What, me post?

I haven't been posting here a lot lately, in part because I've been busy working on Minions for Hire shoots. Of course, I have some behind-the-scenes shots, but since these shoots are for toons that won't be posted for a while yet (I'm trying to hold myself to posting one a week under normal circumstances, in hopes that I'll build up enough of a backlog so I can pull it off like clockwork) I don't want to spoil the toons by posting the back-stage stuff yet. So look for some Minions DVD-extras here on Monday.

The requirements of Minions are inspiring me to create some stock sets and props that you'll probably see over and over as time goes by. Of course, you've already seen the cell-door I built, but there will be others. A major one I'm working on right now is an industrial-looking cat-walk with an open-grid floor.

The catwalk is something I've been meaning to do for a long time. I'm building it around an extruded and stamped plastic screen designed to keep leaves out of gutters. The stuff comes in three-foot sections, and so I'll build a three foot section of catwalk that can be suspended over a set, or used as a setting itself. The plastic screen will be shored up with strips of flat, rectangular molding attached to the side with screws and nuts, and by the hand-rails uprights, which I plan to make from sections of threaded rod.

I'm hoping the final result will be generic enough to look at home in a super-villain lair, a factory, a refinery, or a rocket gantry. If you've ever watched a James Bond movie, you know there are always Minions in the catwalks, where they have spectacular fist-fights with the heroes, be shot and fall over the railing, or just be blown off by explosions. I think I can get a lot of use out of this little prop. I'll post some construction photos, and hopefully this is something that anyone with access to a hardware store and a few hand-tools will easily be able to replicate.

One important development here is that I've replaced my trusty Canon Powershot A40 with a new Canon Powershot A530. It's smaller lighter, has more shooting modes, better movie function, a 4X optical zoom instead of 3X, and most importantly, 5 megapixels instead of 2. I've been very happy with the Canon Powershot family of digital cameras, and I recommend them highly. They take good pictures, and have a lot of control and versatility for compact cameras. I've been impressed with the quality of the optics, the image sensors, and the all-important software that backs the sensor up. They take good pictures. 'Nuff said.

The old camera still works great, and I'll pass it off to my daughter so she has a decent camera to photograph merchandise for her web-store (she does sewing and costume work). 2 megapixels is more than enough for typical web-ad photos.

Meanwhile, to fill the time until I can post some new stuff, here's a golden oldie in honor of the coming summer, to remind you to always wear your bug-lotion.

Minions Extra Feature

As promised, some behind-the-scenes stuff from the latest "Minions" toon posted over at Minions for Hire. This is my employment office set. I thought this came out pretty well, considering how quickly I threw it together. Some notes on the props and set-pieces.

I've used my "universal wall/floor" for the backdrop. This is just a sheet of foamcore board with some shelf-paper stuck to it. I'm getting pretty tired of it, and so are you by now, so I need to make up some new ones for variety. The wood flooring is just a couple of cheap floor tiles I picked up at a dollar store (three for a buck). The "glass" walls are actually a couple of Plexiglas sign holders, a couple of pieces of Plexiglas held in a self-standing wooden base. You can buy these in any office supply, but I got mine for cheap at a thrift store.

The desk is actually a couple of pieces of scrap wood that were used as packing material on some unassembled bookcases I bought last year. They were pre-finished, so all I had to do was find something of the right height to support them. One goes on top, and the other leans against the front. Instant desk. Mind you, I didn't want to take the time to cut down the front one and used it as-found, which is why the desk is so darned tall.

The window is actually a small picture frame, sprayed black, with a photo-copy skyline taped to the back. It hangs on the background using a thumbtack.

The briefcase actually came with a novelty manicure kit (I removed the contents, naturally). I got mine from American Science and Surplus. Item 32646, $3.95 each. (Mind you, you'll need to spend $20-30 on an order for the shipping charges not to eat you alive, but they have lots of cool stuff, so that shouldn't be hard. Or just buy a whole pile of briefcases!)

The phone is a fridge magnet. The in-basket is the lid from a novelty box I got on clearance at a craft store a while back. The wastebasket is a desk-accessory cup I got at Staples office supply. The filing cabinet is a novelty business-car file. These are sold mainly as premium items (there's a business name printed on top) so they're hard to find at retail, but they show up at gift and office supply stores sometimes.

Several items here were just made on my printer. The cut-and-assemble storage boxes with removable lids can be downloaded from Jim's Print-minis. You'll find all sorts of printable props and goodies there. I simply made the sign and desk sign in Microsoft Word and printed them on card-stock. The papers on the desk and in the briefcase were printed in Word as well (three point type), on regular paper, then cut down to size with scissors.