2009 news archive
14 December 2009
Our Game PlanOur (new) Game Plan
Now here's something we have been thinking about for a while. It's a sensible way forward for the Devious Project we hope you'll agree.
We have finally got a finished edit we showed to a bunch of friends and they loved it and now we are gearing up for the next stage - post production. If you want to be involved in doing some effects let us know!
We will be dividing up the edit early in the new year and then would look at farming out some effects to people who are interested in helping.
The Devious Project, although helmed by the three of us, has succeeded in the past when we have worked with others. If we are to achieve completion then we accept the fact we can't do it all. "Devious" can be so much more if we joined up with people who are keen to help us.
The best of the best amateur projects have worked because of collaboration - pooling resources with keen experts in their field who've come in to make the project succeed. The remarkable Star Wars and Star Trek fan films are a case in point. Some of their cgi looks stunning.
We don't want to let Devious fail at the last - we are enthusiastic but realise our limits. We know what we want to see and we know that in a few short (email or in person) conversations with keen collaborators we can work to make the cgi effects even better than we had imagined ourselves. For instance we have an asteroid that conceals a small space station that turns out to be a TARDIS, we have a clan village encampment to enlarge, hovering daleks in the woods and in a desert, a time weapon and loads more.
Those of you who are keen to get involved then please make yourselves known to us via our "say hello" page (or via our embryonic facebook page ?). When the time comes next year - January or February we think - we'll be able to say what pieces of footage need some work. Those that want to help will have to realise that we can offer no money or any other benefits other than the knowledge that you have helped in this fan project. Indeed we will have to be very careful how we discuss things with you so we know on both sides what to expect and we keep it all on a friendly basis. Of course we'll reserve the right not to use the work if it's not quite right, but then we'll have worked out with you beforehand what is wanted for a clip. If you can send us a link to some of your work first then we'll know your level of expertise and your style too!
For example we have a shot for episode two which involves the TARDIS landing on a beach. The beach was too far (vertically!) to transport our Police Box so we shot without it and for years afterwards in our own edit we have used a temporary effect cobbled together which works for now. We'll send you that clip with our effect and one without it. We'll also send photos of our TARDIS from all sides so the textures can be built up from the original if you're using something like Lightwave - or whatever is needed to get the shot right. We'll then send each other versions and comments each way until we're happy with the shot.
We think this idea will work, but only if the people who contact us are as enthusiastic and realistic about our project as we are. We've no idea about how people will see it one day but we hope they will. No-one will ever pay for a copy, and anyone seeing any part of it will know that it is NOT proper Doctor Who and only an amateur effort. Having said that, take a look at some at the other (finished) amateur films that can be seen out there and look at the quality. It would be great if Devious were to be part of that underground network of (finished) fan films that get the praise and qudos. So far we've only had small parts seen - albeit with the luxury of a segment on a BBC DVD for the Pertwee scene or the BBC release on Video of the Comic Relief 1999 sketch where Devious clips were included in the documentary. We always get the "unfinished" tag and we can lose that!
Already one of our (Facebook) friends has offered his help. He is accomplished in CGI and he wants to do a scene and we'll be meeting up in a local pub to discuss it. It's something creative for him to keep his cgi muscles flexed and for us it's some footage completed at last too!
At least the credits list will take a long time to roll past at the close of the film with luck!
We'll have some more details about this plan in the coming months. It'll only take a few of you to get the ball rolling and lift our spirits!
And here's a quick update on the new dalek props. Even though they will only be seen for very brief moments we want them to look right. As you can see here these need a final paint job as well as their plungers and gun sticks attaching and meshes etc. The dome lights are all prepared but not yet fitted and many of these will light if required. The domes are very free in their movement and the eyesticks move very realistically with the requisite weighted effect. And there are more than these too! More shots when Ashley releases some!
09 November 2009
Models, albino daleks and K-9Models, albino daleks, USA and K-9...
Well we have made some progress on things but not as much as we would have liked.... It's all down to us having normal lives you see. Ashley is expecting to change jobs soon - with no idea what he'll be doing (!) whilst David is busy with his company [ DVC - see our links page ] and Stephen is eternally busy with his work. When this period of uncertainty has lifted doubtless our spirits will be flying again!
One of our colleagues (James) has offered to do some CGI for us for the "beach scene" which if it happens will be very spectacular - James we need to get that storyboard for you. We've also got something in the pipeline for next year which we'll tell you about nearer the time - it's not massive but should be a load of fun.
We seem to recall that the War Games DVD is being released in the USA around now (2nd November?) - so "hello" to our friends in the USA who have followed our progress on the website over the years. Thanks again for your support and we hope you enjoy the DVD clip from Devious. At some point we hope to put up on the site an alternate version of the middle section from that DVD - a different "mix" as it were.
Recently Ashley wheeled out one of the dalek props for his eldest son's birthday party. Resplendant in a new colour scheme requested by said son it's seen here menacing the kids! In fact, some of them were a wee bit concerned by it, and so we limited it's time. Not everyone likes this sort of thing, and although he wanted a "Dr Who Party" we ensured there was enough fun and frolics for all whether or not they followed the TV series. Actually as 6 year olds a lot of them knew more than we did. And Sarah Jane Adventures seem to be INCREDIBLY popular!!!
Speaking of Sarah Jane, you can also catch sight of the K-9 Ashley made for the event - using cardboard as inspired by the Doctor Who Adventures magazine some weeks before. The model now serves as a magazine holder and toy store and is often seen around the house prowling the corridors and zapping the relatives.
The dalek is something to behold in silver and white but is a temporary incarnation. It still has it's lighting-up toffee-apple shaped eyestalk as per the plays although we didn't bring along the neon gunstick as we thought that too fragile to be used in close quarters. Meanwhile we'll try to see if there are any more shots of the K-9. And not content with painting up the dalek and making the K-9 he also decorated the cake...
All this activity and no new Devious work? Well, at least the repaint of the dalek is temporary since the white is the undercoat (covering the matt black from the Masterplan Play colour scheme) so that the rest of it can finally return to the Devious colour scheme of silver with french blue. And it'll need a new dome!
Modelwork...
Here's a few sneak pics of some of Ashley's modelwork which has been moving on a bit...
Above is an eyepiece awaiting paintwork, whist below we see some of the finished articles...
and here...
and here in one of the heads... Here he's detailed his methods. The domes were cast from a wooden turned original and the example below is yet to be painted. The production line overseerer dalek may well have a different colour dome (just for the hell of it). The inner neck ring is shown below as being made of card although it is believed that Ashley is using black material to closely match the full-sized props. The eyestick has not yet been properly mounted since the pivot is not yet the right colour.
Once these models are filmed in the relevant model sets amid smoke (and mirrors?) then CGI effects will be added to complete the illusion. We were thinking of NOT showing the models on the website so people could guess how scenes were accomplished but then as this site is a documentation of HOW we have completed this film then, like in all good maths exams, we must show our working!
01 September 2009
Worthing Carnival Doctor Who FloatWorthing Carnival Doctor Who Float
Alex from Type 40 Models in Worthing (plug for a friend of Devious!) had supervised the construction of a spectacular float for the Worthing Carnival 2009. Thousands lined the route on Bank Holiday Monday 31st August to see loads of floats and processions. Proud winners of the Charity category was the Doctor Who float organised on behalf of the Sussex Autistic Society. The YOUTUBE footage above shows the float during the procession along with some belly dancing which obviously caught the eye of the youtuber! We haven't filmed this particular youtube footage although Ashley did manage to film during the procession and has promised to put his footage up on youtube later in the week with luck!
Ashley from Devious supplied 2 daleks as well as the Emperor Dalek, whilst Matt Hicks from Worthing (who is currently restoring the Devious Tardis console) supplied his TARDIS police box and an excellent Sylvester-style Dalek and a very effete cyberman! Baz from Hove supplied a grey Genesis-style dalek whilst another grey Genesis was also in attendance along with a gold one in the style of "Day of the Daleks". The Devious ones were the Red Supreme and a silver and black one both in the colours from Masterplan 2007. The Emperor had been repainted over the preceding weekend having spent a couple of years in Ashley's loft!
Alex had also assembled an excellent set of costumes for all 11 Doctors as well as the Brigadier, Captain Jack, UNIT, Rose and loads of others. Here we see Ashley's son Adam as Davros (base made by his Dad for a fancy dress party a few years back) in front of the assembled Doctors.
Full marks Alex for a totally great effort all round. This guy gets things done.
We hope that the profile of the Sussex Autistic Society has been raised by this event and hope that further adventures are on the cards...!
Alex is appearing as Doctor Number Six above! We really need someone to let us know the names of all the participants!
We'll have loads more images on this site and a few on our facebook group (look for Ashley Nealfuller on facebook as he links to it and will doubtless have firther images) whilst we'll be seeing what video footage we have and hopefully putting that on youtube. Apparently we hear from the organiser that if you are putting on a future float or event for Autism and it's Doctor Who themed then the banner seen here may be borrowed! (let us know via our "say hello" section!)
26 August 2009
Devious on facebook"Devious - fan film" on facebook
Now we know little of these sorts of thing as you all know, as indeed we know little about anything. We find that approach works best. Anyway, Ashley has seen fit to create a group on facebook.com for the sheer hell of it. Not sure what will happen as a result really but here goes. It seems to work for other groups out there and it can't do any harm.
Devious always has been primarily been a social thing anyway, and so facebook is an obvious place for us to make a little home. The main website here will of course continue and be the main place for latest news and features about this project, whilst the more social side of things may well develop on the facebook area.
The group is at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=128101177090
Now Ashley nearly didn't bother creating this group since he had just gone over to the DWM forum and read a whole lot of disparaging comments about the War Games clip and Devious generally which put him off. But then Stephen and others talked him around and reminded him of what they do in similar situations - ignore it. Indeed Stephen as a radio and sometime TV presenter has had his fair share of comment including online and not all of it is positive. To be true to what you do in any kind of artistic area you need to rise above most of the criticism. Read too many reviews and you don't want to get out of bed in the morning. We remember not wanting to read the reviews of the Evil of the Daleks and Masterplan plays in the local press - and yet they were very positive. And of course we've been reviewed by the DWM itself (with mixed reaction) and had a lovely letter of support in the current issue.
So what do you do with reviews and comment? Well if your work is out there for people to buy then of course they will make comment on it. A difficulty for us is that we have always said we are an amateur fan film and to have a segment put onto a professional DVD as an extra has added extra pressure and extra focus on us. Comments on the technical quality or the acting etc we have to bear but then we do have the proviso that the footage is largely 15 years old or thereabouts and that any other effects or later stitching has been done perhaps a bit quickly in order to achieve a finished clip. The keen eyed amongst you will have noticed the lack of daleks in the War Games clip - we were told late on that we couldn't include them due to budget constraints for the DVD (which is understandable) and so we had to build a slightly different explanation for the Interim Doctor without showing them. That's like doing a trailer for any Dr Who dalek story without including a dalek. Even in shadow! Tricky. So we hope what you did get to see managed to work in some way or other - when we get a chance we'd like to show you the explanatory sequence WITH daleks in - it would have looked entirely different and much more effective we think.
Still, those of you that saw the Evil and Masterplan plays would have seen our daleks there (along with Stuart's wonderful creation too) and seen the measure of our props properly. To that end we're also including some images from the plays on our facebook site. We also want to use it to promote other fan films so if you have any connections to any then please join our group and let us know!
So if you've been popping along to the Devious site for a while, or are a new visitor then please pop over to our facebook group and say a "hello" to us - we'd love to hear from you and make contact. We are calling the group "Devious - fan film" at the moment although it could change to help in searching.
cheers
18 August 2009
Spoof DVD coverSpoof cover for War Games DVD
Direct from our art department (as if we have one!) - and with full apologies to the designers of PROPER DVD COVERS we have our own joke version of the DVD cover for the War Games DVD. So if you want to protect your original War Games cover from the sun's harmful rays by obscuring it with our own daft little effort then you can download the hi-res version by clicking on the thumbnail below. It's about 700K - if you click then the graphic will load in a new window.
If you wish to use it as a cover then you need to print it out with an image height of 18.3 cm. We've seen loads of do-it-yourself classic and bespoke replacement covers for the various official Doctor Who DVDs with some great fan artwork and thought it would be fun to see what Devious would look like in a DVD!!! Loads of the other amateur Doctor Who film-makers have doubtless done the same at one point or another. With Devious being very much a homage to real DW then this cover is in a sense an extension of that. However one could also wonder what a cover would look like without copying the BBC classic design and trying something new. Indeed longtime friend of 'Devious' Gary Merchant has sent us a couple of excellent covers over the years in their own bespoke design especially good because he has only used information from the website to create the artwork. Maybe we'll show them on the site one day if he permits us! In fact without realising it we've used the same photo in the main panel!
Let us know what it looks like on your shelves, or if you've used it to line the budgie cage.
14 August 2009
more ancient images added to archivemore ancient images added to archive
We've started to go through Arthur's excellent archive and we'll be putting up new images to the "pics" section regularly - a new batch tonight for you. These incredibly sharp shots (scaled down for the web unfortunately) are simply amazing to us. We had no idea they existed and so they are doubly interesting for us. We can't believe how young we all looked! Some of us had hair even!
of course the plot of Devious involves a time-weapon which means that the cast are supposed to age as the film progresses - however at the time we did not expect to be filming so many years later. As has been said repeatedly on the site of course! - but then the project had been forgotten about almost many times and only the fact that we had so much done meant that now and again we thought we owed it to ourselves to try to get it finished. And then after frenzied activity we all went off and built houses, had children, got married, divorced etc etc. And so the process repeats...!
to see the new shots, go to the "pics" section under "Imberhorne in Colour - part 2"
07 August 2009
Phoenix from the FlamesPhoenix from the Flames
We've got the first photo of Alex's new dalek from the 1st of August Worthing Doctor Who event. It has a Devious connection which we thought would be of interest!
Go to the new dalek section in the website to the section entitled Rebirth of the Daleks for more details.
Another new 1991 image !
Arthur has just sent us another new image here in the images section - see The Doctor and his Twig
Worthing Doctor Who Day 1st August 2009 - report
Well it was fun - effectively just a display from a local events company with some monster props and costumes, a TARDIS and some dalek props. The weather did not help, although there was a healthy throng of people around the exhibits. Alex's dalek made an appearance after venturing over from his shop to the west of the centre, via the Pier and some youtube filming we hear! Still, when you first get in a new dalek you must be itching to give it a run! His dalek seemed to be the only fan-built dalek in attendance since we couldn't ascertain the provenance of the others on display. The kids all loved it of course!
Worthing - Lions Club Procession - 31st August 2009
We heard a little more about the procession in Worthing on the 31st of August. Alex from Type 40 Models is organising a Doctor Who float . He has been collecting authentic replicas of all 11 Doctor's costumes and is looking out for suitable models to play the Doctor on this float. We're hoping to help out in as spectacular way as we can as we know that any money raised will be for charity.
Alex has collected costumes from all 10 Doctors. There's also Captain Jack and Brigadier costumes and so he needs a predominately male set of models obviously. However if you are interested to help out and you discover you are in fact female and can provide your own suitable costume for a well-known companion he'd also be interested (apparently Alex wasn't sure about spending hours and hours mooching around buying womens clothing! - although doubtless he does want to ensure his collection will be completed!).
So if you are near to Worthing in Sussex and are free on the 31st for the day and want to take part - or can help with costumes - or even to be on hand we guess - then please let us know here at the Devious website. We can then contact Alex and pass your contact details on - so please include your mobile number if possible - if not then email will be fine.
I'd like to help with Alex's Dr Who float!
05 August 2009
new pics + new dalek section on website + Worthing Who dayNew Dalek section on Devious website
We thought as we have so many images of our fleet of daleks they really ought to have their own section on the website. That's not to denigrate any of the other props and sets we've used over the years of course - it's just that they tend to get most attention! In fact we'll put up a section soon called TARDIS as we do have quite a few things we can share on our Tardis props too.
So if you go to www.doctorwho-devious.com/daleks you will see the beginnings of this section. To start it off we have some exclusive cgi renderings by Steve Redfearn from 2007 and a few construction images from Ashley. When we add new pages to this section we'll flag them up on the home page latest section!
New 1991 image !
Arthur has just sent us another colour image from our first day's filming. Yes there was colour back then. It's been added to the pics section here
[ updated 5th August ] - and a new image here in the images section - see The Doctor and his Twig
Worthing Doctor Who Day 1st August 2009
There's a Doctor Who day in Worthing West Sussex tomorrow (Saturday).From what we understand here at Devious Towers an East Sussex based events company are providing the props and stuff, although there are likely to be a few local fan-built daleks and other things around on the day it seems.
"Friend of Devious" Alex - who runs the excellent Type 40 Models in West Worthing (Rowlands Road opposite the Gala Bingo in fact) will certainly be around with his newly built dalek. This new "Genesis"-style prop - called "Grey" is of particular interest to the Devious world - as it has been built using the centre section of one of the Devious daleks. Not sure whether it was at Pinewood Studios for Comic Relief - we'll have to check the photos accurately to prove that - but that middle was one of the first two constructed by Ashley back in 1992/3 so we are especially proud that Alex has managed to restore it and make good use of it in his new build. The image here to the right we think is this dalek middle under construction back in '92!
The Worthing Herald web pages have a few words here. Interestingly they are using the image created by Steve Redfearn for the Dalek Plays in Portsmouth!
Worthing - Lions Club Procession - 31st August 2009
Now this date may be wrong and it may not be the Lions or Rotary or something Club - but there is a procession in Worthing on the 31st of August. Alex from Type 40 Models is organising a Doctor Who float it seems. He has been collecting authentic replicas of all 11 Doctor's costumes and is looking out for suitable models to play the Doctor on this float. There will be a couple of Devious daleks on the float (not sure what colour scheme yet) - it's all for charity and so there's a good chance we'll help out!
He has collected costumes from all 10 Doctors and may well have no 11 sorted by then. There's also Captain Jack and Brigadier costumes and so he needs a predominately male set of models obviously. If you are female and can provide your own suitable costume for a well-known companion he'd also be interested (apparently Alex wasn't sure about spending hours and hours mooching around buying womens clothing! - although doubtless he does want to ensure his collection will be completed!). So if you are near to Worthing in Sussex and are free on the 31st for the day and want to take part - or can help with costumes - then please let us know here at the Devious website. We can then contact Alex and pass your contact details on - so please include your mobile number if possible - if not then email will be fine.
I can help Alex's float!
25 July 2009
Arthur opens his archive!A viewing and Arthur opens his archive
[Ashley writing this] Well I've just got back half an hour ago from the first showing of Devious for years. Not since we put the clips together for the War Games DVD a year ago have we watched any. And in celebration of the release we gave ourselves a deadline to get the existing footage together and watch it. This meant refining the edit, adding credits, adding music guides, adding some new effects adding sounds etc until the whole thing could be watched in an evening - all of this David achieved magnificently. Thanks David.
Well we watched it. And we had some new people in the small audience (a dozen or so of our friends) who had never seen it. We even had a special guest (Amanda Evans who played Brogar came along - and we hadn't seen her in 14 years!!). We wanted to see what they all thought. They'd all seen the War Games DVD and in unison afterwards they said they now understood the War Games scene with Jon Pertwee. The scenes with Peter Tuddenham and Hugh Lloyd were also shown in their uncut versions (they are twice as long as the War Games versions as they included plot points not relevant to WG).They also saw the full edited versions of the episodes and immediately saw where the montage used in the War Games clip came from. They also saw how we had to change it slightly to fit the War Games release - ie they saw the clips in their original context - i.e. people weren't always running away from amorphous blobs!
Still, as you may have read elsewhere on the site - we were constrained in what we could put onto the War Games release and also of necessity we couldn't make too many changes to the footage bar perhaps overcook a few effects here and there by way of compensation. As the DWM review this month rightly says, it had moved on from it's state in the early nineties not always to everyone's taste but then each version of the JP edit that we have done has been different - it's a question of balance to get the scene right - we have had a few goes over the years and one day we'll get the perfect version.
Of course Devious is not real Doctor Who - it is something for a group of friends to see - it always has been - and this wider audience now of the War Games segment (due to the need for the DW archive to have the Pertwee scene) has meant we've come under the microscope. We're just a fan thing - and tonight in showing it to friends as we periodically do we gave ourselves a boost in gauging their reactions. Not enough to give us any false hope that it'll be seen somewhere like the Spielberg Raiders of the Lost Ark tribute film recently given a nod of approval and an airing in a real cinema - but enough of a nod for us to get it finished for the sake of having something that is complete. A story of a Doctor extracted from his timestream in mid-regeneration being offered the chance to be "the real Doctor" and then losing it again and being forced to continue the regeneration into Jon Pertwee. And defeat a load of daleks in the process. As you do.
Or does he? We don't really know now even after watching it again!
Still - we've had new offers of help for some of our effects and I guess when the edits have been further trimmed and locked down we'll be able to be more precise on what effects need doing and receive some more offers of help. Indeed David surprised us all tonight with the Glass Galleon scene. On the War Games release you briefly see a ship firing on the TARDIS. Not a cut-out TARDIS as someone has suggested - it is actually our own one shot against a cso background and then superimposed on the seascape with the galleon. In Devious this never happened - well not quite like that! We had used that clip for ages to help tell the story which is why it was in the DVD montage but in reality the ship was to fade to transparent as it is made of glass. It is the funeral ship of a great princess and in a tradition like the Viking traditions in Zetand and Norway etc the ship was to burn as a farewell. This sight is so amazing people sneak illicitly to the beaches to watch. The Doctor arrives there in his TARDIS to watch and meets up with his future companions who are somewhat miffed he has blown their cover and landed them in a trap. Meanwhile the galleon fades away amid showers of sparks and rainbow light effects, and tonight David you managed to convey that across for the first time for us all and it was great to watch.
Now we can't share all of that with you on the website as we don't show clips of course but we will attempt to put up some screen grabs at some point or something or other when we get a copy!
However what I (Ashley) wanted to make you aware of on the website tonight is the fact that Arthur has handed us a whole new set of images; from black and white photos to colour slides and images all from various parts of our filming over the years. It's great to see more images of us back in the 1990s when we were young. Those of you that have been following us over the years may enjoy seeing these photos - the new viewers amongst you will detect from the shots that the website is really a mechanism to document the process behind the filming and the people involved more than anything else. It's the story of a group of friends who wanted to make a film. So we chose Doctor Who 'cause we liked that best. And so we built some sets and got on with it. And then 18 years passed and we realised we hadn't finished it. Still, in the meantime we all went off and had lives.
Here's the first of Arthur's new / old pictures...
Arthur, Tony, David, Lynette and Anthony circa 1991/2
The original of this pic is 1.7MB and very sharp so I hope you'll forgive this web-ready version. Look how relaxed we are. What do you think we are saying.... perhaps "do you know - eighteen years from now some of what we film will be on DVD" .... "blimey - what's a DVD???"
22 July 2009
1991 photo archive discovery1991 photo archive discovery
One of our troop - Arthur - who played both Aturo and the infamous "Wiggy" in Devious has just presented us with some newly discovered photos from his archive.
In celebration of the War Games DVD we are getting together a crowd of a dozen or so and watching all the episodes of Devious for the fun of it sometime soon and this has prompted various members of the team to look around for curios and things to show the group itr seems! And the best haul of all is Arthur discovering some old slides and prints in his garage! Affectionately known in some circles as "Wiggy" Arthur has always been the person to document our activities, especially the 'Pertwee Day'. So far he has sent us a few images we have never seen before. Most of this batch were taken on the first day of filming back in October 1991 somewhere on the Sussex Downs.
Here's one of Tony as the Doctor waiting for filming to start...
The rest of the images can be seen here in our "pics" section.
26 June 2009
Devious server changeserver change
(update -26 June) Well, we've just pushed the button to change servers. Ashley has decided he can do more to the site in a new location so we'll let him get on with it. In the meantime you may get an interruption in service from this site. If it goes bang, blank or just looks odd then please bear with us. By next week we should be ok again. And more importantly - we got a mention in the piece on the War Games in the current Doctor Who Monthly - the bible of DW fandom and an essential purchase. With all our worrying about what would be said about our little bit we forgot that any mention in a review would in fact be in the following issue once the DVD is out - rather like the Delta and The Bannermen review in the current issue. So we have another month's grace !!!! Still - it's only ten days or so now 'til the release so let's not think of reviews - if you're interested in seeing what we've been up to and want to see what we filmed back in 1995 then hopefully you'll be entertained. And you'll LOVE one particular facial expression from the great man Mr P.!!!
Now - because the webmaster is away during the release of the DVD you may have to wait until the end of the week for more news and features. The site has moved servers successfully and now the content is being converted over into new sections and new areas of the site are being created. So if you are reading this then the process is underway - please bear with us!
06 May 2009
the modelwork - a case in pointthe modelwork - a (book)case in point
In a long line of excuses for the lack of progress in the modelwork department, Ashley has now said that his recent construction of a bookcase and matching radiator cover for a room in his palatial abode is the main reason why the dalek models are late in delivery! Not believing him we asked for proof, and here is the offending bookcase - built from scratch at a cost of around three hundred quid. Blimey - seems a lot but then a piece of furniture to buy at that size would be three times that, and the fact that he has built it himself seems to be something he is proud of. (Apparently in the image here the shelves have yet to be fitted). Perhaps there's a series here on what the members of Devious do in their spare time.... well maybe not - you don't want to know.So if you want a bespoke piece of furniture from this aspiring joiner, then drop him a line. That'll mean no dalek models again of course. Or will it? Of course not - he's been secretly working away on things whilst the various bits of rainforest were being reshaped. Here's a shot (mid March) of some of the dalek middles awaiting their neck sections...
12 March 2009
The Ten DoctorsThe Ten Doctors
... is still continuing - reaching a climax in fact. The Two and a Halfth Doctor is still around (having escaped the multi-Doctor mind meld that's currently happening, and then there;s the....) go and see if you haven't already! We've been following this for ages as it is truly inspired and with excellent characterisation and dialogue. And of course they have Doctor Two and a Half who looks mighty familiar!
http://comics.shipsinker.com/2009/03/11/the-10-doctors-page-203/
hope we're ok to use the image Rich? - if it garners extra publicity ...?
The link above is to the lasts page of this epic comic strip - if you're new to it then we suggest you go back a few pages or preferably - to the start! It'll take you a while though but it's well worth it. Maybe a cartoon / comic version of Devious needs to be created one day!
03 March 2009
Comic Relief 2009Comic Relief 2009
Hope you are all out there doing something special for this year's Comic Relief. Even if it's just putting money in a tin.
The word "just" in that last sentence - just putting money in a tin is maybe all you can do - but it's the "just" thing to do.
Ten years ago we were lucky enough to have helped out with Comic Relief '99. Some of our props and sets were used in the flagship comedy production that year - the reknowned "Curse of Fatal Death". It was a great time for all of us and we were delighted to help - not just on the days of filming, but preparing the sets and props for their outing (we built two new Tardis walls to add to our set)! We have many happy memories of the four days at Pinewood! The main thing is that a great deal of money was raised for very worthwhile causes. Each successive year the totals have been improved as the nation gives from its heart. This year will be no exception. Pop along now to their website - or plan some fundraising event - we're wondering ourselves if we can do anything this time...
Speak soon
11 February 2009
Hello thereHello there
... to any one who has arrived here for the first time - perhaps as a result of reading about us in a magazine?!?!? Yes - we've been featured�again in a small piece in another sci-fi magazine it seems. It's SFX Magazine and we're very thankful for the publicity. Hopefully it shows how some Doctor Who fans out there in the wide world just can't get enough watching Doctor Who and try to make their own! Not a patch on the original of course, and just done for the fun of it. Well it keeps us off the streets! And to celebrate all that is fan film-making in our neck of the woods we will hopefully expand the website (maybe with a server move) so you can see some more images and content from the history of this epic production. And just to emphasise for first-timers�- this is a fan thing, not real Doctor Who. That's back at Easter on BBC1, ABC, Canadian TV, Korean TV�etc etc. Remember that pinch of salt!
And new 'Devious' filming? Well, it depends on Ashley getting the modelwork done of course. He's just received a load of LEDs and resistors so that's a good sign. Unless he's collecting LEDs and resistors of course. Apparently one of these electronic parts went wrong and the immortal cry "resistor is uselsss" was heard from his workroom. Oh well we try at the humour.
13 January 2009
The Growing Dalek FleetModelwork progression
Just sorting through a few things and found these pics from November (08!) in which you can see the new back-filler models being built by Ashley. He's managed to find a few battered Sevans kits and although he will be refurbishing them he feels it's more in the spirit of Devious to create from scratch. So you can see the new shoulder section castings. These were cast from a new build of a shoulder section using silicon moulds and then cast in resin some with a glass fibre tissue mat and some with glass fibre traditional strands.
The first of the new shoulders were hurriedly painted silver to see what they'd look like, and consequently will be resmoothed, polished and repainted! However even at this quality level they will be fine for the type of use they will get. The idea is to use the model daleks in moving camera modelwork and in carefully lit situations, and in conjunction with our live action and cgi. Modelwork on it's own - ie with the emperor surround and dalek control room and production line - will not be enough - the intention is only to use modelwork sparingly in such a way it won't be obvious. Below here's one of the shoulder castings straight out of the mould.�Needs some work before painting, but you'll be amazed how much it starts to look good once the mesh and slats start appearing.
Five new bases have also been created and are being wheeled accordingly so they should move in the same manner as the full sized props. We just need to employ some operators. So if you're under a foot tall (30cm) please contact us.
The idea is to have a few best quality models which will be puppeted as well as possibly stop-motion-animated by David, with the rest as the back-fillers for use in crowd scenes. Devious is a homage as you know, and there's a scene where Tony as our Doctor has to crawl across a gantry above loads of semi-dormant daleks. This scene is a homage to the Planet of the Daleks, and we've shot it already full size with Tony above full-size daleks, although it should look good if we mix with some well-lit modelwork with dry-ice swirling amongst the model props.
We'll have some more pics when we persuade Ashley to take some more showing where he's up to. Hurry up - the modelwork filming is dependant on you!
