so far). You can create many of the same effects with cans of spray paint, however, the actual cost of that paint is a whole lot more than the airbrush paint, and you have much better control with an airbrush.
If you want the stone look, you might find that torn pieces of cardboard (like that from 24 packs of soda, cereal boxes, etc.) can give you nice organic looking edges for your stones. You can move, rotate, flip, or use only sections of the torn edges to change the look and shape of each stone, and you can change how sharply the edges are defined by how far you hold the template/cardboard from the substrate/surface you are painting on. The closer you hold the template to the substrate when you are painting, the more sharply the edge will be defined, the further away you hold it, the softer the edges will be. You can add various planes/facets to the surface of your stones by doing light passes with the airbrush to get even more dimensionality out of your "stones". You can also add in niches, scorch marks from where torches or sconces sit, cracks, marbling, carved or inlayed designs, false doors, etc. with great ease.


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## scream1973 (Dec 23, 2007)

scarynoyes said:


> I bought canvas painters tarps to reproduce one of my favorite scene setters on. They were about $40 a piece but perfect and when I want to we can paint over them.


Watch Harbour Frieght you can pick up large canvas drop clothes fairly inexpensive when they are on sale


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## diggerc (Feb 22, 2006)

Party and event catalog
http://www.shindigz.com/party/Flagstone-Poly-Vinyl-Flame-Retardant.cfm


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## debbie5 (Mar 2, 2007)

I have a big painter's canvas and it is SO HEAVY. Buy the cheapest/lightest weight ones you can, or buy muslin and make theatrical flats. In our theatre group, we now use hinged foamboard flats with wooden edges....much lighter weight. You can actually copy pics of rocks, castles etc and glue them onto the foamboard flats to make it more realistic, or if you are not a very good realistic painter.


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## debbie5 (Mar 2, 2007)

This company has gossamer, a thin poly fabric, with printed designs: http://www.stumpsparty.com/catalog.cfm?cat=49131
Expensive, but durable.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

debbie5 said:


> This company has gossamer, a thin poly fabric, with printed designs: http://www.stumpsparty.com/catalog.cfm?cat=49131
> Expensive, but durable.


Be aware that these are pretty much transparent, and that the sizes of the rolls vary with each design. They are going to let whatever is behind the material pretty much show through, so if you are trying to hide a surface, actor, etc., then these won't work for you.

Foamboard is great, but like plywood, Syntra, etc., it is rigid which often presents problems for oddly shaped rooms, mazes, etc., not to mention the difficulties in storing it during the off season.


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## Lambchop (Jan 28, 2011)

Thamks for the input. This gives me more paths to think about. I really appreciate it. It is obvious that the solid painted wall facades are the best way to go no matter how much time and money you spend. But they end up paying for them selves eventaully. Just need to rent a storeage locker I guess. Was trying to avoid that but looks like I need one anyways. 
Much appreciated.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

You have to weigh out your actual needs and uses for the panels. If they are something people will be bumping into or that you need to physically hang something on then they will probably need to be rigid in nature. If it's to cover existing walls, or for walls or dividers that are out of reach of guests then softer/flexible materials may be the way to go. You may find that a mix of both rigid and flexible panels or covers is the way to go for you and your haunt. Remember that you have to store and transfer (be able to move) whatever you decide on, so while 4x8 rigid panels may seem great, unless you have a way to easily move them about (e.g. to and from a storage unit) you will have to find someone with a full sized truck or something with big enough roof racks to carry your goods.


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## Halloweengroep (Feb 11, 2012)

Look what we did, we used old curtains to decorate our walls and it looks very nice!


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## Turbophanx (Jun 30, 2008)

Very cool.

I used the standard brick/stone wall as a backdrop for my garage. I hung the black plastick tarp from Home Depot, and then hung the scene setter on top. Worked great and easy tear down.


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## EverydayisHalloween311 (Oct 14, 2011)

That looks awesome halloweengroep.


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