Cinemagraphs And A Movie Review!


I recently came upon a cool, new style of animated image called a cinemagraph. They were created by photographer Jamie Beck and web/motion designer Kevin Burg. 

According to Beck, thanks to The Atlantic:

“We began seriously creating them during fashion week this past February. Our first few animated images were sequenced still shots looped in rapid succession which is a fairly common way of making an animated image. From there we began utilizing more fluid motion isolated in certain parts of an image to capture a moment of time, but also to un-freeze a still photograph by showing that moment’s temporal movement. The process involves still and video photography but editing is very manual and varies greatly from one to another so we’re routinely solving new problems when creating them.


We feel there are many exciting applications for this type of moving image. There’s movement in everything and by capturing that plus the great things about a still photograph you get to experience what a video has to offer without the time commitment a video requires. There’s something magical about a still photograph — a captured moment in time — that can simultaneously exist outside the fraction of a second the shutter captures.


To put it in less “artspeak” form: Our Cinemagraphs are a way of adding motion to a still image. On average, the more intricate ones take a day to edit and the simpler ones take 3-4 hours. It’s something we’d been experimenting with for about a year but it really came together during fashion week with the post “Les Tendrils” and culminated with “Anna Sees Everything” which touches on the “ultimate portrait” — an image that captures the essence of a person through an action or a scene they are closely associated with. Another example of that is “We all get dressed for Bill.” The image format of these is .gif — and that’s been highly influential to their style since a .gif adds many interesting and archaic limitations to what is possible. The .gif format is practically as old as the internet itself and we find it interesting that as a format it’s getting new life, particularly on Tumblr. But ultimately it’s a delivery mechanism in the same way JPEG is to still images.


Tumblr has been integral to the success of our images, both as a publishing platform but also as a direct supporter through their fashion week initiative to the recent collaboration with Coco Rocha.”

I searched the interwebs and found some really great examples of cinemagraphs from horror classics:


The Fearless Vampire Killers


 

Psycho





The Shining







Taxi Driver





Young Frankenstein




UPDATE: I had to go in and embed each cinemagraph in order for it to work right, as apparently Blogger automatically converts gif files to jpgs. What a pain...



And alas, it's time for my second movie review! (For those that missed it, you can read the first review here). This time, I'm going to review the new cult classic, Tom Six's The Human Centipede.


My review? NEXT TIME, SLEEP WITH THE CREEPY, FAT GUY.

So there you have it! Another expert review summed up in eight simple words. But as a bonus to all my loyal readers:


Mother Nature Giveth...


And we taketh! Like most of you, we have had a really wet spring and summer so far. But I'm not complaining anymore. I recently found these pieces of ivy vine that had fallen off of an old tree in our backyard. The vines had been cut years ago to prevent the ivy from completely overtaking and killing the tree. And with all of the rain this year, large chunks of gnarled, dead vine have started to fall off. And leave it to a home haunter to see those pieces and say, "I can use those in my haunt!"

These pieces are huge, ranging from about 6 to 8 feet in length. I have moved them into the garage, so that they can dry out. When they are dry, they have a really cool, withered gray look. I can't wait to throw some spanish moss on them and set them up in the Cemetery this year. Nothing like twisted, organic shapes to complement rotting tombstones!! And check out the white fungus growing on the bottom piece. I wonder what it will look like when it dries out!?




And on a side note, Blogger has just made it easy to create a favicon for your blog. I whipped up a simple skull for Highbury Cemetery. Check it out next to the web address in your browser's address bar. You can go here to get the tutorial. It's really easy and is a great little upgrade for your blog.






Be sure to check out Highbury Cemetery on your mobile devices, too. Same silly posts, but in a condensed size and on-the-go (for those times where you just can't wait to see what gets posted next...)! Wee!!

And be sure to check back next week, as I've been inspired. I watched White Zombie last night, and I'll post a tutorial to make some really quick cross tombstones like the ones from the movie!

The Dark Art of Chad Savage


I came across Chad's amazing work at the Midwest Haunters Convention. From his website:

Chad Savage was a dark artist from the moment his pudgy little hands were able to set crayon to paper. He was the kid that loved Halloween better than Christmas, rooted for Godzilla and Dracula, and really worried his Southern Baptist parents. It was very clear early on that Chad wanted to celebrate Halloween 365 days a year.

With a degree in illustration and graphic design, 20 years’ experience drawing and designing for the horror genre and over 10 years’ experience in web design, Chad got his wish. Halloween, for him, is every day. His company Sinister Visions inc. is thriving, providing web design, print design, illustration, sound design, font design and more for the horror, Halloween and haunted attraction industries. Sinister Visions currently hosts/manages close to 200 dark websites; odds are you’ve already been to at least 10 of them.

Chad’s artwork has appeared in (and on the cover of) numerous books and magazines and garnered awards from same. His original fonts have appeared on books, magazines, DVDs, CDs and in movies. Besides running genre sites like DarkChicago.com and ZombiePinups.com, he is the Art Director and Lead Designer for annual horror conventions like Flashback Weekend, HAuNTcon, and the World Horror Convention (2006), and proudly sponsors numerous dark genre events and projects.

Chad instituted and runs the annual HorrorFind Weekend Horror Art Show; he was also the Art Show Director for Convergence 10 in Chicago in 2004, the World Horror Convention in New York in 2005, co-chairman and Art Director for the World Horror Convention 2006 in San Francisco and the Flashback Weekend Horror & Dark Art Show in 2006.

Chad currently lives and works outside of Chicago (OK, in Indiana) with his fabulous (and tolerant) wife Alex, lovely daughters and their fairy dogmothers Bishop & Pumpkin.


The Ace of Spades



 Bloodcurdling! Terror! Horror!



Autumn Benediction



Jack In, Jack On, Jack Out



Zomb-O-Lanterns



I Am A Disciple of Beistle



Dia De Las Calabazas



Self-Awarecrow



Shadow Man


Be sure to visit his site for tons more work and information. Or to purchase a print of Shadow Man for me because my birthday is next week. It's totally up to you. And stop by his Etsy store to purchase original paintings. And you should probably stop by Sinister Visions as well to at the very least score some amazing fonts.



Midwest Haunters Convention, 2011


Last weekend, Mrs. Highbury and I made the trip down to Columbus, Ohio to take in our first ever convention, the Midwest Haunters Convention. And though we only went down for one day, we were amazed at what we saw!

We arrived early Saturday afternoon and immediately made our way to the convention trade show with camera in hand. Upon entering the main doors, the entire area was covered in a thick fog. Froggy's Fog!! (I picked up two gallons of Froggy's Fog Juice for the haunt last year, and I will never use anything else. Top grade quality fog, and I even got mine scented with Mildew and Swampy Marsh.)

After the fog cleared up, we made our way to the Garage Of Evil booth, complete with their laser gun shooting gallery. There we met Steve O and the Evil Queen, who hooked us up with plenty of swag. Thanks, guys!! Next year I promise to bring you some "beverages"!!






We then stopped by Skeletons And More, where I got some shots of their amazing skull and bone props:







We also got some shots from the amazing Dream Scape Studios:






As well as Screamline Studios, with their awesome booth setup, The Tool Shack:




And one of my favorites, Creepy Collection:








We saw a great Scarecrow at The Corpses Hollow:



We saw Satan at BandB Productions:




We also stopped by and had a great chat with the group from Specter Studios. They had the absolutely greatest Opera Clown costume I had ever seen. Simple black and white color pattern and a wonderfully creepy head. I want this for my collection:


I applaud their efforts for manufacturing everything in the good 'ole USA and their beautifully designed catalog. And why, why, why did I NOT try on their duck costume??? That thing was crazy!!



 Along with all the vendors, the Convention had a small custom car show in the back:








After walking around to all of the amazing vendor booths, we took a stroll over to the hotel bar to grab a quick refreshment. It was there that we met Leo McNamee and "G" Pradel from Chicago. We chatted with them about all things Halloween over a few beers. And it was then that "G" told us he was filming a documentary about Leo and home haunting. Seconds later, he whipped out the camera and we were blabbing our heads off about the Convention and our home haunt. G, if you're reading this, thanks again for including us in your documentary. I hope it is a success and I hope that we don't end up on the cutting room floor!!

After our cameo appearance, we made it back to a meet and greet with the Garage Of Evil Network. It was good to see a few members of the Northern Ohio Haunters Group (as I haven't made it to any of the make and takes this year), as well as other members from across the country.






It was unfortunate that we had to leave, as I really wanted to attend the Masquerade Ball later that night, but it wasn't to be this time around. We are already making plans to attend next year, for the entire weekend, including the Thursday/Friday Bus Tour, as well as the Masquerade Ball and a few instructional classes. I'll also be dragging Mrs. Highbury, Scrapes and Jimmy T along with me. 

A big, big thanks to Kathy and the rest of her crew for putting on an amazing Convention. I hope to see you all there next year!!

And the Cleveland Plain Dealer has a good article with even more photos from the Convention here.


Barbarion - My Rock


So I went through all of my photos from last week's Midwest Haunters Convention and was set to get all of my thoughts organized into one comprehensive post, when this stopped me dead in my tracks:


Behold the supreme power of Barbarion! Quench your soul in the river of fortitude and you shall fly high above the eagle's nest.




"What happened to rock!?"

Be sure to visit Barbarion here. And check out director Dave Budge's other videos here.


Adelaide Morgue, 2008


Our good friend Jimmy T, overseer of home haunt Adelaide Morgue (RIP) and now the Terror on St. Leger (as well as original Highbury Cemetery ghoul and early horror fan) recently sent me these great photos from the 2008 edition of Adelaide Morgue. Scrapes and I lent our talents to terrorize his neighborhood, and two days later, Jim returned the favor at Highbury Cemetery. Long live the Akron/Canton home haunt brotherhood!!








And as a very-last-minute reminder, the 2011 Midwest Haunters Convention in Columbus, Ohio has started and runs through the weekend. And in the very-last-minute, it looks like I'll be heading down for the tradeshow tomorrow morning with Mrs. Highbury. I'll have my camera, so I'll be sure to post some photos of the madness when I get back. I just hope that somebody from the Garage Of Evil Network's Northern Ohio Haunters enrolls in some of the amazing classes and shares what they learned at the next Make & Take (which I promise to actually make it to!!). Furthermore, I have just enrolled in the Broadcast Evil Events Relay (BEER) system, so I hope to meet everyone for a cold one or two. Or three.