2014 Florida Haunter's Social

We had a good time at the 2014 Florida Haunter's Social in Ocala, FL this last Saturday. I don't know what the final estimate was, but somewhere between 30 and 40 people attended. Everyone seemed to enjoy our "Lifecasting with Alginate" workshop and we've received numerous very nice compliments.

Organized chaos at our "Lifecasting with Alginate" workshop

 There was a complete schedule of workshops for the day. Between each workshop we managed plenty of eating, prop admiration and a "Skyped" session with Creature and Makeup Designer, Nathan Motich ( natemotichfx.com ). He gave us a behind the scenes look at his studio and how he creates his authentic looking creature eyes. As luck would have it, we won one of his very cool eyes during the door prize drawing held at the end of the day.

At no time did I say working with Alginate wouldn't harm your skin...Ok, maybe I did. Maybe this is just the Alginate and not blistering pustules of peeling skin..

There was plenty of "prop lusting" going on at the event. Bobby Atkinson gets my A-plus for the most awesome pneumatic corpse prop, jumping out some six feet from it's upright wooden coffin! Don't you just hate those guys that talk about how simple it is to build their amazing animated prop by calibrating a stutso hydraulic framus damus and attaching it to a high pressure warbler valve with a two way differential bearing?! Whaaaaat??!!! I might not understand how to build one but that doesn't stop me from wanting one. You can get a look at the prop in action on the short video I put together for the Florida Haunters. It's actually slowed down a bit in the video.

"Steampunk Diver" by Jason and Dawn Fields

 Jason and Dawn Fields from "Terror on 20th" may have made the most original costume I have seen in a long time, Jason's "Steampunk Diver". Although they did seem to be a very distrusting couple when it came to leaving me alone with their costume. Ocala could be one of those crime ridden cities though, and someone could have stolen it I guess, so maybe their protectiveness was warranted...

"Man-eating plant" attack

 From our observation, everyone looked to have a good time with lots of inspiration and learning going on. I hope to see this event continue to grow and improve even more. It's only a couple hours from us and the building is the perfect size.

We won a door prize! A Nathan Motich Eye ...

The day concluded with door prizes that host Bill Ramsey was able to get donated by local businesses and Halloween vendors. We won two very cool items including a signed piece of artwork, "Macabre" by artist Mark Hadley .

...actually we won two including this print, "Macabre" from Hadley Studios.