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| Stone Wall Theater | Torch Tutorial | An Interactive Magic Mirror | ||
The very first outdoor stone wall theater sprang up in Illinois, in the garage opening of Backyard Theater member and part-time stone wall architect, cemeb4dk. Thank you, cemeb4dk, for dreaming up such a clever Halloween display.
Spooky movies will never be the same.
(8 Tees and 4 elbows)
(Actually, it's important to cut the first one short, so you can scream at yourself for being an idiot.)
I couldn't locate any pink insulation like cemeb4dk used. I think the pink kind is a lot less messy.
Cemeb4dk also used insulation that had tongue and groove edges. If you can find this, get it. The front edges on my panels
didn't want to remain as flush as I'd have liked, no matter how carefully I taped their back edges.
From inside the garage, the computer desktop image was projected onto the back side of the foam board. At each corner, I inserted a bamboo screwer through the board in order to mark the approximate location of the screen.
Since I'm going to use Mark Gervais's Hallowindow, the entire area covered by the projected desktop will be removed.
If you're planning on using an older movie (the 1931 Frankenstein movie, for example), you'll need to adjust your window's dimensions accordingly. I suggest projecting the actual movie you intend to show.
The moisture barrier was peeled off the front.
Do this slowly and you'll save yourself a lot of grief.
(It helps to talk to it, using a gentle voice.)
All four panels were painted grey and the stones were lined off in pencil.
Mine are 9 by 12 inches (12 inches wide because there would be less panel seam lines showing, and 9 inches high because I thought it just looked right).
After a few stones are outlined in black, go back and curve the inside of each corner.
If I'd have had pink insulation or a hot wire cutter, I'd have gouged out the lines like cemeb4dk did.
That would have made it look a lot more realistic.
The bottoms and left sides of each block were dry brushed with dark grey paint.
The tops and right sides of each block were dry brushed with white paint.
Add some highlights with dark gray paint. You CAN'T go wrong.
This is the first time I'd ever done this. It's not perfect, but I'm perfectly happy with the results.
but to cut down on the shedding as well. Next time, I'll invest in a foam cutter or try harder to locate some pink insulation.
The panels didn't completely cover the entire opening. You can see the PVC pipe running down the left side of the wall in the picture above.
Two strips of foam paneling were cut from the leftover material that was removed for the screen.
The pieces were wedged into the gap and a few more black lines were added.
BYT member Sideshowtony put corn stalks on either side of his wall to cover the gaps. This not only solved the gap problem, but provided a feeling of extra dimension. In addition, he added more interest to the wall by carving some designs and the name of his theater into the stones. Check it out!
I used a few pieces of velcro to attach the panels to the frame, but decided that strips of duct tape worked much better and for a great deal less money.
A Walmart shower curtain was duct taped to the inside of the window.
It helps to have another person on the other side so that you can apply some pressure.
Remember the moisture barrier that caused such fits when it had to be removed on the front?
Turns out that it comes in handy on the back because it makes it easy to reposition the duct tape when trying to get the screen taut.
Ta Da!
Cut a strip of cardboard, about 3 inches wide.
Cut it so that the "ribs" run the short way, because you will want to . . .
. . .curl it over the edge of a counter in order to bend it
without actually making a crease.
Place a line of glue around the top outside edge of a cardboard cone.
You can make a couple of cardboard cones for free, or purchase cones from Michael's. I bought the larger size for $2.49 each (not on sale).
Glue the cardboard strip to the top edge of the cone.
Insert the pipe at an angle so that the torch will lean out from the wall. I used some silicone in a caulking gun to secure the pipe in place.
While the cones are drying,
cover 4 balloons with 2 or 3 layers of orange and yellow tissue paper.
I used slightly diluted white glue, adding just enough water to make it spreadable.
Remember, it's the glue that makes it hard, not the tissue paper.
I made four of these. You might be able to get away with making just two larger balloons and skipping the need to attach the two smaller balloons together.
Attach the two shapes together and patch any cracks, using more tissue and diluted glue. Don't over think this part. Just top one with the other and bandage them up with some glue-soaked tissue.
From inside the garage, orange LED lights are threaded through a small square of insulation foam and then through a hole in the castle wall.
They continue through the PVC pipe, out into the torch's basin, and finally up through a slit in the cardboard disc.
Before you start the threading of the lights, don't forget to cut the PVC pipe to the proper length. If it sticks out from the back of the wall too much, you won't be able to close the garage door.
Update: I used a string of 50 orange raspberry lights.
It turned out that I didn't need the cardboard disc.
The lights are so packed inside
the flame, that they do not fall down into the cone.
When the lights are in place, the torch's PVC pipe is inserted into the hole in the insulation wall and then into the hole in the insulation block.
The pipe is secured to the insulation block rather than the wall. When it's time to take the wall down and remove the torch, the block can be torn away, and there should be very little damage to the wall.
........
The LED lights only put out enough light to make the flame glow. They will not light up the surrounding area. For my purposes, this is ideal. I don't want light spreading across the projection screen.
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This rear projection Halloween display was made possible by ImaginEERIEing.com's interactive puppet software.
Rear projection eliminates the need to build or purchase a shelving unit for a heavy monitor. There's also no need to use a black fabric scrim to further hide the monitor's existence.
Since sunset hits the Southern California area before 6 pm in the fall (and the mirror wall is set back under a shade-producing eave), I'll be able to start projecting the magic mirror image as soon as the youngest set of trick-or-treaters begins to haunt my front door.
I used ImaginEERIEing's magic mirror tutorial as a basis for my magic mirror display. Their construction is more permanent and sturdier than mine.
Even though ImaginEERIEing warned that the project was time consuming, I found that it took much more time than I anticipated. Consequently, I found myself spending October 2014 making just the PVC wall support, candy pillar and basin, mirror, and lion head.
This year (2015), the Magic Mirror will be dispensing candy and chatting up a storm.
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1. Construction for the mirror's wall begins with a 1" PVC frame, much like the Stone Wall Theater shown above. My walkway is 5 feet wide. Note that the center opening, which is where the magic mirror will be located, is off center. This will allow a little more room for the operator to sit to one side and avoid getting in the way of the projected image.  |
2. One of the exposed beams above the porch
helps to keep the frame from tipping forward.  | |
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| 1. One-inch polystyrene foam insulation was used to make the lion head. It was made in 4 layers (plus a little protruding nose). I tried to mimic ImaginEERIEing's drawing, found here. The layers were glued together using Gorilla Glue.  | 2. A chute for the candy was cut at a steep angle, running back to front. Start by inserting a hot kitchen knife under the upper lip. (I heated my knife on the stove.) Angle the knife sharply, making sure it goes through all the layers. Repeat this a couple of times, doing the same above the low lip. Eventually a pattern will form and you can work from the back.  | |
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 4. Concerned that the mouth's opening wasn't large enough, I cut off the upper teeth. So obviously wrong! The lower teeth prevent the candy from sliding smoothly out the mouth's opening. Ultimately, the lower teeth were removed and two upper teeth were molded and attached using wood filler. |
| 1. The pattern for the mirror frame was drawn on a large sheet of butcher paper and folded in half. It was folded in half a second time in the opposite direction, leaving just one quarter of the original drawing visible. All four layers were cut at once.  | 2. One of the advantages of using rear projection (as opposed to a monitor) is that you can make the projected puppet image almost any size you desire. My mirror pattern is 36" wide from flame tip to flame tip.  | |
 3. The mirror pattern was transferred onto a 1.5-inch piece of polystyrene foam insulation and cut out with an electric kitchen knife. The top edges of the mirror were rounded with sand paper. Do this before you paint. My mirror piece has paint because it was previously used in the Stone Wall Theater project seen above. The center hole is left uncut until the exact size and location of the projected image is determined. | ||
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To receive the candy, I constructed a receptacle resembling the ImaginEERIEing's wooden wall basin. However, I feared that my foam wall and foam basin might not withstand the slight, but repeated pressure needed to retrieve the candy. It seemed more sensible to make a candy receptacle that was separate from the wall. Although I discarded my original candy basin, I've included its construction at the end of this tutorial. |
| 1. Begin with a plastic bowl and a sheet of cardboard. (My bowl is from The Dollar Tree.) Hose down the sheet of cardboard and roll it into a cylinder. Let dry. Cut and shape the cardboard into a cylinder appropriate for your needs. Glue along the seam. Tape the seam if necessary. Nobody will see it, as it can be turned toward the back.  Or skip this step entirely and buy a concrete tube form.  |
2. Cut two squares of foam insulation with sides approximately 1/2 inch smaller than the bowl's widest diameter. This insures that the bowl's edge can be pushed right up against the wall in order to catch the candy. Glue the two foam squares together.(Note: To make the two bases for my candy receptacle, I used extra thick foam insulation from dry ice packaging I had in my scrap pile. Consequently, the pictures will only show one thick piece of insulation as opposed to two layers of insulation.) Cut a groove in the shape of a circle on the BOTTOM of the square block.  | |
| 3. Cut two to three foam rectangles for the lower base. The width of the rectangles should be equal to the square block's side measurements used in Step 2. The length of the rectangles is up to you. Glue the rectangles together. (Again, I did this step using a single, very thick piece of foam insulation.)  |
4. Fill the square block's groove with Hard as Nails and insert the cardboard column. Place a weight on the top and allow to dry. Cut a groove in the shape of a circle on the TOP of the rectangular block. The cylinder is not glued to the lower block until the placement of the lion's head is determined. Round the edges of the blocks with sand paper. Paint everything grey.  | 5. Rough up the plastic bowl with sand paper. Spray the bowl with plastic primer. (If you have a nearly empty can of plastic spray, you can use it as the primer. The color is immaterial, as you'll be painting over it.) Paint the bowl grey and add some detail lines in black. Glue the bowl to the top of the pillar.  Once the placement of the mirror frame and lion's head was determined, the bottom of the pillar was trimmed to the proper height and attached to the bottom base in the same manner as the top. |
6. The stone wall was made following the same steps as the castle movie wall above. The mirror frame and lion's head were attached with Liquid Nails for Foam. The shower curtain was cut to size and taped on the back of the wall.  |
7. The chute for the candy and fog was extended from the opening in the back of the lion's head through the insulation/stone wall. The walls of the newly cut opening were painted black to eliminate small balls of styrofoam insulation from sloughing off.  |
8. Adornments were added. A baby monitor camera was placed on the ledge (upper right side of the picture).  |
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Taking a page from the Waugh Family Haunt that's featured on ImaginEERIEing's Friends Page, I made a paper maché jack-o-lantern to cover the speaker. I'll be using one microphone to project the magic mirror's voice. I'd planned on adding another microphone in order to hear the trick-or-treaters' responses. However, the baby monitor I borrowed has an audio component, so I'll be relying on that. |
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| To make a basin, trace around a large oval platter. Make 4 ovals and glue them together with a few dots of glue around their rims. The glue is meant to temporarily hold the ovals together, as you'll need to pop them apart in order to make a few specific cuts later.  | Carve and sand the edges into a shape that pleases you.  | ||
Cut each layer in the following fashion: Bottom layer is a half oval. (Mine's actually a little bigger than half.) Next layer is the whole oval (So, leave it untouched.) Top two layers are cut like the letter C.  |  | ||
a slot in the facade of the wall, as shown in the mock-ups below. | |||
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