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.
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