When it comes to building sets and props for movies and TV, it’s so easy to get science fiction wrong – particularly with low-budget productions. It must be tempting for the set department to fall back on the “get a bunch of stuff and paint it silver” model, which can make for a tedious experience for the technically savvy in the audience.
But low-budget does not necessarily mean low production values if the right people are involved. Take [Joel Hartlaub]’s recent work building sets for a crowdfunded sci-fi film called Infinitus. It’s a post-apocalyptic story that needed an underground bunker with a Fallout vibe to it, and [Joel] jumped at the chance to hack the sets together. Using mainly vintage electronic gear and foam insulation boards CNC-routed into convincing panels, he built nicely detailed control consoles for the bunker. A voice communicator was built from an old tube-type table radio case with some seven-segment displays, and the chassis of an old LCD projector made a convincing portable computer terminal. The nicest hack was for the control panel of the airlock door. That used an old TDD, or telecommunications device for the deaf. With a keyboard and a VFD display, it fit right into the feel of the set. But [Joel] went the extra mile to make it a practical piece, by recording the modulated tones from the acoustic coupler and playing them back, to make it look as if a message was coming in. The airlock door looks great too.
Like many hacks, it’s pretty impressive what you can accomplish with a deep junk pile and a little imagination. But if you’ve got a bigger budget and you need some computer displays created, we know just the person for the job.
[Matt] tipped us off to this one. Thanks!
Virtual sets and production are the “in” thing.
https://www.onsetfacilities.com/virtual-production-in-unreal-engine/
A months worth of modeling & render time vs a weekend s worth of hot glue, paint fumes, and caffeine.
Do you remember Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow? That was in 2004 and perhaps it was a little ahead of its time.
I’ve been watching some interviews with the actors from “The Expanse” and they all universally praise practical sets and props. They say it’s like a playground that really lets them use their imagination to create the character, and I think it really shows in the quality of the product. There’s a big difference between doing everything in a big sound stage with green walls while trying to play off of someone prancing around in a bodysuit covered with ping pong balls, versus being able to look at real actors on real sets holding real props that do something when you push a button. CGI has its place, but it’s not the answer to everything.
There is a sweet middle ground between 100% practical (now always as good as people give it credit, immersion goes out the door the second actor presses computer panel and everything bends/shakes because foam board) and giant green screen sound stage.
IanHubert of Blender-Lazy Tutorials has some amazing examples blending the two:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLabXfab9GU
The computer game “The Daedalus Encounter” did a lot of virtual sets, integrated CGI additions to real sets, and even had CGI spacesuits – in 1995. It’s one of Tia Carrere’s early acting gigs.
The “Under a Killing Moon” series did that also. The interactive movie thing was cool on my old 486, felt like the future of entertainment.
Old keyboards, mounted flat on a set wall at chin height as in the article header picture, are nearly universally recognized as an ergonomic improbability.. I feel some designers now put them in as a conscious callout to the fun, low-budget nature of their sci-fi set creation. I wouldn’t be surprised if tvtropes has some entries related to improbable (intentional or no) computer interfaces.
I wonder how many gizmos used on the set were purchased from the Park Street St. Vinnies Dig&Save where I often met Joel. The UW SWAP shop probably also provided some vintage tech.
The chairs are a horrible accident waiting to happen
Looks like the same channel linked to in the article above, the “Joel Creates” channel on youtube, has the full 10 minutes crowdfunded sci-fi short film called Infinitus:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHAwCqXyIc8