Saturday, October 24, 2009

The Pumpkin Man lives


Like a scene straight out of B horror movie I am at a lonely farmhouse in the middle of nowhere standing in front of a 17-foot-tall steel pumpkin man belching flame into the night sky. It must be getting close to Halloween.



One of today's assignments found me at the feet of a giant steel sculpture that will be the centerpiece for a Halloween party. Welded together from scrap steel the giant features a propane fire system on his head, arms and heart.



When the gas comes on there is that rush of gas and a pop like when a balloonist puts the spurs to his gas burner while inflating his balloon. Standing underneath I could feel the rush of heat as the computer program cycled the flame burst. The ground and surrounding area would light up in the glow from the ball of flame dancing from the pumpkin man's fingertips.




It was quite the display, I'm sure it would be enough to strike a chord of terror in young trick-or-treaters but on that dusty stretch of road I bet they will see few visitors aside from the party. It was a trick assignment trying to balance the night time exposure with the cascading flame but I think I got the ghostly look I wanted.

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