In anticipation of season 3 of American Horror Story, I breakdown how series creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s everything but the kitchen sink approach to horror actually works. Watch the video, then click through for all the behind the scenes gossip.
Tag Archive for vlog
Art, Reviews, TV
Sketchy Details @Home #7: Cubist Halloween
by Robert • • 0 Comments
This week on Sketchy Details @Home, we take a look at Face Off Season 5, Episode 7. The contestants had to take a modern art style and apply it to a makeup. Laura’s look was arguably one of the greatest to ever appear on the show (torn between that and Gage’s twisted Hansel & Gretel finale design). She did a two-tone Cubist design where half of her character was one orange/yellow and the other half was blue/green.
I wanted to play with the split color tonality and do something very iconic to Halloween. I sketched out a bat flying over the moon onto a dark and light gray sheet of plywood, then filled in the shapes with red and black (flipping on the panels) and detailed with white. There are parts that even resemble Cubism in the end. The effect is more stained glass spiderweb than Cubist, but it’s actually my favorite prop ever.
Behind the scenes after the jump.
News
What’s Happening in October at Sketchy Details
by Robert • • 0 Comments
This is going to be a packed month, people.
For starters, welcome back to 31 Days of Horror. That’s my annual month-long holiday where I review or write up a different horror media artifact–film, game, book, album, show, etc.–every day. It’s a riot. I don’t plan ahead. I just consume. I’m on a horror binge, people, and the only cure is more scary nummies.
Second, next week is New York Comic Con. I’m press again, which means I get to make a fool out of myself in front of people I admire by asking the absolute worst questions when my anxiety peaks but I push myself to go ahead with that interview anyway. I’m getting things signed to give away on the site and Friday, Saturday, and Sunday as different characters. I just need to, you know, actually construct three cosplays in a week, give or take a day. I’m also finally going to go ahead with a big media project I’ve had planned for months. It’s now or never. Plenty of room for rejection and acceptance at a con this large.
Books/Print, Views, Web
Slipstream #7: Banned Genre Books
by Robert • • 0 Comments
This week on Slipstream: The Pulp Culture Vlog, we celebrate Banned Books Week. Specifically, we look at the five most challenged horror, sci-fi, and fantasy books and books series according to the American Library Association’s wonderful challenged book resources. The list was derived, specifically, from the Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009 list. The rankings very well may have shuffled a bit since 2009. The Harry Potter series is not appearing as frequently and Captain Underpants actually topped the list for 2012.
Watch the video, then click through for all the behind the scenes gossip.
Art, TV, Views, Web
Sketchy Details @Home #6: Costume This
by Robert • • 0 Comments
This week on Sketchy Details @Home, I take SyFy’s latest Halloween costume-theme challenge and turn it into a tribute to Sharon Needles. I’ve had a Sharon Needles tribute planned for months but I didn’t finalize the design until I saw “Call Me On the Ouija Board.” Fantastic video. I feel like I’m going to be pulling inspiration from that for years to come with the reinvention of horror icons.
Here’s Sharon’s video for context.
And here’s the episode 6 of Sketchy Details @Home. Click through for behind the scenes and all that jazz.
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New episode of Haunting Ground, my DIY Halloween/home haunt web series, is up.
Haunting Ground #2: Light the Night
Games, Views, Web
Slipstream #6: Surviving Indie Horror
by Robert • • 0 Comments
This week on Slipstream, I continue on with the innovative horror mechanics in gaming theme and shifted over to PC titles. Two new indie horrors are redefining what survival horror can be in a big way. I’ve lost a lot of hours and a lot of sleep to these two games and I don’t see that trend stopping soon. It’s a blessing and a curse when indie developers say “we’ll just keep giving you free DLC updates to make the game bigger and better.”
Watch the episode below then click through for all the behind the scenes gossip.
Art, TV, Views, Web
Sketchy Details @Home #5: Down to Earth
by Robert • • 0 Comments
This week on Sketchy Details @Home, we’re responding to episode 5.5 of Face Off. The contestants had to create an original earth goddess/Mother Earth character pulling in inspiration from their mother. Most chose to ignore the second set of instructions, so I did, as well.
Watch the episode, then click through for all the behind the scenes gossip.
Games, Views
Slipstream #5: Innovations in Video Game Scare Technology
by Robert • • 0 Comments
This week on Slipstream, we explore the world of video game mechanics. Specifically, we’re talking about innovative horror games that pushed the limitations of interactive media to create a far more engaging and terrifying experience. These games tackle everything from simulating the struggle of real world relationships to transforming your home into a haunted house.
Watch the video then click through for all the behind the scenes gossip.
Art, TV, Views, Web
Sketchy Details @Home 4: Underground Horror
by Robert • • 0 Comments
This week on Sketchy Details @Home, I pull inspiration from season 5, episode 4 of SyFy’s Face Off. The challenge was…strange. The contestants had to choose two random elements from a manufactured underground cave/jail system to create an original character that could live underground. It was never actually explained that way. They just kind of wandered off and started sketching. Then there were anatomy books and encyclopedias that were used for reference in the workshop that had nothing to do with the caves and they lost me for good.
I tried to think of a way to add the random element to this episode, but I wound up taking a new approach. I combined elements of the top 3 looks into an original character for my yard haunt. I also pulled heavy influence from the Oods on Doctor Who, my favorite creature design of the new series because Lovecraft, that’s why.
Watch the episode, then click through for the behind the scenes gossip.
Views, Web
Sketchy Details Presents: The Haunting Ground #1: Gear Up
by Robert • • 0 Comments
The Haunting Ground is the third new program for Sketchy Details @YouTube, our expanded video line-up for Sketchy Details. This is a biweekly (every other week, not twice a week) show about everything Halloween. From home haunts to folklore, The Haunting Ground will prepare you to have the best Halloween ever.
Watch, comment, share, and subscribe. Let me know what you want me to cover. My arts, crafts, and building skills are all over the place and I can cover a lot of different topics. I sew, I sculpt, I build a new haunt from the ground up each year with a different theme, I do music, I do photography/videography, I paint, I alter, and I do a whole lot of other things, too.
You can follow my Halloween/horror Tumblr for more regular scary updates.
Link
Two new columns up at other sites today.
First, it’s the first Thursday of the month. That means Foreign Chops is up. Check out all the great links on films from Spain.
Foreign Chops #15: Spain
Second, my weekly horror review column is up at Man, I Love Films. I took a look at Stake Land and loved what I saw.
Horror Thursday: Stake Land
Did you check out the new episode of Slipstream: The Pulp Culture Vlog yet? Why not?
Event, Views, Web
Slipstream 4: Highlights from ConnectiCon ’13
by Robert • • 0 Comments
I have a lot of ConnectiCon 2013 coverage to put up on the site still. Everything got a little sidetracked with the demands of teaching a brand new show I had no knowledge of at the summer camp and I’m just catching up.
To start off the second wave of ConnectiCon coverage, I put together Slipstream 4: Highlights from ConnectiCon ’13. What better convention to cover for the first time on the pulp culture vlog than one that bills itself as a massively multi-genre convention? Watch the episode, then click through for behind the scenes gossip and some extra content that didn’t make the cut.
Art, TV, Views, Web
Sketchy Details @Home 3: Something Insidious
by Robert • • 0 Comments
The third episode of Sketchy Details @Home is up and it’s a doozy. Inspired by Face Off Season 5 Episode 3, I took a nasty black velvet painting found at a yard sale and turned it into an original demon worthy of Insidious.
I mention it in the video but it bears repeating: the demon isn’t the draw of Insidious; the ghosts are. Like most of the contestants, I combined the ghost aesthetic with some unusual demon imagery and came out with something that made me very happy. This sucker is going to the centerpiece of the night club yard haunt green room, which the trick or treaters will pass through to get their candy.
Watch the video, then click through for all the behind the scenes gossip.