2010 news archive
17 February 2010
Brighton Modelworld a successBrighton Modelworld 2010 a success!
Well we think it was. Mind you what were the criteria? Only one - that people who came to the display of dalek props enjoyed what they saw. Ashley had been offered the stand to display daleks and had called it "Dalekworld". Visitors could see eight on display, all with Devious heritage!
There were three in the Masterplan colours of matt black with silver and the the fourth was the Masterplan second-in-command in matt black and blood red. The fifth and sixth were in the original Devious colours which in itself were a version of the "Power of the Daleks" and "Evil of the Daleks" colours. The seventh was Alex Scutt's excellent build in "Genesis of the Daleks" colours. This dalek was built using one of the original Devious middle sections - the original "Chico" with the rest being completely new with a great finish.
The eighth dalek was the giant Emperor Dalek from "Devious" and "The Evil of the Daleks" stageplay, now in the original black and white colour scheme.
In the foreground of the picture above you can see an "Emperor Guard" daleks - ie the Black Dalek from Devious in it's original unchanged colour scheme. This was the fully-radio-controlled dalek and took several turns around the venue throughout the weekend. It had been radio-controlled by Ian Watts from Robot Wars back in 2001 and was last seen at Modelworld back in 2002.
Visitors could see images charting the history of these dalek props.
10 February 2010
Brighton Modelworld 2010Brighton Modelworld 2010
Well, this year we have been invited to display some of our daleks at the annual Brighton Modelworld show. We were there years ago with "Onya" the remote controlled one and it was great fun. After a few years gap we've been asked to bring some along for people to enjoy.
As a modelmaker and set builder Ashley will be there, and members of the extended Devious Team will be on hand throughout the three days. If you can make it along then please seek us out and say hello - tell us you've seen this news item even!!!
We hope to have quite a few daleks there including a couple of surprises. We'll say no more at the moment, doubtless we'll have a few photos after the event if all goes well. Certainly one of our fleet has had a repaint and this weekend will be it's first in it's colour scheme...
Brighton Modelworld is, as the title suggests, a celebration of modelbuilding and hobbycraft, with emphasis on model railways, boats, planes, cars, tanks, and er, daleks! The focus is on the models - we can show the props off as representations of the daleks "off the telly", just as people show their 0-6-0T or Spitfire models. As exhibitors not trade we're on a stand showing off our work - i.e. not a stand where you can buy things - we have nothing to sell anyway! We will however point people in the direction of local shops where people can buy the BBC merchandise such as the DVDs and the various models etc... (and speaking of models, has anyone got their 5inch Matt Smith model through yet?).
Below is an image from years ago (probably around 1964???) at the Modelworld...
29 January 2010
Looping AlongLooping Along...
Well, we tried our hand at "looping" last night. A simple scene with some lines said between David's character and Ashley's...
CHALDAR:
Auriga - he's conscious! He must not know what we are doing! We must render him unconscious now!AURIGA:
I have gone to a great deal of trouble to create an artificial reality that the Doctor can live in - how can he do that if he's unconscious?
CHALDAR:
If he's conscious he'll see all this
AURIGA:
I'll put a selective block on his memory. He'll only remember certain events
CHALDAR:
certain events? like what?
AURIGA:
He'll remember the trial, but then instead iof what happened he'll believe that he was pardoned and that he left in his TARDIS then he'll believe that he met Callisto and myself on the beach and then he'll go through a whole series of adventures until he comes across Imberhorne - i.e. you
CHALDAR:
You're so confident this is going to work
AURIGA:
Because I know what I'm doing
CHALDAR:
You're just playing games with his mind Auriga - I've never approved
CHALDAR:
Yes, I was ordered to!
AURIGA:
Well then follow your orders and leave me to get on with mine - if you must make life difficult for somebody, make it the Doctor. Go and be Imberhorne!A lot of terse words and some shouting - with most of the first lines containing the word "conscious" it seems! (still when you hear it the repetition works) So an evening spent shouting the same words over and over again seemed in prospect. Actually what actually turned out was more useful for Devious the project.
At this, one of our regular-as-a-blue-moon meetings David and Ashley decided to concentrate efforts on testing the various software methods of doing ADR. After many experiments we decided on using VEGAS as this seemed to have an excellent looping facility - ie once the section to be re-voiced had been set up then the system allowed you to record the same section over and over again without having to click a mouse for each start of each recording. This way you could attempt the lines as many times in rapid succession until it seemed right. The software obviously also allows you to see the footage in the timeline, so if you have good noise-cancelling headphones and a reasonable microphone you have a good chance of getting it right.
For a clean sound on the new dialogue we have to ensure where we record the voices is a good spaced room. We ought also to be standing when delivering the lines as it helps with the diaphragm apparently. In the end we only concentrated on the first few lines of the script above, with Ashley repeating "we must render him unconscious NOW" line over and over. Once you start to match up the new takes with the footage, the software allows you to tweak the lengths and do various transitions between takes if you want to be totally accurate. We found we could get a good match after only a few takes - even though Ashley realised through constant repe-repe-repe-tition of lines that he couldn't say some words properly in the first place! It really makes you analyse how you speak!
Of course we can now concentrate on getting the right filters for the voices to match the rooms or outdoor locations for the lines. The freedom at last to see old footage with new, clean audio tracks is something to behold. Unfortunately there's a great deal of it to be done and we will meet once more for more tests with Stephen before we get each member of the cast in. It's primarily outdoor footage that benefits the most from this work.
And of course, this is what happens in REAL DOCTOR WHO. In the real world! And in real films too!
And just for a bit of fun, here's a screenshot of the editing program David is currently using. If you click on the image you can open a larger version (192K) in a new window. You have to really want to though, as we imagine it's quite boring but it does give you an idea of how we do things!
And in other news, we've started liasing with someone who answered our news item from 14th December last year regarding some of the effects. More news on that in due course!
And, oh yes, the daleks are out and about again soon near us in Sussex! Valentine's weekend in fact!
More soon...
12 January 2010
Dalek props2010 - the year we finish?
Well we do tend to say something like that each new year. However this year we are more hopeful. Our news item for Dec 14th 2009 has drawn some interest - and we'd still like others to come forward if they (/you!) have anything to offer! We want Devious to look good and for that to happen we need people who are enthusiastic and good at what they can do. People who fancy cgi-ing a spaceship-asteroid-tardis or a flying arrow for example.
And in other news here's Ashley with some of the dalek model props invading his kitchen! A smile please Ashley? Maybe next time.
...and a mockup of David with the Emperor set showing just how wrong the focus is in this image !! ...
We look forward to properly compositing the shot above. The final version will look entirely different - ie will be populated with daleks for a start!
