Tuesday, August 26, 2008

BACKYARD GRAVEYARD II: THE MAUSOLEUM

The mausoleum. This was our first major grave yard upgrade. Built mainly out of plywood, Alex had initially intended to reuse the materials to make bookshelves after Halloween was over, but it turned out so cool that he couldn't bear to. This set piece has played a part in each subsequent Halloween since.
I think one of the best touches was the sonotubes that we cut in half (creating two half cylinders) to make the columns on either side. A close second place would have to go to the batshape we created out of plywood scraps to go over the doorway complete with two red rhinestone eyes that glinted in the torchlight.
Speaking of torches... I'm always amazed at how well a little black spray paint works to make things look creepier. Tiki torches in a graveyard look chintzy; black tiki torches look creepy.
The first year Alex crafted plywood sides and 2x4 support struts to the front facade to complete the look. By the next year that plywood at least had been re-purposed and we discovered that the facade itself fit nicely in front of the garden shed. This also allowed our mummified friend to set back from the entrance a little more where we could cast a nice red clip lamp on him from above.
The stone effect was created by using a large "car wash" sponge using different colors in different layers.

5 comments:

Ethan Slayton said...

I forget how much work you guys did for these parties. The props always looked awesome and I always thought the lighting was "Faaaaaaabulous"! I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with muppets and Halloween this year, Steve :)

Steve said...

We could always count on you to put some serious work on your costume too, Ethan. Or at least some serious paint on your face. I did want to do a separate post on lighting too - thanks for the reminder!

Russ said...

We do a graveyard too. A new stone is added each year. I like the mausoleum idea. It looks like a cool idea for a spooky entrance.

Anonymous said...

jeez, your ant just found out what you all do with your spare time...

Buy Kamagra said...

That is a perfect mausoleum, soon I'll be doing a Halloween party I'm gonna try to get some ideas of that creation because it's so original, I had never seen a mausoleum like that.