Setting up your Halloween Display for Maximum Effect

I have been thinking a lot about how important a good pose is to the overall content of a Halloween display. We have all seen yard displays that consist of a figure with its arms stretched straight out, shoulders as square as a box and wider than those of a linebacker. While the costume or character displayed may actually be artistically good, the pose is not very intriguing and will make the display appear flat or one dimensional.
Here are a few tips I have learned over the years to help make the characters in a display appear more natural.

• Think about what your character is supposed to be doing. If he is a grave digger, have him hunched over and digging rather than standing there holding a shovel. Try to ‘catch him in the act’…make the pose active.
• Ignore the audience. There is nothing more ‘posed’ than having all your characters looking straight at the camera. Think about how many family pictures look cheesy when everyone is sitting straight up with a forced grin, looking straight into the camera lense. A good photographer tries to make his subject look natural and at ease, and many great photos only show part of a subject’s actual face. As you set up your display, try to pose your characters at different angles than straight at your audience.
• A turn of the head can make a huge difference. Try making your subject appear to be focusing on another object or character in the display. There is something very unsettling about a person staring at an object. This technique will tend to subconsciously force a viewer to follow the gaze to see what is being viewed. When you can control what is being seen and when, you have created an atmosphere that has visually engaged your guest.

At just over a month away from the big day, I hope these suggestions come in handy and help make many cool Halloween displays out there.

Dave The Dead is a guest blogger here at Grimvisions.com