That Lucas green screen pic is hilarious.
When I younger and around the theater environment I used to see some crazy huge sets they would build. All kinds of designers and carpenters and electricians and painters were all over the place, literally hundreds of employees. It was pretty cool.
It’s different than film, but the size and cost of it all is still a mind blow. Each department had its own shop too, like props and costumes and wigs and make up and lighting. I used to walk around and trip out on what everyone was working on, or go into the prop vault and play with all kinds of swords and axes and stuff.
Sometimes they would be driving a truck on stage, other times there would be someone with a horse, it was always surreal.
God that sounds awesome. I'm just imagining how cool it would be to have a "factory" like that at your command, and design a set and sic a bunch of good makers on it. Heaven.
This is turning into a cool thread. Great pics. What's that blue and chrome contraption in foreground right in the third pic from the first series?
These are from David Mullen (While working on Manure):
I always thought they looked cool, and while not cheap, maybe also not super SUPER expensive.
They do look cool. I'll have to check Manure out and see how well that background turned out. Is that common, and realistic, or is it kind of a "300" look they're going for?
I think that set building and production design are still massively important cinematic art forms.
It's soooo important for "tacky" sci-fi! There are several sci-fi movies I can watch over and over just for the set & wardrobe eye candy: Blade Runner, Alien series, Flash Gordon, Big Trouble in Little China, Judge Dredd, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Underworld, The Fifth Element, Chronicles of Riddick, etc.
Most flats (that's what the pieces that make up the walls are
called) are luan and 1x4. For the more permeant and load bearing
walls standard 1/4" plywood is used and almost exactly like
general construction. Painting wood to look like stone or steel is
a learned skill.
Cool. So luan is like light ply, right?
There are thousands of painters who can do it. It
really isn't any different than a painter painting a picture on
canvas - they paint marble, steel, flowers, fruit and they can
paint a wall made of luan to look like anything.
You almost say this like an offhand remark, but that's something I didn't know! It's also good news, as it means what I know about traditional painting, I also know about set painting. Which isn't much, but it's a familiar subject, and I know what's entailed. Is there a dominant medium for "tricky" stuff like weathered metal or stone, say oils, or is it all situation and preference dependent? Good to know, either way.
I absolutely love David Mullen's work. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to link to it, but he has some utterly fascinating and very detailed behind-the-scenes stuff on Manure online - if you're a DP or production/set designer it's definitely worth a read. (Lots more nice pictures, too.)
Gotta love the heart of a teacher. I don't have much to teach this crowd, but I'm the same way, I get a kick out of teaching people who want to learn. My sister's kids are that way, they're like sponges, and I'll yak my dang head off explaining the world to them. I'll have to look at his site, thanks for the suggestion.
If anyone has vids, or more pics to throw at the thread please do. I'd also appreciate suggestions for DVD extras or the like that anyone finds particularly informative on ANY aspect of filmmaking. For example, I once read about a director's commentary for a mainstrim flick that supposedly really delved into the director's decisions and was almost a "how I made this movie" running commentary, but for the life of me I can't remember what movie it was or where I read about it. I'm interested in anything that goes beyond the usual superficial treatment and gets more into the nuts and bolts.