The Imperial Shipyards
Imperial Creative Engineering => Dioramas => Topic started by: r2witco on September 10, 2012, 09:40:30 PM
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Well, I've been lurking here for a while and it's probably time I posted something.
To start off with, here's the beginning of the Star Destroyer Bridge where we first me our favorite bounty hunter, Boba Fett. I guess technically we meet all of the bounty hunters there for the first time, but anyway back to the point of all this... I'm making this specifically to shoot a scene for the project Empire Uncut (http://www.starwarsuncut.com/empire). Like most of you, I collect action figures and still like to play with them as a gentleman in his mid 30's. Projects like this give me a chance to play with my toys and do something cool with it. In this case, stop-motion animation. Without further ado, here's the beginnings of my set build.
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/IMG_6179.jpg[/img]
~ Sizing things up
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/IMG_6175.jpg[/img]
~ Vader finds my crooked ass cuts disturbing
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/IMG_6181.jpg[/img]
~ Got everything cut and ready to glue
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/IMG_6184.jpg[/img]
~ Upper Deck glued
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/IMG_6186.jpg[/img]
~ Lower Dec glued
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/IMG_6187.jpg[/img]
~ Sort of a view of the final shot I need to create
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/IMG_6239.jpg[/img]
~ Got the panels and other junk glued on, mocking up ceiling and testing some lights
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/IMG_6244.jpg[/img]
~ Detail shot of the panels and other items I glued to the walls for added detail
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/IMG_6246.jpg[/img]
~ Another shot at this stage, showing scale
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/IMG_6249.jpg[/img]
~ IG in the house!
Now I need to mix up some Goop (gesso and white glue) and prime this puppy so that the spray paint doesn't eat the foam alive!
For those who care, or are curious...
The walls are constructed from some pink insulation foam I got from Home Depot. The wall panels are styrene I got by cutting up a "For Sale" sign. The wall grating is one of those plastic needle point grid thingies. And the door controller is some plastic greeblie I saved from a while back (saving stuff like that used to really piss off my ex-wife).
Lessons learned so far?
If this were a permanent diorama and not a background piece in a 16 second animation clip, I would have used foamcore instead of pink foam (and not drank so much before cutting it). I would use the super Scotch brand double stick tape I discovered I had, from the beginning, to attach panels and grates vs experimenting with a glue gun and super glues that melts foam - brushed on white glue might have worked well too.
Ok, I'm tired of typing... If anybody wants to check out the clips I made a couple years ago for the original Star War Uncut (http://www.starwarsuncut.com/) project, those can be found on my Vimeo Page (http://vimeo.com/r2witco).
Cheers, goodnight all!
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This is coming along very nicely keep us updated with more WIP pics and welcome aboard.
Ron
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Awesome Whit. Just awesome. It looks killer.
Off to the front page. I can't wait to see Empire Uncut!
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Whit! So glad to see you posting!The bridge set up is looking great! Thanks for sharing the behind the scenes shots too. I love your use of plasti-core to diffuse the light, your photos are really well done. Can't wait to see more!
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This looks great. Can't wait to see the finished product.
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Having experienced a divorce myself, I think the ex-wife statement was the paramount statement in your post!!
Jason
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Wow, just had a chance to view some of the vimeo stop motion stuff.
Are you going to recreate the entire trilogy this way? Cool deal!
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really nice work here! Love the lighting.
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Thanks for the warm welcome and compliments folks! I'll do my best to document this bugger and share them here.
Having experienced a divorce myself, I think the ex-wife statement was the paramount statement in your post!!
Jason
Paramount? Maybe. At least I don't have to try and justify my toy collecting actions anymore ;)
Wow, just had a chance to view some of the vimeo stop motion stuff.
Are you going to recreate the entire trilogy this way? Cool deal!
NO! Yes that would be cool, but that would be totally nuts. I'm sure I would get faster as I did more of them, but the 15 second clips I did for ANH took me at least a few days each to complete. With over 400 clips to complete that movie, it would take awhile ;)
For reference, here's a collage of the shots I need for my scene. Not too excited about doing this panning shot, but it's good to challenge ourselves right?
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/257-layout.jpg[/img]
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Well I think it is great to see. I definitely want to feature a few of those on our front page in the near future, especially any TESB ones like you are planning.
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WOW! I just checked out your videos too and relly loved them. Everyone should check out the vimeo page!
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Had to get one of those videos on the front page. I can't wait to see what you do with the SD Bridge.
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Man that looks awesome I found some blue foam at Home depot that resist spray hopefully will use it soon
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Thanks again Tamer and Spry! Those are a lot of work, and very frustrating at times, but it is so cool when you see your toys move around on screen!! It was pretty exciting to see mine, and everyone else's scenes on a big screen during the SW Uncut panel at C6. Gonna try and get a bit more work on SD done now so hopefully more updates soon.
Man that looks awesome I found some blue foam at Home depot that resist spray hopefully will use it soon
Thanks a lot! Wish I had some of that foam now, priming this thing before I can spray sucks :P
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THAT IS AMAZING! ;D
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Looks pretty spot on to the reference fames you show.
*off to Vimeo*
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Nice job so far. Welcome to the Yards!
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Looks pretty spot on to the reference fames you show.
Thanks, it's close enough for me ;)
And thanks for the kind words Mando Assasin and Darth Optimus!
Now to post a few more progress shots...
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Progress continues on the build. Here are few more WIP pics.
I had nearly forgotten to build a couple of pieces for the lower part of the deck. I wanted a couple of control panels of sorts on the walls of the deck below where the bounty hunters will be standing. I'm not planning to go for screen accuracy, I just wanted to use some greeblies and practice making stuff. This whole build is a bit of an experiment anyway.
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/sd-build_03.jpg[/img]
~ Panel #1
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/sd-build_04.jpg[/img]
~ Panel #2
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/sd-build_05.jpg[/img]
~ Here they are in place and ready to be primed.
Now to get this thing ready to paint. Because I'm using the pink foam (and not the cool blue foam jtrooper found) I need to protect it from being eaten away by the spray paint, much like styrofoam. Tho that can add a cool effect if you are doing terrain or maybe a blaster scar on a wall.
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/sd-build_01.jpg[/img]
~ For my primer, I am using a mixture of Gesso and Weldbond white glue. I used a 6 parts Gesso to 2 parts glue mix. Looking back, I wish I had added some black to the mixture so that it would have a grey base coat - oh well, lesson learned.
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/sd-build_02.jpg[/img]
~ FYI: Not only are those little plastic stands you get from pizza fun to build stuff from, but they also make great drying stands.
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/sd-build_06.jpg[/img]
~ After a couple coats, these bad boys are sitting in front of a fan getting ready for the next step.
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/sd-build_07.jpg[/img]
~ Another shot of all 3 major pieces after getting primed. I also went back and filled a few of the gaps with Weldbond and brushed it smooth. That did a nice job of covering up a few of my sloppy edges ;)
If the weather here holds up, I should be able to spray these pieces when they finish drying and be that much closer to actually animating. In the meantime, I'm trying to figure out and build the ceiling as well as the rest of my stage ???
Cheers!
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LOOKING FREAKING SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET MAN. I'M LOVING THIS BIG TIME ;D :D :)
GREAT JOB. Can't wait to see it finished. Keep the pics coming man.
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Keep the pics coming man.
ask and you shall receive...
The spray paint experiment worked! One area on the backside that I didn't prime as well did suffer some damage, but that was an experiment on a place that won't be seen and went as I expected. I didn't have much grey spray paint left (and am rather broke) so I painted everything black first and went back with the grey and hit everything that would be visible in my final shot. Here's a couple shots of where things are now...
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/sd-build_001.jpg[/img]
~ Pretty happy with how this is looking. I'm also happy that no one will see this much detail in the final animation so my mistakes won't be as evident :P
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/sd-build_002.jpg[/img]
~ Really stoked with how this lower deck came out. I think this piece will probably be used a lot in the future. Planning to go in and add details to the control panels. Not gonna add lights, but I do have an idea that might really make em pop - more on that at a later date.
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/sd-build_003.jpg[/img]
~ I REALLY need to get the ceiling figured out. I was planning to cut panels in a piece of hardboard, paint it and then back it with a piece of coroplast (pictured above) to diffuse my light source and act ass a light fixture of sorts. Since I really hate cutting that stuff I have decided to draw the ceilings patterns onto the coroplast and block out the opaque areas with paint. We'll see how that goes ;)
Time for another beer and some math!
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Man that is just superb. I'm a fan that's for sure. ;D
You're doing a fantastic job mate...keep it up.
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Looking great! I never thought of using the geso, havn't seen that since art classes. Good idea! That liquid gold shines thru again! HAHA! Love the control panels you built, actualy I love all of it.
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I'm also happy that no one will see this much detail in the final animation so my mistakes won't be as evident
Dude. You're building a toy. A functional, realistic FREEKING AMAZING-LOOKING toy, but yeah. All of us who have built sets KNOW there are mistakes in EVERY piece. (ok, except for Hemble's. And Sprywalker's. They are just ... that good.) You have an inutterably awesome-looking ESB Star Destroyer playset. That. Is. Cool.
Time for another beer and some math!
On first read, I would have sworn that last word had an E in it... ;D
Seriously - I learn as much from folks who post and say, "This approach failed miserably/didn't go as anticipated/looks like crap" as I do the folks who show what worked juuuust right. Do not worry about revealing flaws. That encourages us ... "whimpy modelers" to just take the plunge and accept our own weird details as we go...
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thats looking just a tad ..bloody awesome!
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[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/sd-build_0001.jpg[/img]
OOPS :P
Thank you Wraithnine! (Not for spilling my paint, but for the kind words)
DocOutlands, thank you! I'm glad you appreciate the added bits of what works and all that. I have always been a fan of 'behind the scenes' stuff and hope to share whatever I can to help benefit myself and anyone else who happens to be listening. I think the best thing about places like "The Yards" is that we all get a chance to share that stuff. And no E in that last word of my last post like you originally read. I only like to watch Breaking Bad, not live it ;)
Anyway, who wants to see more pictures?
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/sd-build_0003.jpg[/img]
~ I need a stage to hold the upper-deck pieces above the lower deck, so I just stacked up enough foam scraps and glued them together. I'll cut them into smaller pieces and make a table top of sorts when the glue dries.
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/sd-build_0002.jpg[/img]
~ Not only is this a great reference/coffee table book, but it also works as a nice weight to hold pieces in place while the glue dries ;)
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/sd-build_0004.jpg[/img]
~ And finally here's a look at some of the detail I put into control panels as well as some of the sloppy brush strokes onto the grey that I will need to fix :P
Good night all!
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Spry, the gesso goes back to my painting days. I tend to hoard supplies and have a lot of interests, so basically I have a lot of shit. I literally ran my can of "liquid gold" into the ground for this. As broke as I am after Celebration, I've been fortunate that I have been able to build all of this from what I have on hand. Who says hoarding doesn't pay off sometimes ;)
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Mate this is coming along brillantly and I love how you are using bits and pieces to make the bridge, the bits or parts box is a customizers best friend.
I'm looking forward to seeing more of this great build so keep the WIP pics coming.
Ron
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Anyway, who wants to see more pictures?
I have to say, that is probably the ONLY question someone could ask around here that qualifies as a "stupid question." ;D
I'm going to learn a lot from watching this come together.
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AWESOME.......I can hear the Imperial March Theme as i look at these pics man. Look out Captain Needa, you're about to have a very VERY bad day ;D
BRING ON MORE PICS MAN. EAGER BEAVER HERE.
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A bit of a tip if you are looking to seal Styro or foam board before paint..
Rustoleum textured spray paint does not eat foam.
however, it does leave a type of stucco finish, so probably not good for smooth panels, but for terrain, or textured walls, the stuff works fast, is fairly cheap, and stands in for asphalt/concrete when needed.
Be warned though, it does cover details, so don't use it on highly detailed stuff (like columns, bricks, etc)
Great work so far! I love me some Greeblies!
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Still fighting with math in order to get the spacing and alignment correct for my scene. In this mornings battle, I set up the camera so that I can see how the lens will capture things as well as compare my shot against the one I am recreating in an attempt to nail down the perspective.
Here's a little peek of what that looks like...
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/sd_shoot-001.jpg[/img]
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/sd_shoot-002.jpg[/img]
I still need to finish the ceiling and get the lighting worked out before I can start shooting, but I'm getting closer!
Thanks for all the encouragement folks, I really appreciate it!! Normally I don't like to share this type of information until after I finish a project, but I have to say that all of the interaction is quite fun.
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AWESOME! :D
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Awwwww, man!! Stuff like that final shot w/ the side-by-side makes it allllllll worthwhile!! Looks fabulous!
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Ah yes, there is another. I am a hoarder too! This new update looks fantastic! Love these shots you are sharing with us. It is so cool that you have so many mineature SW set pieces. That is exactly what I am going for, it is so cool to be able to set up the various scenes. No wonder your short films are so good. You go to great lengths for projects like this and it all pays off in the end.
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What an awesome behind the scenes preview. Really looking forward to seeing this video Whit. Back on the front page.
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Damn impressive.
Ron
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Well, it's all wrapped up. Sorry I didn't update sooner, but I was busy with all the productions stuff. I'll try and pick up where I left off and bring you all up to date...
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/SD-Shoot_0001.jpg[/img]
~ At this point, most everything is put together and it's time to get it ready for the animation shoot. That means I need to set it up in a place where I can get to all of the figures I need to animate as well as light it and film it.
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/SD-Shoot_0002.jpg[/img]
~ A look at the beginnings of my animation stage.
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/SD-Shoot_0003.jpg[/img]
~ I stacked up and glued together scraps of the pink foam from construction to use as stands for set pieces and figures to be placed on.
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/SD-Shoot_0004.jpg[/img]
~ I had to tie all of the pieces together so that they couldn't be moved easily, so I used toothpicks to do that. Being that these are all made out of foam they are vey light and could easily be moved with a heavy sigh and that would really mess up a shoot if that happend in the middle of it all.
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/SD-Shoot_0005.jpg[/img]
~ I used clamps to tie down figures that I didn't want moving around...
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/SD-Shoot_0006.jpg[/img]
~ And I finally got around to painting the panels on to the ceiling piece. Had to use 2 coast of black acrylic to keep the brush strokes from showing when it was backlit.
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/SD-Shoot_0007.jpg[/img]
~ Here's a view of the set with the new ceiling in place.
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/SD-Shoot_0008.jpg[/img]
~ Having a little fun taking pics with the new ceiling.
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/SD-Shoot_0009.jpg[/img]
~ More fun with new ceiling and working on lighting.
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/SD-Shoot_0010.jpg[/img]
~ A friend made me this great lighting box. It's basically just 3 dimmer switches mounted in one box so I can easily adjust lighting for shots.
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/SD-Shoot_0011.jpg[/img]
~ These are couple of Dollar Store LED lights that I use for everything. For this project I superglued pieces of curoplast onto the front to diffuse them - should have done that years ago!
So far on this project I have spent no money. It wasn't till I was getting ready to actually shoot that it came time to finally spend a little dough. I wanted to shoot this project in HD so I was gonna have to use my iPhone 4s to be able to do that, as the video camera I usually use can't do that. In order to do this, I was gonna have to upgrade my version of iStopmotion as well as my OS. So, after $60 and many new settings to reset I am ready to go with the new camera set up.
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/SD-Shoot_0012.jpg[/img]
~ Here's a look at my DIY tripod mount for my iPhone. I can't zoom with this set up, so I used my telephoto lens to try and get closer to the action.
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/SD-Shoot_0013.jpg[/img]
~ The telephoto lens is part of a set of magnetic lenses for smartphones that I got from PhotoJoJo (http://photojojo.com/). I carry them around in a miniature SW lunchbox.
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/SD-Shoot_0014.jpg[/img]
~ Everything is looking good so far!
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/SD-Shoot_0015.jpg[/img]
~ Getting things ready to shoot.
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/SD-Shoot_0015.jpg[/img]
~ Working on lighting.
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/SD-Shoot_0017.jpg[/img]
~ As good as it was looking with the iPhone as my camera, I was having trouble getting close enough for the shot and doing my panning shot with my DIY tripod mount :(
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/SD-Shoot_0018.jpg[/img]
~ So I was forced to revert back to my old video camera that doesn't have HD capabilities, but it does have zoom and a solid tripod mount.
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/SD-Shoot_0019.jpg[/img]
~ Everything is all set, let's shoot!
After 3 hours of shooting (and cursing the fact that I chose a shot with a camera pan) I ended up with these 4 seconds of unusable footage:
<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/49950814" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe>
<a href="Not a valid vimeo URL">Empire Uncut: Scene 258 out take[/url][/color][/b]
The quality is low because I didn't bother to export a good quality copy, but I really messed up the camera pan and the lighting was not what I was going for at all.
Quick little insight to my process... I have to shoot all of this at night so that the movement of the sun during the day won't mess with my lighting over the course of a shot. As I like to put it, I prefer to work in darkness so that I can control the light.
Now that I have used up all of about 2 hours of shooting time left and not having enough time to start over, I decided to just mess with the lighting and camera setting until I had everything dialed in and ready for my next night of shooting.
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/SD-Shoot_0020.jpg[/img]
~ Here's a shot of what I came up with.
Pleased with my nights work, I decided to get some rest and prepare for when darkness would arise again and I could continue my project.
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/SD-Shoot_0021.jpg[/img]
~ Let's try this again. Quiet on the set!!
[img width= height=]http://www.distractedbystarwars.com/images/isy/sd-build/SD-Shoot_0022.jpg[/img]
~ It's a wrap!
Well, after all that, I got my 16 seconds of animation and scene 258 of Empire Uncut is in the bag. I can't say that I am totally pleased with the end product, but I do think it came out good and I had lot of fun making it. I hope you enjoy it...
<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/49949053" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe>
<a href="Not a valid vimeo URL">Star Wars Uncut Scene 258[/url][/color][/b]
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Well I have to say that even for a little section of a scene you have done a awesome job. I was also very impressed with the behind the scenes look thansk heaps for showing that part as well.
And I just viewed the video and damn impressive stuff I'm looking forward to seeing more.
Ron
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Wow, I just loaded the video to the front page, but am gonna have to feature this too.
What an amazing how to. Thanks for sharing it Whit.
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This is so cool! :D :D
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Tamer, Hemble and Mando Assasin - Thank you guys very much, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
I'm glad folks appreciated the behind the scenes looks too. I'm still not sure if I will post things like this before I finish the project as it seems to add to the expectation when I am only doing 16 seconds of something. Not that I won't share so many details, but I will probably do so after the fact. Anyway, I'm glad to have this wrapped up and look forward to my next project!
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this is absolutely brilliant! love the idea behind this project and also the sets, built just to fit for the shot - but looking BIG on screen. Thats what filmmaking is about.
Great!