--- title: A Modern Haunted Effect With A Vintage Touch description: The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk utilized Rosco CrystalGel in their Fright Walk attraction to transform their video monitors into large haunted portraits. image: https://spectrum.rosco.com/hubfs/Haunted%20Effect%20blog%20rev%20OG%20image%20size.jpg --- ![](https://spectrum.rosco.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Rosco/Images/page-top-bg.jpeg) [![NewSpectrumlogo](https://spectrum.rosco.com/hs-fs/hubfs/NewSpectrumlogo.png?width=320&height=150&name=NewSpectrumlogo.png)](https://spectrum.rosco.com) - [Home](https://spectrum.rosco.com/) - [About Spectrum](https://spectrum.rosco.com/rosco-spectrum-featured-products-3?hsLang=en) - [Featured Products](https://spectrum.rosco.com/rosco-spectrum-featured-products?hsLang=en) - [Rosco.com](https://us.rosco.com/en) Home About Spectrum Featured Products Rosco.com ![](https://spectrum.rosco.com/hubfs/Haunted%20Effect%20blog%20rev%20OG%20image%20size.jpg) # A Modern Haunted Effect With A Vintage Touch The [Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk](https://beachboardwalk.com/), California’s oldest seaside amusement park, recently underwent a $14MM renovation. The process blended old-time nostalgia with modern thrills to enhance their guest experience. As part of the renovation, Fright Walk – one of the park’s most popular attractions – had a major makeover where they used [Rosco CrystalGel](https://www.rosco.com/product/crystalgel) to create several haunted portraits. In 2017 Fright Walk was completely rebuilt from the ground up using impressive animatronics and plenty of special effects. One of their goals was to create a haunted atmosphere in the lobby. Mark Hersey, the park’s Entertainment Technology Manager and Fright Walk’s Lead Designer, wanted to hang a set of “un-living portraits” on the walls. The haunted paintings are actually video monitors displaying footage of serene portraits that transform into ghoulish poltergeists. [![haunted portraits](https://spectrum.rosco.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Boardwalk-1rev-1.jpg?width=551&height=345&name=Boardwalk-1rev-1.jpg)](https://spectrum.rosco.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Boardwalk-1rev-1.jpg?hsLang=en)In order to make the monitors blend into Frightwalk’s décor, Mark needed to make the monitors look like one-hundred year old paintings. [![](https://spectrum.rosco.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Boardwalk-2rev-1.jpg?width=289&height=385&name=Boardwalk-2rev-1.jpg)](https://spectrum.rosco.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Boardwalk-2rev-1.jpg?hsLang=en)He achieved the textured finish of an “oil painting” by applying Rosco CrystalGel directly to the monitor's surface. The resulting texture resulted in a “brush strokes” overlaying the video footage. CrystalGel dries clear and adheres to almost any surface. After a series of testing, Mark and his team discovered that a light application yielded the best results, as it minimized the rainbow effect that thick and bumpy applications had produced. If you’re looking for a new special effect for your Halloween decor, use Mark’s technique to create your own spooky portrait gallery. All you need is [the proper video footage](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aTrYOqQGcU) displayed on a monitor that’s been coated in CrystalGel to add the vintage look and feel of oil on canvas. [Visit the CrystalGel Product Page](https://www.rosco.com/product/crystalgel) on our website to learn more about the properties of this versatile scenic product. [![haunted portraits](https://spectrum.rosco.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Boardwalk-3-1.jpg?width=1200&height=546&name=Boardwalk-3-1.jpg)](https://spectrum.rosco.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Boardwalk-3-1.jpg?hsLang=en) Fright Walk is a year-round attraction, so the next time you’re in Northern California, be sure visit the [Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk](https://beachboardwalk.com/) and check out the Fright Walk in person! Save Save Tatiana Massano October 30, 2017 [Questions?](mailto:spectrum@rosco.com) [Scenic and Staging](https://spectrum.rosco.com/tag/scenic-and-staging) ![](https://spectrum.rosco.com/hubfs/Tatiana-Massano2-160x160.jpg) ## About Tatiana Massano Content Marketing Specialist: Based in the Madrid office, Tatiana is ideally positioned to share inspiring stories of how customers use Rosco products to accomplish their ideas in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. ### Related post [How To Make Your Own BlackWrap Ripple Effect](https://spectrum.rosco.com/index.php/2017/01/how-to-make-diy-blackwrap-ripple-fx?hsLang=en) [Create Subtle Breezy Lighting Effects With Rosco X-Effects®](https://spectrum.rosco.com/index.php/2021/05/create-subtle-breezy-lighting-effects-with-rosco-x-effects?hsLang=en) [A Flowing River Of Light Provides Unique Bike Path Illumination](https://spectrum.rosco.com/index.php/2021/08/a-flowing-river-of-light-provides-unique-bike-path-illumination?hsLang=en) [National Geographic Encounter Creates A Virtual Ocean Odyssey With Rosco Lighting Effects](https://spectrum.rosco.com/index.php/2018/07/national-geographic-encounter-creates-a-virtual-ocean-odyssey-with-rosco?hsLang=en) ### Receive Email Alerts About New Spectrum Blog Posts! ### Categories [Architecture](https://spectrum.rosco.com/tag/architecture) [Dance](https://spectrum.rosco.com/tag/dance) [Entertainment Lighting](https://spectrum.rosco.com/tag/entertainment-lighting) [Film, Television and Broadcast](https://spectrum.rosco.com/tag/film-television-and-broadcast) [Photography](https://spectrum.rosco.com/tag/photography) [Rosco - The Company](https://spectrum.rosco.com/tag/rosco-the-company) [Scenic and Staging](https://spectrum.rosco.com/tag/scenic-and-staging) © 2022 Rosco Spectrum - [Home](https://spectrum.rosco.com/) - [About Spectrum](https://spectrum.rosco.com/rosco-spectrum-featured-products-3?hsLang=en) - [Featured Products](https://spectrum.rosco.com/rosco-spectrum-featured-products?hsLang=en) - [Rosco.com](https://us.rosco.com/en) - ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Tatiana Massano", "url" : "https://spectrum.rosco.com/author/tmassano" }, "dateModified" : "2023-10-10T13:23:35.324Z", "datePublished" : "2017-10-31T01:57:06.000Z", "headline" : "A Modern Haunted Effect With A Vintage Touch", "image" : [ "https://spectrum.rosco.com/hubfs/Haunted%20Effect%20blog%20rev%20OG%20image%20size.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://spectrum.rosco.com/index.php/2017/10/a-modern-haunted-effect-with-a-vintage-touch", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://spectrum.rosco.com/hubfs/ROSCO_WAL_H_RGB.png" }, "name" : "Rosco Laboratories" } } ```