Model and Miniature Makers Talk Shop

I stumbled upon this treasure trove of interviews on Youtube that is a who's who of model making and miniatures in filmmaking which includes films of varying budget and genre ranges.  This includes cheapies like Carnoaur all the way to Total Recall and more.  Well worth a look.

Click here for more.

Behind-the-Scenes: Movie Magic

Update:  The links below are now dead.  Here is the new link:  http://www.joda-entertainment.nl/mm

Over at Slash Film is a super-cool collection of twelve episodes of the 1994 Discovery Channel show Movie Magic;

Snipped from IMDB:

Documentary series dealing with every aspect of special effects in movies, from low-budget make-up to multi-million-dollar computer-generated graphics. The clear presentation includes descriptions of the creation and technical problems of the effects, and interviews with effects technicians, directors, stars and other crew. Each episode deals with one topic, effect or technician (eg theme park rides, CGI, Stan Winston), concentrating on one or more current or recent films. Written by Cynan Rees


Each episode is still a treasure trove of useful information for anyone interested in visual or special effects, prop building, creature fx, and miniatures.

Go here to see the vids.

Inspiration: The Miniature Art of Lori Nix

All hand made and no Photoshop

The miniature artwork of Lori Nix is simply amazing and awe inspiring pieces of a alternate reality.  The level of detail that is put into each of Nix's dioramas is insane.  There is no photoshop trickery whatsoever.  It takes patience to do what she does and she must have it in spades.  For anyone remotely interested in miniatures for film or as a hobby you owe it to yourself to read on.

Snipped from Boing Boing:

The twist is that Nix's photos aren't Photoshop manipulations -- they're real images of tiny, painstakingly detailed dioramas that Nix has designed just for this project. Nix built the 3-D scenes in her living room on nights and weekends with the help of an assistant, with each one taking anywhere from two to fifteen months to complete. Nix shot the dioramas on normal 8x10 film, making her minuscule creations -- about 20 x 24 x 72 inches small -- appear nearly indistinguishable from full-size scenes.

To see a slideshow gallery of her artwork click here.

(hat tip to Boing Boing)

Inspiration: The Making of the Visual Effects for ALIENS

Here is a cool set of vids that I discovered a few minutes ago on the visual effects that were created to bring ALIENS to the big screen.  It's awe inspiring on what can be done without the need to go the CG route.

Flocking Made Cheap

A example of flocking on a puppet

Snipped from Wikipedia:




For all of you puppet builders, miniature landscape artists, and prop makers out there who are in need to flock your project, I have found a handful of fantastic vids for you.  The best part is that they do not require the sometimes expensive equipment needed.


Warning: Since some flocking tutorials involve soldering and electricity build these at your own risk.

WARNING:  Kids get your parents permission before building this and everyone build this at your own risk.  I don't want anyone getting the shop nickname "Stubs" out there somewhere.

Here is a cool tutorial on turning a rotary Dremel into a mini tablesaw which is actually a brilliant contraption to have for anyone interested in making miniature props or just small prop work that needs a smaller saw to work with.

Full details here.

Build a Spaceship Model

Okay, now that the turkey day is over it's back to work for me and this blog.  To start things off here is a nifty tutorial on how to build a model spaceship.  The perfect thing for all of you sci-fi filmmakers out there.

Full details here.

How to Build A Mini Vaccumformer Using a Peanut Butter Jar

Here is a cool how-to on building a mini vaccumformer, using a peanut butter jar, for those needing to duplicate smaller parts.  It's the perfect rig for those wanting to vaccumformer but don't necessarily need a larger scale system or want to waste plastic.  Go here to download a pdf tutorial on how to build one.

Movie Trailer: JACKBOOTS ON WHITE HALL

Here is something all of my puppeteer readers and friends might get a few chuckles from:


(via AICN.com)

MINIATURE CAR TUTORIAL

Here is a cool way if intergrating a miniature car into a scene using a plate shot and a bit of forced perspective. The tutorial is by far one of the best that I have found on the net and well worth the read.

1945A

Here is a brillantly fantastic short film centered around a Alternate WWII timeline featuring some really good usage of real models and stop-motion without the aid of CGI.

Clipped from Youtube:

It's 1945, and the Allies are on the verge of winning World War II, when suddenly the Nazis unleash an arsenal of super weapons straight out of science fiction turning the tides in their favor. This presentation was done on a VERY small budget. All the tanks and vehicles (Willy's jeep, Stuart tank, Sherman tank, Nazi "Spider" tank) were done with 1:6 scale models, not CGI.

A LOOK SOMETHING I'M WORKING ON

Here is a pic of the mini-set that I am building for a short film/music vid. At the moment I am weathering it a bit and plan on adding stained glass windows and steampunkish lab equipment. More coming soon.

HOW TO BUILD TREES FOR MODELS AND SCENERY

I'm starting a bit of a thread here but since I am in the middle of model research for a web series I thought that along the way I would share some of the more informative and cooler links that I have discovered. Today the topic at the moment is building artificial trees.

Down below are a handful of vids that I thought would be handy for anyone interested. This is actually a skill one should acquire if you are interested in creating models for your next movie/internet project.

MINIATURE TERRAIN TUTORIALS

I've been researching miniature terrain building for a future web series and came across this neat channel on Youtube from Mini War Gaming which features a handful of simple tutorials on the subject. It's a handy skill to learn for anyone interested in adding models (like in the LOTR series) in their next movie. Go here for more.

THE ART OF STOP-MOTION AT ANIMAZING

Here is something fantastic I got in my email this morning:

The SoHo art gallery, Animazing, is hosting a Art of Stop-Motion exhibit and sale of the films of Tim Burton and Henry Sellick. The exhibit will showcase props, storyboards, and conceptual art from films such as The Nightmare Before Christmas and the more recent Coraline.

The event will start on Thursday and run until December 31st and is free and open to the public. The gallery is open seven days of the week. The gallery is located at 54 Greene Street on the corner of Broome in Soho. More information can be found at the Animazing website and the exhibit will go online at the site after 7PM on November 12th. Go here for more details.

Click on the image below to read the official press release:

MAKE YOUR OWN TWO-PIECE MOLD ON A BUDGET

Here is a nifty tutorial mainly aimed at miniature mold casting but could possibly be applied to something on a larger scale. Check it out here.

MODEL PARTS

Does anyone of a place online where I can purchase a box of various miscellaneous space ship model parts? Even model car parts could do in a pinch. I would rather find a box of various parts than have to buy several model kits.

A STEALTH JET FOR LESS THAN $25 BUCKS

Continuing the subject on the use of models and forced perspective, filmmaker Fred Olen Ray shows yet another brilliant trick that he used for the film ACTIVE STEALTH via the Retromedia Forums. Seriously, check out his site, it's as groovy as owning a copy of CINEMAGIC magazine.

From the messageboard:

Here are two frame grabs from ACTIVE STEALTH that show the small store-bought stealth model kit in action. I had the neighbor kid build the model fro $10 and it turned out pretty nice, but it was VERY small -- maybe 12 inches long... You can see Daniel Bladwin running up to it in one shot and the we actually had the balls to try to put a live person in the cockpit! The guy was sitting on the top of a ladder and we lined up the cockpit window with him and he put on his helmet, etc. It was really very well executed. I never would have figured it to work, but it DID!

Total cost maybe $25.

More Forced Perspective how-to can be found here.

DIY TERRAIN MODELING

Okay this is a bit extreme for a RPG game, yet the techniques involved can definetely be used in your own indie flick. Get the details and see more pics here. The only question is where does this guy sleep at night?

ROB SCHRAB'S CROOKED TEETH VIDEO

It's no secret that I get super excited about puppets, so you can understand how much I dig this video. It's the music video CROOKED TEETH for the band DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE which was directed by Rob Schrab of SCUD and SARAH SILVERMAN SHOW fame. The second part is a bit of a behind-the-scenes. Dig it!