6/22/09 Update

Construction has been going ahead on the Salon scene, one of the most detailed scenes (probably the most) that I will be created. Because of the complexity of the scene, I've divided construction into phases, mainly so I can get my head straight why working on it

• Phase 1 -- Basic structure of the scene; pipes, walls and ceiling
• Phase 2 -- Large pieces of furniture; couches, tables, shelves
• Phase 3 -- Fine details and figures; bottles, books, utensils, and the sculpted character figures

Phase 1 is pretty much complete and I should be starting on Phase 2 pretty soon. I want to get the scene done by mid-July, and for the rest of that month will be work on more underwater scenes which should be easy to do considering I've done the burial scene where a lot of ideas and problems were worked out.

As shown in my last post, I figured out a plan view of the scene, which would include forced perspective. Using a better drawing, I corrected the proportions of the distortion that I would do to the drawing according to some measurements that I took. I printed the drawing out in sections full-size for the scene construction.



Once I figured out the floorplan, I was able to scale the elevation drawings for the tubes and pipes which are also the supports for the scene.

As you can see, each "layer" gets smaller and smaller due to forced perspective.



And to make sure I did my math correctly, I cut out the centers of the elevation drawins so I can preview the desired effect,



Using these drawings of the "arches", I started to create the actual pipes that would be used for the scene. There are a number of ways to create the arches in the scene, some techniques are hard and time consuming, others are expensive and unnecessary. Not to mention having curved smooth pipe with a diameter 1 1/4 is not easy to do with out the proper equipment. I chose to use PVC pipe because of it's very low price and it's easy to work with. (I got about 25 feet of pipe for $7; pretty good price if you ask me!)

The pipes I'm using range from 1 1/4" to 1/2" diameter because of the forced perspective involved. To curve the pipe, I cut the pipe up into sections at specific angles on the chop saw and glued them together to achieve the right curve. For smaller pipes, like the one in the very back, I heated and bent the pipe to achieve the curve. Here are the sections all glued together and ready for more tubing.



The Austin Powers figure is there for scale purposes (it looks like he's digging the scene so far!) Figuring out the scale for the figures was a challenge because of the forced perspective involved, since as you move towards the back, the scale in constantly changing. I'll get into more on my scale issues when I sculpt my figures later on.

More piping was added to the "ceiling". Pipe junctions of the style and size and angle were not easy to come by, so I had to make them myself. Once the piping was added, I filled in the joints with self hardening clay.



The seams and joins may look sloppy from above, but they create the right look when viewed from the right angle.



Then came the very tedious task of installing the hundreds of rivets needed for the scene. Although they'll be hard to notice, the rivets add so much to the scene. To create them, I made every one of them from a ball of clay and I glued them to strip of paper in single and double rows. All I have to do to install them is glue the back of the strip to the pipe. Even though this technique creates sort of a "riveted band" that isn't something the real set had, it actually works in this motif.



One of the sections with a coat of primer:



Even though the rivets are a little big, they were exaggerated so they can still be seen when they are painted dark gray and the scene is lit dimly.

Here is the entire scene at this point all primered and ready for paint. As I move towards the back, I start to phase out the rivets. The rivets in the back portion will just be done with dots of silver Sharpie. The next step will be to put the removable walls and ceiling, and then phase two will start with some paint, furniture, carpeting, tables, shelves and much more.

6/15/09 Update

In a contrast to last week's update, this post will be a super-size one. So much happened this week that I've broken the post down day-by-day.

Last Tuesday I decided that the Burial scene was taking way too long and was soaking up the time slot that I allotted for the Dinner scene (which will take a really long time to do since I've made some changes!). So last week I decided to kick into high gear and just get the scene done. Tuesday, the mold pictured in the last post was poured and by Wednesday, I was ready to cast up divers.

Here is the mold with resin poured in for one of the divers:



And the parts fresh out of the mold:



The parts came out surprisingly easy, despite the amount of detail and undercuts. At this point I decided to go for the max and do a complete set of 7 divers rather than the planned 5.

As the parts were coming in, I started blocking out the scene using the helmets that were cast, to figure out where the figures would go. Realizing that the scene would not be viewed in Cinemascope unlike the movie, I was worried that you wouldn't be able to see all the divers in the scene (I didn't want any finished divers to go to waste!). I was able to overcome that problem by arranging them in such a way. This shot shows the divers helmets being used to block out the scene as well as more aluminum coral forms being figured out before they are covered in Celluclay. This photo is actually shot under show lighting and through the 'bubble box' which explains the look of it.



Once 63 resin parts were made, they were all grinded down and sanded and sorted into plastic bags for organization. Each bag contains parts for one diver.



Thursday was basically assembly day, gluing all the parts together and adding a few wire details here and there for hoses. I changed the positions of the ligaments for variation by cutting the parts and gluing them into the new position and then filling in the joint with self-hardening clay. I also modified two helmets to create Nemo's helmet and the "baldy" one.



I temporarily glued all the figures to a strip of wood to make painting easier.



Once they were given a coat of primer, they were all painted on Friday:



After the acrylic paint dried, the divers were all given a wash of clear matte medium mixed with black paint.

I was very pleased with how the divers came out. One of the scenes I'm planning on doing is the part where Conseil and Ned stray off from the underwater expedition and get attacked by shark (only to have Nemo come the rescue). This scene was originally going to be a larger scale, with larger divers, but since I don't want to do more retooling and more molding that I'm thinking I could knock down the scale of the scene to the scale of the Burial scene so I could use the same divers from the same mold as the Burial. It would be a lot easier to do. And since the scale is smaller, I could split the space into two scenes, getting a two for one deal with the same quality scenes. I've definitely got some stuff to think about, though that's for after I do the Dinner scene.

Before the divers could be installed in the scene, I had to create the stretcher with the body first. I created a sculpey body and placed a glue and water soaked tissue for the blanket. This took all day to dry so installation couldn't be done. Same with the extra coral pieces. With nothing to work on the Burial scene on Saturday, I decided to focus my attention onto the next scene--Dinner with Nemo
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The dinner scene is a scene that I'm not really looking forward to. The amount of detail required for this scene is insane, considering it takes place in the beautifully designed Salon room of the Nautilus. And since I'm not a sculptor of human faces, getting a likeness of the characters will be a challenge. I couldn't avoid the scene because it's kind of an important scene; it introduces Captain Nemo (he says "You can call me Captain Nemo"), it sets up the whole "jail-break" aspect of the story (warns them that they are on the strictest probation and advises them to not attempt to escape), it feature the four main characters at once, it provides a perfect transition into the expedition scene(s) and it's a memorable moment in the movie. The view of the scene will be very similar to this shot from LIFE:



The only things that will be different from the photo above is that the viewer will pretty much be where the fountain is (it's going to be a straight on shot) and the expressions of Ned and Conseil will be a little more disgusted because of Nemo's food.

When I was planning this scene, I was mainly focusing the scene on the characters. In other words, I wasn't going to build the whole scene; at some point a backdrop would come in to continue the Salon at the end. I wanted a good size scale for the figures, considering I'd have to sculpt them. I didn't have room for an entire Salon scene at the same scale of the figures. I was hoping I'd be able to fit the the whole Salon scene but I couldn't--until I put forced perspective into the equation. Using a floor-plan drawing of the salon, I mapped out how I could fit the entire Salon on the plot that I had for it. By pinching and squeezing the drawing I was able to fit the entire room on the piece of cardboard. Success! Despite the construction challenges of building this complex scene in forced perspective, this scene is gonna look really cool!

Here's the drawing I was messing around with:




Also, Because of the size and shape of the Salon, I ended up creating room for another scene (where the question mark is) that I wasn't planning on doing anyways--Whale of a Tale. But since I didn't want to tack on another scene to my schedule and I don't know how character sculpting will go on the Dinner scene (plus I really don't want to make all of those sailors!) I have no plans to do the scene, though I will always leave the option there if I want to do it in the future.

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Back to the burial scene on Sunday, the divers carrying the body where ready to be installed:



I haven't glued down all the divers yet, so I can position them whenever I want (Nemo, however, is glued down) The extra coral I created helps give the scene a little more depth and looks "fuller". I added some "foreground" coral that goes right in front of the window, like the shot in the movie. It's mounted on a piece of armature wire so I can adjust and fuss around with it if I feel that too much of it is in the shot or too little of it is in the shot. Here's what the finished scene looks like, sans Nemo's coral cross and another bulb in the light box to brighten the scene a little more.



And here's another shot without the bubble effects running and with a longer exposure (which looks kind of neat--looks very aquarium-y!)



Be sure to ignore the 'Marblex' clay box that is reflecting in the plexiglas--I was using it as a tripod at the moment!

6/8/09 Update

Progress slowed a bit this week, other projects and stuff were in the way, so this update may be a little shorter than previous ones (there will be many more of these kind of posts!)

Still working on the Burial scene, slowly, but progress is progess. I'm starting to install the scenes themselves, so lighting situations and height angles can be locked in and finalized. Most particularly, the Burial scene, which requires delicate lighting conditions because of the water effect, was the first to start installation. I've  already installed the two first scenes that I did, the Monster attacks and the Discovery. Since these scenes were very lightweight despite how big they are, I mounted them to the walls with L brackets and 2 X 4's.  What's nice about having them so high up (they require a low viewing angle) and the absence of supports, is that they create a very nice storage place which will be useful when more scenes are created and installed; my supplies will need a place to go. Here's what the work area looks like now:

(A big project makes a big mess!)

Even though the the Burial scene is not finished,  at this point it can be worked on while installed. I installed the water effect, which includes the lighting mechanism to be hung from the ceiling. The light source for the effect was also put in, a quickly built "light box" of aluminum lined foam core box with a 4W CFL bulb (Eco-friendly so far! This bulb is great, even though it's only 4 watts, it's pretty bright. This bulb actually has quite a history in my attractions, it served as the green floodlight for the caverns in my Pirates of the Caribbean, the red floodlight for the tottering columns of my Submarine Voyage,  the outside moonlight for the Conservatory scene for my Haunted Mansion, and now it's being used on this project--still going strong!) I still will probably add more CFL bulbs to brighten up the scene a little more, it's a bit dim at this point. The box just looks bright because of the long exposure.

I also modified the water effect mechanism a bit. As shown in the previous post, the cams that move the plastic sheets back and forth are mounted a half turn from each other, or on opposite sides of the drive shaft. I changed one cam so that it is only a quarter turn ahead of the other cam. This way, one sheet "follows" the other in movement, and the results are much better and more realistic. 

I haven't finalized the height of that scene yet, so it's just sitting on a stool and will probably be quite a bit higher when it's installed. Raising it up higher towards the light source might also help brighten up the scene a little bit too. Also shown in the photo above is the new backdrop that was painted again for the scene; the old one was too short in height and length and the seam was in the middle. 

The divers are coming along, or should say diver. The master copy should be molded pretty soon. Once I make a bunch of castings, I'll have an assembly line of parts to make the five divers. The only thing I'll have to do is make a new helmet for Nemo, but other than that, all the divers use all the same parts. Although on one of the divers, the "baldy" one, I'll have to grind off the "crown" on top of a casting to create that helmet. Here's a the diver  ready to be molded:

6/1/09 Update--"Burial" Scene construction cont.

Still continuing on working on the burial scene. As of today, the first day of June, I'm officially behind schedule. My goal is to do a scene a month and the burial scene was suppose to be done last month. So this month I have to finish the scene and then get started on the one scene I'm not looking forward to at all--the Dinner with Nemo. But that's far ahead at this point, for now, I'm focusing on getting the burial scene done.

As described in my last posting, the coral forms of Celluclay and aluminum foil were created and when they dried rock hard, I painted them in shades of dark greens and browns. I employed an old toothbrush for spattering some paint on them for variations in colors.



Once the paint dried, I added some more details like ground foam, foam foliage, and miniature wire tree branches with the foliage striped off. The sand I applied is genuine ocean sand, collected from Huntington Beach. I spread the sand out and sealed and secured it with 50:50 ratio of water and glue solution. I painted a backdrop for the scene, though after some calculations I discovered that I need the backdrop to be taller, so a new one will need to be made (this time, one without a seam in the middle!).



One of the effects for this scene that will really sell it as an underwater scene will be one of my trusty "bubble box" windows that I used on my Submarine Voyage attraction. These are thin plexiglas boxes filled with water that give the illusion of being underwater. Fish tank air stones at the bottom of the box creates bubbles which in turn makes the illusion a little more convincing. I was considering building a new bubble box from scratch for this project that would be larger, but I decided to stick with the original box size. This way, I can tighten the viewing limits and I won't have to make too much of the scene because of certain areas not in view. Here is one of original "bubble boxes" that I will be using for this project (it's a good thing I saved these!)

The masking tape signifies areas that will be covered with a window frame, etc. so you won't see the edges or sides of the box.

I also discovered an easy way to give the whole scene a monochromatic look like the scene in the movie. I was considering blue light gels and eventually a gel over the window itself, but there was an easier and more effective way--food coloring! I did a few tests with my bubble box and a couple drops of blue food coloring in the water, and instantly the scene looked like a blue-hued-monochromatic ocean; exactly what I want!

In addition to the "bubble box' the illusion of an underwater scene will be helped my a lighting effect to simulate the sun coming through the ocean surface. This was quite a problem, mainly in trying to figure out how to do it. My very first idea on how to create the effect was to have a clear tray of water with a light shining through it. A fan or an air line from one my air pumps would create turbulence in the water, creating the illusion. Even though that seemed like the natural way to do it, there would be problems if I did it that way. For one, having a 120 volt lighting hang above a tray of water is not a good idea, not to mention moisture and jumping beads of water coming from the air line towards the light doesn't help either.

My second plan was to do it with synchronated christmas lights that would flash in sequence. This seemed like a good idea, no water and you just plug it in. Of course when I tried it out it didn't work the way I wanted it; the lighting would flash in a too unified order (I need it to be a little random), they would change directions rapidly, they weren't bright enough, and they had a yellow hue to them (not desirable). Plan aborted

At this point, I was seriously considering getting one of those lighting effect projectors that are used for dances and clubs. It creates a very convincing water ripple effect projection. My only concerns were the price, how close can it focus, and it's size. So that idea was scrapped. I needed a smaller (and cheaper!) solution.

My solution came when I discovered a patent for such a simple device that creates a water effect through a simple mechanism that consists of two rotating drums and a patterned film that turns. The light would shine through the two layers of film moving in opposite direction, creating the effect. Genius! This was of doing the effect was simple enough that I could build it at no cost and it wouldn't use real water! After working on a prototype and a few tests, I simplified the effect by  just having two sheets of clear plastic move back and forth rapidly with a "scissor" movement to save space and the material itself (I imagine a film bending and rotating every few seconds would wear out rather quickly).  I built my lighting mechanism out of K'nex parts and a lego motor, which are a whole lot cheaper than a projector!



Here is the lighting mechanism in action in few test shots in this video:



After figuring out the trickiest part of the scene, I started work on the divers. I my last post, I mentioned I would be using G.I. Joe Diver keychain figures for my divers. The first one came in the mail a few days ago:



A penny is shone for scale. My original plan was to get a hold of five of them and convert each one as I aquire them. Well, I changed my mind and I only need one; I'm going to take the one I have and trick it all out with details and accessories. Then I'm going to pull all of it arms, legs, and torso apart (gruesome, I know!) and get each part molded. Then I can cast as many identical divers as I want without having to make a bunch of difficult parts, like the helmet, and without paying premium for eBay prices and shipping. I'll have to change a few thing like the helmet and poses and such, but this seems like the way to to go. Depending on how easy the casting process is, I might make a few more to sell--but that's for a time when I'm not behind schedule!

Here is my current diver all pulled apart, his joints filled in with self-hardening clay and with a helmet in the works:



Lastly, a pano shot of inside the "show building", revealing the cardboard supply in the back, light/sound instruments stacked against the wall on the right, the current scene in progress in the middle, and the two finished scenes covered from dust on the left:

5/25/09 Update--"Burial" Scene Construction

This last weekend I started on the "burial" scene of the movie where Aronnax and Conseil get their first glimpse at Captain Nemo and his crew. The perspective of this scene will be nearly identical to the first shot of them in the movie:

This will be a dry-for-wet scene, meaning that the scene is dry while giving the illusion of being underwater, or wet. For this scene I will employ the dry-for-wet effect I used for my Submarine Voyage show where "bubble boxes" were used to give the look of being underwater. Ironically, the 20,000 Leagues under the sea attraction at Tokyo Disney Sea uses this technique. The lighting effect that I didn't have when I made my Submarine Voyage (I wish I did!) of the underwater ripples will need to be figured out. Probably some Christmas lights that have a wave sequence might work. I'll have to make some prototypes (the goal is not to use real water!)

With technical and special effects aside, I worked on the scene it's self. I took the cardboard base and blocked out the scene like the shot above. I began making coral forms out of Aluminum foil. These forms are covered in Celluclay, to give it strength and texture. Here are the forms with Celluclay starting to go in:


And the rest of the forms covered:



It looks like a big goopy mess, but in reality, all of the forms are in rows and layers, much like real coral

Since I didn't want to make armatures and bodies for the divers, I went the action figure route. I found a keychain G.I. Joe that seemed to work, since he was the right size, has flexible joints (this is important since I'm doing more than one diver and I want a variation in the poses) and he is a diver! Now the only thing is that I need about 5 of them, but that's were eBay comes in handy. This scene won't be totally finished soon, since I have to collect each diver one at a time, but it's worth the wait. Once each diver comes in the mail, I'll give him some boots, a new helmet with collar (I might make one and mold it for easy duplicates), air tanks, and some other accessories.

"The Discovery"--Scene Construction

This last week I worked on the "Discovery" scene, the point in the movie where Professor Aronnax and Conseil find the "monster" that destroyed their ship, the Nautilus. The perspective of this scene will be really low like the last scene, to get an angle like the first shot you see of the Nautilus in the movie:



In addition to building a model of the front half of the Nautilus, I'm also going to make Aronnax  and Conseil in the foreground in the water hanging on to some wreckage while looking on as they do in the movie. 

Building the Nautilus was something that I wasn't looking forward to, considering it has a very distinctive look and there isn't one straight line on the whole vessel--which makes it an uneasy model to build from scratch. Luckily for me, the Disney Experience  website has a paper model version of the Nautilus which is available for download and print. I will use this as a template, since all the difficult angles and curvatures are already figured out and broken down. I printed out all the parts of this paper model and I determined which parts I would need (I wasn't going to build the entire model, since I'm only going to make what you're going to see). The parts I chose were blown up in the computer, printed out, and spray adhesive-d onto some card-stock. This will be my Nautilus template, since I need to make two of theme (I might even use the actual template parts for the second Nautilus)




I cut out the template parts and crudely taped them together to make sure they all fit together and I wasn't missing anything. Shown in the foreground is the first paper model that I used to determine which parts I needed to enlarge and print.



I traced all the templates onto sheets of .010" styrene. I went for the extra step of embossing every panel with rivets, using a pounce wheel. Since this is thin styrene, when one piece was made, I backed it with card-stock for strength. Part of the model shown below was given a coat of primer so any imperfections could be seen and sanded out. This shot was taken just before the first coat of paint went on:



The model was given a coat of primer...



and a coat of dark brown (you can really see the rivets here!)



I gave the model several dark washes and a couple of rust spot runs with some powder paint. Silver Rub-N-Buff was applied to the rakers. Here is the model with the washes drying in the sub:



Here is the finished model, with a penny in the front for a sense of scale:



Onto the floating characters. Since I only needed to sculpt the back of Aronnax and Conseil, and only the top half of them, this job was relatively easy, considering sculpting someone's face with a likeness is perhaps the hardest task an artist can do. I didn't need to worry about faces (though I'll need to in a month when I get to the dinner scene ) but even sculpting the back of Peter Lorre's fat little head took some patience in getting the right shape. If you look at the front of heads, there isn't even a face, they're completely blank! But that doesn't matter, since you won't even see them from that angle. Here are the figures, ready to baking:



Once the characters were baked, I painted them up and placed them in the scene with the cardboard sea and sky. There isn't much to the background since it's all foggy, so a gray spray-painted backdrop was created. Unfortunately, I made a mistake in building my Nautilus--I built too much of it. It turns out I made the waterline too low, and I had to cut down the model in order to be accurate. Here is the cut down Nautilus and the figures, awaiting a coat of Mod Podge "water":



This is what the scene will look like when viewed at the right angle.



The "water" of Mod Podge applied. When this stuff dries, it will be completely clear and the scene will be finished

"The Monster Attacks"--Scene Construction

This weekend I focused on the very first scene that the guests will see in the show; the scene showcasing the attack on the S.S. Abraham Lincoln by the "monster"--the Nautilus. This scene will be from the perspective of the ship looking out to sea at the monster, as if the viewer were on the deck of ship. The monster Nautilus would be charging at the vessel towards the viewer, illuminated like the scene in the movie:



Construction on the scene started with creating the backdrop, the sea surface (with the edges and corners coved to give the illusion of a higher horizon) and an elongated pyramid representing the Nautilus. There wasn't much to do on the Nautilus when it comes to detail, considering the whole thing is covered with rushing water. I rigged the pyramid Nautilus with 12 volt lights with yellow and green gels for the eerie monster look.



Next, the Nautilus was covered in strips of clear plastic and coated with 'Mod Podge' (a thick gloss medium that dries clear; I'll be using A LOT of it on this project!)



I added a facade of the ships railing, complete with rigging and a boat ready to be deployed (as demonstrated by Ned Land in the movie). I still might add a sailor with a scared face pointing at the monster while hanging onto some rigging to give the scene a little more "life"



Then, the entire "sea" was given a thick coat of 'Mod Podge'



In addition to the Nautilus lights, a dim blue gelled floodlight illuminates the ship facade and the sea as in this photo showing the finished scene (at this point)

Construction--Day 1

Today is the official 1st day of construction. In these photos, the empty "show building" has the path marked out, ready for the scenes. 

Planning

After several drawings, modifications and revisions, I've finally come up with a layout plan that I'm satisfied with. The key in designing these attractions, especially this one, is that I want the guest path to have an interesting shape with scenes in the position where someone will naturally look. But at the same time, have the scenes arranged in such a way, that they can be viewed in sequence without getting confused.  In other words, not have scenes directly across for each other that "compete" with each other for the viewers attention. The scenes will be staggered to avoid this issue, a blank space opposite of each scene. 

Here is my current plan, showing the layout of the scenes and the guest path:

So far, the scenes that I have locked in are:

• The Monster Attacks

• Discovering the Nautilus

• The Burial

• Dinner with Nemo

• Divers/shark attack

• Nemo plays his Organ

• Squid fight

• Vulcania invasion (this one will be a painting)

• Nautilus sinking/Vucania exploding