Howcast

What’s Halloween without causing a few bloodcurdling screams? NOTHING. That’s what.

Halloween May Come and Go, but Candy is Forever (Almost)

Let’s be honest, the best part of Halloween is the candy. After you’ve amassed a hoard of sugarcoated confections, you’ve gotta wonder: How long does this stuff actually last?  

As it turns out, Halloween goodies hang in there for a pretty long time. Despite a few textural changes (don’t worry about that white stuff that appears on old chocolate — it’s harmless), your sweet treats will be fine to eat for at least 12 months…just in time to restock! So get out there and trick or treat to your heart’s content.

source: www.slate.com
image via Flickr: “Candy Corn” by Kurt and Sybilla

Haunting Hazards

Come on, guys. Haunted house actors may already be “dead,” but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt when you freak out and punch them. And it happens more often than you’d think — that flight-or-flight reaction is one fickle friend, and these tough actors know that all too well.

In a Huffington Post interview, Allen Hopps, a trainer for actors in haunted houses, said, “The problem isn’t the haunted houses or the actors, but the customers. They forget that people are actors and have a flight-or-fight reaction towards the person scaring them, not realizing one might be a 16-year-old girl.”
 
Don’t let this occupational hazard keep you from making a haunted house of your own. Just think of it this way: If you get socked in the face, you’re obviously doing your scaring right.

source: wwww.huffingtonpost.com
image via Flickr: “Ww1” by stranger3113

Let the (paper) creatures of the night take flight!

Whether you want to make Halloween cupcakes that are cute or creepy, these decorating tips will do the trick for your treats.

Totally stuck on what to be for Halloween? Check out these easy costume and makeup ideas for inspiration:

• Sexy Schoolgirl 
• Burlesque Dancer
• Zombie
• Hipster
• Drag Queen
• Vampire
• Cowboy
• Broken Doll
• Werewolf
• Mermaid

Channel your favorite movie character this Halloween with these suggestions:

• Freddy - A Nightmare on Elm Street
• Jim - Rebel Without a Cause
• Jigsaw -  Saw
• Holly - Breakfast at Tiffany’s
• Samara - The Ring
• Alex - A Clockwork Orange
• Optimus - Transformers
• Leia - Star Wars
• Max - Where the Wild Things Are 
• Carrie - Carrie

In Production: Killer Halloween Costumes

October is finally here and we’re freakin’ amped to be counting down the days until Halloween, the coup de gras of the fall holiday season! Aww, don’t cry, Thanksgiving. We love you and everything but c’mon, dude…it’s HALLOWEEN! In-house producer Tanner Almon (you might remember our Q&A with the chap) recently shot “How to Make a Scary Halloween Costume from Classic Horror Movies” and we wanted to share some behind-the-scenes snaps of the killer looks he brought to life! (Photos by Nick Prevas and Jill Fannon) 

Jigsaw from Saw

Carrie White from Carrie

They were fresh out of pig’s blood — thumbs up for the synthetic stuff!

Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Checking out the freaky footage on a Canon 5D Mark ii (just in case you camera buffs were curious).

Samara from The Ring

It’s hard directing deranged killers, isn’t it Tanner? 

 

Chucky from Child’s Play

New Respect for Drag Queens (and His Wife): Behind the Camera with Tanner Almon

Howcast Producer Tanner Almon may not have been the obvious choice to shoot our Halloween makeup series, given his aversion to cosmetics. But after powering through six classic Halloween characters with expert Kenneth Llambelis of Abracadabra Superstore — vampire, cat, drag queen, mermaid, Barbie, and broken doll — he’s now reconsidering whether he might dab on a bit of powder himself come October 31. Read on for the behind-the-scenes scoop! 

Howcast: What was your favorite look?

Tanner Almon: The broken doll. It probably took Ken 15 minutes to transform Barbie into a completely scary character. And we got this really cool B-roll after we finished the makeup part, with her kind of creeping around a headless, armless mannequin we found in the studio. My second favorite was the mermaid. I didn’t know what to expect, and the end result was a total surprise. When I think of a mermaid, I think of Darryl Hannah in Splash or The Little Mermaid, neither of which appear to be wearing much makeup. But Ken did these cool gold scales that were really beautiful — I hope I captured them well on camera. 

Howcast: Any other surprises? 

TA: The drag look was the one that I was like, “Holy cow! This is way more involved than I ever thought it would be!” Just the eyebrows took 30 minutes; it was really intense. You’d have no idea that he was the same guy who was a vampire an hour and a half earlier. 

Howcast: How did you get creative on the shoot?  

TA: [Howcast Filmmaker Program Director] Heather [Menicucci] and I decided that at the end, after the makeup was done on each person, we’d grab the camera and get B-roll in different locations with the actors still in character. The first was the vampire lounging on a vintage couch and looking very True Blood. For the cat, Heather bought some toy mice and had the actor play on the floor with them. It was fun to shoot a bit of narrative to tie it to the documentary part on how to do the makeup. 

Howcast: Any challenges? 

TA: I’ve never had to operate 2 cameras and separate sound by myself. The first camera was a wide shot with the character and Ken from the waist up. Then the other was nearly the same angle, but a close-up of the character’s face and trying to follow Ken’s hands while he was working with the makeup. I was nervous about keeping all the brushes in focus — sometimes I got it, sometimes I didn’t, but I always had that wide shot to cut back to when I needed it.

Howcast: What did you learn about makeup?

TA: I’ve never worn any makeup. Even on Halloween, I don’t like how it feels. But I was amazed by the attention to detail. In some cases, you use a powder base, and then for other things, a liquid. Ken had so many brushes and there was so much layering. You do the base, then highlights, then contours, and build and build and build. I never really appreciated it all. 

Howcast: Do you have a newfound appreciation for your wife’s makeup?

TA: Definitely a newfound appreciation for all she does in the morning. I should be a bit more patient when we’re trying to get somewhere.

Howcast: So will you use your new makeup knowledge this Halloween? 

TA: Maybe I’ll go crazy and do something with makeup, but I don’t know. If I were I woman, I don’t know what I’d do. I remember being Dracula as a kid, and I just couldn’t deal with the makeup — I was in hysterics about it. So my mom washed it all off, and I went in my Little League uniform instead.

— Bene Cipolla, Editorial Director