There’s really no tactful way to say it: When you go to just about any museum, what is depicted on a majority of the paintings? Dead people! With that in mind, you can be sure that the extraordinary exhibit that makes up AtmosFX’s UnLiving Portraits: Halloween Hosts Decoration Collection is exactly that … and so much more!
Sarah Nelson of Norco, Calif., is back-projecting the characters of UnLiving Portraits: Halloween Hosts Decoration to create a stunning effect.
If you have never seen UnLiving Portraits: Halloween Hosts, the decoration is designed to look as though you are viewing a gallery wall on which unusual portraits are displayed. But their strange looks aren’t the only thing that is unusual – these portraits also move!
It is the same effect that made UnLiving Portraits Decoration Collection so popular since it was released by AtmosFX in the early 2010s. And it was popular not just with Halloween decorators, but pranksters too – especially those who love to use startle scares on unsuspecting viewers (more on this below). UnLiving Portraits: Halloween Hosts can be used in all the same ways. In fact, the two decorations are interchangeable, meaning once you set up your display for one, you can easily use it for the other.
So, how to display this ghoulish gallery? Please allow us to curate some ideas for you!
Create a Gallery of Ghouls
Just because displaying UnLiving Portraits: Halloween Hosts on a wall is the easiest way to do so, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t look great. It does! All three of the characters – the Brooding Butler, the Fortune Teller and the Bewitching Bride – are formatted vertically and situated in a digital frame. Simply by projecting on a surface such as a wall you will instantly have a mysterious moving portrait of any of the three characters from Halloween Hosts. And, if you select “trio mode,” you will have all three characters displayed on your wall and they will engage with each other.
If you want to take your wall projection to the next level, you have some great options. For instance, even though you are projecting onto a wall, you can place an empty frame (or a frame with a blank canvas) on the wall and project UnLiving Portraits: Halloween Hosts onto it. Then, select a portrait that does not include a digital frame. When you project the decoration onto the space inside the physical frame, the haunted portrait becomes even more convincing. This is especially true if the wall inside the frame is white (for clearer display) and the wall outside the frame is a different color. And if it is old, decaying wallpaper, even better!
You can also back-project the UnLiving Portraits: Halloween Hosts for a similar effect. This is slightly more detailed, in that you need to build a false wall, and then cut out holes where projections will be. Cover the holes with semi-opaque material such as AtmosFX’s Window Projection Material, and then project onto the walls from behind the false wall. You’re basically creating a window mode!
You can use the same technique when displaying UnLiving Portraits: Halloween Hosts on a television or monitor. The difference is, instead of projecting onto the wall, you are going to let the monitors do the work. This works really well if you build a custom frame around the television screen. It is easier than it looks – and we have a few great tutorials to help you do so. Heck, we’ve even seen an AtmosFANs build an entire false wall to better disguise the television monitors!
Don’t forget the tablets or digital picture frames! Sometimes smaller can be better, largely because that’s where people least expect a surprise. So, for example, instead of displaying UnLiving Portraits: Halloween Hosts on a wall, consider doing the same thing on a bookshelf or coffee table. Simply place a frame around a tablet, or copy the decoration onto a digital picture frame. Then simply place it in an unsuspecting place – just make sure you’re nearby to see the reaction!
If you are looking for a tutorial on how to create a frame to disguise your monitor, click here. And while the link features UnLiving Portraits, remember that the decorations are interchangeable and UnLiving Portraits: Halloween Hosts will work perfectly.
Experimental Exhibitions
Whether you are projecting onto your wall, or building an elaborate frame for your television, UnLiving Portraits: Halloween Hosts contains an assortment of startle scares that you can trigger at the perfect time. The Sprite Motion Sensor Media Player is especially good for this. Simply load up your files onto a USB drive and plug into the media player, then plug that into your projector and monitor. If you discreetly place the motion sensor in a spot near the “painting,” then when someone comes close to view these strange portraits, the sensor will trigger quite a surprise. For more details on how to create this, click here.
Holger Buchardt combined UnLiving Portraits: Halloween Hosts with Jack-O'-Lantern Jamboree
Another cool thing about UnLiving Portraits: Halloween Hosts is the fact that the three characters are also featured in another AtmosFX decoration: Halloween Hosts. For those that are building large decoration displays, this allows you the opportunity to create some thematic consistency. For instance, you might have the Brooding Butler (from Halloween Hosts Decoration) displayed as a 3DFX Form at the entrance of your house. Elsewhere inside the house, you can have the same Brooding Butler displayed as a startle scare–triggered portrait (from UnLiving Portraits: Halloween Hosts Decoration).
Other Options Abound
It’s true that surface projections and TV and monitor displays are the most popular uses for UnLiving Portraits: Halloween Hosts. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t other ways you can use the decoration, too. For instance, you can project onto a window covered in Window Projection Material, and onlookers from the outside will believe they are seeing some kind of ghoulish gallery.
No matter how you use UnLiving Portraits: Halloween Hosts, you are certain to create a lasting impression. After all, they say a picture is worth a thousand words. These portraits? More like a thousand scares!
How will you use UnLiving Portraits: Halloween Hosts Decoration this Halloween season? We want to see it! Send us your photos and videos using this simple online submission form and we will post some of our favorite examples!
How do others use ‘UnLiving Portraits: Halloween Hosts’ in their decoration displays? Check it out here!
Lori D. of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, decided that she wanted to entertain her neighbors by creating a single window display made from a combination of several AtmosFX Decorations, including UnLiving Portraits: Halloween Hosts Decoration. Read about it here in the AtmosFAN Hall of Fame.
Also, you can check out how these and other AtmosFANs have decorated with UnLiving Portraits: Halloween Hosts and other decorations in the AtmosFAN Hall of Fame!
