JustJimAZ

Of Light and Shadow - Part 2

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Remember that moment when (SPOILER ALERT!) we see Norman Bates' mother in the cellar, all corpsified? Remember how the swinging light added to the surreal nature of the scene?


I was reminded of that when I saw Parade is an interactive art installation conceived by ceramacist Laurent Craste and digital agency Dpt. for the Chromatic festival in Montreal.





The idea is that visitors swing the light and the shadows "dance". Pretty cool, right? I thought so. However, it's all a lie. The light does nothing but trigger a projector hidden behind the scene.

Rear projection of shadows is a cool way to add surrealism and bring people into The Uncanny Valley. There's a brief moment in "Ghost Rider" where the true shadow of the devil appears as he walks across a screen.
I'm only allowed one video per blog, so check it out HERE.

If you can spare 3 minutes of your life, take a look at how Carl Theodor Dreyer used false shadows to astonishing effect in his 1932 film Vampyr ?The Strange Adventure of Allan Gray:
Video HERE

The whole movie is available on YouTube and I recommend that before you watch Universal's 1931 Dracula again, give this one a look. I'm not saying one is better than the other, only that perhaps you've seen Lugosi's vampire 100 times, and Dreyer's should get at least one view. It's pretty surreal - it's German, after all.

The idea of rear projection shadows for a haunt seems more realistic to me now than before. Small projectors abound, what with all the companies making videos to be projected onto walls or windows for Halloween. Why not make shadows dance?
But maybe you're more interested in real moving shadows like this Interactive Shadow Picture Book by Megumi Kajiwara and Tathuhiko Nijima:

HERE is a video about the book.

However you do it, adding life to shadow seems like a great way to add something unique to your haunt.
Categories
Halloween

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