A Proportional Response

I've been showing clips to several different people. Doing a bit of beta testing. A few chosen people have even seen the completed movie. The consensus is the same. "It's really good."

And that's why we're still working on it. Mainly because I'm perfecting the score, doing some minor re-shoots, and perfecting the FX. But also because "really good" isn't good enough for me.

I'm aiming for amazing.  If I aim high, then even if I miss, at least we'll land somewhere above "really good."

So one of the things I haven't been able to do is get alot of the final fight scenes to be really big. I needed alot of actors to play Grimm Soldiers in the final battle scenes. But I've been unsuccessful in coordinating everyone's schedules to get the amount of people I need.

So since I can't get an army of actors in, why not make it an army of Robots.  And all I'd need to do is build just one and multiply it in post.

I started with left over coffee containers, empty juice bottles, and some mini pads I bought for cheap at Goodwill.

Yes, that's a Planters Peanuts Bottle.

Put it all together with hot glue and cheap wood screws. Added a few details from plastic lids and caps.

Did a first coat of  black spray paint.

Then a coat of metallic silver. Letting it dry for 24 hours between coats helps keep it from chipping.

A final coat of off white on the body. It looks a bit orange thanks to the sun going down.

A final coat of black for the chest plate and shoulders.

After I'm done in post we'll have an army of flying robots.

This only cost about $7.


Before you know it this movie will be completely finished.

Life of Pi's Stunning Effects

Visual effects of The Hobbit: Creating Rivendell

Hits and Misses (Making a No-Budget Movie)

I’ve been editing video since before high school. I love it. I love manipulating images to tell a story. It’s therapeutic for me. Like solving a puzzle or laying out cards in a game of solitaire, it puts me in a zone. Except here I get to express myself. Some people write in a diary, others talk to a counselor. Making movies, editing footage, that’s where my therapy comes from, that’s how I deal.

After my brother died I certainly had alot to deal with. And after the past couple of years filled with more downs than ups, I certainly had much to express. This was a tough one to work on. Took me about a year just because this was an emotional subject. But I felt like I needed to finish this one.

This is about the process of how I make movies, and about what drives me to finish this one.

CGI VFX Breakdowns HD: SBS Documentary Promos by Method Studios

I really love this CG work. I really think I might give this one a shot in Hitfilm.

Tom Savini's FX - Two Evil Eyes

I always love hearing Tom Savini talk about his FX work. He really likes to break it down and emphasize that this is all basically creative problem solving. He really gets into how this is all about figuring out what images the mind needs to see in order for it to perceive that a specific effect is occurring  I mean it really is all a bit of an obvious concept, but hearing him talk about it, hearing him spell it out helps you really remember what should be obvious, but can often get convoluted when you're in the moment trying to make things happen. Sometimes the best solution is the simplest one.

Hulk's Smashing Special Effects: The Avengers

Behind the Magic: The Visual Effects of The Avengers

I love the stop motion Avengers bits.

The Walking Dead - VFX Breakdown

Final Destination 5 - Bridge VFX