Fly On Over

Halloween is a great time to surprise friends with scary and fun e-cards. No other holiday offers such freedom to be silly and frivolous in our choice of cards or who we send the cards to. It is the time for our playful spirits to come out frolic.

As for me, I have the same freedom in designing the cards. Last year one of the cards I designed was a funny card using my royal standard poodle as my alter ego wanting to be a "Rock Star". He didn't mind the wig and receiving my undivided attention, in fact he got bored and went to sleep giving me the opportunity for the final shot of the card.

This year, well, I dipped into the dark side of Halloween and created as scary a card I could; scary in a psychological sense using a fly as a metaphor for something that is disturbing and creepy. I never really have any idea of what I am going to do when I start out projects like this card. Rather than trying to come up with a great idea I look for objects or things that "speak" to me. Actually I learned long ago doing window display to pay attention to the things I am drawn to forthose things hold within them the seeds for conceptual ideas - solutions to my design task of the moment.

Walking down the aisle of halloween costumes I noticed one lone mask of an old woman that had the look of a great character rather than the grotesque. Nearby on a peg I noticed these creepy eye-balls that were just the correct size for the mask; some red pupils, some blue pupils. Next to them was a package of flys, yes plastic flys, why not. Perfect! It's a start....and oh those fake eyelashes are a must. The old woman spoke to me and from there I had the beginning of the card I was about to make.

All my years of experience in window display, set design and photography come into play when I create the motion cards. I found scarves and fabrics to use for the old woman, applied her eyelashes, put her in eyeballs and took photographs of her in varying positions. We spent awhile together as I became in awe of how photogenic she was. She definitely "spoke" to me and the flys, indeed they added the element of repulsion I was seeking to create a creepy Halloween experience.

Now the time had come to import the photographs into the Flash animation program, find suspenseful music and go to a place within to create a visually stunning and perhaps delightfully disturbing, if disturbing can at the same time be delightful, e-card.

Now I must admit I struggled with this part trying one thing then another never pleased with the outcome and starting over. I always am a bit envious of creative people who conceptualize and have everything planned out before they start. Unfortunately, I am not in that category. At times the path is revealed quickly but most often I work and rework the piece as ideas float into my consciousness. I'm as curious as to how it will unfold as anyone else would be.

My creepy Halloween card is almost complete and I reach the point to decide whether or not the flies fly into the old lady's mouth. I decide not to have that happen thinking perhaps maybe that is just "over the top". The next day I look at the card and know a few flies have to fly into her mouth, after all, didn't I want to make a really creepy card! Yes, so in go the flies into the old lady's mouth. A-la and there you have the story of "Fly on Over" - a Halloween card for my website E-Motioncards meant to be quite creepy! Enjoy.