I’m putting toghehter a show based on stories from Caracas, the city where I came from. Everything is pretty much ready but I came across this story, in a newspaper form 1955, and I would love to use it on my show.

So here are the bare bones of the story:

There is a river in Caracas and it’s full of garbage. One day a human head appeared in the river. No one knows who was the guy as the body was never found. The head was in very bad shape and the police came up with a singular method to know its identity: they exhibited the head inside a glass capsule and every day they changed its features. One day they put a moustache on the head. The nex one, a beard. The next one a blond wig, an so on, for three weeks. After that time a guy came and said: “Hey, listen, the head looks like my uncle José. He has been missing! The head belongs to my uncle!”. Case solved.

This is a real story.

Any idea for an effect to go with this?

I will appreciate...

The following effect idea could turn into a 'Mr Potato Head' session, if not handled sensitively! But how about:

As you tell the story, the spectators have various choices to make about what details might be added to the head. Is the hair short or long, for instance? Did the person wear glasses and so on...
Several of these choices are made and then recorded, as you tell the story.

Then as you reach the end of this grisly tale, you show a picture of the uncle (taken from a contemporary newspaper piece about the case), and your guests can't help but notice that this man's features eerily match the choices that they made...

Regards,

Caleb Strange.

P.S. It just struck me that one congruent and interesting way of constructing the face would be to use those police identikit photographs - a chin here, a hairline there etc. The spectators choose several of these yellowing period photographs, and the uncle's face is made.

Of course, if you were doing spook-theatre, maybe the uncle's constructed face could match exactly the twisted visage of the figure who loped down the aisle of the theatre groaning and smelling of the river(!) Actually, that's a silly idea. But what if the constructed face matched the newspaper report, as outlined, and then, in the car park after the show, some of your guests became convinced that they saw this man? Maybe some publicity potential there.

Thanks Caleb!!!

I was thinkg on something along the same lines: using the story to enhace audience participation in the event of re-create the portrait.

I’m still researching about methods, but I appreciate a lot the contribution.

I like the idea of using the audience to put the face together. What if after several faces are put together you use a "force" to create your own face.

That would be truly eerie- especially if you can find (or create) a contemporary newspaper account for the story.

The identikit is a great idea, Caleb.



Jeremiah