Entries Tagged as 'Props and Costumes'

Creating the Norse

(This post references iSundae II: Attack of the Cones, part 1. You may want to view the movie before reading this post.)

Alright, tell me frankly, what would you do if you were confronted with the problem of creating an army of extras that serve the badguy? If I had to start completely from scratch I would probably flip out. Thankfully, I got lucky on iSundae II’s “The Norse.”

The concept of the Norse had been in the script since I don’t know when. Maybe it grew out of a scene in an earlier version, or maybe it got thrown in randomly. I can’t remember. But I do know that design concepts for their “look” are all over some pretty early sketches. There’s an axe with a symbolic icon right next to a costume sketch for Emcracy and a cloak clasp next to Cone armor. I got pretty fancy with some of the sketches and concepts, but one thing I didn’t think about: These were background characters. Extras. A generic “set-dressing.” Thus, no fancy costumes or props! Awww, man. Here’s what we ended up with. [Read more →]

Plastic Swords: Safer Fight Scenes

Considering that I just posted a link to an article about stage fighting, I thought it would be a good time to discuss the swords that we use.

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Dramatic Double Doors

“We want sinister here,” an enthusiastic director said. “We want suspense! Swell the music as the badguys march in through the door.” Wait a minute. What door? Where in our house do you expect to find a giant, wooden door for a castle throne room? “That won’t be hard!” the director replied. “A little cardboard and hot glue and you can make it happen.” Well, maybe. How big do you need it? “Oh, just big enough… You know what I mean.” That’s what I was afraid of. “Come on, you can do it. Oh, and while you’re at it, let’s make it double doors. It’s more impressive.” [Read more →]

It’s What You Do With What You’ve Got

How many times have we, as filmmakers, longed for fancy props, elaborate sets, or even just enough space to film in? Well, here is a list of tips that can work wonders. [Read more →]

Building a (Mini) Winter Wonderland

Today I am going to break from my regular “tech” articles and do something different. The beginning of iSundae II called for a fun little scene with little animals having a snowball fight on a grand scale. In order to save time for the rest of iSundae II, we decided that I would shoot the scene after we finished the live-action parts. [Read more →]