This is very nice work all around, especially the fabricated tin sheets and all the tiny details incorporated into your model. Thankfully, the combined impact of an intricately crafted miniature meshed with minimal cgi is not lost on filmmakers like Nolan, Del Toro, Gilliam and a handful of others. Not surprisingly, their films in near all respects are head and shoulders above the cookie-cutter competition. Keep up the great work!
This was a 1:18 scale build, because we based it on the scale of the hardest to reproduce element, the car. It was a common commercially available element. Everything else was made from materials from hobby stores. There are a lot of easy techniques out there pioneered by scale model builders that are great at achieving realistic finishes. Otherwise there are no real places to buy off the shelf miniatures, unless you stick to certain scales like dollhouse scales or (military) model scales.
I've been wanting to try doing a short film using FX, but as much practical as possible (vs the stuff you see now where they use CGI). How can one find pre-build miniatures like this without having to go through the expenses of having one made?
First, regarding the handheld shot.. Out of a days worth of testing, we couldn't get the camera we had loaned to get a good depth of field. I ended up using a Sony EX1 with all the workshop lights on after the shoot was over.
The model is made of a combination of molded panels for the containers, cardboard for the shacks and balsa wood. Small details were made with casting small pieces we scratch built, and using whatever resembles 'big stuff'. Bead shops are..
..great for that. 18 years of building model kits to award winning standards helps too. Tamiya model magazine and Fine scale modelling are awesome references to see what's available and what techniques are being used. We built the set to 1:18th scale, because that's the largest scale we could find commercially available model cars, other than Ferraris or Lamborghinis.
The shot was purely for our own test purposes. It gave us the worst possible circumstances to comp. Lots of camera movement..
..crappy matting and odd lighting. Overall it worked out quite well. One of the girls in the workshop saw it and commented she couldn't remember making a second VW Beetle, referring to the CGI one in the background.
I believe in using the correct tool for the job. As far as I'm concerned you build a miniature for the hero stuff, and augment that with CGI and live action elements. If it works for Peter Jackson, it can work for anyone. It's just getting production & DOP's to see it that way too.
also, question..what exactly did you use to build the miniature? personally i'm horrible at modeling, and typically look to purchasing objects to use as miniature - which unfortunately aren't THAT detailed, and need to be enhanced with 3d elements to really look convinving
miniatures are freakin awesome, and one of my favorite things to incorporate if the shot calls for it. miniature>cgi sets in my opinion. nice detail in your models, very cool!
my only critique is the handheld shot. to me, that totally gives away the miniature because you rarely see shaky crane shots like that.
Thanks.. the miniature took about two weeks to build, the CGI was done over the course of 12 hours, using some of the 3D models and textures we were working on prior to building this miniature. The 3D side of things took also about a week or so separately. They were originally two different sides of the same project, but after viewing some of the footage we shot, both on a Red and a Sony EX1, I ended up using a shot from our EX1 to comp the CGI into.
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This is very nice work all around, especially the fabricated tin sheets and all the tiny details incorporated into your model. Thankfully, the combined impact of an intricately crafted miniature meshed with minimal cgi is not lost on filmmakers like Nolan, Del Toro, Gilliam and a handful of others. Not surprisingly, their films in near all respects are head and shoulders above the cookie-cutter competition. Keep up the great work!
pH4nTomPL4n3T 3 months ago
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pH4nTomPL4n3T 3 months ago
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pH4nTomPL4n3T 3 months ago
This was a 1:18 scale build, because we based it on the scale of the hardest to reproduce element, the car. It was a common commercially available element. Everything else was made from materials from hobby stores. There are a lot of easy techniques out there pioneered by scale model builders that are great at achieving realistic finishes. Otherwise there are no real places to buy off the shelf miniatures, unless you stick to certain scales like dollhouse scales or (military) model scales.
AlteredStatesVFXSA 1 year ago
I've been wanting to try doing a short film using FX, but as much practical as possible (vs the stuff you see now where they use CGI). How can one find pre-build miniatures like this without having to go through the expenses of having one made?
Really nice work.
jeremiahjw 1 year ago
Thanks for the compliments..
First, regarding the handheld shot.. Out of a days worth of testing, we couldn't get the camera we had loaned to get a good depth of field. I ended up using a Sony EX1 with all the workshop lights on after the shoot was over.
The model is made of a combination of molded panels for the containers, cardboard for the shacks and balsa wood. Small details were made with casting small pieces we scratch built, and using whatever resembles 'big stuff'. Bead shops are..
AlteredStatesVFXSA 1 year ago
..great for that. 18 years of building model kits to award winning standards helps too. Tamiya model magazine and Fine scale modelling are awesome references to see what's available and what techniques are being used. We built the set to 1:18th scale, because that's the largest scale we could find commercially available model cars, other than Ferraris or Lamborghinis.
The shot was purely for our own test purposes. It gave us the worst possible circumstances to comp. Lots of camera movement..
AlteredStatesVFXSA 1 year ago
..crappy matting and odd lighting. Overall it worked out quite well. One of the girls in the workshop saw it and commented she couldn't remember making a second VW Beetle, referring to the CGI one in the background.
I believe in using the correct tool for the job. As far as I'm concerned you build a miniature for the hero stuff, and augment that with CGI and live action elements. If it works for Peter Jackson, it can work for anyone. It's just getting production & DOP's to see it that way too.
AlteredStatesVFXSA 1 year ago
also, question..what exactly did you use to build the miniature? personally i'm horrible at modeling, and typically look to purchasing objects to use as miniature - which unfortunately aren't THAT detailed, and need to be enhanced with 3d elements to really look convinving
JaredPelletierFilms 1 year ago
miniatures are freakin awesome, and one of my favorite things to incorporate if the shot calls for it. miniature>cgi sets in my opinion. nice detail in your models, very cool!
my only critique is the handheld shot. to me, that totally gives away the miniature because you rarely see shaky crane shots like that.
but fantastic model!!
JaredPelletierFilms 1 year ago
Thanks.. the miniature took about two weeks to build, the CGI was done over the course of 12 hours, using some of the 3D models and textures we were working on prior to building this miniature. The 3D side of things took also about a week or so separately. They were originally two different sides of the same project, but after viewing some of the footage we shot, both on a Red and a Sony EX1, I ended up using a shot from our EX1 to comp the CGI into.
Overall about 8 people worked on this shot.
AlteredStatesVFXSA 1 year ago
WOW really amazing set. Probably took you alot of time
Darius12235 1 year ago