NEW FEATURE: "IT'S ALIVE! ANIMATRONICS IN FILM"

[Mockery]

Went to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to check out a bunch o' cool animatronics from way back in the past up to present day. Really interesting and impressive stuff! Here's a photo gallery of what we saw...

http://www.i-mockery.com/minimocks/boxes/animatronics-box.jpg (http://www.i-mockery.com/minimocks/animatronics)
NEW FEATURE: "IT'S ALIVE! BRINGING ANIMATRONIC CHARACTERS TO LIFE ON FILM!"
http://www.i-mockery.com/minimocks/animatronics

Enjoy!

[eggyolk]

real cool :D

[MarioRPG]

:) @ Jason and the Argonauts skeletons.

[Fathom Zero]

I've always wanted a talking door-knocker.

[Grislygus]

Damn, I would kill to see all that in person.

[J. Tithonus Pednaud]

CGI is the bane of movies. Poorly CGI effects have ruined so many films that would have come about brilliantly had traditional animatronic effects been used.

Using real props gives monsters and creatures real texture and weight. CGI, I don't know, but I always seem to be more aware of CGI than animatronics.

[Grislygus]

I partially agree with you, but if a movie uses poor CGI, why should we assume that they would have used good animatronics instead?

[J. Tithonus Pednaud]

Well, for several reasons. First, animatronics is pretty much a level playing field and specific armatures are building for specific functions. Close-ups, stunts, long shots - animatronics robots are really hard to screw up. It takes a total failure at several levels - bad directors, prop master, monster maker and puppeteers - to make animatronics come across poorly. Bad animatronics takes a lot of doing.

To capture shots featuring animatronics, creativity is required to hide limitations or to create new applications. Literally, months were previously spent designing not only the look of a creature, but how it would fit into a scene, how it would house its animatronics, how best it should be shot.

I get the sense that a lot of the new CGI heavy directors are treating their shots with a ‘we’ll put that in later’ attitude. As a result, a lot of CGI, in my opinion, feels tacked on. Now, when the CGI elements are planned out and animated well you get things like Jurassic Park (which still used a heap of animatronics gadgetry and filming styles), the new King Kong and the LOTR films – but for every one of those there are 10 Alone in the Dark’s.

Again, a viewer is not nearly as aware of a poor animatronics performance as they are a CGI one because, with animatronics, there is something actually physical in the scene. Not only does an actor have something to play against, but the ‘creature’ is performing for the camera as well. I think it allows a viewer to better identify with what is happening on screen when they know that object physically exists and they are much more forgiving as a result. CGI still comes across, at times, and movie mumbo jumbo trickery and when done poorly, is almost insulting to the intelligence of the viewer.

Compare an American Werewolf in London to An American Werewolf in Paris. The effects in the animatronics version are still vastly superior to the CGI sequel made decades later.

[Chojin]

I would have to say I agree with all of that, because i've been saying it for years :<

And hey, what, a smart and articulate new guy :o Are you sure you're on the right forums?

[Mockery]

Seriously, I thought we only attracted 8 year old viewers with a penchant for "poop" jokes and "l33t sp3@k". What a nice surprise :o

[Chojin]

Hands off, bitch. I saw him first.

[Mockery]

Let's snap him in two like a wishbone. Whoever gets the piece with the cock still intact, wins.

[Chojin]

That's your answer for everything. :<

[Fathom Zero]

He actually sounds a lot like me. The first few posts I made were unusually long until I realized that I couldn't do it in every topic I was interested in, (with any regularity, that is.)

[Chojin]

Shut up, Beverly.

[DuFresne]

For an excellent testimony against CGI from actual film-makers, and a look at modern animatronics and costume design, check out the bonus features in the Doom movie DVD.

[Juttin]

What is this, some Shawshank Redemption fanboy?

I didn't know that was possible :/

Oh, wait, it's SPELLED " Duphrane "

Nevermind :(

EDIT

[Fathom Zero]

You're very stupid, Justin.

[DuFresne]

Oh wait it's spelt "SPELLED"

retard >:

[DuFresne]

Morgan Freeman could kill all the deftones by himself. That's because the deftones are commie fags. >:

[Juttin]

Pfft...I'm seriously thinking communism is a better choice than George Bush's " Democracy". I wish it was 2008, already :(

[J. Tithonus Pednaud]

I am a long winded sort of fellow, aren’t I?

I have actually been a big fan of the site here for a few years. I have just never really had the time to sit down and browse the forums. Now that I have my own site going, which I will not plug - one does not shill in another man's house - I find myself behind the computer more and more, I find the occasional visit to I-Mockery is just the right thing to curb my productivity. Thanks I-Mockery.

The subject here just happens to be a bit of a passion of mine being a modern classic horror fan and dabbler in prop making, including basic animatronics rigs, mostly for spook house and dark ride applications.

Glad to see that a few others share my feelings on the subject.

As for snapping me like a wishbone, that entire deal sounds like nobody wins.

[Grislygus]

Can we see some of those props anytime soon?

[J. Tithonus Pednaud]

Sure, I'll post some pictures some time. I have a animatronic version of The Elephant Man I've been working on for awhile. Or, if you are ever on the Canadian side of Niagra Falls, my work is in a spook house there.