JustJimAZ

An Illusion of Multiplicity

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One of the things I am constantly looking for is unique puppetry. Another is Illusion costumes. When I stumbled upon Blick Théâtre - [hullu], I knew I had found a unique blend of the two. Sure, I had seen various puppets using fake arms before, but follow the ink to see the way these illusions have been used to create characters:

https://youtu.be/7GE8Auadb1Q?t=18


One of the challenges any haunt faces - whether a home haunt or pro - is actors. Actors are expensive and time intensive. Most haunts naturally do their best to use the "minimum effective dose" of actors and, therefore, characters.

Another challenge haunts face is making characters unnerving and inhuman. It's a problem sci-fi and horror movie makers face as well. How to hide the human form in what is, in the end, often an actor in a suit?

I love the way [hullu] solves these issues. The humanoid creatures have the wrong proportions to be human. They could be made to look more like animals or demons or anything, really. A bunch of these little creatures could be glimpsed through windows in a haunt - all on strings or other devices so one person could operate them.

Of course, we have to make them threatening. That's where I think the genius of this costume lies:



I love how one good actor can convincingly portray being captured by these creatures. It doesn't take much to imagine this in a scene in a haunt. Now, if the creatures had previously been established as being in the walls and elsewhere, doesn't that make them more unnerving?

The people at Blick Théâtre went well beyond the usual illusion costumes and created, in my opinion, some pretty convincing illusions. Check out the teaser below. I love the way the woman transitions from an actress walking around freely to being carried by these creatures. The use of so many illusions is ingenious - three stacked like the Little Rascals, or a small one carrying a box. When you watch, be sure to stick around for the final reveal at the 2:00 mark.



So, what do you think? Anything of interest there? Anything you might like to see adapted to your own haunt?
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