Looking for some new ideas and inspiration?
I'd like to share a little about this year's halloween endeavors. My background is a medley of music production, show production, and graphic design and Halloween is a perfect excuse to exercise some creativity, right? I will be covering some of the key technical elements that I've used for halloween haunts and many of my other projects.
A few months before Halloween, we don't know exactly what the theme would be. This year, the inspiration came from a combination of pay-by-the-pound old dolls from Good Will and the addition of the Chauvet DJ Cumulus, a powerful fog machine that produces thick clouds of low-lying fog by using a combination of distilled water and low-lying fog juice. But more on this later.
Story & Strategy
Whether you are decorating the front of your house for trick-or-treaters or building an entire haunted house, story is important. Before we start anything, I like to have a flexible creative starting point. Ableton Live, a program typically used for live music makes a great playback engine for the entire production. Hardware also plays a big part. For some, we're completely content with the "out of the box" gouls with motion sening flashy lights and creepy noises. Don't get me wrong, we used a couple out of the box props this year as well. The hardware listed below also covers essential hardware for any small sized halloween haunt.
How much difference does a great fog machine make?
For me, fog machines are a slippery slope of perpetual spending. It starts with a facination and the purchase of a 1000 Watt $89.00 fog machine from Spirit Halloween and then the next year you try out the $200 fog machine, then years later you get a wild hair and spend $400. By this time, you are really hooked on fog!
By this time you are really hooked on fog!
One day you find yourself eyeing the Chauvet Cumulus Fog Machine because it's the best effect you can get for the money. There are other machines out there with similar low-lying fog effects. For instance, the American DJ Entour Ice High-output Low Lying Fog Machine but just know that you have to add dry ice. The Cumulus is a whopping $1,700 but if you are looking to drop some jaws, this machine will absolutely deliver!
Software & Hardware
There are three software titles that I use constantly. They all run separately within the same computer and communicate using internal DMX triggers. Ableton Live plays back the ambient sounds, stabs, music and other creepy elements. This year, we used around around 20 tracks for lighting automation and another track specifically for triggering video from Resolume Arena.
Ableton Live
Ableton Live is at the heart of the production. All the lighting, sound and video is played back or triggered across the timeline.
EMU DMX Lighting Controller
EMU by Enttec is a powerful DMX controller application that runs standalone but also includes a VST plugin for granular DAW control. In my use case, i've assigned seperate tracks for each lighting element by drawing automation right into Ableton, it moves the faders within the EMU application and thus changing the lights perfectly in sync with the audio. I used to use an app and DMX interface by Enttec called DMXIS but that has since been discontinued. DMXIS was a single universe controller and maybe the first of its kind to offer DAW controlled DMX automation.
Resolume Arena
Resolume Arena is best known as VJ software and a media server. It allows for flexible and powerful video playback and live effects. In this situation, i'm using Resolume to playback various creepy video elements on a shower curtain in the window.
Learn more about Resolume at https://www.resolume.com/
Gaming Laptop
Enttec ODE Mk3
Leviton D4DMX-MD3 4-Channel Dimmer Packs (2)
Chauvet Cumulus Fog Machine
Roland KC-600 Speaker
Sound effects and creepy music are a must-have for your haunted house but if you don't have any speaker power behind it, your sounds may not have the kind of impact you would like. The Roland KC-600 is a large 15" Keyboard speaker with woofer and horn. It gets loud and gives your haunted house some low rumble when needed.
Yamaha MSP3A Speakers (2)
These smaller 4" powered studio speakers are great for smaller satelite sound effects and creepy halloween music. This year, I put one of these on the far side of the yard and one directly behind the trick-or-treaters by running a cable across the yard and down a tree. It made a great startle effect and most of the kids looked back to see what was making those noises.
Chauvet Pro COLORado 1 Solo 60W RGBW Wash Lights (2)
American DJ Mega 64 Profile Plus Lights (4)
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