How cheaply can I make miniatures?

A

Aspiring Mogul

I'm on a Space: 1999 kick now, so I have done some digging on Youtube. Brian Johnson, the sfx legend who did the effects for the series (and The Empire Strikes Back), said that a miniature can be 3,500 British pounds, which would be about $25,000.00 today.

If I am smart about it, I should be able to create a 44-inch spaceship for, say, a few thousand dollars, and, if I do several, the cost per spaceship should go down. There's also the issue of the space base, as in Moonbase Alpha on the moon. Again, without knowing anything, I should be able to do that for less than $10,000.00. How much to do something like this video?
 
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directorik said:
Does that suit in the video look professional-quality to you?
Click to expand...

Hard to say, because I have very poor eyesight - I can spend more than $50, and, let's face it, for $500 a day - charged to ULB non-commercial movies - I should be able to do a better job and get professional-quality suit. That's my point, and I'm wondering what your thoughts are on that.
 
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My thoughts are that $50 spacesuit looks terrible. Fine for a
"fan film" - excellent for students making their first movie.
For a ULB feature that an aspiring mogul hopes to get picked
up for a profit...

Terrible. Laughable. Unusable.

Of course a good spacesuit can be made - maybe even for $50.
Maybe for $150. Maybe for no money at all.
 
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I agree the one in the video looks pretty bad, but it doesn't have too - I expect the final quality and appearance has more to do with the time and care you put into making it than anything else. However there are a lot of off the rack space suit costumes available for fairly cheap like these:

http://www.amazon.com/NASA-Astronaut-White-Adult-Costume/dp/B000S6RP3G/ref=pd_sbs_a_2
http://www.amazon.com/Underwraps-Adult-Deluxe-Astronaut-Costume/dp/B003JDJG50

It doesn't necessarily look great, but it's already leagues better than the homemade one in the video. I'm guessing if you use one of those as your starting point, and put some care into customizing it, you could produce something that looks decent for a a few hundred dollars. You might also want to start with military surplus flight suits, they can be pretty cheap, something like this:

http://www.armysurplusworld.com/product.asp?productID=45034
 
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Aspiring Mogul said:
How much to make a good spacesuit? $500? My goal would be something like that seen in Space: 1999.
Click to expand...
A good spacesuit can be made for $50. Maybe for $150.
Maybe for no money at all. Again we come back to the
labor issue. Most of the filmmakers here are DIY - they
literally do everything themselves. A producer making a
TV series for broadcast has different needs. Yes, you can
buy $50 or $150 or $250 in materials and build one suit
yourself. Or you can pay a skilled professional to build a
suit.

There are many dedicated amateurs out there who can
create amazing things (like models and spacesuits) for
little or no money at all.
 
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directorik said:
A good spacesuit can be made for $50. Maybe for $150.
Maybe for no money at all. Again we come back to the
labor issue. Most of the filmmakers here are DIY - they
literally do everything themselves. A producer making a
TV series for broadcast has different needs. Yes, you can
buy $50 or $150 or $250 in materials and build one suit
yourself. Or you can pay a skilled professional to build a
suit.

There are many dedicated amateurs out there who can
create amazing things (like models and spacesuits) for
little or no money at all.
Click to expand...

I was wondering about that. So, if I can get a team of volunteers with a professional or two supervising everyone, I should be able to cut costs and get something that looks really good.
 
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to many maybes up there ^^^

You dont know what you want, you dont know how to do it, your eyes arent any good. Your plan sounds like a great way to waste a lot of money.

Commission the model at your local hobby store, $200 buck and I bet you get a masterpiece, might be a bit fragile, but good for you movie..

Have you ever SHOT with a model before, do you know anything about it?

Go buy some premade toys and try and film them in a convincing way.. again, your hobby store that specializes in model railroads is your best bet.

Must read for you..

http://www.scribd.com/doc/26981391/Filming-the-Fantastic-a-Guide-to-Visual-Effects-Cinematography


go try something today..
 
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wheatgrinder said:
to many maybes up there ^^^

You dont know what you want, you dont know how to do it, your eyes arent any good. Your plan sounds like a great way to waste a lot of money.

Commission the model at your local hobby store, $200 buck and I bet you get a masterpiece, might be a bit fragile, but good for you movie..

Have you ever SHOT with a model before, do you know anything about it?

Go buy some premade toys and try and film them in a convincing way.. again, your hobby store that specializes in model railroads is your best bet.

Must read for you..

http://www.scribd.com/doc/26981391/Filming-the-Fantastic-a-Guide-to-Visual-Effects-Cinematography


go try something today..
Click to expand...

If only you knew ... :D
 
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Nothing to forgive, my friend. Rik and the others have been patient with me the last few years, and they've said the same think you have, namely, that I have to get off my rear end and do a movie.

It's late, but I have an idea in mind ... now, I have to convince Rik I mean it. :D
 
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To belabor this point, if miniatures are better than CGI, and everyone is using CGI now, then making and filming miniatures may be becoming a lost art which should be revived.

I'm seriously thinking of getting a team together to (re)learn how to make SF miniatures. I think, seriously, that the Space: 1999 Eagles are among the better-looking ones in SF today.
 
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I just visited a couple of hardware stores, and, to my surprise, the metallic and ceramic components can be used to make pretty good spaceships and space stations. In fact, I was surprised to see some components that could be used to replicate the real life experimental fighter, the X-29 forward swept wing, which would really look good in a SF movie. I understand a spaceship should be over three feet long to look good, and that can definitely be done at low cost, and I can even pay my staff a reasonable wage.

My concern is how they would look on camera, and, of course, anyone who works in a hardware store would know how the props were made.

Any thoughts on that?
 
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