Alright folks, let me walk you through my little adventure trying out that freaky Demon Eyes look yesterday. You know, the one that makes you look straight outta some horror flick? Yeah, that one. Buckle up, it got messy.
Getting the Gear (Sort Of)
Fired up the laptop late afternoon, kinda bored, saw some spooky movie trailer. Boom, thought: “Bet I can fake those creepy eyes myself.” Didn’t want fancy camera gear. Grabbed the only things lying around:
- My dusty phone (decent camera, thank goodness!)
- A headlamp I use for fixing crap under the sink (super bright white light)
- My cheap kid sister’s colored pencils (red and yellow, mostly used)
- Clear tape. Always need tape.
- Paperclips. Why? Didn’t know yet.
The Absolute Disaster Phase
Tried just holding the headlamp sideways near my face for the “light in the eyes” look. Bad move. Blinded myself for like 5 minutes. Saw stars. Dogs started barking outside. Rubbed my eyes like mad. Big mistake – looked like I’d been crying acid tears. Not spooky, just pathetic.
Next dumb idea: coloring my eyelid with the red pencil. Hoped the light would make it glow through or something? Nope. Just ended up with a weird, smudgy pink mess. Looked like a bad rash. Couldn’t get the color anywhere near the actual eyeball without poking myself. Fear is real. Also, the paper coating felt gritty. Yuck.
The “Maybe This?” Flashpoint
Saw some blurry online picture where the eyes looked yellowish-red. Didn’t read the instructions – figured I was smarter. Taped a single yellow pencil tip DIRECTLY over the phone’s flash. Actually dimmed the insane white light! Weird yellow glow filled the bathroom. Progress? Maybe. Held the phone close to my face, flash pointed right at my eyeballs. Hit the timer button.
First few snaps? Pure garbage. Mostly my forehead or a weird nostril close-up. Forgot I had TWO eyes. The single pencil tip only covered half the flash, so one eye got yellow light, the other got blasted with white light looking like headlights on a deer. Not scary. Just confused.
The “Eureka!” Mess
Alright, deep breath. Took the red pencil and the yellow pencil. Broke off the tips. Used like three tiny paperclip bits to kind of hold the red and yellow tips together side-by-side over the ENTIRE phone flash lens. More tape than Picasso used plaster. Looked awful. Didn’t care.
Re-positioned myself in the mirror so the phone flash was aimed slightly from below my chin, pointing UP towards my eyes. Held the phone like a selfie stick gone wrong. The light hitting my eyes now was this weird, uneven mix of orangey-red and yellow.
BOOM. Looked at the picture. My irises were practically swallowed up by this freaky, unnatural gold-and-blood color reflecting back. The whites of my eyes looked kinda cloudy and dark. My bathroom looked like a crime scene bathed in hell-light. PERFECT. Looked completely unhinged. Pure accident. Did a dance. Probably scared the dog again.
The Ugly Truth
Got one good pic outta like fifty blurry, crazy-eyed failures. My eye area felt dry from all the weird light. Had pencil shavings stuck to the tape stuck to my phone. Took forever to clean it all off. Was it easy? Nope. Was it smooth? Heck no. Did it cost pennies and use stuff I had? Yep. Did it make my horror-movie-buff wife legit jump when she saw the photo? YES. Worth the mess.