Revisions

I like the way this is progressing. This version builds toward a climax much better than the first draft.

Screenshots of Note

Here are two screenshots from The Ring (2002), slightly modified by yours truly. I love the icy color palette, dark lows and cold highs. I like the grain and the overall visual weight. Everything is intensely heavy, moving or not. These are quite similar to what I have in mind for Scene 44.

Senior Project: Scene 44

I'm working on a project to cap off my education at Biola. Called "Scene 44", it is an action scene from a fictitious thriller movie. Target length is 1 minute. Target number of effects is 15. No chroma-keying or CGI--all practical effects. It will be shot on HDV, but likely down-res'd to DV for web and my reel.

Here's the third re-write of the script. It's probably quite close to the final version; just needs to be smoothed over.



Minimal plot, minimal acting, minimal writing...It's all in the effects and editing.
Monitors exploding... guys being dragged across the floor, up a wall and levitating there... smoking computers and falling ceilings. Yeah baby this will be fun.

Clockwork Bugs

http://www.insectlabstudio.com

Mike Libby's creations are some of the most elegant steampunk artwork I've had the pleasure to find. Starting with gorgeously preserved insect specimins, he adds cogs, lights and other mechanical parts to create a completely one-of-a-kind piece of art.



I personally find it inspiring on account of how delicate the work is and how huge the dichotomies in concepts are. Metal meeting chitin. Bright colors meeting drab earth tones. Take a look; you won't be disappointed.

Smoke Test

On Biola Film 2007, "Mujo no Kaze" [The Winds of Impermanence], I was in charge of several effects. One was smoke, the other was blood. Here are the test photos:


The cigarettes had to be herbal--didn't want our actors getting hooked. But I wanted to be thorough and make sure that the herbal cigs I bought would show up as well onscreen--and they passed with flying colors. As this picture shows, it's all in the lighting.




This blood is a slightly better formula than the stage blood you usually see. Red dye, corn syrup, corn starch, water, blue dye. Kodak photo-flo, milk and black ink can be mixed in, depending on the application. Photo-flo is toxic, and ink isn't all that good for you either. Zinc oxide can be substituted for the corn starch--looks a bit better, but not as easy to acquire.

Here's the ideal mixture:
Blood
1 oz water
1/2 tbsp zinc oxide/corn starch
1 pint white corn syrup
1 oz red food dye
2-3 drops blue/green food dye
1 oz kodak photo flow [if this is used, mixture is now toxic.]
1 tsp milk

Funny side-note: I didn't have any chalk on-hand. The 'chalk' outline is actually baby powder. Works well enough for a test, [chuckle] but I'd get real chalk for the movie.

Metal Casting Project

I've been molding and casting things for a few years now, but up until this summer, it had only been plastic casts.
However, I became curious about metal casting and decided to teach myself.
My first successful one was a 1.5" tall metal flower charm.


Picture copyright William Crawford 2007

The sculpt was Sculpey 3, made with dentist's tools and generic wet clay tools. Sanded, molded in a 10-to-1 RTV silicone[Micromark] single-sided mold. This picture was an early painted acrylic cast to check the mold's detail quality. I then melted lead-free tin solder [melting point: 449.F] with a propane torch and poured several different casts of the flower, with varying degrees of success. Some were beautiful but some just came out crummy. I believe that when the metal was not hot enough, the smaller details were lost. On the other hand, when the metal was overheated the silicone mold [withstands up to 520.F] began to bubble and burn.

Still, I was left with 8 good quality casts and managed to learn a bit about low-temp metal casting along the way.

Datamancer

http://www.datamancer.net/






I credit this guy with whetting my appetite for the steampunk movement. His laptop mod is one of the most wonderful inspirations I've come across. Brass accents, claw feet, startup by turning a clock key, leather palm rests...it's a beauty.
The project: http://www.datamancer.net/steampunklaptop/steampunklaptop.htm

Happy Birthday!

Guns and Glory FX now has a blog.

Yippie ka-yay.

Plan is, 4 different categories.

1. Projects I'm on. FX, film, art, fashion, etc.

2. Inspiration. Other people's projects. Undoubtedly some steampunk stuff.

3. Practical FX-related info that I come across.