The brief
A shopping centre in Glasgow wanted to install a Halloween photo opportunity for their customers and as it was Halloween, the obvious choice was a giant pumpkin that members of the public could get inside and have a photo taken of them peering out of the cut-out eyes and nose.
Prop process images
The Process
We began by sculpting the pumpkin in polystyrene. We had to make sure that the cut-out nose and mouth were positioned in such a way that adults and children alike could look out of them without the height differences affecting the look of the pumpkin face.
Once the shape was sculpted, we added tin foil prior to hard-coating with fibreglass. Once the pumpkin had its fibreglass hard-coat, it was ready to be sanded to a smooth finish. After the giant pumpkin was sanded it was ready to be primed and painted.
As it was hollow and also had to be a particularly narrow depth to allow it to fit through some tight spots before gaining access to its final position, we had to make sure it was balanced just right so that it wouldn’t topple and cause injury to the many members of public using it. To make sure that the pumpkin prop was balanced we had to add weight to its lower section and build an integral base that counter-balanced the weight.
Project Image
The Result
The prop arrived a day early as requested by our client and looked great, and, most importantly, it fit through the tight spots and was balanced and safe to use by members of the public.