| Models and
miniatures have been used to create special effects scenes since the
earliest days of moviemaking. Models are used in a film when it is
either too expensive, physically impossible, impractical or dangerous
to do the effect with a full sized prop or vehicle. Many of the
original photographic techniques had not changed much by the time the
1970's had rolled around. Digital technology
didn't really come around until the mid nineties, so most special
effects done
before then were effected using operations rooted in very old filming
techniques. However, by the late 1970's, special effects artists had made great strides in photographic procedures, primarily using a concept called "Motion Control", whereby a subject being filmed (usually a model or other inanimate object which is supposed to fly or float through whatever scene is required) is mounted to a special stand and filmed with a camera on a crane that is capable of repeating various movements using a computer. The stand the subject is mounted to is also controlled by the computer, thus the motion is controlled carefully creating and replicating the kind of movement that it is desired for the subject to do during the scene in the film. In most cases, the subject is filmed against a blue screen which through special optical printing, would be substituted for whatever background is needed to complete the scene. The appearance of flight of the object is imparted by controlling the movement using the juxtaposition of the object relative to the camera, frame by frame. This procedure requires that models used for these types of shots be especially prepared and constructed for this particular task. How the models are designed Models used for filming are not of the type that might be built for museum display or the kind a hobbyist would build to display in his curio cabinet. They are built for one task only... to look interesting on film when properly lit & photographed, and have the hardware needed for it to be mounted to the filming stands and have lights to impart life into the model during the various "passes" run over it by the motion control cameras. They are therefore designed, built, decorated and prepared with these tasks in mind. The following details the types of models portraying spaceships and aircraft, those designed to look as though they can fly around on their own, as opposed to things like buildings and ground-based structures or animatronics etc, which may be built quite differently. After the shape and size (scale) of the model is decided, planning determines how it will be filmed. Since the model will be hard-mounted to a motion control stand rather than flown on wires as per the older Lydecker method (regularly seen in the old Irwin Allen shows of the '60's) and so forth, an "armature" must be built into the model. The armature is usually made from pipe or steel welded together so that it allows the model to be mounted to the MOCO stand from all angles, with the stand kept to the side away from the camera. So the armature can be accessed from the front, rear, sides, top and bottom of the model. Often, wiring to run the lighting effects, such as engines and windows, are also routed through the armature exit points. The armature is hidden from view on the filming side(s) by hatches made to blend into the decorative hull of the model. Construction Techniques The model is then framed in using a variety of materials such as wood, plastic, foam or whatever. Sometimes molds are made of a master pattern of the model so that hollow fiberglass castings can be fabricated for multiple copies or to allow lightweight or more durable shells to be applied to the armature. Lighting is also a major consideration. Exhaust and engine lights are often high intensity Quartz lights such as those found in projectors. These lights can get very hot, so cooling systems are devised using heat sinks, fans and even liquid cooling at times built into the miniatures to prevent the plastic and resin construction from melting or warping from the intense heat. Tiny windows and portholes are usually simulated with fiber optics, but some more sophisticated models use complex arrays of neon tubes built especially for them. Some models can be somewhat crude looking compared to what one might expect, on the other hand, others are extensively detailed and very well crafted. It all depends on how they will be used. A model that may only be seen for a quick glance zipping across the screen in only a few shots are more hurriedly made than a model of a giant starship seen slowly crawling past the camera in a protracted shot, many times during the show or series. The Battlestar Galactica and Draconian Mothership are examples of large models built to very high standards of detail. The detailing on a model is generally the most time consuming part of building a model, so shortcuts are taken. Thin panelling is cut from sheets of plastic. The thousands of fine mechanical details peppering the surface of such craft are often done through a technique called "kitbashing". This means that dozens (or in the case of the Galactica, hundreds) of commercially available plastic kits, like tanks, battleships, airplanes and cars, are purchased and the various parts are used in a strategic way, hopefully to conceal their original sources, to detail the model. The sharp-eyed viewer, however, learns to spot what kind of kit a lot of these details come from, but in the context of the drama the shots are used in, they are rarely noticed. Some models, such as the Draconis from Buck Rogers used detailing mostly sculpted from scratch with only the smallest of detils coming from kit parts. Painting and Finishing The paint work on filming models is done with the intent of understandiong lighting and compositing techniques, and colours are chosen for both artistic license and knowing how the model will be shot. Models painted blue, or with blue sections, for example, would not work well in compositing using the blue screen backing, as the model would disappear! This is why just about any colours OTHER than blue are used. The models are usually weathered employing various techniques such as differently coloured panels, heavily airbrushed streaking, mottled paintwork suggesting chipped and worn finishes and just about anything one can imagine, depending on the "character" of the ship that the script demands. Most times the weathering is a lot more severe and exaggerated than what would be seen if the object actually were real. Like makeup for an actor, the severe weathering gives a model the look it needs for visual interest and realism on film. |