Flashlight Illusion Instructions

YOU WILL NEED:

Besides the items in your mail, you will need:

• A pair of scissors
• A pencil
• A fine tip permanent marker (such as a Sharpie)

DECIDE ON A CONCEPT FOR YOUR PROJECT

The idea of this flashlight illusion (here's a video of it) is to make it look like a beam of light from the flashlight is shining into a dark room. This can be a good place to start when brainstorming a concept: 

• Where would you typically use a flashlight?
• What places are dark?
• What do you want to be found with the beam of light?
• What's the story you want to tell?

You can take this in many different directions!

Included in your mail is a print out of a flashlight and a magnifying glass. Use them for this project or to create your own source of light if it better fits your concept.

For example you may want to create a light saber or a stage spotlight instead. (If so you can do this on white printer paper--draw an outline then cut it out. For the light saber, draw any additional details.)

I decided to shine my flashlight onto different Halloween related things (ghosts, candy, haunted house, snake, cauldron, etc. 

For the magnifying glass, I did a word search.

Here are some other ideas you can try:

• Flashlight + the inside of a haunted house
  
• Flashlight + the inside of a mad scientist's laboratory
  
• Flashlight + a closet 
• Flashlight + under the bed
• Magnifying glass + junk drawer of objects to look through
• Magnifying glass + map
• Magnifying glass + word puzzle or game
• Light saber + Star Wars related things
• Light saber + space
• Spotlight + stage with images from a play or musical (like a scene from the Nutcracker)
• Spotlight + empty stage with different props and objects

CREATE YOUR LIGHT SOURCE

If you are using the print out of the flashlight and the magnifying glass, cut them out.

If you'd like, you can glue the cut out of the flashlight or magnifying glass onto a piece of cardstock to make the piece stiffer (this can make it easier to move around later--you don't want to make it too thick though!)

If you are not using the print out, create your light source on a piece of paper or cardstock. I suggest making the size similar to that of the flashlight / magnifying glass so it pairs well with the size of the papers included in the mail that you'll be using.

CREATE YOUR DRAWING

The first step is to create the drawing of your scene. Use a pencil and the blank white paper included in your mail. (You can use the back of the paper later to draw your second scene).

You will be tracing this drawing onto the transparency paper so this drawing should be exactly what you want your scene to look like.

TIP: The permanent maker tip will most likely be thicker than your pencil. Make sure to leave enough space between your pencil lines to account for the thicker marker tip. (Don't make the pencil lines too close or draw objects that are too small.)