Zombie has arrived - Emotimo

Hi all,
Oh have I got some news to tell you lot!!! Firstly I have my Emotimo rig for filming pans, tilts and slides. But you're not bothered about that! You've just read "Zombie has arrived" - so without further ado, here is the first of many Zombies in Dan of the Dead.

Beautifully sculpted and fabricated by Darren Longthorne, he spent many days working away in his workshop, we still have some shredded costume to add on yet, but you can see what it's gonna look like.

I think he fits in perfectly on the set, the set still needs dirtying up and adding graffiti etc. But it's getting there

The contrast between Dan and the Zombie I feel works really well, the comedy of the living with the scowling gruesome look of the undead

Let me know what you think, have any questions to ask Daz, let me know

Ok, take a breather. Time to talk about the amazing Emotimo, I mentioned it briefly in the last blog post, but this kit is seriously impressive, at a very reasonable price, animators can produce pan, tilt and slide moves for there films using the dragon frame arc motion software, it works an absolute treat. Here is a quick set up I did

You can see the emotimo attached to the kovona slider unit. At the moment the slider is hand cranked, but I can add a stepper motor to it which links straight to the emotimo.

Here is a quick test of the kinda shots I will be able to produce using the Emotimo

Check out the emotimo website here - www.emotimo.com Any questions, give Brian an email, he's more than happy to answer them.

So, whats next?

I think I need to do a vlog update! seems to be the new "in thing" but I suppose it makes it easier for you guys to see whats going on, possible talk you all through the emotimo and see Dan of the Dead set up close

But for now... Please keep spreading the word. Let's get Dan of the Dead viral #hashtag danofthedead on your tweets, like the Facebook fan page http://www.facebook.com/danofthedeadseries and become a member on the official website www.danofthedead.co.uk

Thanks for your continued support

Pete & Darren

Set construction and Emotimo TB3

Hi all

Hope you're all well? I have been busy the past week getting the set built. I am hoping in my next blog to have a completed set ready for Dan to explore!!!

Early last week I started to make some smaller props to dress the public toilet set. Can you guess what they all are?

Don't you just hate not when you go to the toilet and there's no toilet paper!? Dan has this very dihlema in the pilot episode.

I used a small tub of black gloss to make the toilet seat look reflective

The hand dryer was made from fimo, as most of my props are made. This has a varnish finish to make it shine.

Some piping being painted up

Testing the main shot for the ident coming soon where Dan is looking in the mirror

A rusty old tap

I found a great spray can paint at B&Q the other day, it gives the effect of mottled stone, I thought it would be perfect for the toilet floor. Later you'll see how it looks

I started work on the urinals and piping, i'm redoing them in fimo as the clay cracked :-(

An almost finished toilet cubicle!!! just needs graffiti dotting around. Any funny ideas... drop me a line

The set showing you how the floor looks, i'm really happy with how it's all looking!

On an animation note I have come across something excellent which I will be investing in. It's called emotimo TB3. Here is the website address http://www.emotimo.com

This bad boy plugs straight into Dragonframe stop motion. Using the Arc motion via the program you can use pan and tilt just like a professional stop motion company. It has a spare motor socket so you can add a motorised dolly to the fun. Dragonframe Arc Motion speaks straight to the box and tells it to pan, tilt or track. Cool ha? here's a video of it in action

So next blog i'll hopefully have a finished set with a couple of test shots with Dan. Very quickly, Daz has been working hard on the Zombie for the pilot/ident. 

This is nothing guys... just wait until he's painted him up. Can't wait!!! Goodbye for now, keep checking my blog, visit the website too and become a member http://www.danofthedead.co.uk

Become a fan at http://www.facebook.com/danofthedeadseries

Cheers for now 

Pete