Monjono
09-20-2007, 11:36 PM
i already know how to make this or these props idk how many im going to get into but here they are. hopefully ill be able to give you enough of the basic idea without use of video or picture. you may know of these already but if not i hope you find them useful. Great stuff guys, nice to have more ideas to bounce off the base of prop making i have already.
Air mortar: This is a really simple one ill leave a few things out that can vary, if you do make a tutorial for it you can use that for the challenge part ;) To make a really decent looking explosion effect without having to rely on the usually really obvious cg explosion effects, you do the same type of rig as the compressed air squib, except you'll want a much bigger compression tank, either make it by capping a wide PVC tube, or buy a decently sized portable air carry tank ( http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImage/6f0504c7-2e40-4b5f-9a6f-6eece5ad5b65_400.jpg ) something like that, if you have the funds of course. ill use that picture to help my details out, hopefully you can view it, basically what you would want to do is to attach a large/wide funnel onto where the gas release valve is, for this one youd have to remove that tube and crap, so now you have your air tank with a big funnel sticking off the top, make sure its secured well. (if large funnels aren't available you can get a big plastic salad bowl, cut out a hole the size of the biggest funnel you can get, and attach it, you now have a big funnel) to use it you bury it so the top of the funnel is level with the ground, replace the grass or what not so its not obvious or do it in tall grass and shoot it so you don't see the upturned earth, or do it on a dirt location so it doesn't matter. You fill the funnel with loose dirt, no rocks, or metals or hurtful words and things that could do damage to your actors. you could also throw in a quick tutorial on making Styrofoam/sponge/whatever into fake concrete chunks/rocks/tar/brick those things you don't want to be in your air mortar but want to make it seem like they are. i think you get the idea by now. so you have your funnel fill with non harmful stuff and the thing ill leave up to you as there are a few ways of doing it, is how you open the valve when its underground. im interested in what you come up with for that. then the loose soft dirt and fake debris will launch out into the air as if a grenade/mortar/artillary/bomb went off in that spot. also the compressed air will sometimes come out as a thick white smoke which adds to the effect. with these the only real threat is getting dirt in your eye, your actors can lay right on top of them without being in mortal danger but it'll look like they dove on a grenade or something. if you choose to use this in your videos i leave the challenge of setting it off (electronically or manually) as well as making sure you don't use too much air so after the initial explosion you don't have compressed air jetting out of the ground for a few seconds after. You can adjust the size and what you use in the mortar, like hide it out of site in an ally and use ash and fake concrete, depends on what size explosion and fit it for your needs and use debris that match your location etc... (package of funnels .99-1.99, large salad bowl .99-1.99)
so we dont have too many cheapo cg explosions out there ;) i prefer realism so i healthier balance of cg to this type of live action effect i feel is much better in my opinion
another quick one is you can use those pool snake things... styrofoam cylindrical tubes... for floating with... noodles?? i cant think of the correct name. if you cut sections of that off you can carve good heads for sledge hammer/hammers/other blunt objects like that, or even an entire bat (requires a plastic rod in center for sturdy-ness). paint it with a good mix of black and gray, metalic, and place it on a real handle. swap it out while filming and you can get more realistic strikes without putting your actors in a lot of danger lol.
also a few questions if you could answer them thatd be great, whats the shelf life for your "ballistics gel" as in can you make say the fake hand but leave it around for a while before using it or does it break down and become a useless ball of jelly... also an idea off the hand making and stuff, if available to you through a school or whatever you might be able to make really good molds for the giblets of us all, by borrowing or buying (if youve got the money, they are expensive) those take apart and put back together models of hearts/intestines/other inards, if you could get your hands on those and make a plaster mold then make gel models, i think you can imagine the uses :D
Another thing is, you made three prop heads and demonstrated three gore effects to do on them. On the third one, i believe, you made a gel pocket type thing using a cup, well if you do that same thing, but make a tube going from that pocket down through the neck, and attach a small funnel onto where the bottom of that cup would be, or use the bottom of the cup maybe. Fill the pocket with brain bits and fake blood etc, cover up the back of the head by making a random puzzle type thing out of styro(or plastic "skull") and fake hair, attach it with cheap glue or tape, something that will hold it together but come apart easily. Youll want to make a higher pressure tank, anyway turn the valve and splat, brain bits, skull, and hair goes shooting out the back. Yummy :D
Alright thats all im gonna share for right now, i hope this is useful and ill look forward to possibly seeing some of this in upcoming videos. take it easy, mike
another bullets hitting the ground effect, cut holes in a hose... hook it to a compressed air tank, put dirt patches over the holes and conceal the hose, and you get a stream of the pft pft pft dirt jumping lol
Air mortar: This is a really simple one ill leave a few things out that can vary, if you do make a tutorial for it you can use that for the challenge part ;) To make a really decent looking explosion effect without having to rely on the usually really obvious cg explosion effects, you do the same type of rig as the compressed air squib, except you'll want a much bigger compression tank, either make it by capping a wide PVC tube, or buy a decently sized portable air carry tank ( http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImage/6f0504c7-2e40-4b5f-9a6f-6eece5ad5b65_400.jpg ) something like that, if you have the funds of course. ill use that picture to help my details out, hopefully you can view it, basically what you would want to do is to attach a large/wide funnel onto where the gas release valve is, for this one youd have to remove that tube and crap, so now you have your air tank with a big funnel sticking off the top, make sure its secured well. (if large funnels aren't available you can get a big plastic salad bowl, cut out a hole the size of the biggest funnel you can get, and attach it, you now have a big funnel) to use it you bury it so the top of the funnel is level with the ground, replace the grass or what not so its not obvious or do it in tall grass and shoot it so you don't see the upturned earth, or do it on a dirt location so it doesn't matter. You fill the funnel with loose dirt, no rocks, or metals or hurtful words and things that could do damage to your actors. you could also throw in a quick tutorial on making Styrofoam/sponge/whatever into fake concrete chunks/rocks/tar/brick those things you don't want to be in your air mortar but want to make it seem like they are. i think you get the idea by now. so you have your funnel fill with non harmful stuff and the thing ill leave up to you as there are a few ways of doing it, is how you open the valve when its underground. im interested in what you come up with for that. then the loose soft dirt and fake debris will launch out into the air as if a grenade/mortar/artillary/bomb went off in that spot. also the compressed air will sometimes come out as a thick white smoke which adds to the effect. with these the only real threat is getting dirt in your eye, your actors can lay right on top of them without being in mortal danger but it'll look like they dove on a grenade or something. if you choose to use this in your videos i leave the challenge of setting it off (electronically or manually) as well as making sure you don't use too much air so after the initial explosion you don't have compressed air jetting out of the ground for a few seconds after. You can adjust the size and what you use in the mortar, like hide it out of site in an ally and use ash and fake concrete, depends on what size explosion and fit it for your needs and use debris that match your location etc... (package of funnels .99-1.99, large salad bowl .99-1.99)
so we dont have too many cheapo cg explosions out there ;) i prefer realism so i healthier balance of cg to this type of live action effect i feel is much better in my opinion
another quick one is you can use those pool snake things... styrofoam cylindrical tubes... for floating with... noodles?? i cant think of the correct name. if you cut sections of that off you can carve good heads for sledge hammer/hammers/other blunt objects like that, or even an entire bat (requires a plastic rod in center for sturdy-ness). paint it with a good mix of black and gray, metalic, and place it on a real handle. swap it out while filming and you can get more realistic strikes without putting your actors in a lot of danger lol.
also a few questions if you could answer them thatd be great, whats the shelf life for your "ballistics gel" as in can you make say the fake hand but leave it around for a while before using it or does it break down and become a useless ball of jelly... also an idea off the hand making and stuff, if available to you through a school or whatever you might be able to make really good molds for the giblets of us all, by borrowing or buying (if youve got the money, they are expensive) those take apart and put back together models of hearts/intestines/other inards, if you could get your hands on those and make a plaster mold then make gel models, i think you can imagine the uses :D
Another thing is, you made three prop heads and demonstrated three gore effects to do on them. On the third one, i believe, you made a gel pocket type thing using a cup, well if you do that same thing, but make a tube going from that pocket down through the neck, and attach a small funnel onto where the bottom of that cup would be, or use the bottom of the cup maybe. Fill the pocket with brain bits and fake blood etc, cover up the back of the head by making a random puzzle type thing out of styro(or plastic "skull") and fake hair, attach it with cheap glue or tape, something that will hold it together but come apart easily. Youll want to make a higher pressure tank, anyway turn the valve and splat, brain bits, skull, and hair goes shooting out the back. Yummy :D
Alright thats all im gonna share for right now, i hope this is useful and ill look forward to possibly seeing some of this in upcoming videos. take it easy, mike
another bullets hitting the ground effect, cut holes in a hose... hook it to a compressed air tank, put dirt patches over the holes and conceal the hose, and you get a stream of the pft pft pft dirt jumping lol