Concept to Reality: The Estate Sign

The Greywood Manor estate sign, pictured below, was one of the main projects I took on for the 2010 season. Although Greywood Manor was the name of the haunt starting all the way back in late 2008, there really was no prominent sign that told the audience they were visiting the house of the Greywood family.

Greywood Manor Estate Sign - 2010, in action!

This, however, was an idea that has it's roots all the way back, three years earlier, in 2008. Through the concept images I'm about to display, you'll get an idea of how an project grows from concept to reality.

In early 2008, one of the concept pieces I drew of the exterior of the mansion shows a Gracy Manor estate sign. Notice the design, as it is just a simple plywood board attached to a stake. "Gracy Manor" was also the name I was throwing around before I decided upon the name "Greywood." The name "Gracy" is of course a tribute to the Haunted Mansion. Master Gracey (with an "e") is the supposed owner of Disney's haunt.

This rendering is the first time that my estate sign was visualized on paper.

Estate Sign Concept: Early 2008

So the idea sat, and didn't progress at all that year. Then, in 2009, I thought it was about time to start construction on this project. I refined the look of the sign, and drew up a dimensional sketch for reference while constructing the piece. Unfortunately, I ran out of time in 2009 to actually finish. The idea did not die, however, as I just delayed construction until 2010.

Estate Sign Dimensions, 2009

Construction then began in 2010. To finalize what I wanted the piece to look like, I drew one more concept - an image of what I wanted the completed project to look like.

Estate Sign Concept, 2010

Construction then began with me choosing between some stain colors. I created test patches on a few wooden shims, and then began to stain, and paint my pieces. Note that the hanging sign portion of the prop is stained, while the letters are painted a metallic gold, and outlined with a flat black paint to create the illusion of depth on the flat surface.

So many choices...

Finally, I needed an ornate, iron piece to display on the top, horizontal bar of the sign. I went online, and found this neat door topper piece from Heavy Hitter Ind. Inc. I used one of the side pieces, painted it the same metallic gold as the letters on the sign, and finally finished this project.

Just a bit of paint, and it's perfect!

For 2011, am I going to improve upon this estate sign? Possibly. I'm throwing the idea around for adding some LED lights into the mix so the sign will light up at night, but so far, that's still Blue Sky. If not this year, possibly just the next.

Administrative Details: July 2011

Some new administrative details to cover...

First off, our blog has a new view if you try to visit the site on a mobile device.
Implemented a few weeks ago, the new mobile version has a very simple, yet intuitive design that works great with touch screen enabled devices. It will make catching the Manor updates that much more easy on the go!

Also, a new section, entitled "Our Library" has materialized on the gray side bar of the blog. Our library will soon be well stocked with priceless first editions, not necessarily all ghost stories in this case - but do be sure to browse through one of these days. Unlike a certain mansion, our library is free of marble busts.  But don't let that sway you, as I'm sure you'll find some of the best creative content on the web!

July's Flurry

So I got it to snow in Wisconsin in July.
Now I just have to hope it will work again this coming October...

Hollywood Bio-Snow

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

Ideas change, morph, and transform as they travel from blue-sky to reality.
One of those ideas was to have an "enchanted storm" billowing over the cemetery and the Greywood's plot. Complete with thunder, lightning, and what else but snow falling from the heavens above, the enchanted storm was to captivate the imaginations of the audience - drawing on that awe inspiring sight of the first snow fall of the season.

Sometimes, change is progress.
Unfortunately, due to budget constraints, falling snow - as originally pictured using a snow machine - will not appear this year at Greywood Manor.

However, good ideas never die.
Most often, if an idea is good enough, it will find it's way back into the big picture. It may not be right away, but with time it will return. That's a certainty.

As for our ghostly white snow - it will materialize, not as originally imagined, but in a different way. And who's to say change is bad?

Deck the Halls

Recently, we have been working on the "holiday" decor that will be making it into the Greywood Manor haunt this year. The bulk of the the Christmas decorations will be "framing" the attic scene.

Now before we call it quits or say "that's good enough," we of course need to add more detail. These are 50+ year old spirit infested holiday decorations after all, and they need to be portrayed as such. Simple fake greenery will not cut it, or push the story along.

So we made some changes.

First off, we took the white Christmas lights off the garland that hangs on the border of the garage door. Those lights simply wouldn't go with the time period - and end up polluting the organic nature of the haunt.

After that was completed, we started to "age" the garland. Instead of applying rust or mold to the prop (like we would a man-made object) we applied two different brown paints to make the garland look like it had partially died due to lack of water. It was essential that the greenery looked as if it was between life and death as it was literally traveling between planes of existence by reappearing from the great ethereal realm every Halloween night.

Starting with a dark, chocolate brown spray paint...

And ending with a lighter brown, almost beige that has a red hue to it.

That second color was chosen based on a real dead pine branch I picked at a tree in my yard.
In the end, I think we were able to successfully bring these holiday relics back from the dead.