Project: Potemkin, a Star Trek Fan Film

[Potemkin_Prod]

Almost 11 feet. We've hung some lights on it, and they'll clear the set by a good 8".

[lennier1]

Definitely looking forward to it.

Your first floor plan and an hour of playing with some stock parts in 3ds Max later I'm even more looking forward to your bridge.

[Potemkin_Prod]

Wow, that's awesome! We actually finished the flooring of one-third of the bridge tonight, and we're hoping to finish the framing of the elevated platform tomorrow. I'll upload a few pics shortly to our website of what's been done the past few days.

We also experimented with the sectional side panels and have come up with a design that works in terms of heighth and width.

[Potemkin_Prod]

Just a quick update. We've got the entire upper platform decking completed. We've started building and framing the consoles now. Should have some updated pics this weekend.

Have three more actors coming by for auditions Friday and Saturday, with another possibly joining them. It's finals week for some of the cast, so the actors bios will appear at the end of next week.

We're hoping to have an electrician install some accent lights overhead and a carpet guy to tack on some spare carpet onto the decking in the coming few days as well.

I love it when a plan comes together...

[Melonpool]

I sure envy the pace you guys are going! I should be able to put up a couple more sections in the next week or so, but it's so incredibly slow-going when you're the only person building.

[Potemkin_Prod]

We've been very fortunate that there are three of us responsible for set construction. Van and Randy framed the elevated bridge platform on Sunday afternoon. Randy and Ricky sawed the OSB pieces to cover it on Monday evening. Randy and his son Jeremy secured the OSB with screws on Tuesday. Ricky and Randy built the rear exit from the bridge and our first console frame on Wednesday.

Tonight, we're supposed to build the starboard turbolift platform and steps down so Randy's wife can walk the platform to her truck. We also have to paint the faces of the platform around the lower section, and then we need to examine the framing we did on the first station and probably square it up a little bit.

Whew!

[Melonpool]

Are you using large format prints (on paper) or actual duratrans (on plastic sheets) for your back-lit displays? What's the best deal you've been able to find? I'm almost to that stage and want to start weighing the pros and cons.

[Potemkin_Prod]

Our tests so far have been with HP High Gloss Photo Paper and then spray coating it with Clear Acrylic Spray with a Dull finish. The results look good, but we're going to try using a different finish (Satin) on the paper next week. The Photo Paper was easily black lit. We want to know what kind of result we'll get from the Satin. And we also try a transparent film and reverse printing on it.

Honestly, we may not backlight very many of the set pieces. When we did our test of the non-backlit pieces, we were astonished to see the difference doesn't appear to be work the added cost of materials and the additional labor required...

[Melonpool]

I know when I was doing my old movies that the backlighting was VERY effective -- moreso than using real buttons -- which tended to get lost on the consoles entirely.

I was thinking about sandwiching a duratrans (the same stuff they use to put graphics on Coke machines) between a layer of smokey black plexi (outside) and regular plexi (inside). I figured that would make the parts that are not being lit to disappear, but I don't know if I can afford the added expense.

I have an old Duratrans in my garage from another console I built years ago -- I may do some experiments in the next few weeks.

[Potemkin_Prod]

Plexiglas was simply too an expensive option for us. If I had my choice, I'd be using non-reflective glass pieces cut out to lay over the appliques. But we're hoping that the satin finish will give us a plasticene look...

[Kelso]

Potemkin_Prod wrote:

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LOL No, Albany, Georgia. It's about 200 miles South of Atlanta

Uggh. That's close enough to where I live to be tempting, but far away enough to be too difficult to pull off.

Best of luck, though. It's great to see more of this kind of thing going on in GA.

[Melonpool]

I was very lucky in that department. The head of my department decided one day that all the framed artwork in our office was causing too much of a glare so he had me remove all the Plexiglas from them. He told me to throw out 21 2 x 3 foot panels, but thinking ahead, I asked if I could have them.

When I was designing my set, I tried to make sure all of the consoles were no more than 3 feet wide, so I'm set. If you guys were closer, I totally would donate any leftovers for your production. I wonder if any frame shops or anything in your are would have anything similar? You might also check thrift stores for old plexi poster frames -- I think you'll need something under your consoles or they're going to sag like crazy.

They don't really have to be long continuous pieces, either -- you can always tape together sections with clear packing tape since you're covering everything with the displays, anyway.

Just some ideas to stay on the cheap!

Steve

[Potemkin_Prod]

Kelso wrote:

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Uggh. That's close enough to where I live to be tempting, but far away enough to be too difficult to pull off.

Best of luck, though. It's great to see more of this kind of thing going on in GA.

You'd be more than welcome, Kelso. You should come down once we get the set completed and filming nearly underway. It's not really that bad of a trip from Atlanta. I head up a couple of times a year (usually for funerals for aunts and uncles these days) as well as visits to my parents in Douglasville.

Melonpool wrote:

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When I was designing my set, I tried to make sure all of the consoles were no more than 3 feet wide, so I'm set. If you guys were closer, I totally would donate any leftovers for your production. I wonder if any frame shops or anything in your are would have anything similar? You might also check thrift stores for old plexi poster frames -- I think you'll need something under your consoles or they're going to sag like crazy.

We're using 1/4" pegboard-like board that's sitting atop a nice frame with support slats every eight inches or so. It's definitely stable. The hardest part is trying to lay a giant applique on it without any wrinkles appearing. That's one of the reasons I want to try the satiin, too.

[Kelso]

Potemkin_Prod wrote:

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You'd be more than welcome, Kelso. You should come down once we get the set completed and filming nearly underway. It's not really that bad of a trip from Atlanta. I head up a couple of times a year (usually for funerals for aunts and uncles these days) as well as visits to my parents in Douglasville.

I'm actually about an hour NW of Atlanta, but I really am tempted to try to get down to Albany to help in some way. I'm absolutely talentless, but maybe I could pass out lemonade or something.

[lennier1]

In case you haven't already done so make sure to check the following thread: http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=87362

The team has augmented their display panels using motion tracking and some other methods to keep the budget manageable and the result is more than worth it: http://www.trekbbs.com/showpost.php?...5&postcount=62