Well,…seeing as you've managed to find your way here I'm going to assume
you are a fan of GHOSTBUSTERS and I don't need to state the obvious!
Whether you stumbled upon this site or you are a hardcore fan I would like to
welcome you. This site is a long time in coming and did not simply sprout up
on a whim. This site represents the conclusion to a huge and lengthy project
that has spanned the better part of ten years. To be sure, this is the conclusion,
but it all began somewhere didn't it? For me, that beginning was the summer of 1989. Ghostbusters II was in the theatres and despite being only a fraction as exciting and original as the first movie it captured me and renewed my interest in the first film and all of it's amazing effects. Now, Halloween is my favorite holiday, and originally being from the North Shore of Massachusetts I was close to the Halloween capital of the world; The witch city of Salem. Halloween in Salem is like Mardi-Gras in New Orleans. It is a very, VERY big thing. So, Me and two of my best and oldest friends decided it would be extremely cool to go as the Ghostbusters for Halloween of 89'. The project began in earnest some time in late July and involved countless weekends and late nights, as well as liberal amounts of Coke, (the COLA, I assure you), Fauci's pizza, (best damn pizza in the world), lots of trash talk and truly cheesy but unassailably cool eighties music. Our funds were few, our knowledge was limited, and our reference was minimal. After all, these were the days before the crystal clear freeze frame features of DVD and the limitless data base of the internet.……okay, side note? I can't EVEN believe I, A.) just admitted to existing before a technology, and B.) know that it's true. This is a very,…very,…ugly moment. But I digress,…. Anyway,…despite our limited resources, we were still able to cobble together two proton packs, a slime blower and a last minute ghost trap from such lofty items as old plywood, auto flashers, fifty year old screws, various found objects, Tupperware containers, a Boston Bruins garbage can, old lamp wire, radio shack bulbs and LED's, nine volt batteries, colored cellophane, a giant Crayola crayon bank, spark plug cables, vacuum hoses, and a couple pr portable grills. In retrospect, it wasn't pretty, but it got the message across. And man oh man did the people dig it; despite the fact that our "flight suits" were green mechanics coveralls, the no ghost logo was sloppily painted onto the sleeves with acrylic paint, and none of our pistol belts matched.What we lacked in finesse and uniformity we made up for with enthusiasm, innovativeness, and pure spirit. We were totally jazzed. None of us had ever done anything that elaborate for Halloween before but that first night, complete with Paul's old station wagon loosely decked out as an Ecto-1, ( with a single rotating orange utility light), we had a pretty fantastic time. Our tour of duty that first year included my little brother's Cub Scout Halloween party, various stops at friends and relatives houses, and a trip to our high school. The night wasn't PERFECT of course,….as anyone who has ever attempted this type of thing can attest to. There were parts chipping off, batteries failing and the Ecto even got EGGED.I actually still laugh at what people must have thought looking out their windows to see three Ghostbusters hoofing it down the street after a pack of kids and Paul catching one and launching the little bastard through a hedge, (that was the LEAST you deserved, Spirito, you little TURD).All in all though it was a great night. We drove home exhausted, exhilarated, backs aching and as for myself,….totally addicted. I'm sure you could have guessed by now, the ritual continued. In fact, it became a yearly event. Every year the costumes became a little more elaborate, … a little more accurate,….a little more uniform. We mercifully ditched Paul's slime blower, I'm sure to the thrill of every one of his poor vertebrae, and gave the boy a pack. Here's raising a pint to you Paul for carrying around that monstrosity on your back and putting up with my hair-brained schemes, bro! We would start the building in June or July and more often than not, we'd be gluin' and screwin' up until sundown on the 31st. Even then, most years we still weren't finished as we headed out into the crisp October night, paint still drying and the sound of trick or treating kids drifting over the breeze. It wasn't so much the building as it was the bonding. Family and friends always stopped by to, "see how it was going this year". They would even stay to help or just to shoot the breeze as we worked. It was a good thing to do and I don't have to tell ya,…there's nothing finer than hangin' with your best buds,…doing a little drinking,…a lit tle eating,…listening to some tunes and goofing on each other in your garage/basement.Good good times and after all of it, that's what we did it for,…the good times. Of course the payoff was great too! Several Halloweens in Salem! The crowds of people screaming and chanting, GHOSTBUSTERS! GHOSTBUSTERS! GHOSTBUSTERS! More often than not it was like a scene form the movie. People cheering, laughing, cameras flashing. MAN! If I had a nickel for every stranger who has a photo of us,…….…… .things change though. You grow up and despite your best intentions, life often gets the better of you. The world demands more of your time. College and career take a front seat and the things of your childhood fade away for a time as you are ushered into, "the real world". But the good things always have a way of coming back. I went to college and wasted four years doing my barely passable impression of an illustrator. I did some floating time-wasting jobs and finally got off my ass to pursue a career in the field I had chosen when I was five years old,… Animation. I came out to California to seek my fortune in the animation industry and thank God, I found it. I became a storyboard and development artist and to this day I've had the privilege of working for such places as DIC, Hanna Barbera, Warner Bros. Disney, and Dreamworks SKG. It is, hands down, the best job ever; and I am forever thankful for what I do. However, at one point a few years ago, I actually BROKE my drawing hand. Not good for a guy in my line of work and in that one terrifying moment, (and accompanied by a sickening crunch), I had a six week vacation from the ol' workforce. So,….there I was, in my apartment, doped up on Vicodin and bored out of my skull. I flipped on the TV and what movie should be there and just starting? GHOSTBUSTERS. Now if you think this classic film is funny on it's own then try watching it on Vicodin! I hadn't seen the film in years and it turned out to be a very enjoyable and nostalgic afternoon. Afterwards, I thought, "I wonder if there's anything online about Ghostbusters". This turned out to be one of my biggest understatements ever. I sat there waiting as filthy AOL labored to connect at a whopping 56K. Once it did I opened my browser and began my search.…………… ..EIGHT hours later, jaw hanging open and my feeble printer exhausting itself trying to keep up, I had a pile of printouts ranging from construction plans to reference photos that answered every question to every detail I'd ever missed in building Ghostbuster props. I wasn't sure what I was gonna DO with them. I had no intention of rebuilding I just felt compelled to have the printouts. I continued to monitor the message boards and eventually came into contact with two of my greatest friends in propping or anywhere,…. Jose Salcedo, (GotMaul). And Ken Huegel, (Volguus). Jose's knowledge of GB props was unmatched and before long. His enthusiasm had infected me and I began the great journey of building again. The special effects of prop making had always intrigued me and I had always wanted to learn the art of mold making. Between having all of the resources at my fingertips and Jose's knowledge on where to find authentic parts I could no longer resist. Through building I met Ken who, like Jose and Norm Gagnon, was also of GB prop building royalty. Ken and I discovered, to our amusement, that we were like each others propping doppelgangers.……… or Propplegangers,……I guess. In fact, we often joke that I was the West coast version of him and he was the East coat version of me! We discovered that despite never having spoken to one another, we had simultaneously developed many of the same building, molding and casting techniques. Actually kinda spooky. So with these guys to build with, again, the ritual started, The players may have been different but the game was the same. Garage, goofing, pizza, tunes and a lot of laughing and good times. Building packs, building memories, building friendships,…one mold at a time. So here it is, 2003! Amateur propping has become the most rewarding, (and expensive), hobby I've ever had. My GB props are many and I am proud to have half a dozen or more movie accurate packs, several traps, correct flight suits and even a fantastic replica of the ECTO-1, restored from a 1959 Cadillac Superior ambulance. The final and crowning moment came last year as I shipped the completed ECTO back home for Halloween 2002. Me and the old crew, Paul, Timmy and my brother Matt all headed out for Salem in the ECTO. Killer night. We got so mobbed I actually started to get nervous. We couldn't go two feet without getting stopped! Sound cool? Sound crazy? Sound geeky? You have NO idea. To top off that topper, two days later, Me, Timmy, my other friend Matt and my buddy Jonathan jumped into the ECTO at six in the morning and drove to Manhattan in full gear and proceeded to do a driving tour of most of the filming locations of the movie. The tour ended up at the Firehouse; Hook and Ladder #8 in Tribeca. Greatest moment? Pulling out of the firehouse with the ECTO's lights and siren blazing as about fifty slack-jawed people goggled at it. Sound cool? Sound crazy? You have NO idea. It was one of the most insane and coolest things I'd ever been a part of. It was SO extreme it actually transcended geeky and became cool. So there it is then. And the capper to all of this insanity is this website. This is a compendium of all the knowledge I've amassed over the nearly fifteen years of on and off building of this stuff. It encompasses knowledge garnered from sources online, other talented proppers I know, and an obscene amount of VERY expensive trial and error. I wanted to share this site with those who would seek it out. Either for their sheer enjoyment, stunned disbelief, or for a starting block for the how's, what's, and why's for fledgling builders. But mostly for the simplest reason,….. I wish there had been a site like this one out there when I started out in this insane hobby. If I can make it just a little easier for someone out there then I'll feel real good about all this. With that, I hope you enjoy the site, and I hope you will appreciate the meticulous, anal-retentive, detail-heavy, blood-sweat-and teared, lovingly attended to craziness that is,….. THE GHOSTBUSTERS PROJECT. PROP ON! Sean Bishop AKA Venkman71 |