“The wind is wreaking havoc on my moon,” says Michael Martin as he looks at a round screen flapping in the breeze, whereupon a projector is beaming a now off-kilter display of a witch’s silhouette flying on a broom across the moon.
It’s not an easy fix; the projector is situated on a tree 16 feet up. But a few tech hiccups are to be expected when you’ve converted your front yard into a spirited Halloween spectacle of projections, animatronics, and special effects.
Spread across Martin’s lawn are four Halloween “scenes” to delight neighbors and trick or treaters walking by his Por La Mar home. In one scene, a projection set on a screen behind prop tombstones plays a video of a graverobber pilfering from a cemetery before he’s swallowed up by a phantom—a character that brings Martin endless joy.
“He’s my favorite character,” says Martin with a grin. The graverobber video, like the other videos, was created by Martin himself by combining overlays of a spooky cemetery and ghostly effects. On another screen, clips from classic Halloween movies that Martin edited together play, while another projector beams ghostly faces onto sheets that he propped up to create the effect of three bantering spirits.
Martin’s Halloween display is a labor of love that began in July, when he started putting together the videos, and culminated in a four-day marathon session of setting up the props, screens, and decorations. It’s his second year going all-out for the holiday, and this year he’s added a few new attractions like a cackling animatronic witch stirring a bubbling cauldron—an effect that Martin created by rigging the ladle to a photographer’s turntable.
Last year, Martin says, “We became like Halloween Central, the parents hung out, we had drinks, it was a great thing … This year I think is going to be even bigger.”
Martin’s family will be joining in on the festivities, too, with his brother and his brother’s wife, along with his labradoodle, Spencer, dressing up in swashbuckler garb to hand out candy in front of the pirate scene among the skeletons, treasure chest, and haunted shipwreck projection.
And for those trick-or-treaters wondering: Yes, they will be handing out full-sized candy bars.
