# Conjuring Madame Leota



## Mr_Chicken

...

The "Conjuring Madame Leota" How-To has been moved to my blog at: http://ChickenHaunt.blogspot.com/p/conjuring-madame-leota.html


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## bobzilla

Eleanor Audley was the voice of madam leota and Maleficent in Disney's Sleeping Beauty. Great thread Mr. Chicken !


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## Mr_Chicken

5 points for Bobzilla!


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## bobzilla

Did you have any problems with refection off the crystal ball ? I tried my projector on the same ball that you used and got a image on the ball and the wig head. Thanks


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## Dr Morbius

Great how-to...Thanks Mr.Chicken!


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## Mr_Chicken

Bobzilla: here's how you fix the double image problem
The spirit ball is spray painted with a bunch of silver paint to make it look more magical, I guess. Take some paint thinner (actually, I had to use "thinner for metalizer," because regular paint thinner wasn't strong enough) and wipe off the flecks of paint that are in the front area of the globe (the part that looks clear).
If you look closely at my video, you can see that when Leota's mouth opens really wide, it actually had that double image on the lower part of the globe.

Hope that helps.


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## bobzilla

Thank you, I'll try that.
Atta' Boy Luther!


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## RoxyBlue

I'm totally impressed by the level of effort you put into this prop. Great job!


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## Spookie

Really nice prop you made Mr_Chicken! Loved watching the video. This has me kicking myself for not picking up the spirit balls that I saw on sale at SpiritHalloween throughout this past Halloween season. This would have been a fun thing to work on leading up to next Halloween. BTW I thought your photos and how-to were great also. Thanks for taking the time to share and inspire!

Also have to say that I really love Madame Leota's "do" that you came up with.


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## Lynn

Did you get that video on youtube Mr Chicken ?


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## Mr_Chicken

Updated the 3rd post to include the projection loop!


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## bobzilla

Great job Mr. Chicken. Very kind of you to share with us.


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## tonguesandwich

How do you pull a video off of youtube for personal use?


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## Mr_Chicken

tonguesandwich said:


> How do you pull a video off of youtube for personal use?


Frankly, I haven't got a clue. I really just put the Youtube version up to provide a visual for what I couldn't explain very well in words. Let me know if you figure it out, though, and be sure to tell me if you use it!

Actually, the real thing is of a higher quality than the YT version, so if anyone knows how I could send/distribute that, it would be much more effective.


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## bobzilla

The best way would be to upload it to a file-sharing site like Sendspace: http://www.sendspace.com/ Just click the browse button & locate the file on your hard drive, click on the file & then click the "open" button, Then type in your email address, check the terms of service box & then once the file uploads it'll give you a download link. Cut & paste the link in a forum message & then anyone can access the file from there.


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## Sickie Ickie

You can upload a file to photobucket, too.


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## Mr_Chicken

Okey dokey, I've uploaded the video to sendspace. PM me if you want a link.

I know I could just put the link to the download here, but it was a lot of work to make, so while I'm happy to share, I'd like to (kind of) regulate its dispersal (plus, this gives an added incentive for you nonmembers reading this to join!).

Thanks Bob & Sickie.


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## mroct31

If you use Firefox it has an add on called download helper that allows you to download any video online. Then you can use the free program youtube downloader which will take the flash movie you get from youtube and convert it to a usable format.


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## Mr_Chicken

mroct31 said:


> If you use Firefox it has an add on called download helper that allows you to download any video online. Then you can use the free program youtube downloader which will take the flash movie you get from youtube and convert it to a usable format.


Thanks, I didn't know about that.
But if anyone wants the full quality version of my projection, I still say PM me for the download link.


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## fontgeek

Another choice for the ball itself is a large plastic or glass globe used for light fixtures. Very popular in the 60's & 70'sm, they are available in many sizes and finishes. they already have a protruding neck with a lip for locking them down. This gives you the opportunity to choose the dimension and style without paying big bucks to butcher someone else's prop.


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## Mr_Chicken

fontgeek said:


> Another choice for the ball itself is a large plastic or glass globe used for light fixtures. Very popular in the 60's & 70'sm, they are available in many sizes and finishes. they already have a protruding neck with a lip for locking them down. This gives you the opportunity to choose the dimension and style without paying big bucks to butcher someone else's prop.


Good point. I got a killer deal on the floor model spirit ball, and I still got an animated witch head out of it, plus I didn't have to build my own base for the ball....so I'm pretty happy with the way things worked out.


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## Ghoul Friday

Thanks for the detailed behind the scenes description. Things like this completely elude me, and I was able to easily understand how you did it.


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## Spartan005

Awesome how to Mr. Chicken! That prop is absolutely incredible

I don't know if this should be a seperate thread or not but I'll post it here first anyway...

I have a spirit globe but I really don't want to tear it apart which got me thinking of other ideas similar to this. I youtubed a video of Madame Leota from the Haunted Mansion and realized that the same effect could be done by using a half torso illusion with a live actor (which I've already made) but changing it up by just using the person's head. I could then create my own soundtrack and have the person lip synch to the words to make people think that its just a prop and then freak them out by suddenly staring right at them and quckly turning back or something. 

I'm just stuck at what I should be using for the globe itself. It definetely has to be bigger than one of those spirit globe props or a light fixture like fontgeek mentioned up above. Also the person's face should be lit up to get that ghost effect but it can't be blinding the actor and it can't be too bright or it will ruin the overall effect by reflecting off of the mirrors. Any ideas?


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## scubadog

Could I get a copy of the link if it is still available? You did a great job on it! I got one of the spirit ball last year on clearence for $12.50.



Thanks Rick


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## Rev Noch

Mr_Chicken said:


> So yeah, that's what I did. If I didn't explain anything clearly enough, I'm happy to explanify.


I'm a total After Effects N00b. Are there any suggestions you would have on how to create a similar effect? Like what did you use to create the green swirl, give the image some stabilization, etc.


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## Mr_Chicken

Well, let's see if I can remember what I did...

The green swirl:
I followed a tutorial online to make a starburst in photoshop (google that and you should come up with it)... it basically looked like this:*. It was black and white.
Then I imported that into AE, futzed with the colors to get the green, and applied one of the ripple effects to it to get it to swirl out. I made an identical rippling starburst at 50% opacity (or I may have changed the transfer mode to screen), but tweaked the ripple effect so that it was basically reversed (ie: still appears to ripple outward, but the ripples themselves are curved the opposite direction).
Finally, I made a subtract mask in the shape of Leota's head (which was on the layer below the green(s)), and a circular add mask (heavily feathered) around the whole thing, making sure no green reached the edges.

Leota's stabilization was a bit more trial and error. I used the motion tracking feature in AE (that's AE 7-- if you have AE CS4, it's in a separate application) to lock onto two or three points on her face (corners and areas of stark contrast tend to work best), then applied that tracking data as stabilization to the layer.

I think that's about all I did (aside from scaling it down appropriately, which took I lot of math that I've since forgotten). Again, if I need to clear something up, let me know. I'm happy to help.


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## jjm2958

*That darn silver paint..*



Mr_Chicken said:


> Bobzilla: here's how you fix the double image problem
> The spirit ball is spray painted with a bunch of silver paint to make it look more magical, I guess. Take some paint thinner (actually, I had to use "thinner for metalizer," because regular paint thinner wasn't strong enough)
> Hope that helps.


Hey Mr. Chicken...I have been working on my Madame Leota this weekend. Got all the guts taken apart but I can't seem to get the silver off the inside of the ball easily. I tried paint thinner and mineral spirits. What was the actual stuff you used, do you recall? Did it come right off with paper towels or did you have to scrub quite a bit. It seems to be coming off with paint thinner but I really have to scrub and scrub...was curious if you used something stronger. Hadn't ever heard of thinner for metalizer before.


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## Joiseygal

Thanks for the how to Mr. Chicken. You did an excellent job! Did you try this with the Torpedo projector or with a higher quality projector? Also was that the big crystal ball or the little one? Thanks!


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## Mr_Chicken

Joisey, thanks! It's the big crystal ball. I used a nicer, but older, projector that I borrowed from a friend.

Jjm, it's called Thinner for Metalizer by Model Master. Probably from a hobby shop. Be careful with it though, you only need a little bit on a cloth to wipe the paint off. Too much and it eats away at the plastic and makes it worse. If the stuff you have is working, stick with it.


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## DarkLore

I wonder if goof off would work. Or do you suppose it would eat at the plastic and blur it?


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## Mr_Chicken

I've never heard of that DL. You could always do a test where no one will see it.

Remember that you don't need to clean the paint off the back of the ball unless you're going to try the rear projection method. Only the paint on the front will make any difference.


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## jjm2958

I'll try a few things and post back my results. Paint thinner works, but as I said it takes some HARD scrubbing with paper towels (thankfully, as Mr. Chicken states, you only need to do half the globe).

Got to be careful not to scratch the surface too. I might try and keep my eyes open for a glass ball - not sure if one could find one that large though - maybe a hanging lamp fixture perhaps?


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## jjm2958

*Success!*

Ok, so call me stupid, daring, or both, but I went into the garage and started to use the paint thinner to remove the silver paint. The more and more I worked (and the more my arm ached) the more daring I became (usually a bad thing). So I saw a can of furniture stripper (gel kind) on the shelf and decided to try it on an inconspicuous place. No sooner than I dabbed it on and the paint was gone to paint heaven. I wiped it off and rinsed it really well to see if it would affect the plastic at all. Seemed to be good so I tried using an old paintbrush to paint on the stripper and then remove the excess with paper towels. Problem seemed to be that it would remove the paint, but then it would sort of smear it back onto the plastic. So, since you need to use mineral spirits to clean up after using this stripper, I poured a decent amount of stripper in a metal can, added a bit of mineral spirits to make it a bit more runny and poured it into the globe. I rotated the globe around and around and the paint just disappeared. Poured the excess into a storage container for proper disposal later and then used some paper towels to clean the remaining residue. I rinsed it VERY VERY well numerous times. I now have a clean crystal ball with no silver paint.

Unfortunately (I saw this going into it) there were a decent number of scratches and swirl marks on the ball to begin with. It isn't terrible, but annoying and catches some light from the projector. I'm going to see if there is an effective way to remove/reduce the appearance of these scratches. If not, it still looks really cool - neighbor kids will love it no matter what, I'm sure.

So, I'm just stating what I did to remove the paint. I'm not recommending that anyone does this, nor am I recommending that this is the best thing to do (safety-wise). I don't want to get any emails stating they tried this and now they have a hole in their globe because something ate through it.


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## Mr_Chicken

Cool Jared! I'm so happy someone found another way to do it!
Please post pics as your project progresses


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## Devils Chariot

The key to removing paint from plastic without destroying it is to use a slow evaporating thinner. Mineral spirits is very slow but very safe, thats plain ol paint thinner. Lacquer thinner is too strong and dries to fast, same with acetone. You can gin up paint thinner with very small amounts of denatured alcohol or very small amounts of acetone. 

Mr. Chicken used a solvent I use for painting models. It is a slower version of enamel reducer. Fast drying solvent make metallic paint come out powdery as it dries before it hits the surface when airbrushing, the tetstor's metal paint thinner is slower so the paint can land on the surface, settle flat, and then dry. 

It might be worth your while to buy a bottle at the hobby store than to buy two crystal balls.


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## doggieshop

The video is wonderful! How did you down load it from the internet? I can't seem to figure it out and would love to do this in our haunt this year. We are having a Creepy circus/Funhouse them and would love to have a fortune teller. Thanks, Phyllis


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## Mr_Chicken

Thanks for that info, DC! I learned something new!

Doggieshop, honestly, I don't remember where or how I got the original footage. If you'd like to use my edited version (as seen in the videos), shoot me a PM and I'd be happy to give you the download link.


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## CastleNottingham

That is friggin awesome. I've seen the video before but never the how-to. Blogged about ya here: http://www.ravensbarrow.com/2009/09/08/haunt-forum-happenings/


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## Mr_Chicken

Thanks CastleN!


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## ward7

Many thanks for the post and the details on your work!!!! I did my best to replicate and would up re-doing the entire audio track to get more accurate lip-synch, and dropped the music, but kept the sound effects (bell, music beyond, tamborine, etc.)

Here is a link to my beta test (in a partially lit room). Will place in a more suitable location for Halloween night.


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## doggieshop

Ward,

very nice! What kind of projector did you use. I' working on this prop, but my projector looks to be larger than yours. Phyllis


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## doggieshop

FYI..... My ball had alot of scratches, really unusable. I used Pledge with orange oil on it and they are not noticable anymore. This is a tempory fix, I guess as the oil dries it will reveal the scratches again. I suppose you could use any oil, as long as the ball stays slightly damp. I did this yesterday afternoon and it is still good as of this morning. This will work for my haunt, we only do Halloween night. Hope this helps someone. You may want to test a small area first just to make sure whatever you use doesn't react with your ball. Good luck!


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## DeathTouch

Just getting ready to ask about the crystal ball, but then I got this like thing in my head to actually read the rest of the thread. Then I figured it out. Go figure. I thought about making something like this next year but in its own structure or building. Like a booth or something. The ball that you see in the photo I have enclosed I got at wal-greens. It actually changes color etc. It certanly wouldn't be good for this but I wanted to incorperate it some how. But I would like to do this, just need a projector.


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## Mr_Chicken

I sure hope you do it DT! It's such a rewarding project...even more so than 3-axis skuls, perhaps.

Nice work Ward! I know that isn't your final setup, but you may want to make the projection a little larger in relation to the head form.


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## ward7

I think my head form is much more narrow than yours. Had to compress/squeze (left to Right) the video in premeire to make sure eyes and nose fit properly. Still leaves a little unused head form a tthe bottom. Any thoughts?


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## ward7

I used a FAVI Mini Pocket Projector, PJM-1000, beware that is is for close range projection. My projector is hidden inside a hollow mini-podium holding a book in the video. (about 30-32 inches away)


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## Dminor

Ward, where did you get that wig? It's AWESOME!


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## Mr_Chicken

I think the trick with the head is to not make it too rounded-- the flatter it is, the less the image will distort. I used plaster to make the face wider and create a uniform texture on the whole head. See the pic on the first page.


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## ward7

Here is a link to the wig I used. A 10$ blonder curly wig, that I sprayed with "black light hairspray" that i picked up a hallloween store last year. placed a UV/blacklight next to my projector to get the wig to light up.

http://www.shoppalstores.com/jemsgi...main/parentcat/16951/subcatid/42125/id/225870


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## hpropman

what about a clear plastic balloon has anyone tried to project on that. I have a balloon stuffer that you can slip anything through a 4 inch tube into a clear balloon. But I do not have a projector so I can not test to see if it works.


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## Mr_Chicken

hpropman said:


> what about a clear plastic balloon has anyone tried to project on that. I have a balloon stuffer that you can slip anything through a 4 inch tube into a clear balloon. But I do not have a projector so I can not test to see if it works.


As long as the balloon is actually transparent it should work. Not sure if 4" is enough to fit a decent sized head, though.


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## Dminor

Mr_Chicken, how do you deal with the extra light that the projector puts off? I setup my Leota tonight and found that the projection works great on her face, but there's a big box on the wall behind her (its the "black" portion of the film clip that's showing up when I project the image)


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## jjm2958

doggieshop said:


> FYI..... My ball had alot of scratches, really unusable. I used Pledge with orange oil on it and they are not noticable anymore. This is a tempory fix, I guess as the oil dries it will reveal the scratches again. I suppose you could use any oil, as long as the ball stays slightly damp. I did this yesterday afternoon and it is still good as of this morning. This will work for my haunt, we only do Halloween night. Hope this helps someone. You may want to test a small area first just to make sure whatever you use doesn't react with your ball. Good luck!


Ah, pledge, that might work! I have the same problem. The ball has a ton of scratches on it (luckily, mostly on one side only). I am wondering if there is anyway to buff them out at all. Typically, you can buff plastic (I think). Any ideas?


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## Mr_Chicken

Dminor said:


> Mr_Chicken, how do you deal with the extra light that the projector puts off? I setup my Leota tonight and found that the projection works great on her face, but there's a big box on the wall behind her (its the "black" portion of the film clip that's showing up when I project the image)


That's an easy fix. You're going to need to cut out a small circle in, say, a piece of cardboard. Put the cardboard in front of the lens of the projector such that it obstructs the edges of the projection from reaching the wall, but the subject of your projection (here, the face) is not obscured. It takes a little fiddling with, but it's super easy, and the result is well worth it.


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## doggieshop

I set up my Leota and she looks pretty good, but I'm getting a glare from the projector. It seems to be where my ball has some ripples in the plastic. Any suggestions?


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## doggieshop

Jared, did the pledge work for you?


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## doggieshop

Not sure if I did this link correctly.....


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## txatty

Love the video (thanks chicken man), project underway, probably finish tomorrow.

I made a few audio changes to the video to creep it out a little more. To the Disney purists, I apologize.


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## CBrooks

Wow! Excellent job on this and thanks for the explanation. I would appreciate a copy of the video you edited, it looks great.


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## macpo

Looks Great!!


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## DigiKen

*Can I get a copy?*

Hi fantastic job ... wow!

Can I get a copy of this video?

Thanks


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## Mr_Chicken

Hey Haunters,
I know I sent out a LOT of copies of the Leota video this year...if you used it in your haunt and have pictures or video of the effect, please share!

I think it would be really cool to have a bunch of videos in the same place of the same prop in different haunts all across the country 

I'll be posting a short video of my 2009 Leota very soon, too.


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## deanhunt

Just to clarify things for me. You project the video from the back so the head form is a thin plastic that you made over the top of a styrofoam head?


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## Mr_Chicken

oops...sorry I didn't catch that post, deanhunt

I don't do rear projection, although that was my original plan. I have been using front projection because it is easier and more effective.


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## Magic Mirror

*Madame Leota Copy??? Please!*

Mr. Chicken, Im About to start a Madame Leota Creation and was wondering if I could get a good Copy of her iF you Have one :voorhees:


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## forevermy3

*Help... Madame Leota*

I know this was some time ago but I really, really hope you still have the
full quality version of this projection. You did an Awesome job on this and I want to create the same for my 2010 Haunt. You can reach me here at 
forevermy3 or [email protected].
Thank you very much Mr. C, can't wait to see your next creation.


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## yellowdogx

Can I possibly get a copy of the video?


Thanks in advance!


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## MysticStar78

*Madame Leota video*

I know its been awhile since this thread was opened, but is there still a chance of getting a copy of the Madame Leota video. Thank you.


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## SuperCreep31

If I could get a copy as well that would be great. If possible you can send it to me at [email protected] Thank you so much and sorry for the inconvenience.


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## halstaff

I finally finished mine up. 
Thanks Mr. Chicken for the fine how to. I couldn't have done it without your help.


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## hpropman

well done Halstaff nice job!


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## fritz42_male

very nice indeed!


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## DeathTouch

I had planned to do this prop this year but I got sick and couldn't. Plus trying to find a cheap way to do the crystal ball was insane. I couldn't find one. Well, cheap anyway. So sorry I didn't follow thru, but I thank you for your help.


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## fontgeek

I found 12 and 14 inch diameter globes at a couple of different lamp supply stores in my area, they have a 6 inch opening and collar at the top/bottom which gives you an easy way to fasten them to a stand.
Disney's projection is pre-distorted to compensate for the shape of the head it's projected onto. The distortion allowed Madam Leota to be seen clearly from left, front, and right. A custom lens was ground to achieve this, once it was filmed it, the seance, could be copied and used in the future and in other parks. They have since gone to digital copy of this original film. It took them a good chunk of time to do it originally though, this was the mid 1960's and the software and computer hardware didn't exist yet. The back side view was obstructed by the tall chair and the perched raven. 
For removing the scratches and gouges try rubbing compound and then polishing compound or even toothpaste.
The military aircraft industry has long used a fine mist of gold (the real thing) to cut out the glare for the pilots. You can use an airbrush and a metallic paint to get a fine mist of gold or silver paint to block out enough of the glare without obstructing the view of the head.


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## Mr_Chicken

I'd be really interested in seeing (speaking with?) your source on that info, Fontgeek.
I was quite certain from my experiments with these effects that the original, front projection Madame Leota in Disneyland did not have a distorted image. Only when using rear, internal projection does the image have to be distorted to fit the head form (incidentally, that's another good reason not to do internal projection in a home haunt).
...but I'd love to be proven wrong. 

Interesting idea on the gold glare blocker. I'd be curious to see how that works with this effect. I have a feeling it's easier to just disguise the glare as Disney did. But let us know if you try it.


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## mroct31

Is this projecting from the front by most? It originally sounded like with an opaque head the projection was going to come from the rear but since that's not what was used a front projection is now the way it's being done? 
I built the hacked Spirit Ball head version a few years back but after last night it's become obvious that mine is dying,(the motor gears are grinding a bit and getting loud) and going the projected route is the better option.


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## fontgeek

My source was Marc Davis and the designers/Imagineers in a discussion at the Anniversary Party held at Disneyland many years ago. They said that when they first tried the effect that they didn't distort the image, but in not pre-distorting it they found that the face looked compressed/squeezed because they were projecting a flat image onto a rounded/compound curved surface. The glass globe also provides some distortion, and it was a lot of trial and error runs to get all of the elements involved in balance. I think that for most home haunts, the distortion is such a minor aspect that people don't care. For the Haunted Mansion, the fact that people were seeing it (the crystal ball) from so many sides that they were determined to try to eliminate as much of the distortion on the finished appearance as they could.
I think that getting the face isolated in the field of deep black and taking the sheen off of the globe without scratching it would be two of the tougher aspects involved. The frizzy hair helps give some "buffer" room or space between the illuminated face and the stark black background, and it helps reinforce the visual aspect of three dimensions.

By the way, if the head is actually opaque you couldn't project the face from behind/inside and have it show on the outside, if it did show then the head wasn't opaque.


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## BrotherMysterio

Any ideas on making a new vid, say if we wanted to do the same effect, but with a different character and script?


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## Mr_Chicken

BrotherMysterio, I did a custom build with ShellHawk last year. Links to some recorded clips of the live broadcast here:http://chickenhaunt.blogspot.com/2011/08/post-leota-build.html


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## fontgeek

Shy of filming something new and trying different filters in After Effects, etc. to get the distortion right I don't see an easy answer. Things like FinalCut, AfterEffects, and so on, give us a lot more leeway than they had for the original filming and production. The digital camera and software cut the cost for production so much that the "old men" would have wet their pants if they could have had it to use. I think that once you have the formula down that you could probably rent out your service for custom versions. At this point you could even use something like the Magic Mirror software to produce something, but I think you would have a much bigger market for less synthetic looking characters like Madam Leota. Finding the right face(s) and voice(s) could be a challenge, but once you have them, you could film lots of different versions, scripts, themes, etc. You could do male and female versions, have characters in makeup as demons, or whatever to match the theme of your haunt.


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## Mr_Chicken

*Ahem.* That may or may not be in the works...

...But you didn't hear it from me. :ninja:


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## BrotherMysterio

fontgeek said:


> I think that once you have the formula down that you could probably rent out your service for custom versions. You could do male and female versions, have characters in makeup as demons, or whatever to match the theme of your haunt.





Mr_Chicken said:


> That may or may not be in the works.


If so, count me in!


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## BrotherMysterio

Mr_Chicken said:


> BrotherMysterio, I did a custom build with ShellHawk last year. Links to some recorded clips of the live broadcast here:http://chickenhaunt.blogspot.com/2011/08/post-leota-build.html


Awesome clips! Question: in the first clip, you mentioned some sort of video tutorial of ghost busts. What tutorial was that?


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## Mr_Chicken

Hmm...can you give me the timecode on that? I think I was probably just making observations on the Ghost Bust, a product by Mike Fox at Night Frights.


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## BrotherMysterio

Mr_Chicken said:


> Hmm...can you give me the timecode on that? I think I was probably just making observations on the Ghost Bust, a product by Mike Fox at Night Frights.


"madame leota 2", 00:44


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## Mr_Chicken

Yeah, there's no tutorial. I'm just talking about my observations of the product videos on the Night Frights site.


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## fontgeek

For Disney, they had a, basically, static scene, with known factors for the materials and props used and for the viewing angles of the guests, for home haunters and most pro haunts that portion of the formula is different from haunt to haunt. Part of the problem or challenge is that you are trying to match a distortion for setups that aren't necessarily the same as the one you used as a basis, an issue if you are going to sell your services in creating the videos for this kind of thing. If you can set standards for the setup; the size, type, and location of the projector, the size and make of the crystal ball, the foam or sculpted head, the viewing angles of the guests, etc., then creating these things and having guaranteed happy buyers would be a whole lot easier to achieve. The material and size of the globe can make a huge difference. The curve of the glass and plastic, and the thickness of the material can play a huge factor in the amount of distortion you have to work with. TO a certain extent, that curved surface acts as a lens, and like lenses on a pair of glasses the distance they are held from the viewer can greatly change how things appear. That is one of the reasons Disney tried to do the effect by projecting from the interior of the bust, it would make the distortion of the globe irrelevant, and help avoid any issues of the projection unit from being accidentally bumped or moved during the routine cleaning and care for the attraction.

If you create videos, I'd suggest that you keep "clean"/undistorted versions of the seances to offer different levels of distortion. Try your versions on several different sizes of globes and busts, and set standards as to how they should be used.


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## BrotherMysterio

Mr_Chicken said:


> Yeah, there's no tutorial. I'm just talking about my observations of the product videos on the Night Frights site.


I'm totally diggin' that site!!! Sweet! I want one of those!!

How hard would it be to create a lot of that stuff? I mean, we've got the bust going. The projector is workable. The "voice shifter" is really a boss guitar effects pedal. And the projected routine you've just demonstrated how to create.

So, that all said, what would it take to get close to what he has?


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## Mr_Chicken

BrotherMysterio said:


> So, that all said, what would it take to get close to what he has?


*cough*WorkingOnIt*cough*

...excuse me.


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## BrotherMysterio

Mr_Chicken said:


> *cough*WorkingOnIt*cough*
> 
> ...excuse me.


You know, you might want to have that cough looked at.


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## onemomspov

By far, the most well-done I've seen yet. Wow.


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## Caustic

*Madame Leota video available?*

Hi,
I'm working on my own Madame Leota, using Mr. Chicken's awesome tutorial, but need the video.

Unfortunately, he no longer has the file/download link. Does anyone have his version (or another great version) available for download?

I've been 'lurking' this forum for a while, and I'm looking forward to completing this Leota project and more.

Thanks,
-Kurt
kjohnsonleedap[at]gmail.com


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## Caustic

Would converting the Youtube video work?


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## hpropman

Caustic said:


> Hi,
> I'm working on my own Madame Leota, using Mr. Chicken's awesome tutorial, but need the video.
> 
> Unfortunately, he no longer has the file/download link. Does anyone have his version (or another great version) available for download?
> 
> I've been 'lurking' this forum for a while, and I'm looking forward to completing this Leota project and more.
> 
> Thanks,
> -Kurt
> kjohnsonleedap[at]gmail.com


I believe I can help you out with that drop me a PM and I will if I can email it to you


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## Hauntiholik

I'm interested in the HD video if anyone is willing to share.


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## BrotherMysterio

Where are we at with this? I was totally hoping to do something for next October. 

C.


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## Mr_Chicken

Problem solved, folks! Here's your replacement: 





More info:http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=36085


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## pleaseadopt

For those still following this thread.. I am a total clueless newbie. I have never built anything like any of these items on this page (but I do think I am crafty). That being said, I looked online for the effects of using a magic eraser on clear plastic and everything online said it would come out clear. I got my spirit ball globe and with some SERIOUS elbow grease (and about 25 minutes), I was able to get all the silver off of the front half of the globe.. HOWEVER, it did leave it slightly cloudy. I washed it out with soap and water, dried it, then took my dremel and put on the felt polishing head and buffed out the cloudiness. Worked like a champ. I did buy my spirit ball from craigslist and was told they were selling it because the teen kids were chasing around the little kids scaring them with it.. So it has quite a few scratches on it.. I polished some out but most are deep. I think I will use the lemon oil like another poster tried but even with the scratches, I think it came out pretty good. I was having a hard time (remember, stay home mom not mechanical! ;o) trying to find a way to keep the foam head on the base. Since I love to cook, I was thinking "kitchen" and on the inside base were our spirit head was attached were 2 screw holes. One in front, one in back. I took wooden skewers and pushed them into the holes (fit perfectly) cut them shorter and will push her head down on it when I am done fixing her hair and face. Anyway, that is the "I have no idea what I am doing" way of doing it for those other newbies that are like me.


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## ward7

For anyone looking for a copy of the video file, I have it in AVI format.

I reworked the video to have the face better fit my foam head, and I removed the music so that I could place it in an area with another "soundtrack" playing on separate speakers.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pd3376kthpzxkie/leota rework no music.avi?dl=0


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## castart

I mistakenly posted this question on the wrong thread earlier. I so here we go again. I was working with my Leota last night. I am curious how people are staging it. The location of the projector makes hiding it hard. Changing angles distorts the eyes or chin. So are people running the prop at an angle to the viewing puplic? If not what are you all doing ot hide the camera. I am running a small apple 3m, with a laptop (might go to an ipad)


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## Caustic

Like most everyone's version of Leota, I project from directly in front, about 4 or 5 feet from the prop. My projector is "hidden" in a black wire framed freestanding adjustable shelf/stand. I drape the stand with black cloth to hide it, making sure to leave space for the projector. I put a tall custom tombstone in front of it to hide it. At night, in the dark, the stand is very hard to see. Leota is somewhat blocked from the front, but is otherwise very visible from every other angle. A lot of people didn't even notice the projector even up close and we're asking how I did the effect. Next year I plan to hide the projector in one of my custom cemetery columns. Bottom line - just block your projector from the front with a tombstone or other disguise and it will be almost invisible to TOTs.


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## castart

I ended up setting up my scene slightly from the side. I covered a chair like it had one of those old time decrative furniture covers. Then mounted my projector to the chair with the laptop under it (hidden by the cloth drape from chair). The angle of the chair and scene made it a little harder to see from viewing area. Worked fine, other than the point of light over the left eye. Putting candles around it of course helped distract. I am going to try an Ultra projector next year, they are a little less bright.


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## mroct31

And now for something completely different, while I haven't delved into this project, I do have singing pumpkins that I was doing the projector/laptop set up which I find cumbersome to hide, This year I used a Micca Spec-1 G2 media player instead of the laptop and I couldn't have been happier. It's slightly larger than a deck of cards and delivers a 1080P image and ran all night, no issues. You can find them for about $40 and next year I'm going to pair it with an LED pocket projector which will make hiding that much easier. There are a few differnet variations of these devices which I plan on trying as some get down to around $30. JMO, but so much better than dealing with a laptop outside and while I can't say how long it will last, it appears to be a well built little unit. 

Now back to the awsome Madam Leota prop discussion!


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## Hauntiholik

Please stop hijacking this how to.


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## Shade13

Mr_Chicken said:


> ...
> 
> The "Conjuring Madame Leota" How-To has been moved to my blog at: http://ChickenHaunt.blogspot.com/p/conjuring-madame-leota.html


Do you know of anyone who can provide a copy of the Holiday Version? Just wondering. I have a NB4C display it would be cool for.


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## Octavia Mobley

The only real difference I see is that the head is in a giant floating ornament. You could use the same face projection, just make a giant ornament for the head.


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