Thursday, May 14, 2009

Haunted Video Review Thursday


I asked a day or two ago about Halloween2go.com and wondered about the haunting videos that they were selling. I decided to risk it and buy the Haunting Animatronics download. This morning, I went ahead and bought the disk. It was good. Very good. A pack of Camels after sort of good.

Now there are different haunting styles and variations in between. Some people haunt with live actors, some people haunt with static characters, some people haunt with animation and there's a mix of all including others who do totally different things with haunting. I personally lean towards animation. I like things to move and I like to figure out how to execute the movement. I do NOT however, have a logical bone in my body, I have to do everything by trial and error. Which brings me to this video, it is a hard core how-to tutorial to making animated characters. Maybe not Disney quality, but dang well close to Six Flags! It promises on the website that no prior knowledge of electronics is needed to which I am a tiny dubious but I was able to follow along fairly easily as he assembled servo and timer circuitry. However, I'm a wimp, I bought talking and programmable circuits already made, although I FREAKING HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO DO WITH THEM. But he does go into BASIC programming for the circuits and gives you some premade programs in the bonus PDF files.

There's a GENEROUS amount of information that you get for your 25.00 (15.00 if you get the direct download) including a bunch of PDF files that assist in programming your monstrosity. The characters that he has constructed are impressive and entirely do-able. I didn't say you could do them overnight under 20.00, I just said that they were do-able. The ideas presented are easily adaptable to most characters. He even includes a section on animatronic hand construction, something that I haven't ever seen before.

If you're a static haunter, this might not be useful to you. He will have an upcoming video in August on Scare Techniques that would be useful to most everyone so wait for that. If you're curious about any sort of animation pertaining to haunting or any other character, then sell a pint of blood if you need to. Seriously, you'll never miss it and some places have brownies and a Coke after you're done and you'll still make the cash.

7 comments:

Diane said...

i tried a blooming tea this morning. and... can i say... what a magical morning it was!!! and trinity is totally digging the dvds. i think she's watched them like 7 times (combined) already!

hope youre having a terrific day!

Chris 'Frog Queen' Davis said...

Thanks for the review. Being a static prop person myself, I appreciate the heads up on keeping my money. But I am curious are the animated props pneumatic or servo driven? Cause husband loves his servo props :)

Cheers!

Mr. Macabre said...

Diane, I am so glad that you like the tea and that Trinity enjoys the DVD's! I really enjoyed putting the care package together!

Mr. Macabre said...

My Dearest Majesty Frog Queen, the props on this video were all servo driven, the next DVD is supposedly going to be on pneumatics. I, like your husband, am partial to servos!

dave said...

Hi guys, this is Dave at Halloween2go, just linked up this site to mine.. Just check out my website, yes volume2, pneumatics in is production and should be ready end of June, so wait if you want, but I think that Mr.Macabre did a valid review of the material.. lots more on the site.. BYE
going out of town
dv H2go

Chris 'Frog Queen' Davis said...

Oh, crap, did you say servos! Now I am going to have to buy one!! (are you getting a commission? :) )

Did I mention that your blog is one of the best ever!! I don't husband will, because he LOVES servo props!!!!

Cheers!

Mr. Macabre said...

Nah, no commissions, I just try to wade through the good, the bad and the rip offs for the sake of everyone who wants to keep Hallowe'en alive.

Awwww shucks, thanks for the compliment! I'm trying to learn servo props beyond the sound driven mouth/servo motor but it's slow go. I will honestly say that this video helped me understand some concepts a lot better.