 |
|
 |
|
Bridge Update
I did a lot of work on the new bridge set this weekend.
Here are some “in progress” shots of the new puppet-sized spaceship Bridge that I’m currently building in my garage — but these pictures were taken before I actually put it inside.
-
- This will be one of four similar-shaped wedges that will make up the sides of the completed set. Only the top four feet of it will be seen in the final shots. The lower 3 1/2 feet are for the puppeteers to crouch out of frame. See guys? After 15 years, finally an elevated set!
-
- You can see that each wedge is angled at the sides, so that when all eight wedges are complete, the set will be a circle (well, actually a hexagon). The cut-out parts are for consoles and monitors. The puppets will actually stand in front of these pieces — the puppeteers are just framed out when we set up shots.
Bridge, Bridge, Bridge
I think I’ve mentioned before that while in high school, most of the cast of “The Melonpool Movie” and I made “Star Trek” movies in my parents garage in our spare time… or maybe I didn’t. That’s a pretty embarrassing thing to admit, isn’t it?
Anyway, while digging through a photo album last night, I came across several pictures of the Bridge set I built for these films — the same set that served as the bridge of “The Steel Duck” a few years later when we made the original puppet movie. I’ve become rather nostalgic for this set as I’ve been working on the new puppet-scaled version. I know that I saved a few of its panels… maybe I’ll include them as Easter Eggs on the new set if I can find them when it comes time to shoot the new film.
In the meantime, enjoy these pictures — including a rather embarrassing picture of me at 16 when I was in the thick of building the set.
-
- Sulu’s station. His chair never got an upgrade and I never managed to finish all of his controls. What do you expect? It was my brother’s console.
-
- The viewscreen was painted on a windowshade which could be pulled up to expose a window for filming through. This explains why 95% of our shots were from one angle.
-
- All of the monitor displays were photocopies from various Star Trek books I had — with the black parts colored in by hand with a Sharpie. That’s what we did before computers.
-
- Spock’s station at the rear of the set. Plenty of twinkly lights and back-lit displays — a staple of every Troop set (even the one I’m working on now).
-
- Here I am at 16 on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise — conveniently parked in my parent’s garage for 10 years.
I Fly the Steel Duck (part 2)
I made a lot more progress on the set for the new film this weekend and thought I’d share a bit with the rest of you!
After we filmed this little bit, I realized that Sam’s yoke was a little too tall, so I shortened it. It works a lot better now, but we ran out of light before I could take some more video. Those of you in Southern California (or those of you that watch the Weather Channel) will know that we were hit with a lot of rain this weekend, so I wasn’t able to do much more on the set after Saturday. The good news is, that in addition to this console, I also have a wall that’s almost ready to do some tests on, so maybe I can post something of that soon.
Have I mentioned how incredibly cool it is to see this stuff in real life? Enjoy!