Pepper's Ghost Done Right!

I hope none of you remembers my last attempt at showing you the Pepper's Ghost effect... the technique used in Disney's Haunted Mansion to show many of its ghosts, in particular the stunning scene of the Ballroom Ghosts dancing.

The technique is fairly simple, although care must be taken in set-up. Now, fortunately I have a real workshop in which to work... something between the Weta workshop and your Uncle's basement Ah, but it's not the size of the workshop, but what you do with it! In the Haunted Mansion, you ride above the ballroom in your DoomBuggy,and watch breathlessly as ghostly dancers glide across the floor below you. In reality, you are looking down into the ballroom through a very large clean piece of glass and the dancers are quite solid and dancing below you. With the right lighting, the dancers are reflected off of the glass in such a way so that they appear to be in the ballroom, and quite transparent!

Watch the video to see how I demonstrate this phenomenon, and then I will show you how it was done! Faint of heart, beware!





Catch your breath and remember, this was just a demonstration! No actual little plastic girls in pink coats were injured or even scared silly!

See in the photo at top how the 'ghost train' appears to come out of the tunnel through solid foam rock and straight through the little girl? Pan back (second photo) and the magic is revealed. High tech gadgetry and a steady nerve were required to reproduce this wonderful effect! But remember, I accomplish so much because I stand on the shoulders of Giants. ( Meaning, others did it first, I copied, but with my own twist)




Now, below is a quick photo of the workshop itself. Once the Imagineers at Disney see this video, I'll be sure to be snapped up into their inner circle, but don't worry, dear readers... I will always be here to entertain you.

Cheers, JOHN :0)

Imagineering 101: Haunted Mansion SFX

I love my work. I have two very different parts of one company, and each keeps me expanding my creative horizons. However, working for oneself can be nice, but working with other creatives can be very invigorating. For this reason, if I were to work for someone else, it would have to be as an Imagineer with Disney.

With this in mind, I'm going to demonstrate today one of the secrets of that wonderful experience, Disney's Haunted Mansion! Yes, I will reveal the secret of the haunted marble busts that watch visitors as they stroll, or ride, through the Mansion.

Before you ask, I don't think this will in any way spoil the experience for you. The Haunted Mansion is something one can enjoy over and over again, and while you are in there, you're too busy enjoying yourself to think, "oh, so THAT's how they do that!"

Here is a video clip I made, demonstrating the effect. Please enjoy it because it took 9 takes, and much of my patience, to create. :0)



Hope you saw that. So, the marble busts aren't marble busts after all! They are the negative, or reverse impressions of busts, turned around and lit from behind. The very subtle shadowing created by the back-lighting creates the illusion that the busts are three dimensional objects, and the shadows moving as you move create the illusion of movement. (say THAT three times fast!)

To make this work, the 'cast' of the 'bust' must be realistic, as seen in the first photo, and deep enough to capture the details of the face. Keep in mind that in the photo below, you are seeing an optical illusion... the face is actually facing away from you, but the light and shadows make a convincing 3-d appearance. The photos are all taken at different angles, but the face is still, so really does seem to be moving. The video shows this best, though... what appears to be a ghostly skull moving around and turning to face you!



A very convincing optical illusion, eh? By the way, today's model came from a paint it yourself plaque that came with a Pirates of the Caribbean model kit I got as a kid. Nothing like keeping it in the family. :0)

Hope you enjoyed today's lesson. Please check our homepage for my current comic experience, The Ghost Pirate Skeletons of Three Craters Lake, in which The Inquiring Minds create their own haunted Pirate Ride!

Cheers, JOHN :0)

Imagine(er) that!

If I weren't a Cartoonist, I'd be an Imagineer... no doubt about it. I should qualify that with 'a Cartoonist running two companies of his own', and explain that part of the job entails the dream of having a syndicated comic strip some day (soon).

Imagineering is probably the path that I should have taken, considering the headaches that come from running my little companies without a large fanbase or marketing team. I spend more time trying to get people to look at what I've done, instead of actually doing, some days! Unlike baseball parks in cornfields, webcomics do NOT operate on the principle of "If you build it, they will come", an require a lot of what inevitably appears to be begging people to come take a look. Much more painful than it sounds... trust me.

I'm currently reading "The Imagineering Way: Ideas to Ignite your Creativity", and I'm honestly getting very little from it. Everything they are telling me are things that I've either learned the hard way through experience, or already possess instinctively. I still pursue every butterfly in the garden, and look at all the seashells on the beach, the same as when I was 4 years old. I've never had writer's block... on the contrary, I don't have enough time to implement all the ideas that I do have! The book does provide fuel for thought, at least for me. I probably would thrive in an environment where others could help out with all of those ideas, and I am sure I would learn so much from being around other creative people.

I have indeed sent my resume to Disney, but it sits in a database somewhere unseen because I haven't openly applied for any specific job. I should probably find an address for Walt Disney Imagineering (anybody?) and send my resume there, and see what develops. To be honest, I'm not afraid of rejection, but the alternative! What if they accepted me? I'd love to go for an interview, and see what they had to offer, because I know I have so much to offer them. However, an acceptance would mean having to make a very difficult decision. Would I give up my personal successes (and failures) and dreams to become a part of a team? For the right job, probably. Maybe. I don't know.

I love what I do, I love my work, my characters, and enjoy working with my clients. I also have a terrific idea for a comic strip, which, when I'm ready, I am 99% sure will be considered by the Syndicates. Then again, Disney has all the things I'm lacking here... companionship of creative people, marketing people, a ready made audience, a budget, free passes to the parks (bonus!), cool jackets that say 'imagineer' on the back... ooh, that tempting list goes on, it does.

In all my boasting, though, I forgot to add my one big character flaw; my need for a challenge. I have mentioned elsewhere that I could have done anything with my life, and succeeded. I chose Cartooning because it seems that it is the one thing that requires the most blood, sweat, and tears from me. It is not easy, and requires so many disciplines and hats to wear, and endless challenges, and certainly does not come easy to me. I suppose being an Imagineer would offer much challenge, as well, but there I would have others to help, to rely on, to lean on.

There's also ego. My creations mean my success, and my failure. It's all mine, right now. I'd love to share that, of course, but right now at this stage, it's me. HappyGlyphs Comics is John Steventon. I've been lucky to work with such a creative person as Brian Hughes, and love the collaborations we have done, but mostly it's just me. When I get that Syndicated Comic, then 'just me' will stand on a mountain top and laugh maniacally, but until then, it's kind of lonely around here.

So, what do I do with that resume? Do I go looking for a new challenge, and wonder what I left behind, or do I keep chasing my dreams, and wonder what I'm missing elsewhere?

For now, I've got too much to do to worry about it. It's summertime, and The Inquiring Minds have some really big plans they need me to help them with. I'm sure that working on some great comic strips will keep my mind away from the temptations of Imagineering... right? :0)

Have fun, JOHN :0)





PS Click on this sentence to see all the summer fun with The Inquiring Minds, in their biggest adventure yet!