Top line
FAQs          













Bottom line

The Questions of Death

This is a new page to answer any questions you might have about the animation.
Ask about techniques, ideas or anything else (excluding colour of underwear we have).

Ask a Question of Death

How did you make it?

Now that a bit of a broad question, isn't it? The animation was shot at 10 frames per second (still quite smooth, but not so tedious to make as 25 per second) over a period of about three months using a webcam and a monster computer. I didn't do much supervision work, and I forgot what the sun looked like.

Why use two computers? Are you backed by a giant corporation or something?

No, we are an independent, strapped-for-cash setup. All equipment used is ours, or stuff we managed to beg/borrow/steal. PLEASE SEND US SHOEBOXES FULL OF TWENTIES IF YOU LIKED THE ANIMATION.
The big computer is a 1Ghz (!) beast and moves like it's greased to the hilt. It was to replace the smaller one which was struggling with the processing, being an antique. Unfortunately it turned out to be a bit unstable (since it runs Windows) and "The Beast" could not handle the Webcam drivers reliably. So we continued to use "the midget" for filming, transferring the pictures over to the Beast for rapid assembly into video (and later editing).  We expect problems with the Beast to be ironed out in time for any subsequent movies.

Why did you choose Boba, instead  of someone more, ermm..superheroish? That's now a word.

Well, the fact is that Optimus Prime, our superheroish first choice, was demanding extortionate remuneration.  He cited his major part in "Transformers: The Movie" as a major reason why he wouldn't climb out of bed or wherever it is he sleeps for less than $10000.  Boba Fett however saw the opportunity to develop his career to become a leading man when previously he has been cast in supporting roles.  We firmly believe that, despite some of his other less-than-savoury activities (e.g. bounty hunting), he actually cuts quite a dash.

What did you use for the blood?

Polo blood. No, not really of course. We used grenadine, a sort of sweet syrupy stuff. Most good bars have some - it's some kind of mixer. It had an unfortunate side effect of dissolving Polos after a couple of days filming though.

How did you get the Polo to hover in mid air?

This was tricky. We shot the scene as normal, using thread supported on beer-cans to float the Polo. The thread was then removed by digital trickery, frame by frame, later on. This was tricky! If you look closely you might be able to see a slight distortion.

Was the gun-flash painted on afterwards?

No, that was real. Sort of. It was a small card cut-out that we stuck onto the end of the gun in each shot. We lit it up with a torch so it looked a bit more bright, and so it also lit up Boba.
The bullets hitting the floor was simulated by using a small piece of sawdust, which we moved around.

How did you convince the Polos....to erm....sacrifice for the good of the many?

As with all young, naive actors they were lured into it by the fame, fortune and glamour. They knew there were risks involved in working with unprofessional film-makers, and many of them did not make it to the end of the filming. We deeply regret their loss, and will always remember their sacrifice. Any tales you may of heard about threats and/or intimidation are totally unsubstantiated.

What's "THE Music"?

Ah....now that's a good question. Many of you will be unfamiliar with THE Music. It's a lively number, and used to be played before the start of EVERY film shown in Churchill College, Cambridge. It would fade out perfectly just as the show was starting. Gerald the projectionist picked this gem up at a car boot sale many years ago, and only stopped playing it because he was fed up of it after having played it for 13 years!!!

Will the Video CD run on Mac? What do I need to run it?

In fact it's not a V-CD, but a CD-ROM, so you'll just need a computer to run it. Sorry for the confusion. You don't need a new version of media player, or any kind of fancy codecs since it's a self-contained player. The video can be paused with the [SPACE] bar, and stopped with the [ESC] key. It seems to be only PC compatible (unless someone can tell me different). It'll need Win 95, DirectX of some description and about a Pentium 150 to run it smoothly. Oh, and you'll want a CD drive.