Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84 SMI; site sun.uucp Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!decwrl!sun!chuq From: chuq@sun.uucp (Chuq Von Rospach) Newsgroups: net.sci,net.rec.photo Subject: Re: Holograms at Disneyland Message-ID: <3052@sun.uucp> Date: Wed, 4-Dec-85 12:19:54 EST Article-I.D.: sun.3052 Posted: Wed Dec 4 12:19:54 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 7-Dec-85 15:05:13 EST References: <531@cylixd.UUCP> <160@brl-tgr.ARPA> <601@oakhill.UUCP> Organization: Sun Micro -- NFS Consulting Group Lines: 54 Xref: linus net.sci:219 net.rec.photo:1489 > In article <160@brl-tgr.ARPA> gwyn@brl-tgr.ARPA (Doug Gwyn ) writes: > >> However, at least at Disney World's version of the Haunted Castle, there > >> is a segment of the haunted ride where you are taken by a large > >> picture window, through which you can see a bunch of ghostly figures > >> dancing around a gothic banquet hall. This has to be done by holograms; No it doesn't. Remember that when the Haunted Mansion was designed, lasers and Holography were still laboratory phenomenon. > How this is done is quite obvious. You see the scene from very high up and > must look down. Underneath you is a setup of all the 'ghosts' in a black room > moving about. What you see is merely their reflection upon a semi-mirrored > surface in front of the entire 'live' room you see that is really in front of > you. Close. They didn't even bother with semi-mirrored glass. At Disneyland (where I worked with those machines for over four years...) the dinner party room is fronted by three pieces of flawless plate (about 50x50 foot each, so you can imagine the cost). The room behind the glass is empty. Below you and above you are the rooms where the mannequins are placed, and they are lit by bright green lamps. The reflections of the mannequins on the glass are carefully placed to make it seem like they are in the room, and that glass is kept very clean to minimize things that would break the illusion. > As for the faces which sing the 'ghost' song and stare at you while you pass - > I studied them very carefully the first day the haunted mansion opened at > Disney World. They were fascinating. They are actually featureless 'heads' > with white reflective coating. The faces are actually a film projected from > behind and above. Very good illusion. Yep. Same with the fortune teller in the crystal ball. > The 'infinite' candlestick reflections would seem to be a simple use of > parallel mirrors. However, here I am conjecturing. Time after time I have > stared at it while riding by and I haven't seen any clues to indicate > otherwise. Correct again. Probably the best illusion in the ride, if you don't understand the technology behind it. The one effect I haven't heard mentioned yet is the hitchhiking ghosts. For those that didn't figure it out, the mirrors you are seeing are only semi-reflective, and the ghosts are lit on the far side and show through. For those that have never seen backstage at Disneyland, the technology is truly fascinating.... You'd never believe how much they've been able to do with a little hydraulic fluid... chuq -- :From catacombs of Castle Tarot: Chuq Von Rospach sun!chuq@decwrl.DEC.COM {hplabs,ihnp4,nsc,pyramid}!sun!chuq Let us now take the sacred oath. As of now, he is no longer an elephant!