[andi*pandi]

The wallet looks great. A little fading in the headshot looks like authentic bad quality stat machine work.

[subego]

Thank you!

[reader50]

I like the 2nd example better. The faded blacks in the portrait match the fading of the text.

The first has far deeper blacks in the portrait than the text. btw, do gov bureaus in the future really let you keep glasses on for official ID shots?

[subego]

The original idea was to have a mini-shoot to take proper and consistent photos, but that idea is still sitting in triage. What ended up happening was the day before the shoot we asked for whatever they had which was “like an ID photo”, and worked with that. I messed with the photos a bit to make them paler, and add a little makeup, but I had about 10 minutes per photo to spare, so it’s not the best job. Director was also asleep by that point, so I didn’t want to make aggressive changes without asking.

Agent Early ended up bailing on us, so that example’s not going to end up in the movie.

He didn’t call, either, which was absolutely unforgivable when I started in the 90s, and is especially unforgivable in the 21st century.

****ing prick.

[subego]

Audience on the set today.

[subego]

Sudden moist. Tents were a good buy.

[subego]

Here’s a frame grab from the gun gag. Looks better in motion.




(It’s intentionally kinda dark. I’m trying to preserve detail in the white faces. I generally end up brightening the midtones, but that’s at a later stage)

[subego]

The Holy Grail...



¾”, fine thread drywall screws. I was down to 3 from my two decade old box.

1” plywood is common on set, and you often have to screw thin pieces of metal to it. 1” screws poke out the other side. These don’t.

[subego]

Yesterday, because of rain, we didn’t get started until nine ****ing hours after call time.

It was worth it, though.



(Photo not by me)


That’s Agent Meklos on the left, from the badge photo, who looks much, much different with makeup..

He’s an interesting guy in real life. Was a cop, corrections officer, paramedic, and in the Air Force during Vietnam, where he got hit with Agent Orange, and needed one of his legs amputated.

There’s a scene where he needs to pull out some equipment, and he suggested making said equipment the battery pack in his leg.

[subego]

I figured this build was easy, and let it get too close to the deadline.



I was originally planning to make a frame and nail the panels on, but somewhere along the line I decided to design it like a fence. The one problem with that was I needed to lay out each wall face-down, and then keep it clamped together somehow while I flipped it face-up to put the nails in.

Probably not the approved carpentry method, but I ended up just taping each wall together, and then flipping it.


Bonus pic of me looking way cooler than I actually am.

[andi*pandi]

Looks nice, but almost too nice (unless the lil rascals have apprenticed to a carpenter at some point in the last 100 years)
Tupperware pitcher? styrofoam cups!?!? Tsk. Alert the Time Police!

[reader50]

What time period is it in? Those items should work back to ~1970. Before that, you might have to avoid plastic (especially clear plastic).

The lumber construction is OK if you assume the kids' dad made it. Should work back to ~1940 at least. Not sure how uniform planks were before that. The chain-link fence in background is good back to 1850.

[andi*pandi]

keystone cops, b/w aesthetic, I thought he was going for 1920s/30s. Pre plastic, even bakelite, right? Paper cups would be ok though.

[Waragainstsleep]

Bakelite designed 1907, patented 1909.

[andi*pandi]

ah, thank you warkipedia!

[Thorzdad]

Still, if you’re trying to be period-correct for the Keystone Cops, that would definitely be a glass or stoneware pitcher. Not plastic. Bakelite wasn’t used for such items.

Paper cups might be appropriate. But, I don’t think what we consider paper cups were around back at that time. “Paper cups” would most likely have been those old cone-shaped cups. Those were commercial items, though, so a kid doing a lemonade stand would have probably had to use jelly jars or the like. Not very sanitary, though.

[andi*pandi]

Dixie cups were invented in 1907 apparently, about when people figured out that sharing cups at water barrels led to spread of disease.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_cup

This thread, historically educationalish.

When subego gets back he's gonna be all: a) you guys are nuts, and b) it's in the can so no point nitpicking, ya jerks.

[subego]

C) What’s the date on the Honda?

Which leads to the answer I assume no one was expecting. It’s set in the present.

Our style is far enough in the direction of surrealism, we pretty much have Carte Blanche to represent reality by what we think is cool rather than what it is.

[andi*pandi]

ah, time is relative... lunchtime doubly so.

And surreal.

That honda should be a 2055 model.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by subego 

C) What’s the date on the Honda?

Which leads to the answer I assume no one was expecting. It’s set in the present.

Our style is far enough in the direction of surrealism, we pretty much have Carte Blanche to represent reality by what we think is cool rather than what it is.

That's an 8th Gen Civic, 2005-2010 vintage. What I thought when I saw the picture was that your lemonade stand was photographed for our benefit, and not in the context of its use in the film, so I was as curious as everyone else.

You're not going to have Death show up for a game of Chinese Checkers or something, are you? That's a flavor of surreal that has been so overused that it's only good for self parody.

[subego]

Well, Death is personally in the movie, but he’s less a gamesman, and more a janitor.

[ghporter]

That's fitting. Sweeping up the detritus of our lives is much better than playing "Around the World" darts with the potentially dead person.

[andi*pandi]

I'm imagining:

[subego]

Figured I’d liveforum tonight’s one way ticket to ****sville.



I’ve got to have this door trimmed, painted and free-standing by tomorrow. It’s going to be out in the middle of a field.

Building it should be easy. Building it in a way it can be transported without damage is the hard part.

[subego]

Already off to a horrible start. Forgot metal straps for the support frame. Back to the

Edit: left my tools on set, too. I think I have enough duplicates to carry me.

Edit 2: nope... no drill bits. No pilot holes I guess.

[reader50]

Don't do it. Get bits from a hardware store, neighbor, or trade something to neighbor. Wood has a way of splitting, and you need fastening good enough to hold it upright while being operated.

Ideally, you'd have dug anchors into the ground a couple months ago. Then seeded, and let the field grow back. So it's held up completely from underneath, and the field looks undisturbed.

[subego]

Too late!



Now I’ve got to figure out how to fasten it with screws that are too short.

[subego]

Look, ma! No clamps!



I think I’m going to have to give up painting it.

[subego]

Idea’s a total bust. I put in a couple cross braces for the stands, but the door frame still shimmies right to left when you open the door. It needs more vertical support, and I’ve got to be up in less than 3 hours.

[subego]

Wakey-wakey!

Plan now is to just not open it.

[andi*pandi]

extend pointy 2x4 below it as stakes? thats how these styrofoam tombstones work.

good luck!

<gets out halloween decorations>

[subego]

Thank you!



All those spots are gaff tape covering where I nailed the trim on.

[andi*pandi]

looks good from here!

[reader50]

Record your camera angles & distances. If you can avoid damaging it (so stays identical), open it in your green-screen studio later. Open and go through in post.

Or go through it on-site, then replace the frame movement in post, with reinforced frame in the green room.

[ghporter]

It looks like the stakes worked. The key is, of course, the camera angle. If you stay perfectly straight on, the braces will never show - nor will the actors’ dodging them if they go through at an angle...

[subego]

Whoops! Hit the wrong button!

[subego]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

It looks like the stakes worked. The key is, of course, the camera angle. If you stay perfectly straight on, the braces will never show - nor will the actors’ dodging them if they go through at an angle...

Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time for a redesign. No stakes. Just the frame I built the night before and 50 pounds of lead shot to hold it down. It was very windy and needed a lot more. Glad it didn’t blow over. I planned to bring a lot more weights, aaaaaaaand... they never made it to the van.

If it was redesigned, stakes would be an option, but I think I’d need to sink them into a concrete pile. I’m not much of a carpenter, but I assume it’s possible to build a wood frame that wouldn’t wobble and is slim enough to hide behind the trim. I doubt I could build it though without more tools and more space.

Except for the weight, I imagine the easiest way to do it is a pre-made steel frame.

I hopefully have time to write up the “tale of the trim”, which was its own nightmare. You’ve seen the end, which is the damage all that tape is covering.

[subego]

Another clusterbuild. Need a wedding cake for tomorrow. It was supposedly squared, then it wasn’t.



Very lucky I have a Michael’s about 2 blocks away.

[subego]

First layer (without beads) turned out okay, I guess.

Hot glue and styrofoam can be bad...

[subego]

Wakey-wakey!



That’s as far as I got last night. Gotta finish it on set. It’ll do I guess for a background element.

[subego]

Well, it’ll have to do. Topper is from the other cake.


Edit: that crap on the left is supposed to be rotated away from the camera

[andi*pandi]

Looks good!

any tips for unclogging a spray paint can? asking for a friend.

[reader50]

You need a fine steel wire, to work through the spray hole. Such strands often come off buffing wheels. Or you can swipe one from a wire brush. Clamp strand in a small vice-grip, and work through the hole. This may be enough.

If not, pull the push button off the can, select a fine drill bit that fits easily into the buttons' hole from underneath. Turn by hand to loosen up any solids. Finally, wash in solvent, say in a small jar. Any oil-base paint solvent will do (spray paint is oil-base). Mineral spirits or acetone for example. To rinse out accumulated paint. Repeat the fine wire in the spray hole for good measure, and rinse again.

If it still doesn't work, the can is probably plugged under the button. You could use drill bit by hand in it, but this is a gamble. That it won't release all at once and geyser you with paint. At some point, you give up and buy another can. It's cheaper than your clothes.

[subego]

Originally Posted by andi*pandi 

Looks good!

Thank you!

[subego]

Extra day or two on this one. We need a pair of trays with straps. Like a cigarette girl would have.

I’m hoping I can get away with taking the glass out of shadowbox, and using that.



Quarters for scale, and from Michael’s again, which I now regret being too snobby to have made more use of in the past. Oh, well... lesson hopefully learned.

It’s not bad. Not as deep as it should be. I was thinking I could potentially stack them, but then there’ll be a seam. Director’s coming by to get an idea of the size in person.

[andi*pandi]

unless you glue them in, cigarette packs will fall outta that thing.

[subego]

Originally Posted by andi*pandi 

unless you glue them in, cigarette packs will fall outta that thing.

Even old-timey ones without the filters?

Luckily, no cigarettes. After the lemonade stand, the girls later harass their one patron by trying to sell him vulgar and insulting candy bars (first tray), and the actual discarded toys from his childhood (second tray). The latter with a several thousand dollar markup.


Speaking of the girls and the lemonade stand, I just realized I never posted this,



(Not by me)

[andi*pandi]

hee. I guess candy bars won't slide off!
great photo,
can't wait to see the finished product.

[Laminar]

I don't know if you've said this before - is this going to be like a Sundance thing or other kind of indie release? Or is it straight to Victrola?

[subego]

Originally Posted by andi*pandi 

hee. I guess candy bars won't slide off!
great photo,
can't wait to see the finished product.

Thank you!

Our vulgar product in the candy tray...

 

Originally Posted by Laminar 

I don't know if you've said this before - is this going to be like a Sundance thing or other kind of indie release? Or is it straight to Victrola?

We don’t want to get in the way of anyone seeing it, so it’s going right to YouTube. We’ll have a full length version, but it’s designed to be serialized into three-or-so minute chunks we can put out once a week.

Doubtful we can make money that way, but we should be able to get exposure, which we can hopefully turn into people paying us for live shows... or candy bars. To our pleasant surprise, people are going apeshit over them.