May 18, 2008
The Jean Claude gallery has been added. Visit the photo
link above for a look.
May 17, 2008 So, there's been plenty going on that I haven't covered
here. Some of it has been mentioned on the blog.
Between Jean
Claude, teleprompters, the premiere of The
Rapture, and other jobs it's been a busy time. Once
again I find myself in front of the camera, but not as a homeless
person! I've got a whole bunch of photos to upload to a
Jean Claude gallery, and a few new prop pics as well.
January 21, 2008 James and the Giant Peach heads are done. This year's
touring production from Signstage
Theatre was once again in need of costume heads. There
were a total of 7 heads I made, Mr. Grasshopper, Ms Spider, Worm,
a shark, the rhino, and a happy and angry cloudman. Also
a large "spanking hand" was made for one of his aunts
to wear. Pictures can be seen in the puppet sample gallery.
With that off my plate work begins in a mad dash for a short
film that begins filming this coming weekend here. Jean
Claude. The makeup is needed, as well as body parts,
brains, and other fun stuff. Possibly some other fun stuff
in the works, at least in the discussion stage.
November 17, 2007 Just wrapped up a whole mess of costumes for Near
West Theatre's production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast.
Long hours, tight deadline, stress, but all in all interesting.
The show opened yesterday and I worked up until show time,
actually a few things got finished during the show...adding straps
and the last bit of padding into them. I haven't done too
much with theater so it was a new experience, not too terribly
different from film, but things have to work, there's no "post"
to save you. The thanks of cast and crew were very nice.
I hope I catch it before it closes. I'm happy to have done it.
A great bunch of people there. If I can manage to
get some pictures they'll show up here and/or the blog.
In other news, looks like things will be just as hectic until
the end of the year, two shorts and another play to do some costume
work for. Stay tuned.
October 29, 2007 I opened up my email for a pleasant surprise the other day.
A copy of the trailer to Wardog The Movie as well as a link
to the Myspace
page was waiting for me. Wardog is a movie I did some
work on earlier this year, props and suits of armor. I'm sure
the artists out there will relate to the fact that you can just
glance at something you've done, even in your peripheral vision
and see all the "defects" and things you hate about
it. Well, I'm happy to say that Zeb's done a nice job with
this and I wasn't cringing nearly as much as I have with other
work I've done. Like everything new in life it was a learning
experience and I walked away with something. It looks good, so
check it out. In other news, I got a few Halloween jobs
done. Things are ramping up for a couple shorts coming up
in the next few months, as well as another play. It's surprisingly
hectic for this time of year. A bit too hectic really...when
things get this busy I always get nervous. Besides the shorts
I've got a little CGI work to do again, and a few custom props.
October 13, 2007 The beat goes on. Learning new software, Particle
Illusion and Blender.
I had used PI for a lot of the work for Green Lantern: New
Dawn, but I wasn't using it to the full capability, so more learning
is in order. Speaking of GLND, Brian's got the shots dropped
in and is working on it, shouldn't be too long now. Busy
busy busy with a couple movies and a handful of other things.
The pickup shots went well.
August 28, 2007 God, has it been that long? Well, there's been lots
of things going on. Projects taking longer then they should
have, more stuff coming up, DSL issues, and life in general. Updated
a few galleries for now, a few more sometime in the near future. Don's
working on Scarehouse
again, and has been for most of the summer. I finally got
to see some of it over there, great stuff. I'm doing
more GLND
work, CGI stuff at the moment. Just wrapped and shipped
a private commission prop of Sam Fisher's goggles from Splinter
Cell, you can be some of the first people to see it in the samples>props
gallery. Building some quick cryo tubes for some pickup
shots for another film, and may be doing some more puppet work
in the near/mid future. Good thing I've got a sewing machine finally.
Congratulations on a film festival win to a movie I had
the pleasure of working on/in, Fanboy.
Big thanks to both HobbyTownUSA
(specifically the Strongsville store)and Miller
Engineering for saving my bacon on the goggles. I killed
two other inverters and needed one to get the job done. HobbyTown
carries Miller's experimenter's kit and it fit the bill perfectly.
Miller's getting some more of my business in the near future.
March 28, 2007
All goes well, been working on a few things. I
will also mention that for the next month or so we're booked up. Sorry. Got a chance to take a tour of P13,
great place, thanks Al.
January 26, 2007 Things are in the middle of a transition. We're changing
hosting, so the mail may not work for a couple of days. Please
email to: Tom AT Clevelandfx DOT com with the appropriate substitutions.
We're shooting to be back up and running as soon as possible.
We'll also have some additions and a few small changes.
October 30, 2006 Wow, it's been a long time since an update. Besides
time, things march on, post-production work on The Rapture
continues. Work on other movies also continues, and
we're finally getting around to an update. Plenty of new,
and old, pictures have been added. Don's page has been updated.
Had a couple more weddings to attend besides all that, congratulations
to my cousin as well as long time friends Tom and Missy!
August 8, 2006 So, another year is over at TNW. Lots of cool folks,
as always, but here are a couple that really stood out. I'll
take this opportunity to throw some of them some more traffic,
as if it's necessary. I talked to Erik Campos of film
threat a bit, OK, I talked his ear off a couple days, great
guy. The other most impressive folks there were Character
Dynamics. Don DID make it up for the show, and hung
over at Mike
Watt and Amy
Lynn Best's table, fitting since he has be helping out on
Abattoir (a different abattoir then I worked on.) The
501st was in attendance and a few members' band played. I
was a bit surprised, but they were pretty damn good, just sad
that they didn't play in their stormtrooper armor.
Robyn, as usual we had a great time. We are already looking
forward to next year.
July 30, 2006
If you're anyone in Cleveland, you were at the premiere of MADNESS.
Heck, even if you're a nobody like me you were there. It's
a great movie, and seeing it on the big screen at tower city to
a nearly sold out crowd was a nice touch. I'd like to extend
my thanks to Bill for inviting me onboard as well as a big "excellent
job" to everyone involved. If we get a few more projects
like this turned out I think we're well on our way to putting
Cleveland "on the map" as a film making city.
Turning our attention to those upcoming things, some more puppet
work is underway for the fine folks at Calamity House Productions.
You'll just have to wait and see what that will be comprised
of, but we're looking towards an early September shoot schedule
at the moment. Besides that, a couple small jobs are floating
around. Perhaps some light CGI work for The Rapture,
but nothing major at the moment.
On a sad note, this will be the first year of Twisted
Nightmare Weekend that we will not have an official presence
at, but Tom will be there lending a hand, just look for the guy
with the big beard and say hello. Don's trying to juggle
his schedule to make it in for the show, but we'll have to wait
and see if he can or not. You should come out and see what
it's all about the weekend of August 4-6. There's another
convention in town that weekend, but don't let that stop you,
all the cool kids will be at TNW ;)
July 16, 2006
Well, long time no type. Been a busy little while actually.
Fanboy
has wrapped shooting and is moving into the editing phase. I
(Tom) played the video store manager, just look for the beard
and you'll find me. The
Rapture has come and gone, at least mostly, there's always
a chance for pickup shots, and the CGI will be a bit heavier then
first thought. At least that isn't primarily on us, but
we may lend a hand if we can. Also finished up a nice looking
prop revolver. The prop gallery has a few pictures
of it, and the puppets gallery has the guts of the wings that
you'll never see on screen in The Rapture. I was
right by the way, the movie was the biggest physical drain I've
had in a while. Audra over at CHP has begun hinting that
I need to get to work on some things for her, so do that I shall.
Don's been a busy little beaver as well. He's been doing
a few things for Happy
Cloud Pictures plus had a nice little vacation. His
computer is down, so as soon as I can back down to Pittsburgh
I'll get some new photos from him.
April 30, 2006 Things are going just peachy keen! Spent today with
the fine folks at Calamity House Productions shooting some things
for Green
Lantern: New Dawn, specifically, "painted the bad
man purple." A huge thanks to Audra for deciding
to push back her film until the start of the school year instead
of rushing to get it shot by the end of this year. I can't
wait until the bulk of Fanboy
gets underway, I get to show how horrid an actor I am again, and
this time I'm not a bum.
Afterwards, I stopped over at MDI
to pick up a couple DVDs of the teaser trailer for The
Rapture. Johnny does it again! This project
is going to be a lot of fun, a lot of work, and should look great
with all the talented people tossing their hats into the project.
For more info, be sure to head over there, the teaser is
online, and you can keep track of what's going on with the production
blog. If you like the teaser, which is a but a mere
shadow of what the movie will be, please spread the word.
Spiderman 3 is still in town, they were supposed
to be wrapping up today, but have decided to stick around until
Tuesday. I wish I had the time to get down there and do
some snooping. Maybe Cleveland can start attracting some
more films to town and give all the talented people in this town
a break. If you'd like to see what all the hype was about
you can hop
over here.
Got a screener copy of Sabbath in the mail recently as
well, hats off to William Victor Schotten for his work on that.
Don's been doing a few things out in Pittsburgh, and we hope
to have some pictures added to his page in the near future.
More news to come in the near future, just don't want to get
too long-winded right now.
April 13, 2006 Wow, it's been a while huh? Well, things are just busy,
that's all. Been working on a few props, some stuff for
a teaser trailer for a film shooting this summer,The
Rapture, and trying to set up a new area to the shop.
Of course there's all that pesky "life" stuff
too.
January 26, 2006 So, while we here at CFX didn't have anything to do
with it, a local film maker has just sent me a link to his newest
short over on ifilm. If you are a Nintendo geekboy like
I am you'll love it. Keep up the good work Larry!
January 23, 2006 So, Robyn
Griggs was on Dateline
the other night. The show focused on a movie she was involved
in when I first met her a few years back. An interesting
show, a bit frightening, especially for someone involved in the
"film biz" who's worked with some questionable people
from time to time. I don't know if they will air it again,
but if they do check it out.
Working on a few things, but this time of year's always a bit
slow here in lovely gray-until-July northeastern Ohio. Going
to put a few props on ebay soon, so check back, I'll post a link.
Also, anyone local with old bikes (see
this page) get a hold of Tom.
December 31, 2005
Happy New Year, that is if you go by the Gregorian calendar, if
you don't happy new years to you whenever your's occurs. Be
safe, enjoy yourselves, and we'll see you back here next year.
November 19, 2005 So, the tree project is done, installed, and well received.
You can take a look at it over in samples>other. It
seemed huge when it was here, but is a nice fit in the office.
I guess the next job will be cleaning up and getting reorganized
from everything that's been going on lately. After that
huge task is over, it'll be time to dive into R&D for the
next film, another of Johnny Wu's projects, which will push us.
A few large, technical items to be built for it, the kind
of things I've been dying to do for some time now, sorry but I
can't say much more then that at the moment. We'll probably
make a few things and get them on ebay in time for the holidays,
in case you know someone looking for an interesting gift. Also
Don and I will be focusing on wrapping up a few personal projects
in the near future as well.
Just in case I don't have time for an update before then, Happy
Thanksgiving!
November 5, 2005 We're back!
I've been up in Kalamazoo Michigan working on a movie for
Safe Harbor Productions titled The Dread. A fairly
fun job with lots of great people working on it. While what
I saw in terms of our work wasn't up to my standards I'm told
that it looked good on camera, so we're in the "wait and
see" mode until it' put together. Some pictures may
make their way up onto the site in the next few weeks, as long
as I get DVDs of the photos that were taken. Obviously some
things can't be shown since they'd give away too many things,
but those will appear as soon as they can, and links will appear
to the movie's site and the production company's website as soon
as they're up and running. Huge thanks go out to Tom
Sullivan, Jon
Reeves, and Ted for lending a hand on SPFX.
Still no word on the stolen car, but with car theft on the rise
in Cleveland, and mayor Campbell too concerned with getting reelected
I'm not surprised. We'll see, it all works out in the end,
so waiting is becoming the norm around here, unfortunately.
The union's still on strike in Pittsburgh, so Don continues to
work quite a bit more then he should, any end in sight? No.
It looks like we've finally made it full circle now, the
unions have become as abusive as the companies they were formed
to protect members against. Such is life.
October 13, 2005
So, having your car stolen really sucks! I was at Pat Catans
tonight, and some little punk ass stole my car, I wasn't in the
store longer then a half an hour. It's also not like the
car was a great car, special in any way, or worth stealing. Just
one of those "head shakers" that you have to deal with
I guess.
Besides that fun little kick in the jewels, we've been swamped
here. From removing hair, adding blood, and removing dolly
tracks to casting breakaway bottles to prepping for a movie shoot
up in Michigan. And that's just the new stuff, a few things
are still waiting due to back ordered materials and pick up shoots.
Such is the way of things in this business. At least
things are busy.
September 5, 2005 Hurricane
Katrina survivors need your help. Quit blaming someone
and go help
out, I bet the next thing we hear is that GWB crucified Jesus,
seriously, some people will say it. Anyway, fact is they
still need some help down there so pick your charity of choice
and do something. Besides that large scale tragedy we're
dealing with some family health issues here as well as several
projects, so be patient if you contact us.
Totally unrelated to the mass destruction, we'll be out at The
Ohio Celebrity Expo in February 2006. Check out the
site for more info.
Not too much big news besides that. The majority of Sabbath
is done, a trailer can be seen on the Schotten
Filmworks site. A few things left to do for that, but
mostly done on our end I think.
August 8, 2005 Twisted
Nightmare Weekend's over for another year. It's sad
because it's always a great time. We met great people, got
to show off a little, and networked, what else can you ask for?
If you didn't come out to the show shame on you.
You can still get a look at our table over here
if you want to, and with a year to plan you schedule you can make
sure to make it in 2006.
Now that it's over, the new mantra is "back to work"
which we're all doing now. Trees, props, and movie magic
don't just make themselves.
August 1, 2005
Zombies, zombies, zombies! Yes, those undead bastards have
crept out of the crypt again in search of fresher-than-sushi food.
William Victor Schotten's new film Sabbath is the
movie and we're midway through the zombie carnage, I think. Pop
over to his site for info on the movie if you care to, or if you
want to see a short teaser. Schotten
Filmworks
That Telly award arrived. I'll have some pictures sometime
soon, at the moment I haven't had a chance, too much going on.
This weekend is Twisted
Nightmare Weekend, and between that, Sabbath, a giant
tree, and several other jobs we're all a bit tied up and tired
out. Since this has been a bit of a "fan film"
year here, we'll have some items from those on display, as well
as any guts and gore that are still hanging around. There
should be some cool things, really. Stop by and say hello.
June 21, 2005 So, A
Joker's Cardhas won a Telly
award for Best Entertainment "Non-Broadcast Film &
Video Productions."
June 16, 2005 Well, I forgot to put it here, of all places, I did put up
a Batman TAS grappling hook gun on ebay, as of now it's got three
days left, item # 7523423162. Things are good,
looks like we'll be busy at least until the TNW convention, and
maybe after that as well, might be able to squeeze a job or two
in, so don't hesitate to ask. Three movies and a large private
commission, not too shabby for this time of year in Ohio.
Going to tone down the ebay to gear up for the convention and
get the jobs done on time, but things will still pop up over there.
I'll probably get around to doing the ebay page I had thought
about before, basically it'll be any "seconds" that
I'm not happy with, items Don's looking to get rid of, as well
as the occasional ebay type junk. I'll probably be putting
a bat up in the next few days, realistic paint job, so keep an
eye out for it and the page.
June 4, 2005 Well, things are still moving forward. Finally got to
casting the B:TAS grappling hook guns, have a few done so far.
The pneumatics are working, not getting quite the distance
I'd hoped for, but it should work just fine for the movie. Trying
to track down Bruce Timm's contact info so I can get him one as
well. I'm still working on the web pages, been busy this
month trying to get a bunch of things done, sorry.
Working on a few jobs here and getting ready to wrap up
all the things for this years
twisted nightmare weekend in August. Finally got to
see a movie my friend Kirk
Owen worked on. Why
We Had to Kill Bitch it's a pretty good movie, you
should check it out. Besides that, not really too much going
on.
May 9, 2005 Got out and got some sun the other day, which for the nocturnal
like myself isn't ever a good thing, I'm glowing red like my logo.
Oh well, it was worth it, got to work with Tom Megalis
and did a quick gunshot makeup. Pictures over on the photos
page under Fatso Fobee. Still putting stuff up on
ebay for those looking for a deal.
Got the B:TAS grappling hook gun completely molded, working out
pneumatic bugs and plan to shoot some video tomorrow of the distance/height
tests if the weather cooperates. Paul Dini get in touch
with me, I want to send you one for your office. I'm going
to get the tutorial and all related info reorganized and then
load it over on the Crazy lou section of the site. I may
even upload some of the emachineshop
files (so anyone can download the free program and have a look
at them or improve the design.)
Lots to do, so back to work we go.
April 24, 2005 Well, the premier for A Joker's Card was this past
Friday. What a blast! Many, many thanks to everyone
involved with it in any way. I won't single anyone out because
without every person it wouldn't be what it is. If you haven't
seen it, got the the movie's
official page and check it out. I did unload a bunch
of stuff on
ebay, but still have a few things to put up. I'll probably
put some more props up there, but they'll be finished this time.
Give it a little time
The molding on the Batman: The Animated Series
grappling hook gun is moving along. The right side of the
handle is all finished, the barrel and left side still remain.
I also have to finalize the hook and the button to shoot
the thing. Trying to get it wrapped up completely this week, all
molds, a batch of castings and some photos and video.
March 30, 2005 Well, a bunch of things to blab about. Dead Planet:
Dead by Twilight is about half done, used the "kabuki
hit" for one shot, but haven't got to see the footage of
it yet. Everyone on set said it looked good, so for now
I've got to take their word on it. Still left to be done
are the compressed air bullet hits and another couple "kabuki"
shots. When those are done I hope to get some footage up
here. Design work for a Batman: The Animated Series
grappling hook gun is about done, now I get to move on and build
it. I'm excited to get it built and fire it a few times
before it's due on set for a local fan film. Don't worry,
it'll appear up here in both still and video format so you'll
be able to check it out, and I may even make a few extras. I
might get to build a few other things for the film, still working
out the details.
Since it's officially spring, it's time to do some cleaning around
here, going to try to wrap up some old personal projects I was
working on. I've also got to unload some stuff, such as
some soap H.A.T.P.s and zombies, an ohaus triple beam balance
(pound version) and a few airsoft guns I have sitting in their
boxes. I may put them on ebay, unless anyone emails with
interest.
Just a reminder the premiere of A
Joker's Cardis three weeks from Friday, (April 22nd)
February 13, 2005
Wrapped up the Green Lantern power battery yesterday, added a
pic in the props section and am going to redo the "progress
page" to show how it was built. Might be willing to
make a few more since I have the mold, but it'll have to be after
mid-march, since Dead Planet: Dead by Twilight has the
front burner once again. Lots of stuff to get done for that.
About 90% done with A Joker's Card stuff, have to
film a few behind the scenes things for the DVD on how the fx
were done. A page dedicated to the GLPB has been added here
January 20, 2005 Just added the trailer for A Joker's Card to the video
section. Working on the mold for a green lantern power battery,
and a couple other projects at the moment. Nothing out of
the ordinary really. More to come.
December 31, 2004 HAPPY NEW YEAR! Of course, you could say that any day
of the year since it's all arbitrary anyway. Who cares,
enjoy the night with friends, family, and loved ones. We'll
be here when you get back.
December 24, 2004 It's been a while huh? Been busy around here, still
working on some things for A Joker's Card, a Green Lantern
project, Dead Planet: Dead Before Twilight, and a couple
of other things. Also, make note of a few holidays around
this time of year, enjoy the celebration of any or all. Bill
of Rights day (December 15th), Hanukkah,
Christmas,
and kwanzza,
look into them, very interesting origins. Anyway, a big
MERRY CHRISTMAS
to anyone and everyone. We've had a blast this year
on all the jobs, with everyone we've met and hope that 2005 is
even better.
November 10, 2004
So, got back from Pittsburgh last night and am dead tired. Had
a sleep deprived weekend due to the work that had yet to be finished
for a student film that was shooting this past weekend. I
was mostly handling technical assistance, molding and casting
duties, Don and Kelly were handling most of the work on this project.
I can't give away any of the story, but it does involve
3, or was it 4, aliens. The days ran together, so I'm not
sure of when we did what, but I think this is correct. We
cast a couple full head masks, after molding just about everything
on Friday. Don cranked out a full sculpture that matched
the first he had done while I molded the hands, he molded the
head, then we cast up a few copies. On Saturday I molded
the first sculpture, cast another couple sets of hands and a mask.
Don painted those up, put the hands together, and we got
out to the set. On Sunday we did something, not sure what,
probably slept a little. Yesterday I ran some foam for a
puppet version then got out of Pittsburgh. I just got a
few pictures over here, was too tired
to take many more. Don's cranking out a puppet version of
one of the aliens this week, but I can only assist over the phone,
and sadly I won't have any pictures in the near future since this
weekend I'm back to "acting" for the remaining pickup
shots of A Joker's Card. I'm also working on some
digital stuff for AJC and it looks like the Dead Planet prequel
short is underway as well. I added a few pics to Don's page
and one to Kelly's as well.
October 18, 2004 HEY HEY HEY, A
Joker's Card marathon weekend is over. We filmed
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, well, the crew did, I
got to skip Thursday. I actually wrapped up my pre-production
duties late Thursday with the completion of the pouches for nightwing's
gloves at about 3 in the morning. Friday's call time was
early for me, especially lacking much sleep, but I managed and
was rewarded with many takes in the hot tub and some soaking time
after that scene was shot. A little car trouble in the evening,
but nothing serious. Saturday was the really fun stuff,
the nightwing fight in the warehouse, along with lots of cold
fingers noses and toes, but everyone pulled through. Sadly,
we ran out of time for a large portion of the fight and will have
to schedule another day, from what I understand we got most if
not all of the wire work done, so that's a plus. Sunday
was a much easier day with only some alley scenes and a lesser
fight being shot. I'd just like to apologize again to the
fine folks at Talkies
for denting their wall. I've uploaded some pictures from
the shoots here, but be sure to visit
the official
site in the days to come, since they will be adding other
pictures as they roll in. There are already a few frame
grabs in the forums. In all, I'd say it went frighteningly
smooth and was more fun then I would have thought for such an
ambitious project. From what I've seen so far I'm pleased
with my work, the self criticism of my acting will have to wait
until I see it. For now, that's all I have, time to kick
back and get some sleep, then back to work on everything else
I was putting off until the shoot wrapped.
-Tom
October 13, 2004 Hell, we've been lax about updates lately, haven't we? We'd
like to welcome "Big" Al
Tuskes back to northern Ohio and wish him well with his position
at Precinct
13 Entertainment
Now, honestly, we haven't been slacking off, just busy.
Tom's been busy with last minute stuff for A Joker's Card
and another film.
Don's heading up the team for a student film down in Pittsburgh,
Kelly already helped out with some of the lifecasting and Tom's
going to pop down to help out on molds and running some foam,
insane gas prices permitting. Wally's doing whatever Wallys
do this time of year, actually haven't talked to him lately, he's
just busy with life's day to day obligations, and he better be
working on something really cool for Halloween.
We've also been having some computer problems, so PLEASE be patient
if it takes a few days to get back to you on the e-mail front.
September 20, 2004
Twisted nightmare weekend, what to say? It was a blast as
usual. We have some pics over here,
as well as a little review (very soon). Check it out if
you care to.
We are (again) officially casting for
Lunch or Death? see info here.
September 16, 2004 Everybody coming to twisted nightmare weekend tomorrow? If
not, you had better reconsider and make it out on Saturday or
Sunday.
September 14, 2004 So, The nightwing costume for A Joker's Card is just
about done, I think. Tom's sculpting a "backup" mask
and has to do a few alterations, but it's almost there. The
batarangs are molded, and the first has been cast. He may
also be building a freeze gun, but that's up in the air right
now. Very excited to finally see Bigfeet this weekend
at TNW,
been about a year in the making, so I hope it lives up to all
it's hype.
The last component for the Pneu-hits is in the mold curing now,
it's just a matter of throwing them together. Time permitting,
a video will be shot showing them in action before the convention.
The convention...ah, that time consuming beast that we've
been working on feeding. The last of the display items and
other goodies are being finished up in the next day. It's
going to be an absolute blast, be sure you're there!
August 26, 2004 Well we're hard at work on the pneumatic bullet hits, the
"squib" replacements. Great successes to date,
a few more bugs to work out, then we'll be showing them off, putting
them up for sale, and possibly renting them out soon. Stop by
the table at twisted nightmare weekend, there's talk about raffling
one off. That's more of a side note really, since
we're working on 2 short projects right now, still trying to wrap
up a couple things for Johnny Wu's A
Joker's Card and now some things for another Head2Head
short, tied into Dead Planet.
Talking to the organizers of TNW,
the wonderful Robyn Griggs, it's going to be great this year,
and sounds like it's growing even at this late date.
Don's working on several things, Wally's still M.I.A., Kelly's
headed to England for a vacation in the near future but will be
back for the con, and Tom's got some things besides the pneu-hits
under his beard (seriously, look at that thing, think a family
of birds moved in!) We'll be looking for you at the convention.
Finally, I spoke to Ken of Residential Light and Magic, Bigfeet
is about done. It'll be out at TNW.
August 16, 2004 So, since everyone always wants a cheap alternative to "squibs"
I've been working on it, and have some pneumatic bullet hits ("squib"/microdet
stand-ins) about 85% done, they're looking good so far. They'll
probably be unveiled at the convention, but it's still uncertain
if there will be an official demonstration or just some random
showing off. I still have to talk to Robyn about it. I've
decided to build a puppet for the convention, just because I feel
like wasting money I don't have. Another fun thing we're toying
with is a scavenger hunt to win some prizes, be sure to be there
Friday! Just a quick update, a working manually
operated prototype is WORKING! This is not an insect sprayer,
this is an actor operated, self contained, albeit a little on
the bulky size, pneumatic "squib" replacement. Would
anyone like to see a picture?
July 22, 2004 I've been doing some props for local films, nothing new, just
more of the same. I picked up the wetsuit for A
Joker's Card the other day and as soon as it stops raining
it'll get painted up and ready for some promo pictures, also,
the nightwing mask is underway. Since I'll be shooting behind
the scenes video of myself, you'll have a chance to hear me blab
endlessly about what I'm doing. I know there are many fan
films out there right now, so I hope I can shed some light and
help them out. We're also hard at work trying to get some
compressed air bullet hits built so we can do gunshots without
pyro licenses. Along those lines, we're also seriously talking
to Robyn and the other fine folks who put on the Twisted
Nightmare Weekend convention about doing a demo of various
methods for low budget bullet hits, but it's still in the air.
Don's got a new sculpture underway, and seeing it first hand
while down in Pittsburgh last weekend. I wish I could add
some pictures, but it's a little early still, sorry. I'll
also mention, since I'm here, that Don FINALLY got my "new"
foam oven up here to Cleveland. (For those
interested, and looking for one, it's an Alto-Shaam model 750-S)
Wally needs a little direction, so we're all going to beat him
up and make him do something.
We have a new addition to the CFX "family", check out
the about us page.
July 1, 2004 Well, it's been a while, huh? Been busy with this and
that, you know how it goes. We hooked up with MDI
again, this time we're doing some work on A
Joker's Card. It should be a blast, I know I'm working
on some cool treats for the true fanboy in all of us.
Made some new props, some pipes, and some baseball bats, you
can see some pictures over in the samples area. Apparently
missed out on a huge job, but hey, no hard feelings, it happens.
That's about it for now, I know, there should be more, but there
isn't just yet.
May 17, 2004 Well, just got back from another shoot with Robert Banks.
I got to see the footage shot way back in November on Friday,
and I have to say it looks great. We did some pickups today
to tie things together, and with one or two more shoot days, shooting
should wrap up very soon. I added some behind the scenes
pictures over here.
May 3, 2004 The Stranger is all wrapped up, premiered and looks
AMAZING! Went to the wrap party yesterday and finally got
to see it, Andy and Aidan did a fantastic job on this film. They
are now officially graduates as well. I speak for all of
us here when I say CONGRATULATIONS and best of luck guys. Don
did a great job when I couldn't make it down there. Overall,
I'd say this is one of the best projects I've been involved with
to date. If they manage to get it online I'll be sure to
get a link up on the site.
February 8, 2004
Wrapped up some of the FX shots for The
Stranger. The Tentacle and the hand looked good,
at least to the naked eye, how they read on film is another story,
but the directors said they looked good, great even. I also
made a boo-boo, when trying to run the video tap into a mini-DV
camera that has one jack for AV in and out or head phones,
make sure you set it correctly. I thought we'd have some
great video tap footage but then I went and goofed up.
Oh well, live and learn. I did manage to get a couple
clips of other things with my still camera, but there's no
sound. No footage of the WWII battle scene, I couldn't make
that shoot due to a close friends father passing away.
UPDATE: I added some
clips of the tentacle to the site.
The first clip shows the general movement of the tentacle,
and the second shows some horseplay.
January 27, 2004
Well, big news, we changed hosting! which should take care of
all the downtime we've been experiencing. That is also the
reason the site has been down for almost a week. Does anyone
read this stuff?
We have a guestbook
now. You can use it to let us know what you think, ask questions
about stuff, or let us know if you'd like to see a tutorial over
at the Crazy lou section of the
site. Use it.
Twisted Nightmare has some great things going on with it, hop
over to the site and see for yourself. It should be back
bigger and better next year, but it's still very early. The
Cleveland FX guys had a chance to get some pictures
taken with some of the other guests.
We're working on The Stranger rightnow, actually
we're almost done with our part of the shooting. It hasn't
been nearly as fx heavy as the last one, but it has some fun things
going on, and is a great script. We got to build some cable
controlled stuff, which is always fun. I'll get pictures
up soon, and maybe even some video clips.
Besides that, Tom's still casting forLunch
or Death? (Looking for an older woman)
Anyone is welcome to contact us for more information in the mean
time, or to have a look at the page above.
Wally's working on some new sculptures for some small busts,
and as always, making teeth.
Twisted Nightmare has some great things going on with it, hop
over to the site and see for yourself. It should be back
bigger and better next year, but it's still very early. The
Cleveland FX guys had a chance to get some pictures
taken with some of the other guests.
