Spider Cobwebs

Slash · Post by **Slash** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 8:39 am

The question is simple. How could I make spiderweb in a movie? What is the material used for it?

Thanks for help!

Epsilon · Post by **Epsilon** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 8:47 am

Use the nylon halloween spider web stuff! The 99 cent stores have them really cheap!

padawanNick · Post by **padawanNick** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 6:45 pm

Yeah, I think those stores sell it for like 99 cents a bag.

Have fun.

(To be somewhat useful...yeah, that halloween stuff is exactly what is used on most professional TV productions too.)

insert_coin · Post by **insert_coin** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 7:46 pm

the question i want to ask is... do you want the look of cheesy horror movie webs in which case you will be able to use the nylon stuff or do you mean a spun web as seen on spiderman in which case they used wire to get the specular highlights to show up on camera.

El Brenty · Post by **El Brenty** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 8:21 pm

I used to sell that stuff! It stretches out for miles! Use it sparingly and get the best effect! I was selling it for Ã‚Â£1.25 a bag!

You can also buy spiderweb spray in a can, although I admit I haven't seen it on sale for a few years

To aid the spiderweb look, spray talc all over the set. It creats a lovelly "hasn't been lived in much recently" look! Don't put it on the floor, just on surfaces.

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 10:04 pm

you can stretch out cotton wool to give a web and aged effect. Some people also use modified hot glue guns to stream out thin strands of hot glue to form bulk webs

El Brenty · Post by **El Brenty** » Sat Jan 10, 2004 12:57 pm

I was going to suggest the glue gun strands, but they take hours and hours and hours to do, and if you're not careful, you end up with big blobs of glue either side of the strands!

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Sun Jan 11, 2004 1:21 am

good for that more solid look

Famous · Post by **Famous** » Sun Jan 11, 2004 6:29 am

I kept all of mine from october just in case i needed them.
You can buy Green,Pink and White webs
Cotton streched out will work good too.

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Sun Jan 11, 2004 7:36 am

yeah cotton is a nice and less messy method

Epsilon · Post by **Epsilon** » Sun Jan 11, 2004 7:46 am

Famous wrote:I kept all of mine from october just in case i needed them.

Eww! I couldn't do that because after I take my webs down they are all intermingled with real cobwebs! Sometmes real spiders too!

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Sun Jan 11, 2004 7:50 am

even finely strung wool will do the job, especially stright from the fleece

Ivan Speilberg · Post by **Ivan Speilberg** » Tue Jan 13, 2004 8:22 am

The hot glue strings method it's very good but it's time consuming to achieve a realistic loock. There is a device to attach to a regullar electric drill that makes really impresive spiderwebs using a special fluid sold with the device. I't a cobweb spinner.

http://www.yardhaunter.com/halloween_cobwebs.html
The source page of the images explain another method using compresed air and hot glue:

quote:
COBWEB SHOOTERS
Ever wonder how haunted attraction spin their cob webs? Opposed to the unit above, these are called Cob-web Shooters, and that's exactly what they do.

Cob-web shooters spray out realistic looking webs much faster than fan type web-spinners. The base unit is a highly customized hot glue gun, equipped with a special tip that transfers the webbing material into a stream of compressed air, allowing for detailed application of cob-webs. These types of web shooters do require an air compressor with up to 100psi.

Whether you need close-in webs for detailed work, or are shooting webs over the front of your garage, this unit can do the job. Using the flow-valve, you can adjust amount and density of the cob-webs produced. The web material cleans off easily, but we always recommend that you test some on important materials. This unit uses regular hot glue sticks to produce lots of great looking cob-webs. Or, you can buy special glow-in-the-dark glue sticks that glow under Black Light. Another nice benefit to these types of web shooters, is that you don't have to worry about the web fluid drying up over time.

Minions Web actually has detailed instructions for building your own, or if you prefer, you can buy a ready-to-go unit for less than fifty-dollars from them.

Epsilon · Post by **Epsilon** » Tue Jan 13, 2004 8:27 am

Looks good. For most people, it is easier and cheaper to go buy a large packet of halloween spiderweb.

El Brenty · Post by **El Brenty** » Tue Jan 13, 2004 11:25 am

Wow Ivan, that looked really great! Is it easy to clean up after? Wouldn't the glue strands stick into everything?

2nd_Recon · Post by **2nd_Recon** » Tue Jan 13, 2004 2:44 pm

Thats what glue useually does.

I like the "Holloween Web" Idea. The only problem is that they usually come in one huge, bulging, Pulsating mass or carbon, and it would take time to unravel, but probably less time that it would take waiting for glue to dry.

Epsilon · Post by **Epsilon** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 3:31 am

Hot glue dries pretty fast, especially as thin strands. Probably around a second to harden.

jwb · Post by **jwb** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 5:13 am

I am making my "amnesia" film in september. I have several scenes where the main charcter comes into abandoned houses. These houses have been abandoned for atleast 3 years. I will have dust every where, and that's the easier part. The hard part is to fake cob webs. Does anyone have any suggestions that work the best.

UFProductions · Post by **UFProductions** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 6:17 am

Just buy plenty of that Halloween fake spider web stuff. (The cottony fibres that come in a big tangled ball.) Just take your time and stretch it out as fine as you can, it really works well. I think they make spray on stuff in a can too, no idea how well it works though.

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 6:58 am

yeah strung out cotton wool is the easiest method and even an air blower and hot glue gun

DaveP · Post by **DaveP** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 10:31 am

also polystyrene cement (the moddeling glue) will fluff up and look like cobwebs with pressure on it (mayb hit it a load of times with a hammer)

El Brenty · Post by **El Brenty** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 10:36 am

Check out this existing topic on Spiderwebs: http://www.matthawkins.co.uk/forum/view ... ght=spider

By the way, if you're trying to find anything, use the search facility. I simlpy typed in spider to find it.

foxwood · Post by **foxwood** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 9:47 pm

A wad of cotton strung out is the best way to do it, that is what I would do.

october · Post by **october** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 10:48 pm

here, ive used this method, except i ended up using a propeller from a model plane (backwards so the air blows forward) and a prescription pill bottle, it works fairly well. you may need to practice a little to get the webs to look right. also you might need to mess w/ lighting so they show up on camera...

http://thehorrordome.com/HDPROPS/SpiderWebSpinner.htm

here is a hotglue version, it is a little more ambitious though.

http://www.minionsweb.com/webgun.htm

justsomeguy · Post by **justsomeguy** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 11:16 pm

By the way, if you're trying to find anything, use the search facility. I simlpy typed in spider to find it.

i never used the search thing because whenever i tried it nothing would come up but then i realiozed i was using the one for searching articles and stuff

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