Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1538452
PROPERTYMASTERSGUILD.ORG 31 Top: Fitting weapon prosthetics; Middle: Mini prosthetics were made as gifts for performers slow or we could go small and fast. We ended up finding a middle ground that could open quickly and VFX could speed up. Otherwise, we would have ripped the body from the base. I'm proud to say that the whole thing was completely practical and could fire safely. Lastly, the impossible task of making the Book of Dragons. We were told by the industry that it was too big, no one had machinery that could make it. The paper chosen was from Japan, and you couldn't get enough in time. In the animation, it's a lot smaller. When we met with Dean and discussed size with a sample of old books, he loved the idea of this incredible book and its massive size. So, a bit blindly, we started to work on the idea. We had the paper created for us in Tokyo and shipped to Belfast and met with various bookbinders until one was up for the challenge. The binding press we ended up using was a 5-tonne car press. For the drawings of the dragons in the book, we had five artists do tests approximately three times. Dean liked Laura Manditch's style the best so, all the dragons are from her. Hundreds of hours of artwork by Laura were constantly adjusted. Early on, we kept to the animation style then Dominic, the production designer, said we should go back over everyone and make "real, dangerous, and believable." Who knew that every dragon has a horn on its head, Dean would reveal. Papers were hand-painted. Sigils were all done by hand. 656 pages. The book was almost a meter wide in one sheet, and half a meter tall weighing 17 KG. Eight months later, we finally had it together. The work of Chloe Frizzell, my assistant, and the constant support of Kostas Wardle, my Prop Maker, who has to figure out the crazy ideas we come up with, were essential to the project. We are very proud when you're told it can't be done in this industry. Sometimes that is the moment you have to take the challenge because, in the end, it's where real magic is.