Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1332040
1 0 0 P E R S P E C T I V E | J A N U A R Y / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 1 model, we blocked the scenes. Meanwhile, Paul Alix sliced full-size organic forms into three-inch cake-like layers. On to the CNC router tables went -foot by 8-foot sheets of 2-lb EPS, quick to carve and readily available. Next step, crack carvers, led by Heather Tye, glued the machined parts. Out came the curry combs. Shape and refine. Composites expert Brad Barber sprayed thin coats of Slick Sand. Shaving time. Relentless sanding and body work. No orange peel, no dimples, no muck. Brad tuned the fiberglass chopper guns and away we went. We'd avoided undercuts. Know that rule, and only had one part blowout. Heather's team modified the mold, turned it around. Everyone's learning curve evolved in quick step. Frank's crew ratcheted up turnaround as they became familiar with the ship. Stake-beds stacked with parts made from 1" ABS arrived almost daily. It proved an extraordinary team effort. In all, we ordered four hundred and one thermoformed parts, including sixteen corner covers, designed for the atrium, to hide any joints where we knew the geometry would get squirrelly. The scenic crew knows Robert's keen eye for detail. Test pieces revealed exacting research. Matte base layers topped with iridescent color shifts gave the ship shimmer and undersea glow. Every day was a wonder when visiting the painters. And VFX supervisor Charlie Iturriaga had the five-dollar idea. We painted a floor pattern chroma key orange. A lighting pass in post added life and luminance. LIGHTING THE SHIP The corridor set was 85-feet by 75-feet with a 20-foot diameter central atrium. Creative lighting design was the key to success. Twenty-six wall panels, each with three milk plexi "bubbles," backlit with K HMIs brought sidelight to the set and actors. Fabrication HOD Sarah King and Deano Jones took point and vacuformed the seventy-eight bubbles in three sizes. Steve's back of the napkin sketch was a starting point for another great collaboration with the Austin grip and electric departments. The Fab crew vacuformed twenty-two overhead domed fixtures, a pair of Arriflex Skypanel S60s provided the light. We assembled 2-inch diameter strips of RGBW LED ribbon to ring the floor "scuppers." Dimmer board operator Matt Fliehler wrote several custom programs to animate the corridor's lighting effects. The digital projector "shimmering wave" test proved spot on. VFX supervisor Charlie Iturriaga would bring that same look to all the backlit bubbles and orbs. A. THERMOFORMED SHIP CORRIDOR PARTS MOVE THROUGH B.J. SMITH'S SCENIC SHOP LIKE A WWII BOMBER FACTORY. B. ALIEN SHIP CORRIDOR SET CHROMAKEY FLOOR PATTERN WAS REPLACED BY VFX LIGHTING EFFECT. C. BUNKER CLASSROOM CONCEPT ILLUSTRATION BY DANIEL LIM. RECONFIGURED FROM A STANDING SET WE'VE USED IN TWO PREVIOUS MOVIES! D. BUNKER CLASSROOM. STUNT CREW READY FOR REHEARSAL. PLENTY OF ELBOW ROOM FOR ALL THE GAGS AND ACTION. E. VAULT DOOR MODEL. MEGAN MONTEMAYOR. DRAWN IN VECTORWORKS AND CUT ON THE EPILOG. F. VAULT DOOR. SET PHOTO. G. ALARM CLOCK CONCEPT ART. H. ALARM CLOCK IN MISSY MORENO'S BEDROOM. WE'D CREATED A ROCKET ALARM CLOCK IN SHARKBOY AND LAVAGIRL SO THIS FUN PROP CONTINUED THE THEME. SET PHOTO. A B C