JustJimAZ

A Figment Of Your Imagination

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Now, I've never been to Disneyland or Disney World or any of their properties. I know - shocking and horrifying!
That doesn't keep me from finding out about some of their rides and the illusions in them, however.

This one is of a butterfly apparently named Figment in an Epcot Center ride about your imagination:



So, this is a pretty cool effect that can be used by haunters. In this particular case, there is a mirror (or really two mirrors back to back) running right through the middle of the cage. The side you first see has half a butterfly on the perch.



Because a butterfly is a symmetrical animal, the reflection in the mirror makes it look like the butterfly is a complete animal. Once you pass the cage, you are looking at the other side, which has only half a bar and a mirror. The mirror reflection looks like it is still the complete bar, but without the butterfly.

If you look closely, you can see the gap between the butterfly and the mrror:
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Because the outside cage is continuous, you don't notice that there are actually two back to back mirrors, giving the illusion that the butterfly disappears. With both of the 1/2 bars moving at the same speed, your brain really sees it as one image.
You can see the gap between the bar and the morror here:
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The lighting from the bottom helps sell the illusion, as does the synchronized swinging of the 1/2 bars on either side of the mirror.

Disney uses a very similar setup in Pirates of the Caribbean. You approach what looks like a skeleton:


Then, as you pass, it turns into a fleshed out pirate!


Here's a shot of the transition:


To make this work in your haunt, you'll either need a way to keep the people moving forward, or to turn the scene/prop so the transformation appears even if they stand still. You don't want them standing there looking at a static illusion and moving their head form one side to another until they figure it out.

I'm sure that with a little imagination you'll figure out how to add this mirror illusion to your haunt!

Happy Haunting!
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