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A WEEK IN THE HOLE |
Just one week alloted, for the dressing of
Sams Control room. For a big guy like me, this was a small space to be working
in, without a bench, tools everywhere, wiggets (albeit large ones) everywhere.
Practically cutting stuff up over my knee! Running around to the outside
to pull cable-ties tight, cutting out holes for monitors and making lots
of dust (so there was a hoover in there too). The only thing which made
it enjoyable was the fact the monitors were working and had ALIENS playing
on them whilst I worked! |
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WORKING SHUTTERS? |
At the top of the stairs you get a better
view of Sams control room. this was pretty much the final colour. low-key
lighting will improve the look no-end. and those shutters?...plywood, screwed
from outside by the construction guys. they could be screwed on in any position,
but the movement would be down to the computer graphics dept. |
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IS THAT SAM? |
well, his stunt-double was uncannily similar!
Again, no drawings for this....just up to yours truly to make the best of
a blank space, with limited time and material for dressing, as Chris and
Richard had used a lot of the best bits kitting out the Rover interior.
Doing a lot with a little was never illustrated better than with Sams control
room. |
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CREATIVE INPUT |
This sort of shape is quick to flesh-out for
me, so I tend to do a lot of that and then pass it on for someone else to
finish - which I had to do a fair bit of on MOON. No plans for this, just
a thumbnail from Gavin, so again I made it up as I went along. obeying the
corperate feel with the chunky angular flats. I wanted the base to look
like it had jaws holding the mast in place. Im sure there could have been
design improvements, but to save time, I think we were left alone and trusted
to get on with it, as meetings can eat into build time considerably sometimes,
especially when theres not much time to begin with. Everything went by so
fast on MOON, I can hardly remember how long I had, or this took to make
- and I certainly didnt have time to write it all down - a few days I think. |
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WEIRD WIGGETS |
I had SOME fun with the detailing before I passed it
onto John Lee to finish off.
Everything but the kitchen sink goes into these models
sometimes. case in point - anti drink spiking tops, superglue tops, flashlight
caps and even the discarded heads from my ex-girlfreinds' razors! With
a special primer you can stick MOST kinds of plastic to themselves and
each other and to ME if I'm not careful.
|
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FIREBALL
REVISITED
|
Just like FIREBALL XL5 (Gerry Andersons puppet
series from the 60's)(for those of you that are too young to remember it),
the Helium3 shuttle accelerates along a track as it takes off. Bill made
the vehicle and I stayed late one night to make the track. Mostly CD racks,
under-gravel filters for a tropical fish-tank and dumper truck backs!...all
screwed to a timber frame of course. |
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HEATSHIELD |
Bill's original shape was more sleek and cool
looking, but Production wanted something more utalitarian, so bill was asked
to lop off the nose of the ship. I added a heat shield. Bill ordered a steel
rail from RS COMPONENTS and a slider, both of which I attached with ADLOCK
2 part epoxy. |
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OWN DESIGN |
Another freedom was this 'space shovel' not a single
drawing for this one - only the thumbnail that I scribbled down.
Again, made in the evenings. this was an afterthought
supposed to open the movie as the camera pans slowly across the barren
lunar surface to rest upon the image of this shovel left in the soil -
thereby revealing a human presence on the moon. Filmed but never used.
maybe it will end up in 'deleted scenes'
|
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SPOTLIGHT |
You can see the transition from unpainted to primer and
then to finished paint job in these three pictures. Also, a working light
may have been left on by the workman - as energy is so bountyful now that
helium3 is utilised. I had a cable running off that went to a mini helium3
reactor, which Bill was going to loan to the production - a prop from
one of his own projects
|
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DELETED SCENES? |
Orange was one of the company colours, so
seemed perfect for the space-shovel....and LOTS of dirt!! |
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A CLOSE SHAVE |
Staying late again to extend these lamps that
Bill put together in groups of four. I managed to get my exes razor-heads
in there again!! Well - you gotta have a bit of fun! |
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This is one
very very VERY SMALL STEP |
An added detail - probably only register subliminally
- were footprints all over the place, especially near the moonbase. We
couldnt really do this, as, inbetween takes we may have had to walk on the
set, set up for the next shot and then sweep OUR footprints off, obliterating
all the tiny ones in the process. this would cause MAJOR continuity headaches
as we would have had to halt production for hours as we tried to put the
small footprints back in the same places they were before. Not practical
at all. In reality they WOULD have been there and would have made the model
look less like a model. Audiences are less likely to notice shifting soil
than footprints...so - no footprints. If the budget had have been there
- the CGI dept could have added them later in post-production. |
