Halloween From a Distance

Over Coffee® | Stories and Resources from the Intersection of Art and Science | Exploring How to Make STEAM Work For You

An Over Coffee® special-edition podcast Halloween, 2020, is going to be largely virtual. Think virtual costume competitions, staying-in events and at-home entertainment. Fortunately, a number of creatives, at the intersection of art and science, are up for the challenge. For this special-edition podcast, we're profiling three previous guests whose work you can enjoy from your home. Filmmaker Douglas Nabors is the Founder/CEO of Los Angeles-based Fun Train VR. Since our 2018 conversation, Fun Train has been updating their first title, top-rated horror experience The Exorcist: Legion VR. (Image courtesy of Fun Train, and used with permission.) Today, Douglas emails, the game can be played on the new Oculus Quest 2 headsets! AND Fun Train has now added MR support to their five-chapter deluxe experience! Not to be confused with XR, MR, or mixed reality, allows a player to juxtapose their VR experience with their physical environment. The results, with The Exorcist: Legion VR, which Fun Train warns is "not for the faint-hearted", will be truly scary this Halloween. And Fun Train is currently putting finishing touches on a new and very different classic title experience: Tarzan VR! No release date has been announced as yet, but we'll update you as soon as we know! Summoning the "inner monster" Meanwhile, legendary scare actor/haunt producer Shar Mayer can tell you all about creating a monster--makeup, that is! And it doesn't take expensive ingredients or previous experience. Shar, whose work includes casting and training actors for Fullerton extreme haunt The 17th Door, talked with us onsite during ScareLA 2018. She shared her story AND gave some amazing Halloween makeup tips, which we're excited to include here. And in addition to our coverage, you can learn more about Shar's creative career in the great documentary, "HAUNTERS: The Art of the Scare" by filmmaker Jon Schnitzer. It's a fascinating look at the talent, work and sometimes controversial thought behind extreme Halloween haunts. STEAM gets "spooky" Last, but never least, is one of our all-time favorite makers. We first met STEAM educator/freelance technologist Mitchell Malpartida in February, 2018, when he appeared as a special-edition panel guest. He taught everyone how to create a robotic Valentine! And he continued creating fun stuff, both for his family and his students. Today, he's the founder of Nevada-based Masterful Creations STEAM Academy! In addition, he's teaching at this week's free International STEAM Summit, which runs from now through Friday, October 23rd. Last Halloween, Mitchell and his family created three maker projects, including a robotic diorama. He also taught students how to create Day of the Dead sugar skulls--and the chemistry involved! This year, he has another fun-scary maker project in the works--and we can't wait to tell you about it! On this edition of Over Coffee® we cover: What was involved for Douglas in creating The Exorcist: Legion VR; The story that greets players when they begin the game; How some moments in the game are scary enough to even startle Douglas!; And, a peek at a forthcoming new title from Fun Train, based on a beloved classic!; Halloween monster makeup tips from Shar; How to use common kitchen ingredients to make a scary monster face (zombie or otherwise!); A technique to create monster makeup (Shar says anyone can do this!); How Mitchell and his family created a fun-spooky Halloween diorama with robotics and 3D printing; What they're currently creating for Halloween 2020; And, a post-Halloween project which Mitchell used to teach schoolchildren chemistry plus creativity!