Cinemagic #20 (1983)

7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)

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7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


Abovt: Asample o! the !oor different SIzes o! nail alldsocket armature parts avai lab le rom animator Bil l

Hedge's new rornpany , The JointlWrks The JoIntworksIs the first company to make precision nn:lular nail andsocket armature parts available to amateur animalOfs on

amail order naSis See page 22 .

lulU ' loMest production , {}gil( 10

[lefT/fty. lIII: Abel'lloo·the-scenesshu! oj ttle Atlantic PicturllS et!eclscrew In actlOO, The etlects InFllghl

10 Et6fnlry also leature a ull sizeshun!! cockpit se t, astronaut IIIghlsuits and IlIher miniatures See thePrOducer's Bulle(ln Iklard entryabout Fllghllo Eterrity on Paoe 20

7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


CONTENTSEditor's

Bench

Profile

4

6

Joey Ahlbum talks about his CINE·MAGICJSVA Dward winning animated

adventure, Bandits. By John Clayton.

Filmmakers'12Forum

A regular department devoted to

readers' comments and correspon·dence about fllntasy filmmaking.

Electronic

FX 14

Electronic Sped.!!! Effects co lumnist

Chris E. Stevens shows you how to

build a movie sync strobe unit.

Producers'

Bulletin

Board 19Latest news of our readers' productions.

Ball & Socket

Parts 22

Animator Bill Hedge's new company,The Jointworks, o ffers modular ball (,

socket armature parts to amateur

animators. By Nicholas Seldon.

GripKit _ 24

Useful a«essorie5 for filmmakers.

Books 26Books for filmmakers-valuable

sources of Information and techniquefor the filmmaker.

Cinemagic

Market-

Place 27Classified advertising and an·nouncements.

Dream

Screen

Issue #20

28

An inexpensive technique for creatingdream sequences for fantasy films. By

Jack Imes, Jr.

Masks That

Move 30

,

Specilll effects artist John Dods shows

you how fellow makeup artist Arnold

Gargiulo creates articula ted full head

masks and bladder effects.

7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


Issue -20

Publishers

Norman Jacobs/Kerry O'Quinn

"&Soclate Publisher

Rita Eisenstein

Circulation DirectorRichard Browne

EditorDavid Hutchison

Art Director

W.R. Mohalley

Managing Editor

John Clayton

Associate Art Director

Nelli Holmes

Senior Designer

Denise Lewis

Designer

Daniel Abello

Editorial Contributors

Joey Ahlbum

John DodsBi l l Hedge

Jack Imes, Jr.Chris E. Stevens

Production Assistants

Richard CebekEileen Dempsey

Norma Garda

Mary OsorioAndea Passes

Financial Manager

Joan Baetl

Founder of CINEMAGICDon Doh ler

Published bySTARLOG PRESS, INC.

475 Park Ave. SouthNew York, NY 10016

" ' d . e r t ' . I " I I l n o r M ~ l i o n : ItIl.II EI.."..leln

(2121689.2830

_ ....... I!.I ..... tIf«b _ , . ld Go.l'IIIt -"...tIt too

01 '*'""*traIIod. l J I ~ 1 d fill _ .......r_ i1ICtI OlIOS!

Jail. Dod, _ , . old', lotltooloes lor _O C . . . . . lol _

.., _ .1Ifcb.,1III< _.,<\100< .... s..1IO&' 30. tootr p!ooIolIfIloII. !loh.

4 ClNEMAGfC-20

Editor's

BENCH

SURVIVAL!W

hen SuperB Flimakerceased publication last year, it left CINEMAGIC, for

all practiclil purposes, alone in the field. It seems there are fewer andfewe r Super·8 and 16mm fllntllsy filmmakers every year. Perhaps we

have lost some of them to video and maybe we have even lost a few to video lind

computer games. In any case, the interest and commitment to fantllsy Image mllk·ing seems to be at an all time low.

It's true that fantasy fi lmmaking is an expensive lind time consuming activity.And that those who stay with it , even in times of economic difficulty, are the veryfew truely dedicated, hllrdy souls who are hooked on the power of the medium. Fo rwith just a camera, film and a lot of Imaginlltion , you Cinemagician's have thepower to make people see and feel whllt exists only in your mind. You can make

your dreams real enough for other people to experience them.

Probably a good deal of video's lIppeal rests in the pocketbook. Once the in it ialexpense for camera and recorder is out of the way, your only expense is video tape.But the whole system seems to be gellred against the fllntasy image mi!lker, sincethe possibilities of frame.by·fr.i!lme manipulation are dosed to the video user. At

this point in time, video Is still best suited for people making " home movies," asopposed to the readers of CINEMAGIC who are interested in filmmaking.

Nonetheless, the Fifth Annu;,1 CINEMAGICJSVA Short Film Search will againhave a video category. Last yellr, there was very little Interest shown ;,nd I will no t

be surprised if that continues to be the situation for some yeliTs. But video will sur·vive and eventually come into its own.

One of the ways that filmmekers survive is by getting their work seen. Thepublishers of ClNEMAGIC together with the film department of the School of

Visual Arts in New York City are trying to go a step further with the problems offilmmi!lkers. Th is year in lIddition to the screening of the winners at the awardsceremony, we hope to get the films seen on television as well, either in a syndica·

tion situation or through cable te levision. We hope to have something worked outby this fall and we will . of course, keep you informed through the pages ofCINEMAGIC.

A filmmaker needs exposure in order to survive. His work mus t be seen as widelyas possible. He needs to build an audience . . . ultimately to f ind people who will

pay to see his work. CINEMAGIC is working to help you get your imaginat ion onfilm . . . and to get your fi lm seen. It's a quest ion ofsurvival . . . yours . . . and ours.

- Dlivid Hutchison

P.S. We have already received a few requests for 1983 entry forms. They will not beready unti l June, however. For your copy of the 1983 rules and an official entryform, send a stamped, self·addressed - I 0 envelope (the one that is wider than theletter sile) to: CINEMAGICJSVA Short Film Search, Contest Rules, 475 ParkAvenue Sou th. New York , NY 10016.

ClNEo'IAGlC I. ~ b l i ! l l > e < l bI ·mortlhly by STARL{)(J PRESS. INC. 475 P •k A""n .... South. 1'1_ York. NY 10016. ThI. I.

iI,. ..... ( V o l u m e 4. No. 2). C O n t ~ l l . 1983 by STARL{)(J PflESS.II'IC.All r I 9 h ~ . _ " ' < : d . Rep.!nt or re",odu<;tlon01any .... "I.lln por,or In wholew llhoul w.itlen pe"nls.olon from lhe publi .. . . , . . lctlyf orbldden . CINEi'lACIC l '"" rnponslbllily lor unsolki,ed marnJoe.lpts. phoIoo;. an or OIMr rn.lerl.1. but Ilireel.r>ee .ubmliuol• • e ..:componledby a ",U·a6d.eu<:d • ernped envelope. lhey ""III be considered and. If MCH .. y. re lurned. Pro.hJ("ts !Id.ertl.oed .. e r>OI

r , e ( ; u s ~ r i l ~ endor$<:d by CINI.':MAGlC, .n d .. e. preued In edllorlel C<IP)I .r e no t nece . . lly 1_ 01

CINEMACIC. Suboerlptlon rales: '9.98 lor one yu r (si. h.s .....) delivered ,n .h e U.S . C ....s. and Me.ico. lor . gnsul>ocr,pllon' 12.96ln U.S. fund. only. I'tew S"bKrlpUonl : ",nd directly 10CINEi'I"CIC. doST"RL{)(J PRESS. INC ..H 5 P.rk "ven .... Soulh. New Y o r ~ , NY 10016. NOIllrcltlionof change 0 ' .dd,eu or renew.11 .. .nd 10 CINEMACHC.Suboerlption Dept. P.O. 60 , 142. MI. Morri•. IL61054·0142. POltrnUler: Sf,nd lo<m357<J 10CINEM"GIC. P.O. 60 .142. MI. 1010,,1 . IL 61 054 Appllcltllon D mall ....:end da . I. pending"l 1'1""" Yo.k. NY end Ollie< Iocellon . Printed In

U.S.A.

7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


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7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


EROFILEJoey Ahlbum:Personal Vision

:. ~ - J

I

<'

/ . / J

By John Clayton

. .

•-

••

Joey Ahlburn . whose rum BamJils was awinner in Ihe 1982 CINEMAGICtSVA Sllort Film Search, poses in front 0111\£1 storyboards o! his current mm projec1. Parade .

Animators are gifted with the

rare talent of being able to

create a seemingly living fantasyworld entirely from their own imaginationthat other people can see. Irs like beingable to show your dreams to your friends.UnfortunCltely, thert: WCI:; ulily one cd

animated film entered in last year'sClNEMAGICISVA Short Film Search, but

happily it was more than worthy enoughto be assured of a spot in the proverbialwinner's circle. We were disappointed that

there wa s such a small response on thepart of eel animators to a film contest

jointly sponsored by ClNEMAGIC, whoseslogan is "The Guide to Fantastic Filmmaking:' and The School of Visual Arts,which is one of the most important train·ing grounds for artists and illustrators(potentia l cel animators) in America today. We hope to see more cel animation

in future CINEMAGIC/SVA contests,We were very happy, though, about the

6 C!NEMAG/C"20

one cel animated film entry that we did

receive. Joey Ahlbum's Bandili> providedsome of the most entertaining moments

of the evening at last year's Awards

Screening. It also helped round ou t theshow by adding variety to what was other·wise li n .,11 Iive'lIction show with somestop-motion effects sequences thrown in

for good measure_''I've been an animator for about eight

years:' Joey begins. " I started making

animated films even before I was in high

schooL My first films were shot on aSuper,S camera that didn't even haveSingle frame or reflex viewing. I started by

doing cut-out animation and experimen·ting with clay animation, It was enough of

a beginning to spark my enthusiasm,though, because I saw that despite thelimi tations of my equipment J was stillable to make things move and appear to

come alive, which I had wanted to do for avery long time. Soon afterward, J go t a

Super-S came ra that could do singleframe and could be focused through thelens. Before I had a single frame camera Ihad to animate by touching the shutterbutton as lightly and quickly as possible.

"I made lots of Super·S films in thebeginning. two of which I still think liregood films, " Joey continues. "One was tl

study in animation cycles that I callSkaters. It's baSically animated ice skatersdoing figure eights and ovals with the fi·gure eights and ovals as the cycles. The

motion in Skaters is very fluid and I'm hap·py with the way the film seems to flowthrough the use of animation cycles. Ska·ters is about three minutes long,

'"The other Super·S film that l"m stillproud of is called Fred Kid Freight Com·pany. That film is an adventure about a

guy who owns his own freight companyand who receives an order todelivera load

of gold co ins. Along the way he's am ·bushed by thieves and he has to round up

7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


all the thieves as well as deliver the coins.

Fred Kid Freight Company is also aboutthree minutes long."

Mystery Movies·'1 graduated to making 16mm films

when ! went to study at the School of

Visual Arts after high schooL ! made three16mm films at the School of Visual Arts:Minuteo{Myslery, ThreeStep,andBandils.MinuJ.e 0{Mystery as the title implies, is 8

one minute film with a detectivestory plot

line. Minule 0{ Mystery really isnl typicaleel animation. I started out trying to make

a eel animated film but after shooting atest I de<::ided I didn 't like the way paintedcds looked for the particular mood I wastrying to captu re. I felt that painting thecels with celvinyl in standard fashion pro-duced colors that were too flat for my sub-ject matter. I wound up throwing away thecels I had painted, but I still had the entirefilm inked on cels. I ended up doing thecoloring on paper with crayons under-neath the inked eels. Where Ineeded to doa hold, 1 cut out the shape on coloredpaper and glued it to the cel. So, even

though Minuteo{MySl.eIy is inked on cels,it doesn·t look like a typical cel animatedfilm.

"Minute 0{MySl.ery is about a detectivewho solves a crime that's been committed

in onlyone minute. II's really a flow of con-sciousness film. Everything fJO'NS togetheras if you we re just thinking of it off of thetop of your head . Even the most absurdideas seem natural because of the waythey just flow out of the earlier ideas thatspawned them. The soundtrack to Minute

0{ Myslery is the "Minute Waltz" byChopin. II's a public domain score be-ca use it's such an old pie<::e of music and Ire<::orded a friend playing it on the piano,so there's no problem with the syn<: rights.Minute 0{ MySl.ery has been seen on theHBO cable network.

BIlow:Ascene lrom 8anats showS Stlper Sam andSpa on horseback In ha: p u r s u ~ Of !he bank robbin

Joey anmatas the horse Chase scene lrom BatKits on the Oxbefry animaI:ion stand at !he School of Visual Ms .He spent about siX months making all tile eels lor the sewn mlnllle 1mI. Much 01 the animation was lip syncdialog , WhICh was especially tllTlt! consUfIlIng to shOO because Joey animated the characters acting out their"nas instead 01 rust moving their rrouths on a eel overlay. ··It·s harder to animate all of the business you bringinto a scene ," Joey says. "blII Ws well worth Hbecause the resuhs are more pleasing . .

BANDITS"O f the other two films I did atSchool of

Visual Arts, Three St.ep and Bandits, Ban ·dits was by far the bigger and more am·bitious film" Joey discloses. "I was veryhappy that Bandits was a winner in theCINEMAGICISVA Short Film Search.

"It took me two years to make Bandits,"

Joey reveals. "I had been drawing thelllCIin characters. Super Sam and Spot,since before high school asa cartoon stripand I had always wanted to make an ani-mated film featuring t h e ~ chari!lcters_ Iused to lllCIil each Installmen t of the strip

to my friends and relatives and I thought itwould be great to carry the adventures of

Super Sam and Spot a step further bymaking a short film in which the charac·ters would actually move and speak."

Super Sam is a caped hero detectivewho wages a ceaseless crusade for Justicewith the help of his loyal and talentedsidek ick and dog. SpoL ln BandilS, they'reafter horse·riding, masked outlaws com·mitting a string of bank robberies inmodem·day New York City. This is dearly

a job beyond the capabilites of averagelaw enforcement officers. Super Sam andSpot have been called onto the case.

"Ofcourse the first step in IllCIking Ban-dits, as with any lip sync animated film,

was to write and record the dialog," Joeyreflects. "Since I had been drawing SuperSam and Spot adventures as cartoon stripsfor yea rs, it didn't take long to write thedialog-especially since Bandits is only

seven minutes long. The next step was to

get some people together to play thevoices of the characters. Of course. Icouldn't afford to hire professional actors,but I managed to find the right people(who were willi ng to work for free) for al l ofthe parts. The guy who played the voice of

the main bandit was very adept at doingmany different styles of voices. and Ithough he was very talented. I played thevoice of Super Sam myself and a friendplayed the voice of Spot. We recorded thedialog track at a professional recordingstudio in New York City. It was one of thefew things In the production of Bandits

-beside film and processing-that ac·tually cost money.

"After I hadthedialogtrack recorded, it

didn't take long to break it down onto barsheets," Joey remembers. "Bandits was

my first experience with animating lip

syn<: dialog, so I had to learn by doing. It

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took a long time to figure out all of theanimation for the lip sync scenes, because[ wanted the characters to act out whatthey were saying and not just have them

move their mouths insync with thedialog.Some of the lip sync scenes in Bandits areshot on one's, the rest ofthe film isshot on

two 's. During my early pencil tests, I triedusing the animation guides that show youeach mouth shape for all the differentvowels and consonants, but it didn't look

right. For example, I'd shoot a frame

showing the character 's mouth openedvery wide to make an "E" sound then go

right to a tiny mouth shape for an "0 "sound, and 1 fou nd that it looked

rid iculous because [ wa sn't consideringthe whole word or the factthalyour mouth

doesn't stretch out as much for somewords as it does for others. [t was verychallenging for me and it was a veryvaluable [earning experience.

··Of course for a few scenes Idid just put

a close-up of the character's head in theframe and did the mouth movementsona

ce [ overlay, but that's the exception ratherthan the rule of the way I shot the lip sync

dialog forBandits.

For example, there's ascene in which Spot's talking on thetelephone in the car ,and there'sa lotof ac·tion going on while he's talk ing. He rollsand nods his head, he moves his eyes andblinks, he acts ou t what he·s saying. It's

harder to figure out how to animate all ofthe business you br ing into a scene, but

ir s well worth it because the results are somuch more pleasing.

·The next step after recording thedialog wa s to sto ryboard the fllm :· Joey

remembers. " It didn't take long to story·board Bandil.5, I'd just think about how 1wanted to animate it and write 1ittle notesto myself. Whal did take a long time wasdoing the layouts, which are like storyboards except that they're the actualframe size.lfsduring the layout stage thatyou figure out all of the key animation po.sitions. 1spent about three or four months

doing the layouts. Ir s ultimately a greathelp to have carefully prepared layoutsbecause it makes your animation go

much faster."The hardest part of making Bandits

was actually shooting all of he animation ,"

Joey admits. ··By the time you·re ready to

animate you've already prepared most of

the artwork and you've taken the time to

make sure that the artwork is perfect . Un·

fortunately, it's possible that you·1I nevershoot the artwork perfectly. There'salways the possibility of making human

errors during the animation process.Onee you·veshota bad frameyou 're stuckwith it because you can· t erase it. unlessthe error isso gross that you can't live with

it, in which case you have to reshoot theentire scene and scrap hours of work .

··1 had actually only finished making

about half of the cels when 1 beganshooting Bandits," Joey reveals. "I spentbe tween four and six months making theeels. About halfway through shooting thefilm, all the eels werecompleted. I shot the

Super Sam and 5po( In their highly stylized car. Jrethad been drawing these taped crusadefs for justice asa cartoon strip lor CNer ten years belore he brooghtthem to lile in his animated adVefIture. Bandits.

film on the 16mm Oxberry at the School

of Visual Ar ts. I found thi!lt the best time 10shoot was at night when no one else

wanted to schedule time on the Oxberry. [discovered that actually shooting the ani·mation took hours upon hours and wentslower than 1had expected. 1developed aschedule which enabled me to work from10 o'clock at night to 10 o·clock in themorning, Friday through Sunday. Duringthe rest o f the week I worked on making

more eels, until they were finished. I shot

one hundred foot loads at at ime n the all.'berry camera. If Ididn't finish the roll 1hadto rewind the film out of the camera so so·meone else could use the stand and reloadit when it came time to shoot again . Oneof the great things about an Oxberry is itsaccuracy. You can land on any givenframe. and if you·ve punched a hole in thehead of the film you can go back and landon that same frame offilm if you have to.

During the production of Bandits 1had totake advantage of this feature:·

MUSICOne of the best elements of Bandits is

its musical score. The music is very ex·citing and accents the wonderfully doneanimation perfectly. It helps seland main·tain the mood of the film with its upbeiltand very full jazz brass section .The music

is an original score, so there are no legalentanglements with sync rights, as is alltoo of ten the problem with many other·wise marketable student and amateur

films.'Tve always been very condous about

having a musical soundtrack that is, if not

orig inal to the film, at least in the public

domain," Joeycontinues. ·1 want my films

to be free of any legal problems so I canmarket them wherever possible. I've hadboth Minuleo(Mystery and Bandits shownon the HBO ca ble network. If these films

had used someoneelse's copyr ighted music, th is would not have been possible.

7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


I!,i

"The music for Bandits was writtenespecially for the film by a very tllientedcomposer name Artie Sweet. At the timeArtie was studying film composing underJacob Stern at the Mannes College of

Music and Jacob Stem had a deal wherefilmmakers could meet wi th his class andget one of his students to compose amusical soundtrack in exchange for crediton the film. Artie Sweet worked veryclosely with me in giving me the kind of

sound I wanted forthe music. By this time,of course, Bandits was finished and cuttogether except for the musical sound·

track. Artie came and saw the film andtook notes and did timings with a stopwatch. Then he wrote the music and thecharts for all the different musicians, andgot the musicians together for the record·ing session. We recorded the music at astudio at the MannesCol legeo f MusicandI only had to pay the recording engineer.Al l of the musicians were students at the

Mannes College of Music-there wereabout 20 of them-so I got them all forfree. I was quite amazed at the level of

talent of the musicians. They had neverplayed together before and they didn't

know anything about the music that Artiehad written or anything about my film. Ar·tie just got them all together one after'noon over a Memorial Day weekend.handed them their charts and they playedas he conducted-and it sounded as ifthey had rehearsed many times.

"We didn't have the facilities to projectthe film during the recording session so

Artie could conduct and record in sync tothe f i lm-as is done on professionalsoundtrack recordings-but it didn't mat·ter. Artie ust relied on the stop watch tim·ings he had taken and I edited the musicinto the soundtrack at the predeterminedpoints. I wasn't concerned about gettingframe·for,frame accuracy on syncing themusic. It came out perfectly. Be<:ause of

. : lIft:.lot!fantma!es!1Ie leader 01 tilethieves !of a scene in Bandtts on !he Ox

berry anrnabon stand al tile School 01

Visual Arts . Joey set up aShOOting

schedule at SoIA tllat allowed him toshoot Irom tOo 'clock at night to 10o'clock In the morning, Friday throughSUnday The rest 01 the week he

WOfked on makil"lg Jt10fe ce!s 10( thelim. The Rm Deoartment at tile School01 VI$ual Arts . headed by Cllarles

Hirsch. has helped Joey IXIntlOue hl$

WOfk In the animation field by allowinghim IXIntinlli!d access to the Oxberrystand lor non-commercial work , 01

course . he has to schedule lime that no

one 81se wants an<! pay lor all 01 hisown materials. 'Tm very gratelul to the

School 01 Visual Arts for all o/tlle en·c o u r ~ t thatthey ·WI given me ,"

Jooy""

all of the work that Artie did and because Iwas so happy with the results he achievedwith the music, rve struck a deal with him

that offers him a percentage of all of theprofits that Bandits makes.

PRODUCING

"Bandits will make a profit becausecable TV companies are renting it for airplay:' Joey confides. "But it would havebeen nearly impossible to make an ani·mated short film like Bandits profes·sionally and be able to make a profit. 1"11only be able to make a profit on Bandits

because it was a student production and Ididn't have to pay all the people involved.Since most people rendered their servicesfor free or for academic credit lor for art'ssake]. Bandi/.s only cost about $1.500 to

make. Of course I put in countless hourswithout making any money myself. andyou Ci!ln't go on doing that after you leaveschool. You've got to earn a living at your

SIXlI swings into action to stop!he bank robbers In ascene from Bandils Super Sam clmbs up on!he roof 01 askyscraper in pursUit 01 an escaping thief~ :::;/---

7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


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THE JOINTWORt S13451J MAX ELLA G185- 4 24CMARINA DEL REY . CA . 90291

THE JO INTW ORLS I S THEHOLLY lol OOD SOURCE FORYOUR SPECIAL EFFECTS

SUPPLY NEEDS.

© 1983 lo/.J.HEDGE

10 C!NEMAGIC-20

craft. I deeply appreciate al l of the time

and talent that other people donated tothe making of Bandits. The costs of pro·dudng professional animation are pro-hibitive because of all the time and pains-taking labor involved. That's a problem

that I'm looking for a solution to and Ihaven't been able to find one yet. Anding

funding for animation is very difficult. I'dlove to do a series of Super Sam and Spotshorts, but working out all of he details of

produdng such a series professionally is

extremely difficult.

"Working on Bandits gol to be quite agrind towards the end because J was run·ning out of time." Joey admits. "I wantedto have it finished in time to show at theEnd of Year Show at the School of VisualArts, two years ago. It was very importantfor me to show people what I had beenworking on for the previous two years. "

FREELANCESince graduating from the School of

Visual Arts two years ago, Joey Ahlbum

has been working as a freelance profes-sional animator.

"I did a 90 second animated title se·quence for an independent film calledWild Style that should be releasedshortly, " Joey reveals. ''The film is being

produced by Charlie Ahearn and the ani ·mation was shot in his studio because hehas his own stand. I worked with a graffiti

artist who calls himself Zephyr (his realname is Andrew Witten)on that sequence.

"I also did a segment of an animatedshow for HBOcailed Brain Games which isbeing directed by El i Noyes. I was able to

use Eli 's stand for that job. BrainGames isgoing to be a half·hour show entirelymade up of animation. It's the first time

that HBO has commissioned new ,mima·tion instead of ust renting existing anima·tion. My segment is based on an old kid 'sgame called "Droodles:' in which you'regiven an abstraction of a drawing and you

try to figure out what it is. When the wholedrawing is revealed you can see quiteclearly what it wasal l the time. The entire

show Is made up of games that the au·dience can play while the show is going

on. The producers of Brain Games hadseen Bandits and some of my other films

and they liked my style. so they came to

me with the script for the "Droodles"segment.

"As a freelance animator I can do all of

my artWork at home," Joeyexplains. ''Theonly other facility I need is access to ananimation stand. Most of time the peoplewho have hired me had a stand I could use.The School of Visual Arts has been gene·rous in allowing me continued access totheir Oxberry stand for pencil tests whenno one else is using it. They realizel'm not

making much money of f of pencil testsand they have provided an atmosphere of

encouragement that has helped me im·

mensely in my continued work in the fieldof animation. I would like to get to thepoint of being able to rent an animation

stand whenever I need to, but that can runinto real money. I've also worked as arotoscope artist on The Greal SpaceCoaster and with Peter Wallach on a film

for the Scott Newman Foundation calledDoing \.\I1lal /he Oowd Does. Doing Whalthe Oowd Does is for distribution toschools and it tries to teach kids to resistpeer pressure, especially about taking

drugs." Working with Peter Wallach has

helped me acquire a deeper appreciation

BeICIw : AnoIhef'rame bIo¥t'·up 0I1he hofse cnase sequence in Bandi/s. Joey'eeIs thaI eel animation IS mucheasief to work in UWI Slop·moIion and he prefers eel animation because he ,eels the animator has IfOOI COI11ro1 ."Trying to get a eam 01 horses 10 move In Stop'moIlon i$ enough 10 drive you Insane," Joey says.

I1iI

7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


-

01 stop-motion animation. I had thepleasure of being able to watch Peter andhis associate Michael Sullivan shoot a fewscenes for their new film Raygun 's

Nightmare, which is a very impressivepiece of work. Also, I recently hada job in

which I had to break a plate in stopmotion, It came out quite well and it'ssparked my enthusiasm for stop-motion.I've come to realize that stop,motion is inmany ways the hardest kind of animation.

"One of the things I love about eelanimation is that you have total control,it's just you, your imagination and thepaper or cels," Joey confides. "eel anima·tion enabled me to make a film with ban·dits riding horses down cl ty streets, carchases, people falling of f buildings, pe0-

ple breaking through bank windows andanything else I could think of. If I tried tomake a film like that in live-act ion I'd be

spending millions of dollars. If I tried to dosuch a film in stop'motion [ probablywould have gone crazy. Trying to get ateam of horses to move in stop-motion isenough to drive you insane. The re's somuch to move and so much to rememberbetween frames when you're shootingstop-motion, that's why I think iI's harderto do than eel animation. I love stop-motion, but I doo't think I'll ever make afilm in stop-motion. Overall I prefer working with eel animation because I feel thatyou have more control and it's not asphysically and mentally grueling as stopmotion,

--''rve been busy as a freelance animator,"

Joey affirms. "Staying employed as afreelimce animator is in itself a full timejob. If you're no t working at the moment

you're spending all of your t ime looking

for more work. You can spend whole days

on the phone. It takes up so much of yourenergy that you hardly have any left to

continue with your own proje<:ts. Despiteall of thi s, I've managed to begin work on anew film of my own.

"My new film will be called Parade . Itwon't be an animated detective story like

Bandils. 11'11 be more like my earlier film

ThreeSlep. Like ThreeSlep, Parade. will bescenes of animatioo, but the centraltheme will be an underlying emotion thatwill be in all of the scenes. Other than the

common underlying emotion, the subje<:tmatter of all of the various scenes will bevery dissimilar. Parade. is a film that I've

wanted to make for a long time. It took mea while to recover from making Bandils

and now I feel that I'm ready to take onanother major project of my own again.

"Al l of the scenes in Parade will deal

with living. growing·up and surviving inNew York City and the artwork will be inpen and ink illustration style. There"ll bescenes from all walks of life in New York.It's my statement on growing up in NewYork myself. I've already completed onepencil test and I expect Parade to take meabout one year to make.

"If you 're an animator you just have to

accept the fact that there will be slow

AboYt:A 'rovne'rom the se-quenca 01 Ul\l lndependent 'satureIiIm , ~ Sly/e.Joey did the animalion 'or tn! se-q\J8flC8 . ThII art·worII: Is by agraltid

artist who calIShlmsel' 2ephyrLeft: SemI 01 tile

SCOfYboards lorJolly's iateSlIitmptqecI, Par.KkJ .

periods," Joey confides. 'There 's no wayyou're going to be working 12 months ouof the year work ing freelanee. You have torealize that animation is a business thafluctuates-sometimes people want iand sometimes they don·t. Sometime

people are going to be looking at newethings for a while; such as video and computer animation. I'm interested in the newmediums like computer animat ion

myself and I believe that I'll have the opportunity to experiment with some o

these new mediums in the near future.don 't mean to sound discouraging by saying that you can't find steady employmenin animation. I've actually been doingquitewell , ust don 't expect it to besteadyYour fat periods can make up for your lean

periods. And you have to huss le to staemployed in thi s business.

"My ul timate goal is to make a feature

length animated film for theatricarelease,"' Joey confesses, "1 know thathat's hefty goal, but that's what my goal iand that's what I'm striving for. I'm happto just be a working animator and n

always love creating animation. HopefuIy, I'll get to make that feature someday:

If no one ever had dreams like JoeAhlbum and no one ever pursued themthe way Joey is pursuing his dream, noone would have ever heard of folks lik

Walt Disney, Carl Barks. Max Fleischer o

any other animators that may come to

your mind (or whose name you neveknew) whose art has touched your life, (

ClNEMAG/C"20 I I

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different effects with it. This is be ·

ca use the keyboard features amini·syntheslzer, rhythm effects,and the sounds of sbe diffe.-ent mus·Ical instruments oyer a IlInge of

t w o ~ n d · l I · h a l f ~ An output

jack ffilIkes II easy to hook the key·board Into other equipment, suchas a VCR or amplifier. II!; weU 11$

being u:selul, the VL- l i$ just plainfun and ffilIkes}'OU feel as II }'OU arelin ~ r o n i c John W i l l ~ m s l

John Lewis26 137 Abdale St.Newhall, CA 9132 1

Broad Appeal

use three one gallon pillstic mj ugs. Two lire fi lled to the topand the third is about V of theway full. Rope can be used to the bottles to the platform tokeep them from fell ing off. UsIng water·filled containers for

counter weight is easier becauthey can always be emptied aneasily carried from a location along with the rest of thecrane parts.Steve Bydal2912 Jetfe Rd.

DE 19808

l I ~ a J l ~ t o :•• • ONEAAGIC Isn 't just forRlmrmkers. Some of the artklesare equ/lll}' ap\:>lIcllbie to thelltrelind TV production, both of which Iam a student of.

Camer-a Cr-ane bought most of the mllterlalsfrom elocal hardware $tore andthe crane ended up costing lessthM $60 to bulld.

ClNEMAGIC-FUmmakers'Forum, c/o O'Quinn SlucUos, I47:; P", k t'lue. So . New fuA',

NY 10016

Johnny Ca rruthers2 481 Unl¥. Sta.

KY 42071

~ 8.. . F IUleT Ae .. -t 8rMe

COnSl'UO:: IO"I

., ~ e $ l \ t p MoGelBIoot:I

Smoke Gene<atoo l.gntBe .... EHedS M ~ .....

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Slyle FW Art A""l"IilIOOf!

[le(:t.Of\IC Spec",1 E n e c l ~

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p,"rer U".aqe Wdc

..... 1'1''' Supe. II SIll ScanE"(oCt C ~ . t m t n C l E ~ 10<

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E"eel,

_ 7 - BaSIC Cat1oJOfl "'nom"toon Clayma!loro KaleoOO~ [neclS

Sa"toSlef)/'lilno

. . . The above photo is of a

camera crane that I built fromKen that ap·

-16. JInstead of using clnderblocks

or bricks to balance the crane. J

Due 10 /he enormous ooIume 01

mlJil receil.H!d, the editor regretsIndividual rerAles are impossllXe

CINEMAGIC BACK ISSUES

_8 _VoOeo hDe!, ."slots Rc_se F,-.g

Enectl; la b Se<w::esPloI>lII VtIOuS ar.l AnIO

nuo::o:, C'ash 01 tne T!lans

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l ~ " ' t e t a p l " o l C Hilng Ened!.on 5noes/r"'ll

Proltle The langley Pun's

_ to _ MaslI!f"'ll Manes

Zero ~ t Sets CINEMAGI 'SVA Awar(lS

NIIhI ButIoong a SuperS o u o C t ' a c ~ Pen Se l Balland Soclo.er A'malu,es

_ ,. -Glass Snots. "''''Oil'lure E. pIosoons . F'1::,eAnmalOOf! Bloody at!

Hu S Prot,le KOCI'I ar.leo,,,

. t2 - Mak eup ~lille. AppItances. .~ Budge! RayGun ollie Bamt's and

-_ U _SII15can O e1lbngUFO logtolsloops ModelloIe"ors More ElectrON;

Si1eoaI Ellects . The SaturnM ~ Protole 80",d"

• t .. Sloryooa'dongSound Elleds Gene<alQr

M ..."lure [)eyaslallKlCd.oes. Cllartes..lorle$

16mm Space Epoe PloI>leJetry Pans.

_ IS _SC"". W,d"'llMonia1ure Ughl:;l EIt<:r o r " l O : ~ 1 HeelSCa,f!efS. Supe< Cepen '"Oooramas Plotole Ralpn

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~• tS -ScnplWrd:::i Part 2Elect,or"IO: Spec,a EnoclS

l EO C"cudS. Flal ArtE>.pIosoons Careers Fran.

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GrapNc Gofe PlohtoCanaghan lind Grrn'th

" l-r..IaI<i'IQ Monstllf1l. T..~ lor . . . . . . . !m r..toaeb.Acc_ .. 1or F .......... .

El<IC:trMtC: ~ [neelS.

Pror.~ ~ > O f : / " I I I I t j

f t . -C INEM ..GIC!SVA"'w'fd. Nighl . BU IIG

you, own CotIwfiI Sol ..." " . HIgh Scnoot

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wolt.Car_ .

a _ g n Me l in. ~"oni-c Special Elleel•.Ffom UIIMIS.Cll'QhtAn,motl"" Techn'QIIII- - - - - - ,

5 P .. . Av • . South , P+ew York, NY 100'6IINEMAGIC clo O'Ou lnn Sioxtio. , Inc.

Add p a . l a ~ .n d n.nd-ling 10 ~ o u r oro... : S.III lor II

ne I . . . . $1 .I . lo r two ; 11.60 lo r thr.. 12.00 lor

lou , : 12 010 lor !Iv. : S2.70 lor . . . . . . . . .9"1.

C".cIo. I. .. . . . d• • re d. 0 " 0 - 1 3 .00 II : ~ = : : : ~ : ~ ~ = : : : I

I ::=:::: ~ :::=:::: IICJ IS-S3.00 0 t l5-$3 .00

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NAME

I ","'SS II CiTY STATE ZIP I.._____

ClNEMAG/C-20 1

7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


Movie Sync Strobe

Photographic Strobe .. .

for Movie Cameraswith Sync Capabilities.

BfOfe I get to this project. I want to

comment about the project inCINEMAGIC "18. Thanks to

Robert Trompeter of Verodale, Washing·ton, I've been made aware of the fact thatRadio Shack no longer carries theSN76488N sound effects Ie. My first

thought. was that th e project wasdoomed, but after several hours on thephone with various people. I discoveredthat these lC's were very much stillavailable.

First r called the publicity department

of Radio Shack. in an attempt to find a waythallhese Ie's could be made available.Then I ended up being transferred to theparts buyer, who gave me the names andnumbers of some of the places where Imight locate the elusive part. No luck

i -

By CHR IS E. STEVENS

. some of the places never even heardof such an animal. I then re·called theparts buyer, who got somewhat upset bymy persistence. After explaining that I feltan obligation to you, the reader of

ClNEMAGIC, he explained to me why theydropped the item from theircalalogs.ln a

continuing effort, I then called Texas In·struments, (the manufacturer of this par·ti cular IC)and spoke with Mr. Bill Thomp·

son. in charge of product marketing for

T.I. He explained that T.1. was still

manufacturing the IC and had no plans inthe immediate future of dropping the IC

from their catalog. Hewas kind enough tosend me to a local T.t. distributor wheretheir parts are very plentiful.

Now, here's the bad news: Since thereisn't the likelihood that we would need as

QI:;J . 0 1 '""" CI "E'

"IRI

ACS;; FI - C , IC 2

+:y~ N _

AC 4 IC I

many parts as would normally be sold to alarge retail outlet such as Radio Shack.these lC'scannot be acqu ired at the samelow prices. And on top of that. I have tohave a rather large m inimum order. So.here's the scoop: If you want one or moreof the SN76488N complex sound genera·

tor I("s, you can order them through me,in care of ClNEMAGIC.$7.95 each. plus $2.00 postage and han·dling. for a total of $9.95 each. Pleasesend only certified check or money order,(no cash please) made payable to ChrisStevens. Please be sure to indicate thatthis is for the 76488N IC , and the quantitydesired. I'll place the order as soon as

enough orders come in. making the mini·mum order amount from the distributor.If at all possible, get your order in within

1? !2

R6

/- R4

8 T2 FTI~ • ~CS '

S W ~ J J ' ItC3 : t { ~ .==C5

• D 2'"

C 2 G A

R2C SCR

R3

C4

This Is Ihe SCIlemall¢ diagram for lhe movie sync Slrobe lInlt . ThiS ts a high vo!tagB liM II"IaI aperates 00 alternatlngllouse currenl , so exerCise extreme caution .

14 ClNEMAQIC-20

1,!I

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• • • •R5 C

RID 01 •I

AC

• C6 • •C3

CI

J I

•

• R2 •ThIs is the PC pattern and partS plac:flment diagram, sMwn actual Size Use tills panem 10 make your PC baaJG. Reier to CINEMAGIC 113. page 2911 )'OO're IIOIlamtliarWlIlllhe procedure lor «ching aPC board [) I I only the a.s With Ihe white dots in the center Make a b s d u l ~ sure thai anparts are proper1y in place before plugoiIgthis unilll Make especially sure that C-I, C-2 and C·6 are mrrectIy Installed because these parts could expIooe if rnprop8fIy installed

the next few weeks. so that I can place an

early order. and then get them to you assoon as possible.Once the order is placed.it'll take 8 few weeks for the parts to arrive.

and then get them shipped to you. Figureon 8 to 10 weeks for deli very.

I know that those of you who are build·

ing this project have a lot of moneywrapped up. and I want to do as much as [

can to help you complete it with success.These articles are written months in ad-vance, and neither I, nor Radio Shack had

any idea then that this would come about.The project for this issue is simple.

compared to the sound effects project. If s

astrobe that can be used for photographicpurposes, much like the strobes used in

still photography, The difference being,that this has a fast recharge rate, allowing

for multiple flashes in rapid succession, ascompared to the average ten seconds of

recharge lime for the still photography

strobe, and it can be used with movie

cameras with a sync output. If you recall,

there was an article synchronizing a

flashbulb with a movie camera in

CINEMAGIC #6, a creation of Ken Walker.We've taken that same idea, bu t have

gone a little farther, hopefully creating a

versatile tool for some creative movie

photography .If you have a movie camera with a

output, In reality what you have in·

side the camera is a switching arrange·

ment that makes contact every time the

shutter opens. This is a very light duty

switch, and cannot handle high voltages

or heavy load currents without buming

out. Taking this into consideration, I'vedesigned a high-voltage strobe, similar tothe strobes found in a disco, and then add·ed a low voltage, low current switching ar·

rangement so that it would protect the

delicate sync switch in the camera. Eventhough the circuitry has been eliminatedthat caused the unit to flash by itself , it's

still basically the same type. with a few

modifications.Here's how it works: AC enters through

SW· I andF· 1 and is rectified to DC by D· 1,

2 and C·l, 2. This causes the voltage to

double and is fed to C-6 and the flash tubethrough limiting resistors R·5, 6 . The AC

also supplies power to the transformerwhich provides the low voltage for the trig.

gering of the SCR. SW·2 is a pushbuttonswitch for " test" and manual flash. Also

connectorJ . J is In parallel with the sw itch,

and is connected to the camera, or

another pushbutton switch for manualflashing via an extension cable.

There are a couple of things that youshould take into consideration. The first

consideration is that this is a high voltageunit. You're dealing with quite a shock

potential and you must be sure that youhave everything wired correctly, and that

there are no short-circu its in your wiring. I

accidently got my hand across the highvoltage end of this thing, and very promp

tly go t set back on my can. My hand wasnumb for a couple of days.Another thing.

is that if you are prone to have epilepsythere is a chance that the rapid flashing of

the light may se t of f a seizure. If that is thecase, I suggest that you consider waiting

and building another project. And, i

you 're stil l relatively new at building pro

jects. or have any doubt about you r work

I'd suggest that you seek out someone

with the qualification necessary to properIycheck out your work. Beespeciallysure

that ( ,1,2 and 6 are correctly installed. I

not. the potential fo r one of thesecapacitors literally blowing up is very

high, and can sink little bits of schrapneinto the wall (or you r face). When every

thing is done correctly, you'll have a safeunit. but if not. I can't overemphaSize the

danger potential.Use the photograph of the project as a

guide. This will help you identify severa

di fferent aspects of the project, and help

you achieve success the fi rst t ime. On thelow voltage side, the most amount of cur

rent that the camera contacts will be

switching. will be 5 volts, at about .055

amps (two milliamps) which is very lowand shouldn't cause any damage to the

camera.

When installing the transformer T ·I,

put the moun ting bolts through the PC

C/NEMAGIC-20 15

7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


!t

!!

board and then run a nut down on each

bolt before you mount the transformer.Then add the nuts that hold the transfor·mer. The reason for this. is that the extranuts will pro ..lde space between thetransformer and the circuitry beneath the

transformer body. keeping it of f the cir·cuitry, and pre ..enting a short circuit.Thafs high ...oltage, high current stuffthere, and you· ..e got to be sure that thereis no contact between the transformerandthe circuil. On 1C-2. there are "I". "0 " and

"G" labels. These are for in. out andground connections on that particular IC0., the loyout, there ore two "J '3" which

are for jumper wires, Also at T-2. there isanextra til i ledot. which will correc;pond to

the red doton the trigger transformer.andthe other dot. is for the negative. 01 heavy

electrode side of the flash tube. FT·}.

Make sure that you get the tube polaritycorrect, as it will make sure that you getthe maximum life out of the tube. If youwish, you can use the jumbo ftashtube in-stead, and you don' t ha ..e 10 make anychanges in the circuitry.

When drilling the PC board. drill theholes for mounting, the transformer andfor the safety shield (should the tube shat·ter and explode) as well as the holes for therest of the original project boll co ..er.Before you mount any of the parts. makeyour measurements for the remainingpi)rt of the cover. and drill the holes at thesame time for a perfect match. Also. whenyou get your PC board.and before you trycutting ilto size. use the box co ..er as yourpattern.ThiswilJ gi ..eyou an excellent and

exact fi t to the project box. Since the PC

board is 6"X6" it'll be too short 10 fil thelength of the box, and the time to cut theco ..er and fit it. is after you get all of theholes drilled.

For Ihe safety shield, I went to my localhardware store, and got some acrylicplastic scraps that are cut·offs from their

glass cutting department . Since manyhardware stores supply acrylic plastic forthe replacement of window plInes, youshouldn't ha ..e any trouble finding any.And as a final touch. I went 10 my localhobby shop, Bill's Hobbyland, ( ..eryfriendly people) and acquired some Top

Flight brand MonokoteT... trim sheets.which is used for co ..ering model remotecontrolled aircraft. This is a self·adhesiveplastic cO"'erig and comes in several col·

Opposite page: A op -Mw ol the completed rmvi8 sync strobe circurt with all 01 the pans in place. Voo can use this plloto as a pans placement reference. Make sure allpartS are property Installed t1erore plugging the unit In. Abo¥a: Aview o11he completed project. Nole the acrylic p l a ~ t i c sarety shield covenng the strobe tube

CJNEMAGIC·20 J7

7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


ors, as we ll as high· reflective metal color.It is slighty conductive, so make sure thatyou punch adequately sized holes wherethe tube leads pass through. Otherwise,you'lI get arcs when the tube flashes.(Which reminds me: besides the mou n·ting, transformer and shield holes, the on·Iy others drilled are for the flashtube andfor SW-2 and J · I , plus the switch andfuseholder in the box cover.)

When mounting 1(,2, Q ·I and the SCR.take a pair of pliers and bend about .. of

the leads at a90° angle. so that you haveabase for mounting the parts. Tin thewholeboard lightly, and then add solder as youneed it. First attach one lead to hold thepart in place, and then solder the remain·ing leads. On 1(.1, the same procedure is

used. I've noticed that more and moremanufacturers of electronic equipmentare mounting the parts in the mannershown here, and since it saves a lot of timeand drilling, I can't see any reason why wecan't folow sui t. It seems like a very effi·cient and time·saving way of doing things.

I want to re-emphasize that this can be a

touchy and dangerous project for the in·

experienced bu i lde r. Neither I orCINEMAGIC will accept. assume and/orimply any responsibil i ty for any acciden·tal injury or death res ulting from this pro·ject, directly or indi rectly caused. You arebuilding this project totally at your ownrisk. Again, if in 1fly doubl have it checkedout by a qualified technician before youplug the uni t in. Asa normal procedure, l

try to bui ld safe, low powered projects for

your enjoyment. but this project is an ex·cept ion. Anytime that AC voltage and current is employed, it should be a rule thatyou exercise extra care and caution.

On a final note, Radi o Shack does not

the stock the capacitors, (.1, 2, 4 and 6.You may acquire them through almostany local tv repair shop, or parts distribu·to r. If you wi sh, you may also order themfrom me, throughC1NEMAG1C. The costfor the four capacitors is $16.25, plus$2.00 P('H. for a total of $18.25. Allow 4weeks for delivery time. Also, the totalcost of the project is es timated at $45·$55

per unit, depending on whetheror not youhave an y useful parts left over from otherprojects. the price could be lower. Priceswi JJ vary and the remainder of the partsbesides the capaci tors are available atyour local Rad io Shack stores.

Let's Hea r From You!I"d really like to hear your suggestions

for electronic special effects projects. If Ican, I'll answer your questions about howsome of the effects are done. Also. I'd liketo know how your projects turn out, andhow you use them. For the next project,you might see a light "chaser" system,similar to the one used in theBuck RogersTV series, whi ch is used to create the '"lightcables" running to the individual craft inthe launch bay. The lights seem to flowtoward the craft in ripples. (Jf

18 ClNEMAG/C"20

PARTS LIST

Movie Sync Strobe U n ~

AC line cord 278-1255SW-l SPST switch 27!X/24SW ·2 SPST pushbutton switch , N.O. 27>1547

F-I 1 A. 3AG fuse 270-1273Fuseholder 270-364

0-1 , 2 Diodes, lA 6OOPIV. 276-1104C-l, 2 10 uF 450VOC Electro lytiC •C-3 lCOJ uF 35VDC Electrolytic 272-1019C-4 .1 uF Dise ceramic capacitor 272-135C-5 .1 uF Disc ceramic 400VDC •C-6 30 uF 450VDC Elect rolytic

,•

IC·1 Bridge rectifier 276-1161IC-2 5 volt regulator 276-17700.1 PNPTransistor 244-2027R-I 68 ohm watt res istor 271-010R-2 2.2 K-dlm liz watt resistor 271-027R-3 1 K-dlm liz watt resisto r 271-023R-4 470 K-dlm liz watt resistor 27H)53

R-5, 6 50 ohm 10 wan resistor 271·133SCR -l 6 Amp 400V Silicon cootrolled rectifier 276-1020FT-I Strobe tube 272-1145 or 272-1147H Transformer 6.3 V. Sec ; 300 Ma. 273-l384

T-2 Trigger transformer 272-1146PC board 6" x 6" 276-1587Project box 270-232

J-I RCA type phono jack 274-346

Mise: Acrylic plastic safety shield, MonokoteTM covering, 4-40 hardware, line cordgrom met .

PARTS LIST: As a convenience, the catalog numbers listed are Radio Shacknumbers, except those marked with an asterisk · . For those parts,see the text .

"W-Wha! dO you mean SOOle!hing ae tile cal?"'

7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


1I•

IJ

Producers '

BULLETIN BOARDPlease ( O f 1 J J I ~ r d lIIlIIOOIICet7len/$0( flim projects in cwrenl

produdlon or M I J / ' ~ f l o n fa CfNEMAG/C, cloO'Quinn Studi05. Inc . 475 a r l c ~ u e Sooth.. New York.

NY 10016. Please /nduck II pholograph of sante phase 01

fhe production if pos5(b1e

You Dirty Ra t! Perody of 30 's gangster movies, The fags-to-riches story 01 the rise l ind tall of Frankie "The Feef'Feeney. who elmost made it to the top of the world, but

had to finally choose between $U«CS3 in th e undcrworld

and loyalty to his life·long pal. priest Pat Pending. Pro-ducer/DlrectorlWrlter/FX: Tom Triman. Voices: June

Winslow, Tom Triman. Music: Craig Inglis, Ron Mandie·corn. Song. "Patient ly Walling" composed by June

Winslow and performed by June Winslow and Jim Valley.Production Assistent: Beth Trim,m. fX Include: puppetanimation, tap dissolves. wipes. multiple exposu re monotages, foreground transparencies and miniature sets,Super·a, color, sound. Running time: 52 minu tes. Copy·right © 19B2, Tom Triman and on file In the Library ofCongress. (Tom Triman, 311 Guinida Lane -4 , Anaheim,CA 92805.)

Warriors of t he Scarl et Dim ension .A science fiction/ fantasy tale of thefrantic struggle for a mysterious c.ubewhich can control nature, thought processes and eventually mass armies.The struggle is between three viciousalien merceRllries, pursuing oneanother through different dimensions,eventually materializing on Earth andmaking i t their final battle ground.Their greed knows no limits, as they

take control over two friends who havesec retly acquired the cube, neverrealizing for a moment the devastatingpower the cube contains. Producer:Gus McPherson. Director: Bob Bad·way. FX include: psychedelic dimen·sion shots, original alien mask designs,miniature sets, rear projection and in·camera mattes. Super·B, color, possi.ble sound. (Centicon Productions, 20Dyer Ave • Riverside, RI 02915.)

S ton e; Walls Do Not A Prison Make. Based on The

Prlsonertelevision series starring Patrick McGoohan. Asecret agent quits his job and is abducted by people who

bring him to The Village. Here he is allowed to do almost

anything-except leave! ProducerlDirectorlWriter :Jonathan Pasternack. Props: Jay Reiss, costumes:Barney·s, New York. Editor/FX: Mike Pasternack. Cast:

Michael Pasternack, Morton Steuer, Mark Bellman andJack Roberts as number 2. FX include: spectacularstunts, secret service underground compound set. Filmed

on locallon at the Hotel Portmerion, Wales; London ,Eng land; and Amsterdam , Netherlands. Super·a, color,

musical soundtrack on cassette. Running time:

approximately 15 minutes. In post·production.

(Pasternack Productions International, do Johnathan

Pasternack, 720 East 19th St.. Brooklyn, NY 11230.)

The Summon • After being assaulted, a young boy sum·mons the demon Nqal·Narach to destroy his attackers.with surprising re;sults. Producer: Dungeon Productions.Director/FX: Steve Kundrat. Cast: Mark Cunningham. Je;ffCunningham, Lenny Wells and J im Ham ilton. FX include:

stop-motion animation, blood makeup effects, bleachedemulsion. Super·B, color, silent. Running time: 3·4

minute;s. (Steve Kundrat, Dungeon Productions, 6204

Pleasant St., Liberty, PA 15129.)

Th e War Story. The tale of an American G.I. being heldprisoner of war by the Japanese on an island in the SouthPacific during World Wlir 11 . Will his attempt to escape sue·cee:d? In pre-production. Producer: Lackson Productions.Director/Cameraman: Cary Simpson. WritersfFX: CarySimpson lind Mlirk Lackey. Cast: Mark Lackey, Mlirk Epps,Brilln Simpson, Brian Schock. Brian Armstrong lind John

Little. FX include: blood makeup effects. graphic gore andgrllphic battle scenes. Super·B, color, cassette soundtrack.Running time: 10- 12 minutes. (Lackson Productions, do

ClIry Simpson, 70 Rac<::oon Lane, Deerfield, Myrtle Beach.SC 29577.)

The Tomb of Mondragor. Imagine that you are spending

the night in a prehistoric buriel chamber. Image that youdon 't relilize It unt il too late. Now imagine that there'ssomething in there wi th you. Producer: Crescent Pictures.

DlrectorlWriter: Ken Newberry. Co·Producer: LindaNewberry. Cast: Keith Rlinsom, Susan Keon, Bob Newberry,Christine Martin, Elaine Parris, Unda Newberry and BarryCollins. FX Include : mattes and special makeup effects.Super-8, color, sound. Running time: approximately 30minutes. (Crescent Pictures, do Ken Newberry, 47 ShealsCrescent. Maid$tone, Kent ME 15 6TW, England.)

The Cul t of Jardin. A writer for a fashion magazineburns down a castle belonging to a Carribean voodoo

cult. Witches, cultists end zombies start to kill the writer"sfriends and family. Producer/Director: Derwin Mak. Cine·matographers: Rob Glover and Kevin Schlueter. Screen·play: Derwin Mak and Stephen Logan. FX : StephenLogan. Cast: Stephen Logan, Anne Snyder. Margaret

Leeder and Brad Sharpe. FX include: bloody human

sacrifices, a giant preying mantis, burning castle and lots

of zombies! Video with Super·B telecine scenes. Runningtime: not established . In post production. (Derwin Mak,104 Kingston Crescent, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada N2B

2D.)

ClNEMAG/C-20 19

7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


Creaturealm . A trilogy in which an animated version of

death talks between the three stories. The nrst tale,Werewolf. is Dbout D babysitter who gets more than shebargllined for when the kid she's babysitting for turns into a

werewol f and stalks her about the house. Werewolf lasts for

about 20 minutes. The se<:ond story, War, concerns two

aliens battling in their SJ»Ceships to the death. The winner's

victory is cut short when he is crushed by a monstrous

human hand. He was nothing bul a bug, squashed by an an·

noyed insomniac. War lasts 10 minutes. The last story, ToWake ille Dead is lIbout boys snowed in in one of their

houses. Discovering II hidden room in the basemenl by acd·

dent, one of the boys brings a book back up, reads several

spells from ii, and unwittingly awakens the vengeful and

very hungry dead. It 50 happens that the house is located

next to a huge graveyllrd. Shot mostly on location, thi s story

Ilists about 13 m inutes. Producer: Brimstone Productions.Director/ Writer/Cameraman: Kevin J. Lindenmuth. Cast:Wendi, April and Audra Lindenmuth and Saed Shoucair. FX

indude: cartoon animation. clay animation, original

spacecraft mod!'!ls, matte paintings, scratch·on laser effects ,

special effects werewolf mllkeup, a li fe ·size, moveablewerewolf head for dose-ups and two zombies. Kevin Linden·

muth , 3603B Crompton Circle, Farmington Hills, MI 4801B.)

Company fo r th e Night. A quiet tale of a corpse who aftera hundred years, yeDms for the warmth Dnd companionship

of the living. He leaves the grave lind joins lin elderly couple

for the night. Producer: ONO Productions, Ltd. Direc·torlWriter/CamerD: John Dixon. FX include: stop·motion.

animation. miniature cemetery set and house set. Regular·B.

Running time: 2()'30 minutes. (ONO Productions, Ltd., cloJohn Dixon. 323 S. W. 14th St. , Pendleton. OR 9780 I .)

Life Is Just a Fantasy . Fantasy/comedy. Joe is an average

young man with a love for science fiction and fantasy films.

Bu t Joe's life becomes entangled in his dreams, and he

wonders, at what point does fantasy end and reality begin?He finds his answer as he becomes the most hwnan

superhero ever . . . Producer/Director: Ron Lawrence. Cast:

Joe Rapien, Susan Sloan, Doug Murdock, Duane Moch,

Shirley MacQueen, Wallace Trevains. Super·B, color,musical soundtrack on cassette. Runn ing lime: approx·

imately 4 minutes. (Ron Lawrence, 16 15 Beacon St.,

Cincinatti, OH 45230,)

20 ClNEMAGIC -20

David Jenaen: Applicant for In.. l ty . David Jensen, a

rehabilltllted video Dddlct who has dedicated his life to the

elimlrllltlon of video addiction, is at the shooting premier of

his national television show when his insanity reclaims him

and he Is forever banished to live in the surrealistic world of

his own mind. ProducerlDirectorlWriter: Mark Robert

Hlilper. Cast: Dave Cohen Dnd Staysi Samuels. Super·B, col·or, sound. Running time; 14 minutes. (Destination Films, do

Mark Robert Halper, 13140 Bessett St., North Hollywood.

CA 91605.)

Stanhlp Trooper. No relationship to the Robert Heinleinbook of the same title, The story of the accidental signing

up of II young man Into the Space Patrol. The film followshis adventures from becoming D stllrship trooper to a victim

of war. A comedy with many sight gags. Producer:

MlIlenlum Movies. Director. Peter N.R. Briggs. AssistantDirector: Gregory Welsh. In pre·production. FX include:IInlmated medical scanners, laser effects, stop·motion

DnimDtion, miniature sPKecrDft, fog effects, pyrotechnics,

reDr and front proJection, computer animation and extensive

mDtte work, The film Is mostly live action. Super·B, color,

elaborDtely mixed soundtrack to be Ddded . (Peter N.R.

Briggs, 33 Cherry r ~ Close, Prescot, Merseyside L35·2XJ ,Great Britain.)

Flight to Eternity. In the year 1993 the U.S. Spa<:e Shuttle

"Challenger", piloted by Colonel Teylor Dnd Major Mlithews.

embarks on a routine mission only to be blown out of orbit

by shockweves from e nuclear WDr. After encountering aRussian killer sattelite in deep space, they must find a way toget back to Earth. Producer: Atlantic Pictures. Directo r:

Ronald Lennstrom. Cast: AI Salopek , Kevin Glover.

Cinematography: Bruce Hiensius, Miniatures: Tim Conrad.

Sound: Dov Schwartz. Optical Effects: Larry Bowman.

l ighting: Irv Wiess. FX include: e full size shuttle cockpit.

IIstronliut flight suits. lap dissolves, multiple exposures,

miniatures, optlclil effects and more. Super·B, color, double

system sound. Running time: approximately 40 minutes.(Ronald Lennstrom, 536 N, Larchmont Blvd" Hollywood.CA 90004.)

Lycanthropy, A teenager stumbles across a radioactivemoonrock which has plum meted from space, landing in his

backyard. He is irradiated. causing him to black out. After

finding the corpse of his brother in the house and seeing anewspaper telling of the moonrock, he realizes the shocking

truth: He is a werewo lf! Surprise ending, Producer/Director '

Writer: Craig Robinson. Cast o f ten, featuring Brett Robin·

son, Jason PiekDrz and Glen Too f. FX include: blood

makeup, meteori te effects, werewolf makeup and

miscellaneous title and lighting effects. Super-8, color,soundtrack on casse lt e. Running time : 15·20 minutes.

(C ra ig Robinson, 2407 Brentwood Rd ., Sacramento, CA

95825.)

The Big Hurt, The final film in a series of original episodes

concernIng two mis·matched detectives and the ir search for

an international fugitive, Th is assignment takes them on afree for al l chase through the countrysides of the United

States, France, England lind the ozones. Producer: Kiser·Welch Productions. Di recto r: Gary Kiser. Writer: Stefan

Welch. Cast: Kri sti ne Klel, Mark Williams. Peter Stearns,

Kristy Miller, Gary Kiser and Stefan Welch. FX include:

character generated tit les, matte shots, glass paintings,pyrotechnics and spacecraft miniatu res enhanced with fiber

optics lind stop-motion animation. Super·B, color, sound,musical soundtrack in stereo. Running time: 70 minutes.

(Kiser·Welch Film Productions, P.O. Box 441, Cuyahoga

Falls, OH 44222.)

7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


Touch of Death. The year is 1966. A man is murdered in afor6t and buried under the forest floor. Seventeen yearslater, II bolt of lightning brings him back to life. bent onTevenge. A series of horrible murders follows. Producer:BCS Films. Director: J ~ Craparo. Writer/CinemtogrlJpher:Mike Baedicker. MusidSound: Ray Shupa. FX include:rotoscoping, makeup effects lind spe<:illl stunt sequences.Super·B, color, dubbed sound. Running time: 13 minutes.(Mike Baedicker, 7 MarkllY Ct., Binghllmton, NY 13905.)

Eugene Get s Rad. Comedy. The adventures of II commonwhimp who strives to be II B.M.X. champion. Producer/Director/Script: Roger ClImacho. Cameramen: RobertBell and David Marder. <":lIst: t(oger Camacho, DavidMarder, Elliot Nathenson and Eric G. Editor: Robert Bell.Super·a, COlor. silent with captions. Running tim..:: B·1Ominutes. (Robert M. Bell. 10660 S.w. 93rd St . Millmi. FL33176.)

Operation Space Shu ttle. A space shuttle mission isdestroyed by a IlIser·armed satellite thet gets its power froman abandoned laser station in a mountainous region. A star·fighter pilot must destroy the laser'lIrmed satellite within 72hours or another shuttle will be destroyed. Does he hllve

enough time? Producer: Bandit Productions. DirectorfFX:Jeff Bristow. FX include: pyrotechnics, laser effects,minilltures and starfields. Super·B, color. Running time: notestablished (Jeff Bristow, \425 N. Arllpllhoe. Amarillo, TX79107.)

The Exile s. Two hell.raising Martians are kicked of f

their own planet and try to make a new home on Earth.Producer/Director/FX: Kevin Soule. Cast: Kevin Soule,Wally Siems, Steve Vollmer, Jim Nelson [, WayneUnruh. FX include : stop·motion animlltion, fixed andtraveling mattes using a variation of John Cosentino'saerial image opticel printer (See CINEMAGIC " s 4 and

5). Super·B, color, sound. Runn ing time: 15 minutes. Tobe submitted to the 19B3 CINEMAGIC/SVA Short Film

Search. (Kevin Soule, BIBVz N. 1Bth St., Bismark, ND

58501.)

Planet of Doom. Three astrornluts transporting nuclellrmissiles through space are f o ~ to land on an unchartedpillnet. They take refuge In lin lInclent structure resemblingII church. The terror begins when the captain is lIbducted bya race of mutated beings who inhllblt the planet. Producer:G.P. Films, DirectorlWriter: Gregg S. Plline. Cast: John B.Kilbridge, Mike l...acky lind PlIul Tar"nUno. Super·B, color,sound. Running time: 15 minutes, (G.P. Productions, doGregg Pliine. 15 COnesiDgll Ct . FNlnkl1n lzIkes. NJ 07417.)

Commerdal Commercial. Comedy. A fast paced story of

two commercials which don't exactly look normal. Pro-ducer: Four Associates Productions. DirectorlWriter/FX:Johnny Banta. Storyboard design: Johnny Banta, Tim Har·ris, Kevin Mentor, Craig Broderdorp, and Nels Wroe. Cast:M"rilee Toolson. Johnny B<!Intl!lllOd <!I cast of creatures. FXinclude: stop-motion animation, werewolf transformationmakeup, computer lInimated titles and matte pClintings.Super·e, color. (Johnny B<!Intll. 1131 Washington St .Douglas, WY 82633.)

Ch ec kmate. A young man is obsessed with chess andfancies himself an expert. Things go well just as long ashe wins, but when he10ses ....Producer/Di rectorlWriter/Ed itorfC<!Imera: ThomasSIpos. Cast: Frank Craven. Ange Berneau, Iris Dorbian,Everett Sherman. John Morglln. Susan Sipos. BeorgeMorgan and Russel StidolL Super·B, co lor, sound.Running time: 25·30 minutes. Script registered withWGA·East and copywritten with the Library of Congress.(Thomas M. Sipos, 31 Fleet Street. Forest Hills, NY11375.)

Th e Curse of the Amulet , A young man finds an

Egyptian <!Imulet in a chest in a trash can on a suburbanstreet. It saves him from death, but wi thout realizing the"mulet"s power. he gives it lIway to a friend. Now startsthe ancient cu rse of the amulet! Producer/DirectorlWriterlMakeup: Michal Pasternack. Cast: Mark Anieves, MarkCenterman, Albert Ramirez. FX include: stunts, old agemakeup, blood and trained animals. Super·B, co lor.Running time: 10 minutes. (Pasternack ProductionsInternational, do Michael Pasternack, 720 East 19th St.,Brooklyn. NY 11230.)

Corvus Meets Dr . Draco . An adventurous hero·type andhis scientist side· kick are called on to execute an important

mission: to stop the sabotage on the main power·producingplanet in the galaxy. Producer! DirectorfFX: Jerry Lemaitre.Script: Ramunas Lapp and Jerry Lemaitre. Cast: WayneHoIotuk, Jeffy Lemaitre. Ramunas Lapp and Omnicron 5000(a robot.) FX include: spaceship miniatures, monster androbot makeup, miniature city scape, laster FX. exp los ionsand a spaceship In terior set. Super-8. color, sound. Runningtime: 10-15 minutes. (Jerry Lemaitre. 14 Clarkson Rd ..

Collingwood, Ontario. Canada L9Y 3B7.)

Cold lo g ic . An overworked astronaut, a woman in thewrong place li t the wrong time, and a computer looking

after the corporation's best interests, far from home .."Jeezus!l've never had to kill anyone before:'

ProducerlDirector: Kevin Bjorke. Cast: Nichoil ls Ballas.Megan Butler, Gerald O l lison, David Clarke and 8

computer voice module. Cinemi!ltography: RlIlph Oshiro.Musiclll score: Lynn HlImill. Storyboards/Prod. Design:David Thomas. Matte paintingS/Prod. Design: AndrewKenworthy. FX: Kevin Bjorke, Kelly Fije, JT Moore, JanetSchickl ing and Joe Celeste. FX include: miniatures, high.speed photography (300 fps), computer graphics.cor;nputer controlled animation. articulated mattes,pyrotechnics, robots, mechllnical sets,videotape/computer feeds, electronicized props, wind.pressurized smoke jets. 16mm, color. sound. Runningtime: 10·15 minutes. P.S. We can always use more localhelp. (Kevin Bjorke, 24700 McBean Parkway KA·14,Valencia, CA 91355.) Of

ONEMAGfC-20 2 1

7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


The JointworksAnimator Bill Hedge has launched a company calledThe Joinlworks to make precision modular ball-andsockel armalures available 10 amateur animalors_

There are simply no two ways aboutit: animation with a wire armature

just can't compare to animating

with a machined ball-and·socket arma·ture. Ask Bill Hedge. He's done both andgave upwire as soon as he learned how to

operate a lathe. "I t comes down to

control," says Hedge, a force in theHollywood stop-motion scene for fi fteenyears. "S top-mo t ion by its very nature

contains a lo t of guesswork, but a goodball·and-socket armature can put theanimator in a whole different frame of

mi nd. Instead of grabbing hold of a foam·

rubber arm Of leg and praying it will gowhere you want it , <'In animator using bal l

joints can be certain the puppet will go

where he wants it to , and stay there."Hedge, who reminds one of a sort of

laid·back Sebast ian Cabot. relaxes in hisseat and runs his hand over the flecks ofpremature gray in his beard. ""And wirebreaks:' he adds with a pained smile, ""at

all the wrong times." He laughs roundly.The reason he's laughing is because

he's just launched a venture that will onceimd for all put an end to puppets that havea hard time j ust standing up , and oncethey do, move like they're fighting ninety·mile·an·hourwinds.lt's an Idea that's beentossed around town for years and now it'shere. It's called The Jointworks, and its

22 CINEMAG/C"20

NICHOLAS

The JoInt Works ... Somebody

ANALLY Old It!

chiefproduct isa modular ball·and·socketparts system precision·made on a com·puterized mill. The company offers four

sizes of professional quality componentsthat can go together with astonishingspeed to create anything from a dragon to

a perfectly·scaled human being,Hedge is no newcomer to the travails of

stop-motion. A charter member of theSouthern California animat ion clique

since the Sixties, he's worked with Jim

Danforth and Dave Allen . building ar·matures professiona lly as far back as

When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth. Morerecently, his work has appeared in Mel

Brooks' History o{lhe World, Part One, Air·plane, Plrannha, and several Chuckwagonand Pillsbury T,V. spots. One of h is latestcreations is a living face carved in the side

of acliff, produced forthe television seriesWizards and WaJTiors.

The Jo intworks is Hedge's first ventureto make a direct link with stop-motion en·thusiasts so that budding animators canprofit in a practical. fi rst·hand way from

his exper ience, "'It's the techn ical prob.lems that so o ften extinguish the begin.ner's enthusiasm,"" Hedge explains. '"The

Jo intworks is designed to li ft amateursover the initial tooling·up headaches, so

they can direct their attention where it

rightly belongs, in the conceptual and ar·tistic end of things."" It's a service he ad·mits to wishing he had available to him

when he was a beginner. "" It's well withinmy ability to imagine myself simply giv.ing up on stop·motion when I wasyounger, because of the frustration. Oet·ting these puppets to move Is hardenough, but wrestl ing with wire, par·ticularly in the legs, is nothing but a has·sle. You have to shoot on twos be<:auseyour moves are bound to be gross, andevery move has to be overstretched to ac·comodate the memory that wire has by

nature: ' Fortunately. when Hedge was aneophyte animator he already had abackground in machining that enabledhim to meet the challenge. He continues,"Oh, I knew that Jim (Danforth) and Ray

(Harryhausen) ha d sophisticated ball·and·socket jobs, and all anybody had to do waslook at the footage they were getting to

see the difference that made. Far beyondjust having their animals move, their puppets were acting! It was like comparing

John Agar to Laurence Olivier. That was

the competitive edge I knew only an ad·vanced armature could give, and that in

turn gave me the incentive to experiment

7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


•

• II

,--"r

Tile kIIntwc.\s ffPltseI1ls tilt lint bme that I stJncIittlized ,

mcdilla' ~ l - i r c l - 5 O C 1 r e t system used by prole5SlOlllb hasIwfI made :waibbll! 10 tht ilWJaI publIC. The partsan be

assembled wrtII \I!!J lew tools.

o!lnd never give up. which led to my found

Ing The Jointworks to help other

animators get started.

The company works like this: Eachparts catalogue contains not only a list ofinventory but also a Design Guide packed

with step-by-step Instruct ions on how to

assemble arms, legs, hips etc. How tomodify the joints to create custom ar·matures. How to febric.!lte skulls, hingedjews. and feet. How to mix and applyspecial flexible paints, How to mix foamrubber, then i n j ~ it lind cure it in moldsyou make yourself. Everything the noviceneeds to knowto make the big step to pro

fessional calibre puppets.In addition to the actual ball-joint com

ponents. which can be altered to form vir

lUlilly any configuration imaginable. thecompany also stocks artificial eyes

animal and human-as well as two grades

of form rubber, tie·downs, camera filters,

fake blood, smoke charges and more." [ want to be a full·servlce supplier to

hobbyists and really low-budget filmma·

kers," says Hedge. "Anything having todo

with stop-motion and makeup effe<;ts, wehave. And if we don't just tell us what you

want. and for a search fee. we'll find it: '

And, for those whose vision el(ceeds

their capabilities. The Jointworks will bid

on custom fabrications. given specific

drawings. ''I've got the contacts," Hedge

goes on. "You say you need a skull for an

arsonitherium? I can have one cast andmachined in aluminum to exacting

specifications."

i '- -_____ - '

The lour different scales thit The Jomtworks 0I1en illbos101" wM:le range 01 Sires of stop·mollon ItmalUf!S. The

parts can be assembled to create anrthllll from I draroo to

a perfectly scaied ~ u m a n beln•. The SUIOIes$ steel c0m-

ponents woo't corrooe foam rubber .

Speaking of el(&d:ing specs, Hedgepoints proudly to the tolerances on his

joint components. ''These parts are cut on

a computerized mill," he beams. holding

four glistening pieces of steel that make

up a handful. "And our ball bearings arestainless steel. IlIpped to within one ten

thousandth of an inch of spherical." Lap·

ping is a sur facing process in which theball is literally ground against a flat sur

fa ce, like being sanded. Instead of the

cheaper technique of tumble·grinding. IIgives the ball a more consistent surface

texture for more even moment. And be

cause they're made oot of s13inless steel.

no annealing is needed. they're easy to

silver solder, and they won't be corroded

by foam rubber. No t only does corrosionmake joints harder to move, bu t it

discolors the rubber and gives your pup

pet a big black stain right at the joint.

By the way, for anyone who's ever triedto drill a ball bearing, The Jointworks'bearings are pre-drilled half way through,On de&d-center, 'Think of the savings on

aspirin alonet" Hedge laughs.

"Look , I'm coming at this from the

The IoUf different Sllt$ 01 ball-tnd ·sccilef eomponeftts_lable lrom The botWOlks I t t shown In Bill Hedge's

pafm to alf!! JOU iMlldu 01 therr relau..e SlleS.

standpoint of a fan." Hedge con t inues,

"from what I would have liked to see in the

back of Forry Ackerman's magazine. in ·stead of masks and ten·dollar movie pro

jectors. [ was willing to experiment back

then. But parts like the ones I'm offering

would at least have given me a fighting

chance. and I think a lo t of people who

don't have access to machinery and pro

fessional help feel the same way. That'swhy I've got the Design Guide, What's theuse of selling them a set of parts unless

they know what to do with them? TheGuide Is like having me right there, guid·

ing them through every stepofassembly."Hedge goes on to explain that only a hand

ful of tools are required to put together a

Jointworks armature , which by itselfrepresents a tremendous savings over the

kind of machinery needed 10 1001 ball and-socket armatures yourself,

But just as substantial is the savings Intime. "I t would take a pro two or three

weeks to scratchbulld the kind of ar·mature we're talking about, and that's in a

fully-equipped shop. But with so-to-speakoff-the-shelf components from The Joint·

The tolennce5 0/ The IoIntwork$ ' baH-ind-soc1l.e1 c0m

ponents lie 0/ I prolts:saonat calibef, 1/ 10,000 of III IndI,Machrn!!. 15 done on I eomputerillOlllllll'Md, numel'lcallycontrolled m ~ 1 .

works. you can put one together in one or

two days. Same Zlrmature!" Hedge exclaims, Are you reading this, Ray?

Traditionally a man of some vision,

Hedge s ~ u l Z l t e s excitedly on the futureof The Jointworks, "There's no questionthat video instruction will one day make

the printed manual obsolete. I'm planninga videocassette that will not only tell but

show the filmmaker how to put together a

puppet. from inception to the finZlI flou·

rish of a paintbrush." Further down theline, and still in the planning stage, is a

series of, for lack of a better name,Designer Puppets, professionally sculp

ted, to be made available in the form of

pre-cast parts in foam rubber. which can

be assembled around a Jo intworks arma·ture. "Whllt IhZlve in mind forthe Designer

Series," Hedge explains, "is ZI selection of

puppet designs that represent the most

common ly made puppets in fan circles.

Tyrannosaurus Rex, for example.

Everybody at one point or another mZlkesa Tyrannosaurus Rex_ With the DeSigner

Series, they'll be able to make the best

Tyrannosaurus ReI( they ever SIIW!"Hedge sees his company as the answer

to many an exasperated prayer. "All you

aspiring Ha rry hausens and Tippets out

there," he kids, "now you don't hZlve anymore excuses." (11(

About the "tlthor. NickSeldon wanted /0 be

Roy HlUTYhlJtI$l!!n IUllii he discovered wrlllng.

He hos rnlJde mlnilll.t.rteS fo r 1941 and One

From The Hearl Now he is woridt1gOrtIJ novel/hat will be 0( Interest to science {fdlot! {lJns.

Socllets lie milled WItt! i precl$lOO ball end 1001 rlther thill

a dnll , mullnl mUlmum , Mn tertSlOll clJractenstJcs.Becal/Se tlley 're stainless steel, 00 inntahlll IS needed , and

they're easy to SlIvt/ solder . JolOlworks ball bearmgs are

preclWli lipped.

ONEMAG/C-20 23

7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


center length and a "b iplane" C· 130 fila·ment. These four new GE stage/studiolamps cllln be direc tly substituted In Fresnelspotlights for T·2O a n d e ~ n t bulbs of

equal ItIlItUlge. with the seme base IlInd lightce nter length. The second new family of GE

stage/studio lamps (shown at left) has mogul

pre·focus boses. It consists of two 1.000·watt(BVV and Bvn and one 2,OOO·watt lamps.The I,OOO·watt lamps have "b iplane" (·DOfilaments: the 2,QOO·watt lamp has a"monoplane" C·13 filament. Each of theIh ree lamps has a 3·15I16·lnch light center

length. They can be substituted directly InFresnel spotlights for G·40 or G·48 In·cendescent bulbs of equel wattage. with the...." .. ; b<o"", ..nd light center length.

New FuJlcolor Film

FuJI Photo Film U.S.A., Inc. has en·nounced the introduction of FuJlcolor HighSpeed Negative Film AX, a hlgh·senslt ivitylong·llfe film evelleble In 35mm (Type 8512)end 16mm(Type 8522) formats. The newhigh speed film was developed by apply ingFuJi'. advaoced technology to further 1m·prove the performance cm-racterlsticsachIeved by the Oscar IlInd Emmy Awerd·wInning FuJlcolor Negative Film A250.

An exclusive. revolutionary Innovation 1lIP-plied to the technology of the AX film

features a new cyan coupler which grea tlyel(tends color Image life. Given recom·mended storage conditions (under 68°F,40 ,50'10 relative humidity) , AX negetives will

be suiUlble for printing more than 100 yearsefter procnsing.

FujicolOf High Speed Neglltlve Film AXhas en Exposure Indel( (E.1.) retlng of 320 Intungsten light IlInd 200 In daylight wIth IIfUJI LBA 12 flIter or a Kodak DayIJght Filler

No . 8.5.furthermore. if shooting under IIdverse

lighting conditions requlrH even higher sen·sltlvlty, the E.1. tilting of AX cen be doubledby forced processing with vlrtuelly nochange In the color belena!.

AX film exhib its the SlIme excellent per·

--•formence , $Uch asnatural color rendition, excellent suitebllityfor mixed lighting sources end for flourescent lights, while grain structure Is actuallygreatly Improved in sm-dow areas. TheseImprovements meke It possIble to achieveeven better color balance In dlllrk eren.

In designing the new film , Fuji Film

engineers exemlned such factors as contillstIlInd sensitivity belance In t h r ~ · l a y e r ernul ·sions. As a re$Ult of these studies, AX

exhibits slightly higher contlllSt then thecurrent A250.

AX . li ke the current Fujlcolor negativefilms, is processed under Fujl·recommendedprocessing conditions end Is compatiblewith EIlistmen Kodek's process ECN·2 (ferrl ·cyanide bleach), end persulfete bleach .

Fujlcolor High Speed Negetlve Film AX Ismanufectured under completely automatedcontrol by an Integreted production system

IlISSUring uniform batch·te-batch que il y.Deliveries of 35mm (Type 8512) Fujicolor

AX wJ1l begIn In April. A delivery dele forthe 16mm formet(Type 8.522) will be an·nounced shortly.

FuJlcolor motion picture film has beendesignated lIS the "O fflclal Film of the LosAngeles 1984 Olympics" lind will be used to

snool the official documenUlry on theCernes 10 be produced by the Los AngelesOlympiC Orgenlzlng o m m l t t ~ .

•Lowel Softllght 2

The Softllght 2 Is a significantly Improvedversion of the famous Lowe! Soflllght 1500.

Soflllghl 2 clln use IlIny combine ion of

lamps up 10 two 1000 watt lamps to echlevea mal(lmum of 2000 watts. And new doubleswItching allows for various watUlge com ·binatlons. Uke Its predecessor, the Softllght

2's Nomex shell comes off. end the wholeunit folds In half. nearly flat, Three lightsstill fi t Into a portable CIlI5e-wilh their barn·doors. Top end bottom berndoors now haveclips for IIttachlng Lowel gels. A retrofitpeckege Is eve iable to convert Ihe earlier

Soft ight 1500 Into the SoftIJghl 2. The listprice of the Sohllght 2 is $270.00, and kitsstart at ' 460.00. For brochures on the newSoftllghl 2 lind other Lowel equipment con·ted ; Lowel.Ught Menufllclurlng, loc. 475Tenlh Ave" New York. N.Y. 10018 (2 12)947..()95O. West Coast; 3407 West OliveAve., Burbank, CaJifornilli 91505 (213)84&7740. (1 (

7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


PRESERVATION !Protect your preoous copoes 01 CINEMAGIC.wh ile kee01ng them on hand tor easy reference Incvs tom<ralted Ieath4!rette tile cases or magazineblndersemtDs5ed mgold with the CINEMAG IClogo. The5e handsome cases enable you to slIP

)'O\Ir copIeS 01CINEMAG IC IIHIncI-ou l .ndlVodualty.while the mel al rod btnders hoId)'OUr mpoesolCINEMAGIC tOj!elher, '" txf . like a large book ,allow'ng )'OU to leal through ,s.sve alter I$5UflIfl

ch ronok::lglcal order. Each btrlCSer or case holdstwo )'ear's Issues!lb.yC_: SS.95each, JIor $1 7.00 &6 101"

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U.S.A.OROERS ONLY- Sa t'slaclon guaranteedor fl1Of'le)' gladly refunded . Please allow 4 to 6weeks tor v ~Mil, ' rder 10 and make Ched<s payable to:Jones BoJ: CorP . P.O. BoJ: 5120. Phlla ., PA19141.foreicn Orders: Add RSO per un"1or addllonalpostage and hanclhngOtilSide the U.S.A. Prepay·ment must be In USlI.mdsonly.

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BOOKS

Grande lIIu. lon • By Tom Savini. Imll'gine. lnc • Pittsburgh. PA. 81f.1" x lOV.:·136 pages. $12.95.

Tom Savini is one of the most sue·cessful specia l effects makeup artists of

recent years. The films for which he hascreated horrifying effects include GeorgeRomero's Martin, Dawn of he Dead andthe recent Creepshow. He's also respon·sible for the gruesome effects in Fridaythe 13th, as well as severel other horror

films including The Eyes 0{ a Stranger,The Burning, Maniac, The Prowler andsevellli others. In his new book, GrandeIllusions. he reveals with graphic photosand informative writing how he created

the special makeup effects for many ofthese films. Grande musions deserves theattention of every budding makeup artistand e:very filmmaker who wants to learnhow makeup effects are created.In addition to showing how he crellied

specific makeup effects for the manyfilms he 's worked on, Savini divulges thestandard techniques of the makeup ar·tist's crllft. The basic skills of preproduction sketching, meking a lifecastof an ector's helld, casting teeth lindfangs and adding hair 10 Itltex appliances are covered throughly. There iseven in·depth Instruction on how to mix

and cure R&D foam latex by mastermakeup artist Dick Smith. Many of thespecific mtlkeups that Mr. Savinifeatures in this book will inspire the

reader to create his own origirulldesigns.

Some of the most fascinating ml lkeuprevelations come in Savini's descriptionof the steps he took to create the" Fluffy" creature for Creepshow. These

same techniques can be applied to

creating lIny other alien creature you cllnImagine.

Grande Illusions is a beautifullydesigned book. There is plenty of coior,much of It blood red. Some of themakeup creations depicted are quitegruesome, and you may not want yourglllndmother to discover you absorbed

in studying how to effect Il shotgunwound to the face or a throat slashing,but if you're into gore, you'll find plentyof it here. The gore is so graphlcellydepicted In Grande illusions, lIlal U I O ~with weak stomachs should be forewarned. (Not too many mllkeup artistshave wetlk stomachs.) Grande Illusions isfor makeup artists and those who canappreciate a makeup artist's clllft, nomtlUer how gruesome It may get. TomSavini, one of his generation's foremostmakeup artists, has written one of thefinest books available on the ert of

special effects makeup.

7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


Special Effec ts In Motion Pi c tures.By Frank P. Clark. S.M..P.T.E., New York,© 1966, 238 pages, paperbllck

This basic text published by the Socie·ty of Motion Picture and TelevisionEngineers. Inc. has gone through e cou·pie of printings, since it was first pub·lished in 1966. Author Clark has basedthis book on a thesis written for 8 degreein cinema et USc. This SMPTE edition isan expalrlded and illustrated edition of

that 1963 thesis.The book begins with a brief history

of the development and appli cation of

special effects covering the full range of

photographic mechanical and atmospheric effects. The book's ten chaptersare capped with a bibliography of useful

articles and Information sources. amanufacturer's eddress list and an indeK.Unfortunately. a good many of themanufacturers and companys l1sted in

the appendix have long since gone out

of business, but it can be used es a star·ting point.

Quite a number of the specific tech·

niques in the book are not current prec·tice, though many of the basic principlesare still in use . even in this age of com·puterized motion control. More than afew methods however, will be of interestto ClNEl-\AGIC reodcrs as they do not

require p e n s i v e equipment and aremore dependent on the skitland im·

agination of the filmmaker.In addition to the usual chapters on in·

camera effects and opticals are chapterscovering a number of p.yrotechnlctechniques. sound effects and a chapterrather ominously titled "Shooting." Thelatter refers to guns and knives, ratherthan camera stock. Here. too, the information is over 20 years out of date. but

many of the techniques are still in useand it will give you a fair idea of howspecial effects weapons are handled.

This book may be directly ordered

I Make Magical

Special Effects

• Sol'" .... .

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HOW TO O RDERS'" ,pl , sena. mone , 0"' ' ' ' ,, , C"I'II. . . . .., " 11I1I•• eI>IC .... "" 1>" 'IS w " 1>, ' ' 'urn 0' M i l . ' vel CI" .. .R'GNOW II I""·n,·,,,s ... '" 0", v,,. 0' "'. . "c"umbe' In " wo II ',II your O AOIEA TOOAYI

from the SMPTE at 862 Scarsdale Avenue. Scarsdale, NY 10583. Write forcurrent priO!: and shipping In formation. at.

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MARKETPLACEFor . , l I t t le . , $15.00 you can reach all our speelal effects lena.DEADLINE: CINEMAGIC 121 in our office by May 3OIh .

CINEMAGIC,22 in our ollice by July 13th.BASIC RAT E: $5.00 per line. l Imlt-4S charecters per line.

CATEGORY:

PAYMENT:

PLEASE BE SURE TO INDICATE THE CATEGORYYOU WANT TO BE LISTED UNDER.

Cash. check. or money order mUll accompany adorder (checkll payable to Starlog Pre». Inc.)inlroom three IInel. Punctuation, symbols end

sptlces count II ch81acler l. s.m. . display i l ds-

$40.00 per column Inch 1 ; ~ " - ' ~ : O : N ; L ~ Y : " : ' : " _ : : , - _ ~ ~ L ~ T : O j ~ ~ ~ ~ " " ~ S ~ ' ~ ' " " " ': ~ : __EADLINE: FilSt line only-Word(l) of )'OUr choice (under1inelhem) will be printed In BOLO CAPS.

Magnric SOund S triping. Fioosl magneIIC SlOPIngWeber1lng IlmtllabOll 5upe<-t\18mm6it per h . Sfper II 'Mill balance Slrlpe Rush ServICeMAGNESTRIPE •333 Aycngg AVII . Passaoc. NJ07055. (201 ) 133-4633

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The Make-Up Place Large ~ 01 5()IIaaI elle<:lsand PlOSU,.IIC$ make ·up loam lalex Meh<on.I(ryoIan. Ben Nye prOduCtS ~ lor !ree pnOIlThe Make-Up Place 100 8oyis1Ofl SI BoSlOrt. MA

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BLUEPRINTS. TWO BIG SHEETS GIVE YOUTHE INFORMATION YOU NEED TO KNOWABOUTTIHIS, " " ; , . . . . , I I ~MEAN LEAN MACHINE. $4 .95 POST PAID . . . . . . . . . " j " ' , ~ 'STARLOG PRESS47 5 Park Avenue South * New New YOftI * 10016

ClNEMACIC-20 27

7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


If you have a script that calls for adream scene, fantasy shot, or amirage-like figure, here's II handy

device that may be jus t the trick to get the

right "look" to the shot. The device(lcall It

28 ONEMAG/C"20

Effect

By JACK IMES. JR.

II "dream screen') Is simply e small sheet viewfinder appears to magically bend ,of dear plastic that has been heated and shift, and stretch as if in a dream world .twisted . The wlirped shee t is then held in The dream ·llke effec t can be further exlIg·

front of the camel'll lens to create a distor· gerated by using color &cetate filters withlion of the scene. The Image seen in the the screen device.

•iIi

7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


Here's whtlt you wil l need to make your

screen:Materials:Clear acrylic sheet, 6·by·8 Inches,3132" thick.Aluminum foil.(The pitlstlc sheet is available at hobby or halrdwtlre stores.)Tools :Two oven gloves

Cookie sheet

W 1 Place the coot.ie sheet 011 the center lICk of the (IIIIe!I. Set the (IIIIe!I tempfllltUl1l ID~ F Allow 1M IT\Iqutes 1II!mS bebe PIIID Slt9 1. thIS wi PI! bmt kif the_ I I I hMt prope.ty.

STU Z: PIIce tile pIISb: sI'Ieet 0111 Iq e PID 01 alummum Ioil FokIIIP !lie ends 01 thetillD l1li111 I'MI handle I\aps.. These • IriI be IltefviIM kif 1 I a r I I I ~ the sheet.

"

STEP 2

STU l: Open the (lief! door. 1'IIc:e aluninum bliray l1li pIISb: 011 the CXICINe stIettClose the door and IIIfI 1Mminutes b tile pIIISbt IIIdttn.

STEP 3

STU 4: Tum 011 the sin ll. laucet l!Id.:ljust the ..ma-ID Il ullewJrm empe!1\ure. (Cold

dar coutI CIId the pIIStic sheet) R«!uce the WJIef flow ID a IIin ~

Ki tchen oven (withrack)

Ki tchen sink

STU s: use the 0'IeII CiO'ttS 10 (lfletl1IIe (lief! door I!Id I!ITM the CIlOI!ie sheell'llc:e the

Id coot.ie sheet 011 the sIM 1o!I. lift the alUllllnum loll by GIll! end nap l1li aretulty bptilt '"*"" pbsbc iItto )lOUr othIr .-. he pIIIb: 0l0Is rapid.,. . . IOII1IIInI: won qudIr

HalclIIIe.-m pIIIbt sIIeet witII both IIMS • II )I3U '/lett hoIrIi..: an 0IlI!I book. f1a the

sheet by FfIlIy twisl:1I'C )QUI' h¥cIs III CIpt»5Ite dncoom. The toft pIIStIC should berw:I e&

Iy to be tmuI not ID berw:I !Do dlJSllbc:allJ . The . . S 10 Iorm setnI npples in the sheet.t o ' l f ( l k . q l l l C k I y . ) I O I I ~

STEP 5

STU i: 'fIen tile pIIStJc: sheet li z been debmed 1/1 __ areas._I I" ile run-

l1li1 water ID ~ aD tile pIIStJc: IIIID 5hIpe. Ute" ,ov ~ dry It 'Mtb I !10ft ckiCtI

-..!udI1IGI'Jwatch 0I11l¥ the pIIStJc: surIxe. No¥r put the sI'Ieet '" tn.rt oI)QUI' canealens l1li COIT\ITIIt)QUl' dreams ID film.

~ The cnm be ~ 01 n1IIIm«l 011 abipod wheri shootil1 'Mill

tile dream!Cf1ll!ll. Set the 11m 10 the teIepIdo posdlOll..:l kd; ttwuP the wewfindar .'MttI )QUI' he hIn:I. tad the dream sa.n do$e to..:l in front 01 tile \tnl. Mole It slowly

ina CllCuiar PIth ICIOSS the 1iI:IckIf . . .. The imIee wilJljl!leiI"ddormed • the !CJeerI op

pies rmct the li&ht in 00d patterns. The c I r e i m efl.ect t i l l be htichteoed by aifd 01

blue filtef placed 011 the CIIlIefa lens. (J f

<->

ONEMAGfC-20 29

7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


COVER STORY

Masks and Makeups that Move

Special effects artist John Dads reveals an

inexpensive technique for creating professional-quality articulated full head masks.

The mask moved. I had seen the ef·fect before in films likeAn AmericanWerewolf in London. The Incredible

Shrinking Womafl (Sidney the gorilla),

Creepshow, an d ET-masks that

moved-rubber faces that changed

shape. Makeup artist Arnold Gargiulo was

By JOHN DODS

showing me how it was done. As Arnoldpulled on a thin wire cable the mask 's upper lip moved back to revei!ll shlneypointed teeth. When he pulled anothertine the lower lip curled into a snarl. The

ears wiggled.Then. Arnold showed me how to do

Arnokl GargiulO 300 his haooiwork. Shown hefe are two wearable masks (one under oonstrut1lOn) with lacesthat rrove, NOIe the cootrol cables ana the goalie mask ronstruction 01 the uncompleted mask on II'lB right

30 ONEMAG/C"20

"bladder effects"-that's the swelling andbulging of facial areas that Signals a pend·ing transformation in recent films like

Altered Stales and The Howling. Amid

what may be the most important seriesof

innovations In the field of makeup sincefoam rubber- faces are coming to life.Here are the step by step basicsof this newmakeup mobil i ty-a beginner's introduc·tion to tlnimating fantastic faces.

MECHANICAL MASKS

These are the hardware and materialsyou need to make an over the head maskwith fadi!ll change capabilities like the one

pictured:• Hockey goalie mask-large

size "preferable" (ice hockey

type)• Hot melt electric glue gun. and

refill glue sticks• Flexible plastic tubing: 12 feet

of inch and 6 feet of Vi inch.

• Flexible plastic coatedtelephone wire-about 22 feet.

• Assorted hinges: curtain rodtype-8 or more.

• Wire end dips-B or more.• Assorted small nuts and bolts

(used to altach hinges).

• Acrylic teeth and gums.• Rubber tongue tip and black

back drop.• Plastic eye covers (or just

eyelids).• Artincial fur hood large enough

to cover entire head.

• Dremel motor tool andassorted bits; a conventionalelectric hanet drill can be usedwith 8 bit more difficulty.

• Miscellaneous: l iquid latex . oi l

(lubricant), white glue. 1 smallspring (about I inch x lie inchdiameter). crepe hair.

These directions will guide you throughthe construction of a mask similar to theone illustrated-a creature of basicallyhumanoid physiognomy. Some adaptations will be necessary if your creation

doesn't sport the usual arrangement of

eyes, ears, nose. and mouth.

7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


PREPARING THES(JBSTR(JCT(JRE

Step 2: Note accompanying photoslind drill III note in the hockey maskwherever III hinge is to be attached; drill

one hole for each eyebrow. two for the up

per lip area, two for the lower lip area, one

for each ear, two for the jaw. lind two forthe Jaw spring .

Step 3: Saw the hockey mask all theway through at the jawline, thus making

the jllw II separate unit.Step 4: Attach the hinges; The type of

hinge that Arnold has found useful is akind used to hang up curtain rods; theseIHI ' Ik e r igh t !.i71! and come with a conve·

nient hole at the end to accomodate the

small bolt that will be use<: to fasten thehinge to the hockey mask. OrdiMry nutscan be used but III "stop nul" is better, asthis type will not loosen or turn from theposit ion you set it in (sligh t ly loosepreferably).

-

,,

.

Step 5: On the end of each hinge youmust glue a "wire end dip" using the hot

melt glue gun (Arnold uses the glue gun

throughout the process as a quick way of

fastening things). The movement con trolcables will be fa stened tothesedipslater.

Step 6: Attach the nexible tubing to themask. You wil l need two, three·foot pie<;esof !h inch tubing and four three·footpieces of v. inch tub ing to duplicate Ar·nold's efforts. Note the photos for correctplacement. Arnold attaches these tubes at

several points along the path of the tubesusing the glue gun.

Step 7: Push the control cables

(telephone wire) through the tubing. A lit·tie lubrication (mineral oil. caster oil, or

Vaseline) wil l facil itate this process. Thecable ends that emerge are glued to thewire end dips with the glue gun. You cannow test the movement of the hinges by

simply pushing and pulling the cableswhile firmly holding the tubing.

Step 8: This isa good lime to attach the

I

false teeth, gums, and tongue, again using

the glue gun. Thesecomponenlsmight bemade of latex rubber-having beensculpted in day and cast in plaster-or

they might be made of hard plastic usingtechniques described by Craig Reardon in

CINEMAGIC -1 2 or by myself in

CINEMAGIC - I B("Making Monsters"). Ablack velvet doth must also beapplied to

block the mask wearer's features thatwould otherwi se be visible through the

large mouth c!wity. This completes theunderstructure of the mask.

Step 9: The rubber face is attached in

these sections: chin, upper muzzle/nose,cheek/eyelids. foreheadlbrows, and ears.Tile rubber mUSl be attached with thecables pushed either halfor all the way in.

As each piece is hot glued into place,manipulate the connecting cable to gaugethe effect and make sure the effect issatisfactory.

Step J0: Glue down the edges of the

rubber pieces, again frequently checking

A rear 'liew Dlthe Ilockey goalie mask witll the tubes and control cables anacl\ed .A ittle lubrication (mineral 011, castor 011 or vaseline) wlillacilitate the process of

pushing lhe control cables through the flexible plastic tubing.

All 01 the conlrol cables h a V 8 : ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ f f i ~ ~ ~ begun 10 IIxthe latex mask pieces to the I must be attached with the cabl&spushed either I1aH or all the pieces are hot glued Into pIacrJ .

If

Arnold checks the movemenl 01 a Iowef lip control hlno«' belOre hoi gluing lhe rub,ber mask piece Into place. The Ialse teeth , gums and longue are already In place.

32 CINEMAGIC-20

The rubber mask pieces are all In place and the rroveable face now awaits the ap-plicatloo of luI. The lur is crepe hair or . Iur cIo1h" attached with hoi glue.

IIi

7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


.•

•

-rnold checks tile movemellili the upper on the mask. This phoIo shows theIIOm\iII po$IIIDn . with no tension on the plastIC coated telephone wve contra cable

As Arnold pulls on the control cable , the mask 's upper rrp curts ima a snarl. The

the effect of cable movements. If you l i fe

using latex rubber mask pieces you may

find that they have a tendency to "ceve in"

(not hold their shape in the desired way).This problem can be corrected by Sluffing

the problem IIreas with thin foam rubber

sheeting or with shreaded foam.

Step I I : To conceal the edges of therubber pieces. cover them over with liquid

latex and tissue paper, using as many

layers as necessary to get it to look right.This is force dried with a hair dryer andpainted with an acrylic(BO%). latex(20%)

mixture. Arnold uses theatrical makeupto further refine the mask's appearance.

Step t 2: Crepe hair or "fur cloth" ar·tificial fur can be attached using the glue

gun.Experiment with different kinds of

cables. Amold has recently used hard,

ware store braided "picture hanging wire"successfully as well as the control cable

wire fo r miniature motor·powered

airplanes(look forit in hobby stores), Tom

Savini told me that this is what he used forthe cable COntrolled inhabitants of Creep-

'how.

Arnold notes that the hardness of the

cable sheathing makes a difference, He

has found that a stiffer tubing such as

polyurethane works better to insure

smooth cable movement than does vinyl

tubing, [Teflon tubing is also popular, Ed.1

ooges 0/ The mask pieces are later COIIC8iII8d WIIh liquid Ialex alld tissue paper

.""

By means of simple mechanics. Arnold

makes masks move; using a system of

controlled airflow he brings makeup into

motion as well.BLADDER EFFECTSThe forehead bulges-the cheeks swell

and recede, Moving where faces are no t

supposed to move, the skin seems to con·

lain a force trying to find a way out.If you saw The Howling you will belikely

to remember this action as the prelude to

a young man's on·screen transformation

into a werewolf. Using techniques pio

neered by makeup innovator Dick Smi th(and utilized by Smith in Allered Slates),

The Howling's Rob Bottin created a series

of nflatable "bladders" which were attached to the actor's face and conct'"I t:d Ulld t'fthe foam rubber appliances. When the

bladders were inflated with ai r pumped

through thin plastic tubing the foam skin

would swell-pushed outwards by the

enlarging bladders-and then contract as

the i!lir was released,

Arnold reports that Dick Smi th uses amaterial called ·'Smooth·on" to create

super thin bladders of any desired size and

configuration (order PMC 724 Urethane

Elastomer and compounds for curing

from Smooth·on. 1000 Valley Road,

Gilette. N.J, 07933). We are going to deferthe details of making customized blad,

ders to a future issue of CINEMAGIC and

describe a simplified me thod worked out

by Amold, Balloons are lhebladders here

and /hey work.

Here are the materials you need to ex·ecute the makeup pictured:

I) assorted sized party balloons:

2) miniature aquarium airline tubing:

3) regular size aquarium airlfne tubing:4) adapters to connect miniature tubing

to regular size tubing: 5) small rubberbands: 6) adhesive tape: 7) ear syringes

with flexible nozzle: 8) foam rubber pro

sthetics. The aquarium tubing iSllVailablethrough most pet supply stores-ear

syringes from drug stores.

BLADDER PREPARATIONChoo!loe a balloon that suits your

purpose and insert i!lthree·inch length of

miniature airline tubing into the neck of

the balloon. Seal the oint with asmall rub·ber band and masking tape, If it seems

necessary-seal further with latex rubber

or five minute epoxy, Connect the larger

(regular size) aquarium tubing to the

miniatu re tubing by means of adapters

made for this purpose. Make the total

length of the connected tubes long

enough to allow inflation from a conve·nient spot outside of camera range,

The air will be pumped to the balloons

by means of a small hand pump con,

nected to the end of each tube. A small ear

ONEJ1AG/C"20 33

7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


syringe works very welL The flexible neck

of the syringe can be cut with scissors as

desired to faciliUlte the best connect ion to

the tube. The more neck you snip orr, thelarger the interior channel becomes. If

you Sf1 ip off the right amount, your aquari·

um tubing will fi t snugly into it. Keep in

mind - or you may go crazy-that absolutely air-tight connections are not

usually essential. Unless you plan to inflate and hold for several seconds or more,

a slow air leak is no t likely to be evident.

After you decide where you want theballoons placed, attach them to theactor·s face using spirit gum and masking

Ulpe. Attach only the end of the balloonwhere the tube is connected. Leave therest as free as possible. Do not proceedwith the makeup until you·re sure that the

balloons and tubing are firmly lInchored.

Thin foam rubber prosthetics lire ap-

plied directlyovert hebladders. The largerpart of creating a bladder makeup is the

creation of the prosthetics that cover the

bladders.

Some compromise must be found in

determining the thickness of the ap-

plilmces. If hey are too thin the bulk of he

balloons and connecting tubes might

begin to show through asan evident bulgeon the surface of the rubber skin. Clearly,

the thinner the tube and the less bulky its

connecting point to the balloon- themore successful the makeup will be.

Arno ld suggests concealing any telltale bumps on the foam face with a stub

ble beard made of crepe hair: if his makes

sense on the face you lire creating.The bladders should be tested at

various points during the application of

the foam pieces so you can see how it's allworking out while there·s still time to

make adjustments with the balloons.

After the edges of the appliances are

stuck in place with spirit gum they are

covered with liquid latex or duo surgical

adhesive and force dried with a hair dryer.Then, the makeup Is applied. The tubes

that may be visible as they ex it the

makeup must be concealed by some

combination of strategic placement: II

wig, careful lighting , and camera place

ment.

If you can·t resist the temptation of play·

ing the game of ·' How much can I inflate

the bladder before something happens"

- expect the worst. Ir s better to wait till

your masterpiece is safely recorded on

film before going to these extremes.Times change, Makeup once meant

nose putty and grease-paint; strange It.

shou ld come to include aquarium tubingand party balloons, It used to be that amask would just sit on your face- its

expression permanently frozen. Stop-mo

tion artists have been lInimating theircrea·tions since silent movie days. MlIkeup

artist are finally catching up. Dick Smith,

Carlo Rambaldi, Rick Baker. Rob BoUin ,Tom Savini, and Arnold Garguilo are

cinemagicians bringing faces to life. Today masks change shape. Now makeupsmooe. (J f

Abald cap has been applied to lhe subject·s head 10 pr019C1 his hair and rsady himlor the process of applying " bladder effects " thin foam rum prosthetics.

" Bladders" - ln this case ordinary party baJloons - are applied to the subject 'sface . The balloOns are attached by means of spirit gum and masking lapa .

The forllhead foam appliance Is attached , CIIY1Irlng the three forehead balloon bIad·

dllfS. Bladders shoold be tested at various stages of the application .

34 ONEMAG/C-20

Eiedr1cians tape holds tile tubing in place allhe back of the subject 's head . Note

the aquarium tubing connectors . Both !TUniature and regular tubing Is used .

7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


Rght Gabe Bartek:is . OIle 01 Arnold's makeup associates, poseswith Arnold's latest cable oontrolled. artk:ulated lull head mask .The area arOlJnd Bartelos' eyes has been (Jarkened so it won't bevisible through the eye sockets 01 the mask:. The mask Is made insections and hot gllJed onto aspecially modified hoCkey goalie

maSk . Artificial fur covers the rest 01 the wearer's head. Below;

Arnold puts the linishing touches on his latestcreatIOn .

being wornby Galle Bartek3s .

7/28/2019 Cinemagic #20 (1983)


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Cinemagic #20 (1983)

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