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iOS 18 Tips, Tricks, How-Tos, News

How To: Build a breakaway tombstome prop

Are you doing a graveyard shot and decided it would be cool to throw someone through a tombstone? This video tutorial will show you how to make a breakaway tombstone. It can also be used to make a cool fake graveyard. You will need foam insulation, a tape measure, sand paper, a utility knife, a marker, string, and paint. Watch this video prop-making tutorial and learn how make a breakaway tombstone for your next scary movie.

How To: Build a sci-fi cryo containment chamber

Making a prop for a science fiction movie? This how-to video dives step by step guidance on how to build a super cool, futuristic, sci-fi, cryo containment chamber. You will need a cylindrical object, craft foam or sytrofoam, a hot glue gun, plaster of Paris, aquarium line tubing, and paint. Check out this video prop-making tutorial and learn how to build a great sci-fi like cryogenic containment chamber.

How To: Make a Spiderman gun for Halloween

Modify a hot glue gun and shoot streams of sticky web goo all over your haunted house with the Spiderman gun in this how-to video. Add a little extra something to your Spiderman costume, to impress while trick-or-treating or at a Halloween party. You will need a hot glue gun, an air-compressor, air-compressor tubing, and copper fittings. Watch this video Halloween tutorial and learn how to make a Spiderman gun.

How To: Clean a smoke machine

Smoke machines can add great atmosphere to any occasion. But your smoke machine can get clogged. You need to clean the smoke machine every 6 months. This tutorial teaches you how to clean your smoke machine. Great care must be taken as the smoke or steam is very hot and can burn you in a split second. Watch this how to video and soon you will have a sparkling clean smoke machine.

How To: Make a flying crank ghost on Halloween

Check out this Halloween tutorial video to learn how to make a flying crank ghost. This is essentially like making a big Marionette ghost puppet. All you need is the following easy to find materials: a styrofoam skull, 7 wire coat hangers, black spary paint, pliers, cheese cloth, tacky glue, and laundry detergent. This flying crank ghost promises to be a delightful scare on Halloween trick or treaters!

How To: Make Axel's chakrams for Cosplay

Check out this tutorial video to learn how to make Axel's chakrams for Cosplay. This instructor guides you along every step of the process, even taking you to the store and providing tips on which materials to use. Watch this instructional video that details how to make Axel's chakrams for cosplay, and enhance your role playing.

How To: Make a cardboard sword for Cosplay

Check out this step by step instructional video to learn how to make a Cosplay Sword from cardboard and wood! Make sure you have all of the following materials to start making your Cosplay sword: spray paint, hard cardboard, wooden dowel, bendable metal wire, silver colored tape, embellishment, super glue, hand saw, paper clay, masking tape, scrap papers, pen knife, and a PVC pipe. Watch this Cosplay video and enhance your role playing with this tutorial!

How To: Make a Halloween Jason hockey mask

Jason Voorhees might be one of the scariest horror villains, and that's why he would make for a great Halloween costume. For this project, you will need a hockey mask, white spray paint, black spray paint, clear spray paint, an artist's brush, red, black, and brown acrylic paint, sand paper, an X-acto or utility knife, a drill bit, and a black barker. Watch this video special effects tutorial and learn how to make a Jason Voorhees hockey mask for a Halloween costume or movie spoof.

How To: Make a cheap corpse head prop for Halloween

Dr Kreepy, Halloween crafter, shows how to obtain a rotting head without killing someone! For this project, you will need a skull, paintbrushes, liquid latex, black spray paint, brown paint, and cotton balls. Watch this video prop-making tutorial and learn how to make a cheap corpse prop head for Halloween.

How To: Enhance videos of a static scene using photographs

This video presents a system for automatically producing a wide variety of video enhancements and visual effects. Unlike traditional visual effects software (e.g., After Effects, Shake, Boujou, etc), the system is completely automatic and no manual labor is required from the user. The major limitation of the work is that it can currently handle only videos of static scenes (i.e., videos shot with a moving camera but containing no moving objects in the scene). Efforts are being made to lift th...

How To: Build a lightsaber prop for film making

Backyard FX shows how to build a real lightsaber. Erik Beck unearths the original lightsaber blueprints from the special effects creator for Star Wars, and show you how to buy parts to a real lightsaber so you can have your own custom Star Wars weapon. In the test film you'll see our rotoscoping technique on how to complete the effect with some simple computer animation. You will need chrome plated slip joints, black vinyl rubber, a nylon slip joint, a rubber slip joint, rubber O rings, and m...

How To: Build a smashable guitar prop

You're not really going to smash that guitar are you? It's a piece of art. Parker put together this tutorial to show how to build a prop guitar you can smash and let out all that rock and roll angst. You will need a glue gun, chess pawns, cardboard, duct tape, a gift box, glue, a garbage can, paper, paint, string, and a ruler. Watch this video prop-making tutorial and learn how to build a prop guitar for smashing.

How To: Build a Ghostbusters proton pack prop

When you need to make a Ghostbusters prop, who are you going to call? Parker! In this video, he shows you how to make a proton pack prop for Halloween, play, or a home movie. You will need a vacuum hose, a small box, miscellaneous plastic parts, a medium circular tin, a big box, a tin can, a water bottle, a coke bottle, a race car trigger, a cookie package, and a pudding container. Watch this video prop-making tutorial and learn how to build a Ghostbusters proton pack.

How To: Build a prop teleportation chamber

Unfortunately, no one seems to have, or willing to share, the science of making a real teleportation chamber. That doesn't mean you can't make a prop one though. Parker put together this video to show us how. You will need foam core poster board, a hot glue gun, duct tape, a pane of glass or plastic, silver spray paint, black paint, and cardboard. Watch this video prop-making tutorial and learn how to build a teleportation chamber.

How To: Build a green screen

This instructional special effects video uses fast-forward action to quickly display how to construct a green screen from scratch in an empty room. Watch this video if you are a visual learner or someone who learns by observing others in action as a team builds a green screen set.

How To: Make squibs to strike the walls

Watch this instructional special effects video on how to make a squib to simulate fired bullets striking a wall. This squib making process will not work for contact on people. Follow the step by step procedure by watching this instructional video to produce realistic special effects for your film.

How To: Simulate a gun shot wound special effect

Watch this short tutorial on how to make a realistic bullet hit to simulate an actor getting shot by a gun. Materials needed include a pressure sprayer, clear tubing that will fit on to the hose of the pressure sprayer, a small Translucent PVC elbow, fake blood, duct tape, a funnel, a shirt you don't mind damaging.

How To: Make fake and drinkable blood

In this Halloween Science Video Series, Dr. Diana teaches you how to make fake and drinkable blood using ingredients from your kitchen. This recipe is perfect for your Halloween Party. Now all you need is some fangs for that blood to drip down, and you'll have the scariest costume.

How To: Make a wax hand

This tutorial video will show you how to make a hand out of wax using some candles and water. This is a great idea for making props and various pieces needed to decorate a film set, or a halloween idea.

How To: Make realistic looking prop swords

So you want to make a film, and in that film you want to have a sword, but you can't buy one, not to mention real ones are pretty dangerous. Your insurance costs will go through the roof! Well, here's you solution. Check out this helpful two-part video tutorial on how to make your own prop swords, which means less dangerous swords. Actually, they're made out of metal, so you still might just somebody with them yet.

How To: Look masculine with makeup for cosplay

This is a video tutorial made to help out all those cosplayers on how to look more masculine using make up. This was originally made to help out guys who are pretty new to make up, but need to learn it for photo or cosplay purposes, and for girls who are trying to crossplay a male character and need to look more masculine. So, live anime and manga... cosplay it out with costumes and wigs and makeup and everything else.

How To: Do makeup to match your cosplay costume

TheTribalButterfly fulfills your request to give a video tutorial on how she does her cosplay makeup, and this is it, in two parts. Anime and manga costumes are hard enough to make, and then there's the makeup. You just don't look right without it. Cosplay is no joke, it's an art, and you need to look good!

How To: Make a level two boffer sword for LARPing

If you're a LARP maniac, or just a fan of LSD-themed (Latter-day Saint) games and activities, then this tutorial is just the ticket. Check this video out to learn how to make a foam-padded sword that is easy and inexpensive. This level two boffer sword will take care of your LARPing opponents like Chuck Norris. If you're a fan of live action role-playing, then this boffer sword is just the beginning, trust me. There's a level three boffer sword, too.

How To: Firewalk across hot coals

Check out this tutorial video to learn how to fire walk. Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine and monthly columnist for Scientific American, tries his hand at firewalking barefoot across 1000-degree red hot coals and doesn't get burned. Dr. Shermer provides a scientific explanation for the mysterious phenomenon.