Poll: How do you light your tombstones?

kevin242 · 07-24-2005, 11:26 PM

Hey all,
this is a topic that we struggle with every year: how to light individual gravestones whilst still keeping a scary mood.
The first year we used about 20 dollar store flashlights, unfortunately we also used dollar store batteries and they were all dead after 2 or 3 hours.
The next year we used malibu lighting for a much better effect but the spots really didn't throw enough light and they kept getting kicked over...
Last year, we used the more powerful landscape lights, the green ones with the stake attached that plug into household outlets, and they were way too bright... sigh.
anyone have any ideas? We were thinking of doing a few lamp posts with globe tops or a prop character with a bright lantern. thanks.

Halloweenfanatic · 07-26-2005, 03:12 PM

hi

i had several problems with lights but i finally found a solution!!

first of all you should use BLUE lights in a graveyard because blue is the most erie effect!!!

but do not use flood spotlights on each induvidual stone..

if you have 12 stones only use to blue spotlights and put them on each side of where your stones are..

then because they are too bright spray some black spray paint over the light. but only mist it cause it will be too dark.. i like my haunt not too bright i like kind of dim but still to the point where you can see my stuff

also make sure you have a lot of FOG that really helps with the display especially in a graveyard. And also fog looks great with the blue lights

kevin242 · 07-27-2005, 04:11 PM

Thanks for the tips, Fanatic.
spots
blue
spraypaint
fog
i think I got it!
Smile

Halloweenfanatic · 07-27-2005, 06:30 PM

no problem

im gonna tell you right now dont use too much lght it will kill your haunt and dont use one spot for one stone DONT..lol lol

trust me it will look real good

How many stones you have??????

kevin242 · 07-27-2005, 09:35 PM

We have a pretty big yard so i'm guessing around 22-25 headstones all together... it creates kind of a problem because people like to read all of the names, so we constantly have visitors walking between the rows...

Halloweenfanatic · 07-27-2005, 10:58 PM

wow you have a lot of stones!!!

well in that case then put like blue spots sporatically in the yard make sure therre no in the way of the people though.

for 20 stones i would buy like 6 spots

jus test it out the first night you put your stones out

jus make sure you use spots lol lol

Halloweenfanatic · 07-28-2005, 02:31 PM

hey its me again and i found somethin else u can do that i am probably doing

heres the link this can make your lights dim!!

http//www.frightfx.com/projects/control_box/index.htm

jus somethin else to look at!!

**Vlad** · 07-30-2005, 07:47 AM

We use spotlights pointed towards the graveyard, but not in it. Then we use fog machines to soften the glare and create the eerieness. Lately the talk has been using UV LED spots made inside a tube and powered by a 9 volt. We also allow people to walk in amongst the stones, and I don't want it so dim in there that people are stumbling over and destroying them.>>

http://images.kodakgallery.com/photos903..._0_ALB.jpg

Volt · 08-08-2005, 09:54 PM

Ok I have to put in my 2 cents here. Please bear with me. This is kind of a loaded question.
If you want good looking light you need saturation. What I mean by this is use par 64 or source 4s something with about 1 k output. For a yard 40 feet wide you will need like 6 of them. If you use source 4s you will need the widest lens. Gel them way down with deep gel like congo maybe double up each fixture depending on the ambient light around. that will give you right around 6k of saturation. Then for texture use a leko with some sort of flora pattern. Gel it with the deepest green, I think like a 174, whatever you can get a hold of. I personally use gobo motors to turn the gobos to give it even more texture.
Now you may be asking yourself, wtf?
It is ok unless you are in lighting production most wont know these fixtures. No problem. What I am trying to say is the more intense the light with the most dense gel you can get on it will give the best light source.
If you want something cheaper front light with some sort of colored floodlight and dim it down. Not the same effect but about 1k cheaper. Then behind a couple of the back stones backlight it. Make the backlight brighter than the front it will draw the eye through the scene.
Foggers are nice to look at BUT a hazer works 1000000 times better for light than fog the particles are bigger and reflect light more.
This is a situation where the people will stop and look at your set. If you are using actors make some dark spots, use intense light shining in the eyes of the passersby and use the blind spots to your advantage.
Sorry if I am carrying on I was bored trying to take a break from my already crazy haunt season and though I would try to help in some way.

Halloweenfanatic · 08-09-2005, 06:00 PM

hey of course par cans and rotating gobos,a and hazers will make a haunt look absoluteily awesome.. but i was jus tryin to help out the simplest way

lol lol lol lol

i use opti pars those are the best you should try them!!!!

also have any pics of hazers in acytion i'd like to see!!!

Volt · 08-09-2005, 08:09 PM

I wasnt putting my two cents in to make fun of anyones ideas at all. I was trying to answer someones question in the way I know works well. I figure what the hell I have been in production for over 20 years I want to help home haunts as much as I can because I love it. The one thing I never want to do as a pro haunter is forget what it is like not having answers to so many questions when it is a hobby. Pretty much now it is so easy to find questions where as 10 or 20 years ago it was impossible.

i am sure i have some hazer pics but i will have to weed through some files.

subsonic · 08-10-2005, 10:38 AM

Skull and Bone have a great, 3D, tutorial up:
http://www.skullandbone.com/tutorial_01.htm

While I would love to light my haunt with pinspots, par cans, and elipsoidals with gobos, it's just too darn expensive. I wish I had the money for this stuff.

I did have money for was Malibu lights though:
Link to home depot
I remember spending around 40 for a kit of 6. I guess the price has gone up. You can buy plastic colored covers. I felt green and blue worked the best. These lights are not very bright, which I felt worked wonderfully for the yard.

Below are some pictures of last years haunt. Unfortunately the flash washes out the shadows. I'm not the best photographer.
http://www.ghostsofhalloween.com/haunts/...ard_10.jpg
http://www.ghostsofhalloween.com/haunts/...ght_03.jpg

Here's a much darker picture, but you can see how the lights work.
http://www.ghostsofhalloween.com/haunts/...ges/24.jpg

In my opinion, the malibu lights are a great alternative to the expensive stuff. Plus, they have timers, if you have your graveyard out for a few weeks, you can set them to come on at night. Smile

Volt · 08-10-2005, 06:26 PM

Oh I just noticed I do have one of my graveyard pics up in one of our photo albums. Click on the link to chamber of chills and go to photos there are 4 albums. One of them is haunt pics. There is one of the graveyard set with lights on it. I will try to find another and put it in that album. That particular set has about 7 k of lighting. Also there is a low-lying fog from one of our big chillers. That shot does not have hazers in it. I think that was a shot before we opened. Latter with the haze it really looked nice.

kevin242 · 08-11-2005, 02:49 PM

Thanks for the info guys! The skull and bone site was a great resource for lighting and I'm pretty excited about pulling out all of my extension cords and lights this year. Being a haunt run by a few neighbors, we don't really have much of a budget, but all of the posts were very informative and much appreciated! keep up the great work, you haunters!

p.s. keep posting those photo links.

debbie5 · 08-15-2005, 08:40 PM

VOLT! I need to pick your brain!! LOL.
Okay- now translate what you just said into >GIRL< and I will be fine..LMAO.

I have spot lights. I want to change the effects. Where can I get these gels and light texture thingies (LOL) you speak of?? All I have access to are old gels, thrown out by my local community theatre, but those will just melt away in the rain. Also, I cannot use fog, etc., as Halloween is always too blustery and windy here in upstate NY. I have the advantage of having a very hilly front lawn, so two red floods and a strobe wash over everything nicely. I have been using clumps of dug up weeds to diffuse and dim the spot light (very non-tech, but it works)! I also have to fence in my graveyard, or people will walk through and either fall down my hill (DO NOT FALL ON MY TOMBSTONES!) or pull the electrical all apart & out, like some arsholes did last year, after they jumped my fencing!
Anyhoo- in "SHE IS BLONDE" language, please advise.