The Making-of "Transformation"
Chapter2
FEAR OF THE DARK
Part4


Part1 - Corridor construction
Part2 - The GI Joe RRTS
Part3 - Lobby construction

Today, part4, is about deleted scenes. Any dioist out there knows that even the shortest dio can end up with 2-3x as many shots as planned. Sometimes it's about getting the correct angle. Other times, it's trying to get the macro to work properly. Maybe the lighting is off. Maybe, just maybe, something isn't consistent (which is usually my problem along with the macro focus).

The first dio I ever did probably had over 1000 shots. The 5th chapter alone was broken into 2 parts and comprised over 150 shots. Back then, I was snapping them off faster, not having a clue how the camera actually worked! If the dio was around 1000 shots big, then imagine how many pics I actually took!

I've done several dios between "The Ultimate Weapon" and "Transformation". In a way, I am treat "Transformation" as my 1st dio. I finally have the resources to actually do a proper one. I have to use 2 photo programs to make it work. Arcsoft's Photostudio isn't too bad a program. It will freeze and then shut down if you ask too much of it. What do you expect from a product made back in '98? I resize there, change the original pics to grayscale, add film grain, etc. The 2 things it does NOT have are the abilities to insert shapes and word balloons. I had been making my own word balloons from the line tool (which often caused it to shut down before saving). We also have MS's PhotoIt. I only use it for printing and word balloons. I have yet to really figure out EVERYTHING in both programs. I use what I need and I learn what I need, y'know?

The 1st chapter of "Transformation" was very easy to shoot. The set wasn't that big. But in relation to sets that other people work on, it could be considered big. It could be 'built' on a desk or counter top if need be. It's portable and easy to break down. (HA! Finally found the pic that was supposed to be Part1 of Making-of.)

Chapter1 was fun. It was a sarcastic (maybe satirical) look at how Hasbro makes their GI Joe figures. Pop in an old figure into the Transformation Chamber, give it a whirl and out pops the next version! It worked on Snake Eyes, y'know? It worked on Rollbar too, but he came out as Hellfire, the Saw Viper. Being the mook I am, I left the end open-ended and decided I should continue on. I had all these wild ideas after Luke Ellison released his masterpiece of a dio.

Chapter2 was frustrating. It had MORE to do with the slowness to build the sets than shooting the pics or even getting the story straight in my head. I break every part into folders. If you read Fear of the Dark closely enough, everytime the black bars show up, it's a change in scene. In my case, it's another part/folder.

I think the corridor scene was the most involved of all the scenes. The lack of lighting made it incredibly difficult to get that 'right' shot. I had to throw away a lot of shots. Be it lack of focus, or inconsistency of story. I actually had to get rid of maybe 5 shots where the characters were in different places from scene to scene. That just didn't make sense. But there were a few scenes cut from the video sequences too.

I admit, there is a lot of jabber in my dio. More than I like, but it's helping get the story across. A lot of the scenes cut would have been ones with them jabbering. The scene below was cut. When I shoot the scenes, I'm usually winging it because the story is in my head. This would have been a scene of the crew getting ready to enter the body of the Cobra installation. Thing is, there would have been about 5-6 consistent frames of babbling.

So what it comes down to is this. Do I want several shots of the guys carrying on the conversation or do I shove the conversation into 1 frame and make it really wordy? Either way, it's a ton of dialogue and honestly, who wants to read a ton of it? The dio is supposed to be fast paced. *snaps fingers - snap/snap/snap/snap* There are places where it is supposed to slow down a tiny bit.

Chapter1 was practically a prologue. Chapter2 was supposed to set up the atmosphere and mood of the whole story. What were the Joes facing? What did they miss on the monitor? Some of the deleted scenes are thrown away simply because it doesn't mesh with the story, which can be different than scenes being inconsistent.

This particular shot, the Joes are out of order. When the sequence starts Footloose is point, not Bombstrike. It doesn't matter WHERE this shot would go, it is inconsistent. Of course, part of the problem might lie in the story itself. There are actually 2 sequences. 1 is the corridor that goes from the lobby to the body of the installation. The 2nd sequence is the from the door to the installation to Overkill's Lab. The whole lighting thing was testing my patience and I rushed thru it. In DOOM terms, there's a scene of the RRTS leaving the safety of the lobby, going thru a connecting corridor and then into the installation. The idea was supposed to be the same. If I had been smarter, I would have used different lighting for the 1st corridor and then the emergency red lighting for the 2nd. Oh well...

That should wrap it up for today.

Until Next Time...