Create a Zombie Avatar: Make A Zombie (Free Universal). Just for the day, you can update your online avatar to something a little different, a little spookier.  While not quite a true avatar creation utility, the Make A Zombie app has plenty of different faces and combinations to choose from that are fitting for a Halloween-styled look.  There are plenty of additional theme packs available via in-app purchases if you really want to stand out.

Home Theater Scary Noises: Halloween Sound Shelf ($0.99 iPhone, Free iPad). Consider hooking up your iOS device to your home theater this year via AirPlay mirroring and produce some truly scary noises for your trick-or-treat visitors to enjoy.  With 40 different sound effects and four different background music tracks, you should be all set for the evening.  Using your iPhone as a remote, you can even time the sound effects to produce the maximum scare opportunity.

Disguise your Voice: Voices 2 ($1.99 iPhone). Nothing says Halloween like a personalized scary voice.  With 21 different voice-enhancing sound effects to choose from, you can create a personalized message for just about any occasion.  Add this to your collection of scary sound effects and you will have a haunted-sounding house.

Dress up your Fingers: FingerFace ($0.99 iPhone, $1.99 iPad). You do not have to find a costume for yourself this year — you can just disguise your fingers so nobody recognizes them.  With over 200 different faces, costumes and hair styles to choose from, you should have no problem showing off your favorite digits.

Make a Scary Face: Comic Touch ($2.99 iPhone). Creators of a favorite Mac app of mine for many years, Plasq, has developed a quick little utility for the iPhone that can distort your face in no time at all.  If you are looking for a little more control, consider stepping up to their Universal app called Comic Life.

Check for Ghosts: Ghost O Meter (Free Universal). Not to be taken too seriously, the Ghost O Meter can help you find out who has the deadliest costumes this Halloween.  If monsters are more your sort of thing, consider Monster Meter instead.  Either way, have fun deciding who is the scariest one of all.

Plan on making an impression this Halloween, and do so by learning a new trick or two with your iOS device.  It will sure to be a treat for those you share with.

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1. Choose your jack-o-lantern face

First, you want to create a face that you can then use as a stencil. We’ve found several pumpkin-design apps that we like and that work in different ways.

Swipe and shake. Our favorite pumpkin-design app, Crazy Pumpkin, happens to be on the iPhone ($.99, Ezone, iTunes Link). Crazy Pumpkin gives you endless combinations of eyes, noses and mouths to choose from, and all you have to do is swipe to change the feature. Shake the iPhone to change the color of the design and hear a spooky noise.

Unfortunately Crazy Pumpkin is not available for iPad. The closest iPad app I’ve found is Halloween Pumpkin Creator ($.99, A3MG, iTunes Link).

Pinch and draw. If you are looking to get a little more sophisticated, Parents magazine has created Carve-a-Pumpkin for the iPad and is available for free in the app store (free, iTunes link).  Carve-a-Pumpkin gives you a little more control of the elements that you place on the pumpkin. You can pinch to grow or shrink the design.  However, while there are a lot of designs to choose from, you still do not have complete control over the design with this app.

If you want complete control over exactly how you want your pumpkin to look, try ABCya’s CarveIt! for both the iPhone and iPad ($.99, ABCya, iTunes Link).  CarveIt! has a limited number of pumpkin “heads” to choose from, but it will allow you to draw freehand any face you want.

2. Print out your pumpkin masterpiece as a stencil

Now comes the fun part, taking your virtual iOS design and turning it into a real pumpkin. The next step is printing out the design to make a stencil.

• Transfer your design to an image file. Some of the aforementioned apps will save the image your photo library for you. If the app you’ve chosen does’t do that, you can always take a screenshot to get a printable image file of your final design.
• Print the image out. You can either sync your image to your computer and print it out from there or you can use AirPrint to print the image directly to the printer. If you do not have a printer that supports Apple’s AirPrint feature, there are a number of ways you can get around this limitation. My favorite happens to be Printopia

Transfer your design and carve your pumpkin

Once you have the stencil printed out, tape the sheet of paper to the pumpkin. Use a pushpin, awl, straight needle or other tool to poke holes in the outlines of the eyes, nose, and mouth into the pumpkin’s outer skin. This will create a connect-the-dots outline of the design right on the surface of the pumpkin. From here, use the outlines to carve the pumpkin.

3. More ways to create a stencil

There are several variations on this general theme. You can certainly use your favorite iOS drawing application, or even browse the web to select your favorite pumpkin image online. I’ve also used Photoshop to stretch and move some of the features around a bit to better fit our pumpkins.

For more family fun, you can even share the design experience with the entire family by projecting the pumpkin-carving app of your choice to your TV using the new iOS 5 Airplay Wireless Mirroring from your iPad 2 or iPhone 4S to your Apple TV. Carving a pumpkin will never be quite the same again.

How have you used Apple’s products to celebrate Halloween?

Pumpkin-carving and finished pumpkin photos by Geoffrey Goetz.

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Take and Enhance the Photo

Once you have your photo, perform all of the necessary cropping and color adjustments in one of the many image editors available.  For this step in the process I’ve always used Photogene (iTunes link, $1.99). Photoshop Express is a good free alternative.  In Photogene, I auto adjust the colors and utilize a filter to sharpen the image.  This  sharpening helps out when the photo is converted into a drawing.

I then crop the image, depending on what I want to use it for. If I’m creating an avatar for IM apps, I will typically use a 1:1 ration when cropping. If you just want this for a photo to post on someone’s wall, I find a 2:3 ratio works best.  Be sure to save the image back to the photo library before continuing.

Make a Black and White Drawing of the Photo

The second step in the process is to create a black and white pencil drawing of the image.  To do this, I use ToonPAINT (iTunes link, $1.99).  This app has the ability to fine ‘toon’ the results by adjusting what it refers to as the Edges, Gray and Black of the image. I’ve found that after making these adjustments, a final tap of the Soften button produces the best result.  From here, just save the image back to the photo library.  Don’t bother testing out your finger painting skills, color will be added next.

Add Color with Layers

The best way to add the color back to the black and white pencil drawing created by ToonPAINT is with your favorite layer-based painting app.  For this step, I recommend the New Yorker approved classic, Brushes (iTunes link, $4.99).  In Brushes, create a new drawing and immediately edit the layers of the drawing.  For the background layer, choose the original photo.  On top of that place the black and white drawing of the photo.  In Brushes, you can set the alpha of the backgrounds which will allow the layers to blend with one another.  By adjusting the alpha of the top layer to 70 percent, just enough of the colors from the bottom layer will bleed through.

Share Postcards Online

Sharing your masterpiece is the final step.  There’s a special Halloween version of Rogue Sheep’s Postage app (iTunes link) available for $.99.  This app will allow you to frame the resulting image in a variety of available postcard styles.  Select the postcard, insert the image, type a message and select email, Facebook or Twitter as the means to share the final artwork.

There are certainly several variations on this theme, as different combinations of apps can be strung together to make a different workflow.  Adding Color Splash (iTunes link) just before applying the color with brushes will make certain elements in the cartoon version of the photo really pop.  You could even tie together several completed images using an app like Diptic (iTunes link).  Whichever workflow and whatever series of apps you choose to string together, it’s a fun way to shake up your online routine.

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Fun Halloween Mobile Stuff

Halloween Live Wallpaper II. This live wallpaper for Android has pumpkins and bats galore, all customizable as you like. Free.

Halloween Party Pack. Nothing sets the mood of Halloween like the proper music, and this pack for Android has some old favorites. No Halloween is complete without Monster Mash, Thriller and The Rocky Horror Picture Show music videos in this pack. $1.00.

iPhone Wallpaper Pack. These fun and spooky wallpapers should look nice and frightening on that Retina Display. Free.

123 HD Glow Coloring Book. Someone told me Halloween is for kids, so this Halloween-themed coloring book for the iPhone and iPad is to keep the little trick-or-treaters happy. $1.99

All-in-1 ZombieBox. Not one but ten zombie games for the iPhone. Nothing says Halloween like stomping some zombies. $0.99.

Illumination US. Light the way for your little prince and princess on Halloween night with this app that turns your iPhone into a handy flashlight. Has strobe and morse code functions, too. Free.

Best Halloween Ringtones. Over 80 spooky ringtones for the BlackBerry gets you in the spirit every time a call comes in. $3.99.

Trickortracker. This Android app could be the parent’s best friend. It is a GPS child tracker for those whose kids are just starting to trick or treat on their own. It’s installed on both the parent’s and child’s phone, and enables one-touch location of the child on the map. The child can hit the Parent Locate button if things get a bit too spooky. Free.

Calorie Counter by FatSecret. You know you’re going to eat Halloween candy until you’re sick, right? This calorie counter is available for every gadget around (Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, iPad), and helps you assess the damage you’ve done by tracking all of the calories you’ve consumed. That’s assuming you’re honest about how much candy you’ve scarfed down. Free.

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It’s Halloween and so my top pick for this week is Alive 4-ever, a top-down zombie shooter with plenty of guts and gore to go around. I’ve also been checking out TowerMadness Zero, NASA and WordPress 2.

Alive 4-ever ($1.79)

As it’s Halloween, I thought that at least one of my top picks this week should be themed for the occasion. Despite the clumsy sounding name, Alive 4-Ever is a surprisingly polished top-down shooter. The plot is simple and disgustingly cliché: for whatever reason, a zombie apocalypse happens, you take to the streets to rescue other survivors.

The game takes its inspiration from some of the best zombie titles out there, including Resident Evil and Left 4 Dead. There’s a battalion’s worth of weaponry on offer, including zombie-slaying classics like the AK-47. Plus, if you’re after more firepower you’re able to purchase bigger, stronger, faster guns in the shop after each level.

There’s also a Bluetooth multiplayer mode, allowing you to jump into the action with three other friends. Alongside guns, zombies and survivors, the game throws in experience points too. Completing a stage earns experience points, these precious points go towards upgrading your character. In effect, you’re able to become the ultimate undead-destroying warrior.

TowerMadness Zero (Free)

Earlier this month, our own Alfredo Padilla took a look at 49 different tower defense games for the iPhone. Owing to the epic nature of his list, days later Alfredo distilled the document down into five tower defense games worth owning. All of Alfredo’s picks costs a few bucks though and, in this cash-strapped climate, some of us don’t have much money to burn on iPhone games.

That’s where TowerMadness steps in. The game is available in two monetary flavors. You can purchase it for a couple of bucks, or you can download the Zero edition: a totally unrestricted ad-supported version of the game for free. The ads are unintrusive and targeted in such a way that, for the most part, they feel relevant.

Of course the iPhone doesn’t need another tower defense game. Aside from being free, TowerMadness is a pretty good representation of the best qualities of the genre. All the usual TD staples are there — waves of enemies, upgradable towers, strategic play — but it’s all wrapped up in excellent graphics too.

NASA (Free)

National organizations seem to be slowly switching on to the iPhone. Last year, the BBC decided to create an iPhone-specific version of its excellent iPlayer site. Canada’s National Film Board just released a wonderful app for viewing its content on the go. And now NASA has released its very own app, allowing us earthlings to keep up-to-date with space mission news.

The app is essentially like having a tiny mission-control in the palm of your hand. There’s a listing of all NASA Missions, all of which have awesome names like Mars Express and Mars Odyssey. Tapping through to a mission section provides a mission briefing, photos, videos and an ever-so-slightly ominous countdown timer.

For me, the best part of the app is the video section. Rather than attempt to visualize the various space happenings described in the app, the videos bring these extraordinary happens closer to home. You can observe spacecraft launches, see astronauts float around in zero gravity, listen to people in space describe their experiences, and watch history in the making.

WordPress 2 (Free)

The original WordPress app just wasn’t so hot. With a clunky and convoluted interface that was all function and no form, it immediately felt dated. And, for writers and bloggers alike, it certainly wasn’t the most inspiring environment in which to attempt to pen a post.

The user interface has been updated but still, on first look, the app looks worryingly basic. In fact, it’s disconcertingly similar to its clunky counterpart, WordPress 1. I appreciate that the WordPress app is here to serve a function, but, discounting features, surely it could have been executed with a little more pizazz?

Anyway, looks are not the most important thing with WordPress 2. This version introduces several new features to the mix. There’s automatic saving and restoring of posts. A new comments interface which includes author URL and Gravatars. The app even stores password in the keychain. If you’ve got your own WordPress blog, this is certainly an app worth checking out.

That’s all the picks for this week. I’ll be back in seven days with a fresh selection of App Store recommendations.

In the meantime, what apps have you been using this week?

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The day itself is tomorrow, so I’m providing some suggestions that haven’t been done to death, and that will go over especially well if you go to your local Mac club’s Halloween bash this weekend.

Costume #1: John Sculley

The Jobs costume, and even the Woz costume, are common enough, and Flickr is replete with examples of both. What isn’t so common is people opting to dress up like former Apple CEO John Sculley, who was Apple’s CEO when Steve Jobs was ousted from the company.

To dress up as Sculley, think conventional business person. A dark suit and sensible, solid-colored tie is best. Use some flour or temporary coloring in your hair to achieve a salt-and-pepper type look. Carry a bottle of Pepsi, or, as Steve Jobs likes to call it, “sugared water.” Carry a Newton in the other hand if you can find one. Also bring with you many copies of your autobiography “Odyssey” and distribute to everyone you meet.

Costume #2: The Apple Lisa

It’s easy to dress like the original Mac, since the shape is basically the same as a large cardboard box which you can then detail as needed. What’s more challenging, and therefore more impressive if you do pull it off, is the Apple Lisa.

The Lisa, released in 1983, was a beast compared to the Mac, a wide squat gal with two 5.25-inch floppy drives stacked next to the built-in monitor. You could manage this on your own, but for more accuracy, partner up and make this a two person costume. For added fun, create an Apple ProFile external hard disk replica and wear it atop your Lisa costume. When people accuse you of being unsuccessful, retort with “At least NASA loved me!”

Costume #3: Hexley the Platypus

Who doesn’t love the adorable mascot of Apple’s open source operating system, Darwin? His name is Hexley, and he’s a platypus, and he’s unsanctioned by Apple. Whether or not he’s officially approved of by Apple, which bases OS X on the Darwin POSIX-compliant operating system, as a costume idea, he’s rife with potential.

At the very least, you’ll need a full-body platypus costume, which can’t be that hard to find. Just look in the “marsupial” section at your local dress-up shop. If all the platypus costumes are already rented, a black duck-bill and a flat, broad tail will suffice.

If you really want to go all out, you’ll also need a soft red cap with devil horns attached to it, and a big red pitchfork. Other optional props include a perfect floating sphere of water, a giant-size old-fashioned key, and a giant worm. If you feel like being even more obscure, try other Apple-related mascots like Clarus the Dogcow.

Costume #4: The Moscone Center

It’s the building where virtually every major Apple event goes down, including the Macworld Expo, and the Worldwide Developers Conference. It’s also probably the most challenging costume on this list, but if you go for the very recognizable corner view seen in the photo shown here, it might not be that difficult.

Wear two large pieces of cardboard joined to form a corner. Round the top, and coat with yellow tissue paper to mimic the inside lighting. Cover with a top layer of cellophane or transparency material to emulate the windows, and make sure to paint in window separators and apply giant Apple decals. Make a “street” attached to the bottom of the costume, and glue toy cars to it for added realism.

There you have it, four ways to stand out from the crowd this Halloween, and show your love of Apple. Also a great way to alienate non-techies and possibly get beat up, if you’re still in high school.

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Instead, why not embrace my web working identity as a source of costume idea inspiration? These costumes may not be instantly recognizable by everyone, but those who do recognize them will make it all worthwhile, especially if you travel with a web-savvy crowd. Please note that any ribbing that follows is of the good-natured variety.

Idea #1: SEO Expert

This is the first thing that came to mind, and probably one of the easiest to do. It doesn’t necessarily require any special wardrobe, but dressing like an old-time traveling cough syrup salesman and giving yourself a silly name like Dr. Higgledy-Digg couldn’t hurt. Nor would printing up fake credentials, like a PhD in the field of “Findology.”

Be sure to also prepare a briefcase full of Google Search screenshots, charts and graphs detailing questionable ROI numbers, and brochures extolling the virtues of affiliate marketing. While you’re at the party you’re attending, constantly spout out high visibility keywords in a random string while holding up two header tags. Whenever anyone mentions the word content, laugh derisively and let on that you’re privy to the algorithms of both Google and Bing.

Idea #2: Tech Blogger

Dress in pajamas or track pants, possibly with a housecoat, and make sure your hair is unkempt. You may or may not also abstain from brushing your teeth. Carry a laptop with you at all times — ideally a netbook — and make sure to consistently utter complaints about the signal quality, wherever you are.

Pick a pet tech, like mobile, Apple, Microsoft, video games or whatever you can think of. Steer all conversations you have during the night towards that topic, and make ridiculous predictions about the future of said tech. Always cite “sources” for said predictions, but if anyone asks for more detail about the sources, change the topic or mumble something under your breath.

Make sure all the photos you take during the party are blurry and out of focus or of people’s cell phones and other devices instead of the people themselves, and make sure you get at least a few of your hand lovingly caressing their electronics. Sneak comedic references to “Star Wars” and “Terminator” into as many conversations as possible.

Idea #3: Social Media Maven

Wear a shirt that says “I’m Kind of a Big Deal on Twitter,” “Tweet or Die” or the name of your self-published book on how to achieve success through Twitter. Carry many copies of said book in a satchel or book bag and hand them out while winking and saying “review copy.” Every time someone wants to take your picture, try to recreate the pose from your Twitter picture. You know, the one that emphasizes your “good side.”

Throughout the night, give a preachy, self-important tip as to how to tweet successfully every five or 10 minutes. Once in a while, repeat exactly what someone else just said if you found it particularly insightful or funny. When people ask you about your credentials, start listing important people you know and have talked to once or twice, then just provide a total number of how many people you know in total.

While talking with others, mention Facebook, LinkedIn and FriendFeed, but never go further than speaking about them offhand. Make sure to tell everyone you’re available for speaking engagements.

There you have it — three easy costumes with little or no preparation required. And I suspect many of you, like myself, already have many of the necessary components on hand. Happy Halloween!

What costume are you wearing this Halloween?

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It’s Friday the 31st of October and that means only one chilling thing… it’s time for our first annual Halloween App Store Roundup. On this frightful Friday, we went bobbing for a selection of the most spooktacular Apps created just for Halloween.

This Halloween we’re looking at Psi, Scare Tracks, MonstAr Maker, Halloween WordSearch, Trick or Treat, Ghost Pop, Jack O’Lantern and Free Hangman.

Psi ($0.99) – Remember that scene right at the start of Ghostbusters, the one where Venkman is testing a guy and a girl for ESP abilities? Well prepare to live like you’re in the movies as this app lets you conduct your very own ESP experiments to test your pals for latent psychic potential. Unfortunately you can’t electric shock your test subjects, as in the classic movie.

Scare Tracks ($0.99) – No Halloween is complete without a suitably spooky soundtrack, music that will chill even the most fearless trick or treaters to the very bone. Whilst you may have a few horrific albums in your music collection – we’re looking at all the people who bought Britney’s latest album here – Scare Tracks hosts a truly horrible selection of cinematic-style audio treats.

MonstAr Maker ($0.99) – Shake your iPhone to create your own freaky-deaky creatures. As each MonstAr Maker creation is constructed of three separate bits – head, torso and legs – there’s an incredible amount of ghastly abhorations and frightful freaks that can be generated. The designers of MonstAr Maker, wickedly-named Escape Plan B, also invite everyone to send in their own weird creatures to be chopped up and fed in to the app for future releases.

Halloween WordSearch (free) – For avid-readers and puzzle-fanatics, there’s nothing better than taking on a devious wordsearch. As it’s Halloween, we’ve donned our mad scientist garb and plucked a fine specimen from the jar that’s packed full of deliciously dark words.

Trick or Treat ($0.99) – On all Hallows Eve, there’s nothing better than getting dressed up in a ghoulish costume and doing a bit of trick or treating. If candy collecting is your favorite bit of the spooky season then you’ll adore this super-cute game. Take on the role of Wendy the Witch and tilt your iPhone help her grab the falling candy, with awfully awesome artwork and grotesquely gorgeous gameplay.

Ghost Pop (free) – Whilst those naughty folks at Jirbo do seem to clog up our beloved App Store with some terrible games, this time they’ve managed to serve up a real treat and, what’s more, it’s free too. With a swarm of ghouls flying around the screen all you’ve got to do is tap and pop as many as you can. As an extra bonus, Mario fans will appreciate the Boo-style ghosts too.

Jack O’Lantern (free) – Tradition dictates that you’ve got to indulge in a little pumpkin carving at this time of year. But what to do if botched up your pumpkin carving with some bad knife work? Or, worse still, what if you just can’t find a pumpkin to carve? Stay calm and avoid the rising urge to crush, kill and destroy as all you’ve got to do is grab Jack O’Lantern for your iPhone. This app provides an endless assortment of virtual pumpkins to carve.

Free Hangman (free) – Our final selection, dragged from the dank depths of the App Store is Free Hangman. Spelling champions and pedants alike will derive a special sense of pleasure from testing their word-power with this Halloween-themed hangman game. Even losing the game is morbidly fun as the executioner hangs a Sleepy Hollow style Jack O’Lantern  from a wretched old tree.

That’s all for this year’s Halloween Roundup, rest assured though, you’re welcome to come knock on our door next year for another selection of Halloween treats from the App Store. If you enjoyed this Halloween special, be sure to check out our regular App Store Roundup every Saturday.

In the meantime, drop by the comments and tell us what you’ll be doing with your iPhone this Halloween.

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The iPod has become probably the most popular Apple Halloween costume to date, either because it’s easy (the proverbial ghost costume of the nerd crowd?) or because there’s reference models lying around everywhere.

If sales numbers are any indication, however, the iPod costume could soon be overtaken by the iPhone costume. Not only is it equally boxy and uncomfortable, but it’s also a phone.

Maybe you’re a power user, and the iPhone just isn’t enough to meet your demanding needs. Don’t worry, there’s a costume for you, too. I know you still love that berry-colored iMac, but if you haven’t changed it into a fishbowl yet, it makes for stylish headwear.

If the prospect of dressing like hardware and not being able to sit down, turn your head, or move your arms isn’t appealing to you, there are still a couple options out there for you. Everyone’s favorite/most feared CEO makes for a charming/terrifying costume, for instance.

Or if you’re doing the tandem thing, this one’s made for two. Add an air horn and it becomes up-to-the-minute current and loads more aggravating to those around you.

Finally, if you’d rather not dress up yourself, but you still feel the holiday spirit, here’s a nice way to show it.

Happy Halloween TAB readers! Let us know about your own Apple-themed costumes below.

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I love Midwest Teen Sex Show, the sassy and sharp-witted bimonthly sex education show produced by Britney Barber, Guy Clark and Nikol Hasler. In an era in which actual conversation about sex has been sanitized from both schools and Hollywood films, you’ve gotta love a video show that follows up a question like “Does anal play during masturbation mean you’re gay?” with the answer, “No, it means you have nerve endings.”

The first eight episodes largely blended dry yet funny lectures with illustrative skits, usually starring Barber, a raspy-voiced blonde whose versatility and fearlessness sets her apart from most Internet ingénues. But the most recent episode broke from that tradition. Released on Halloween, it’s an STD safety lesson in the form of a dead-on (no pun intended) spoof of the sexually-active-teens-in-peril horror genre. A teen couple meets at an empty house for a less-than-satisfying sexual encounter, only to end up having to fend off a hooded, chainsaw-wielding villain named Syphilis.

As a non-condescending, bona fide piece of sex education, MTSS is clearly on the cutting edge, of both online video and popular culture as a whole. But the general attitude of the show is that of a familiar wink; subject matter aside, most episodes don’t address the audience in a way that’s markedly different from most other web shows that incorporate a combination of talking heads and staged scenes.

In the Halloween episode, however, the violence escalates from scene to scene, ultimately reaching a point of intensity that I haven’t previously seen in a web show. In quantity and style of execution, I found the violence in this episode to be really shocking. Here, too, MTSS is breaking new ground: There just isn’t a lot of visceral violence in narrative videos produced for the web.

The violence in the Halloween episode disturbed me enough that I watched it several times in an effort to diagnose why. A throat-slitting early on is fairly tame, while a chainsaw vivisection is notably grotesque — a step above the usual low-budget splatter — yet still tonally closer to funny than frightening. But a strangling scene goes on for what feels like an unbearably long time. By my count, it’s only 12 seconds, spread across three shots, but it quickly passes the point of being laughable. The overall metaphor of virus-as-predator isn’t handled as smoothly as it could be, but this scene nails the primal fear that makes the teen sex/horror genre so effective.

Maybe it’s just that the level of performance in MTSS is higher than par for the medium — it’s certainly a credit to Barber’s acting skills that I actually, for a moment, believed her character might be in danger. Ultimately, I wonder if violence of this sort has been a rarity in web video because it’s just too difficult to pull off with untrained actors, small crews and low budgets?

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