Thankfully the weekend is over!

Not usually what you hear from people, but in our case we were out of steam. 7 days on set, from 7:30 crew call to 7-8-9-10pm plus the 2 hour commute each way. Jody and Anna stayed in a hotel by the studio for a night, and we were going to do the same, but it seemed every night I had to do something at the shop, so I couldn't stay in the end.

 This is Jody and the Art Director Alan Fellows. Alan's the guy who awarded us the gig. He's a great guy to work with, very little stress, and never really gets worked up at all. It really was like working with him, and not for him.

We also got to experience working with Kris Finnigan (next to Jody) and Jack Babcock far right. These 2 guys were the other people in the Art Department. They were on top of everything! If we needed something from the store, or anywhere, these guys were on it fast! Plus they were as chill as Jody, me and Alan. I REALLY hope to get to work with them again. Sadly, the only one not in the pics was the props buyer Nelson, the last piece in an amazing team. These guys are the other reason I love my job!

This is how things looked in my work area Saturday at 7:30 am. Sifting construction sand into 3 different sized pebbles! Not very exciting, but had to be done!

Some of the sand was slated for the soft shoulder of the Rescue Heroes set. I originally was going to just pour the sand right onto the model, but the kid actors really like to touch everything, which can make re-dressing a nightmare, and slow down production. So I went with a strip of .020 styrene glued to the bottom of the grass pad, and glued the sand to that. That way when they want the grass gone, depending on the shot set-up, it can fly out fast.

 The dinosaur set changed with every single shot, so it was next to impossible to get photo's of every set change. Basically we just moved everything around, and stuck the trees and moss wherever they needed it.

By wrap on Saturday, the dino set was jammed into the corner awaiting disposal! You'd think it might be a little sad, but by the end of the day, you don't ever want to see it again:)

I though I would just post the rest of the pics without descriptions, kind of like a small scrap book:

By wrap on Saturday, the dino set was jammed into the corner awaiting disposal! You'd think it might be a little sad, but by the end of the day, you don't ever want to see it again:)

I though I would just post the rest of the pics without descriptions, kind of like a small scrap book:

Landscaping in Miniature

Today was probably the most chilaxed day on set yet! They were shooting product shots all day, so we didn't need to be there until the afternoon. But as craft services has been having fantastic lunches, we decided we would get there in time for that!!

The dinosaur base has gone through another set of changes, so Jody worked on re-dressing that set for awhile. Apparently they are shooting that set first tomorrow, and the Rescue Heroes set on Sunday, so the rush to finish the Rescue set was kind of for not. Crazy world this t.v. stuff is :)

For the park garden set, I worked on the flower beds around the trees, I mixed up some raw umber paint with sand, and spread it around the pocket hole that the trees are growing out of. We picked up a small planter basket that had these tiny orange plastic flowers, but when you break off the flower part, they scale very well with our set. These were stuck into the paint/sand mixture, and the whole base was placed outside to dry in the sun. Whats cool is how real the park looks outside on a table in the studio parking lot!

So I put a water bottle in for a scale reference. Now that's funny!

We totally lucked out on the trees for this job. I was driving home last week, and saw this crazy looking bush at the side of the road. I stopped and checked it out, and the branches were amazing as scale trees! I don't know what kind of tree it came from, but I definitely made a note of the location. Were always looking for realistic tree bases! You know you're a geek when you get excited about a small stick that looks like it could be a big stick!

Tomorrow I will finish the Rescue Base, while Jody is going to man the Dinosaur base while they're shooting. It should be another easy day........................for me, not Jody! MU HA HA HA!

8)
JWO

On with the show!

John and I worked in the shop for the day.They wanted some 'wild' manhole covers that could be placed wherever they need to be. We were originally going to pocket out the road way to inset them into, but the last minute changes on set have been so crazy, it's better to not lock ANYTHING down at this point!

Down the one side of the set is a row of "Main St." store facades. These were all cut on our Techno cnc. The main facades are all 1/4" styrene, with the mullions and trim done in 1/16" styrene. They wanted them in tones of grey, so as not to distract, or be confused with if it's a part of the playset.

All the sidewalk pads got cut from 3/8" mdf, and scribed on the Techno. I used Rustoleums 'make it stone' texture paint, and it will get it's final color tomorrow. You can see the pocket holes that will be a flower bed with one of our trees planted in the middle. The stuff at the back is 'Gutter Stuff' used to keep debris out of your eaves trough. But tomorrow it will become a beautifully manicure hedge along the park!

Meanwhile on set, the Monsters Inc set got it's final dress, and saplings planted along the curb of the asphalt roadway. The backdrop looks really cool I think. Whoever painted it did a great job!

Jody and Anna got the Dinosaur set dressed for now. I think there are some last minute changes happening with that one as well, but it doesn't shoot until Sunday, so it's all good right now.

8)
JO

The Batman!

The in studio days have been quite long. I'm glad that there is 4 of us getting things done! But up at 4 and in bed at midnight is dragging me down. But I can sleep when this is wrapped!

We loaded in on Monday, and got the styrofoam bases glued up on the floor, with ratchet straps wrapped around the bases to squeeze them tight while the spray foam hardened. The risers weren't ready when we got there, but with the studio being 11000 square feet, with no columns anywhere, there was plenty of floor space to spread it out in! Monday was an in-studio build day, so there wasn't a lot of pressure. Tuesday was a pre-light day, so all the grips and electrics were in studio, this made things a little more crowded for sure, but lots of room to work still. We tried to get any of the messy work, like sanding the base seems, done on Monday, so we wouldn't get everyone's stuff covered in dust.

Clearly Jody feels quite gigantic on the dinosaur set, as she threatens the dinosaur toy with a good squashing. Maybe we need to re-think the current "Extinction" theory. Hmmmm.......

John and I worked on getting the road areas painted on the Imaginext Rescue Heroes set. This was just 2.5 sheets of 3/4" plywood, seemed, sealed, painted and textured. The sidewalk pads will remain "wild" on this set, so that when they do the close up play with the toys, they can move to a smaller base, and set the pads where they want them.

In the end, they decided not to use our awesome 3d moon :( It was so much easier for them to light a flat one, so Jody and Anna whipped up 2 different sized ones for the art director Alan to choose from. They ended up going with the smaller 18" flat one instead. All I can say is that there will always be a full moon at the shop when this job ends!

 Jody and Anna worked on getting the Batman set dressed and ready for camera. Alan gave them a hand when he wasn't busy running around putting out little fires everywhere! The art dept. was amazing in getting all the jack stands attached to the flat mdf Gotham City backdrop, and the trace paper over the window cutouts.

The backdrop did go through several revisions in it's panel order, based on what the camera angle was. So there were a few minutes here and there where all you could see were buildings moving back and forth. It was like an architectural mambo.

Once the set was dressed and lit, it looked great. I was able to grab a shot of the monitor with the approximate camera angle, to get a feel for the whole thing in frame.

After the opening shots, we removed the mountain from it's base pad, and had it on a riser so they could get the camera in as close as possible to the toys. This also meant we had to sawsall the front of the mountain right clean off. It took longer to get the styrofoam bits of the set than actually cut it. The running joke was everyone asking if we called the gas company before we started digging!

We also got a good start on the Monsters University base as well. This will be kind of a rural industrial park area. The mdf in the picture is going to get covered in artificial miniature grass, with a small curb separating the asphalt from the grass. We'll also plant taller grass along the curb, and some saplings in small round garden beds.

It was a great day today, even though we could only really work when they weren't rolling. Lots did get finished anyways though.
Tomorrow, Jody and Anna will be manning the sets, while John and I do the last of the building for the Rescue Hero's set at the shop.

8)
JWO

The weekend was a long weekend-long hours that is!

 I'm not sure that this particular procedure is covered in the Techno cnc manual that came with the machine :) After the Sponge Bob ocean base, The Z-axis was too high to cut anything else, so I had to drop it back down to where it was usable. It didn't take long, but it was a little freaky to do!

The Gotham City backdrop got cut out on our Techno cnc. Pretty fast at around 4 minutes per panel!
The 24 inch moon seemed to just roll around and get in the way for the most part. It did live on a bucket, until someone stole it for making scenic mud. Probably that Jody and Anna!

We textured the styrofoam moon ball by dumping sand on it and flaming it with a propane torch. The sand makes a great heat shield, while melting the exposed areas. A super fast way of texturing!

The Dino-Riders base got carved up as well. This was pretty quick with the reciprocating saw and an 11 inch tree limb blade.

Look, it's the painting/tree fairies working their magic on the dino base. We tinted the mud with the base color of the set, then parged it on. We basically treated the surface the same way we do our faux concrete. Wait till it tacks up, then run a textured roller over it, then knock it down.

The background rocks got their base hard-coat as well. This is kind of fun slapping it all on, then rough smoothing it out. It does take longer than you would think! The very chiseled look compliments the style of the toy perfectly. These will all get glazed and dressed on set.

The truck showed up at around 11 am this morning, and we were able to get everything except the tools loaded. They'll ride with us in the van.

By the end of the first set-build day, we were exactly where I hoped to be in studio. I did have to come back to the shop and build a couple of last minute things for tomorrow, so there wont be much sleep between now and the 5 am alarm clock persistance!
8)
JO