Halloween Discussion Forums, Costumes, Horror!

i am an aussie, and love halloween, my friends think i am nuts but even tho i live in aussie iamging to haunt my backyard and throw a big party. i have made tombstones and going to do a graveyard theme. going to make a life size coffin if time premits. lighting is my big concern. finding it hard to find blue globes. can i use spotlights with blue plastic over them? i want to buy a fog machine, but can only find 700 watt, is this going to be big enough for a small backyard? thought i would burn lanterns as well. what is a black light? is this only to high light white clothing? help help i am so naive to this all. i have been buying heaps of props and sceen setters, but now need help with lighting and any other tips would be great.

well, a good lighting trick can be used by tiki torches, but be carful of the fire, if the backyard is really small and packed then i dont suggest them. yes black lights highlight white clothing but they can also highlight other colors and decore... lets say you made a dummy with big white vampire teeth and eyes, then those things will be highlight by the blacklight. and a good idea is that you get your spot lights and change the bulbs if you can, you can find some different covered light bulbs at party stores.

Keep an eye out for Christmas lights when they come out (which is earlier and earlier each year). You can often find different coloured outdoor spotlights then. I hesitate to suggest putting plastic over other lights as it might melt the plastic (depending on the spot).

As for fog machines, starting off with a smaller one isn't a terrible idea, but I would do some research.

http://www.fogmachineinfo.com/ is good to just get to know stuff about them.

http://www.halloween-online.com/sfx/hal ... g-faq.html same here.

If you aren't ready to make yourself what's called a chiller (which you'll see in the second link) you may be disappointed in the effect. It's the chiller that causes the fog to creep along the ground. Otherwise it's more like a cloud of smoke.

completely true,,, my fog machine isnt that good when its windy since its always swept away,... im making a chiller this year for sure