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Conjuring Madame Leota

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78K views 105 replies 44 participants last post by  Octavia Mobley  
#1 · (Edited)
#6 ·
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.
 
#27 ·
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.
Click to expand...
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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#9 ·
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.
 
#14 ·
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.
 
#15 ·
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.
 
#17 ·
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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#20 ·
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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#23 ·
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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#25 ·
Mr_Chicken said:
So yeah, that's what I did. If I didn't explain anything clearly enough, I'm happy to explanify.
Click to expand...
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.
 
#26 ·
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.
 
#29 ·
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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