Fritz Lang's Metropolis Whole at Last! (Prop discussion)

Treadwell said:
Interesting, I wonder how one grants a license for a public domain design.
Click to expand...

From : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolis_(1927_movie)


" The Maschinenmensch, the robot character played by Brigitte Helm, was
created by
Walter Schultze-Mittendorf. A chance discovery of a sample of "plastic
wood"
(a pliable substance designed as wood-filler) allowed him to sculpt the
costume
like a suit of armour over a plaster cast of the actress. Spraypainted a
mix of
silver and bronze, it helped create some of the most memorable moments on
film.
Helm suffered greatly during the filming of these scenes wearing this
rigid and
uncomfortable costume, which cut and bruised her, but Fritz Lang insisted
on her
playing the part, even if nobody would know it was her. Walter
Schulze-Mittendorf
(Mittendorff), the sculptor, is still the owner of the copyrights for the
Maschinenmensch - Robotdesign "

http://www.publicdomainsherpa.com/copyright-restoration.html


Here's a small sample of works that have had their US copyrights restored:

- Works by J.R.R. Tolkien, including the Lord of the Rings trilogy

- Hundreds of works by Picasso, including Guernica and his portraits of Dora
Maar and Gertrude Stein

- Fritz Lang's Metropolis
 
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Kylash327 said:
heres the pic as promised, though late.

catacombs_map.jpg
Click to expand...

As to the map, are those folds covered with tape? It looks almost like a bunch of small pieces, fitted together like a puzzle and then taped or glued? I really want to make one of these... well, actually, two. One to put in a frame and display, and the other to carry in my wallet... IMO, a whole lot cooler wallet prop than a condom! ;)

Oh, and by the way, the shot of Helm in the Robot costume, sipping a drink is absolutely the single coolest behind-the-scenes shot from Metropolis I've ever seen.

Metropolis is one of my favorite movies, ever. Way back in the early 70's, I bought a Super-8 film version from Blackhawk films, just so I could see the darn thing! A friend and I put it on at his house, and he played some electronic Tomita (sp?) music in the background... fit surprisingly well. Since then, I've bought every version available on DVD, and I actually like the Georgeo Moroder rock music version (even bought the soundtrack album from that one), although the new Keno version is my favorite. I can not wait to see the complete film!
 
3231577210_d81c3c2335_o.jpg


3231577290_97aae23c45_o.jpg


I've only ever seen the first one in the original programme, while the second was new to me, though there is a similar shot taken from a higher point of view, showing Helm unmasked. I only ever saw that one once in a book about special effects in the late 80's.
 
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Jaruemalak said:
As to the map, are those folds covered with tape? It looks almost like a bunch of small pieces, fitted together like a puzzle and then taped or glued?
Click to expand...

Sure looks that way. However, there is at least one other hand-drawn map shown in the film, so might want to check to see if that one also has the seams. I took a bunch of screengrabs a while back, (back when folks were making currency--I was going to do a run of maps and trade some for bills, but never did), which aren't handy at the moment, but I do remember there being at least a couple of versions of the map.
 
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Forry did a magazine in the 60's called "Spacemen" and it seemed almost every issue had a article or reprint of his articles on Metroplis.. They are in sad condution yellowing paper like old comic books, I found as many as I could in old stores and got most of them signed by Forry..

I just dug them out and looked though them, there are a few pictures from behind the sences, most of filming, and there is a big article on how they did some ot the effects like the glowing rings around the robot.

Any one got any of these?

IF I am the only one I will try to scan all the pages and share them.

Rich
 
I hope eventually we can get some more behind the scene pics. It would be really cool to see Helm being "suited up" and see how the suit goes together. I have a pretty good idea but to actually see it apart would be cool.
In one shot Patrick mentioned you can see the helmet apart on the floor but Im not aware of any other pics of the suit in peices.

There is mention that Kino used a photographers( forgot his name)original pics to help restore their version of the film/DVD. They do have some shots posted on their site but Im hoping that by researching the photographer closer more pics may turn up.

Mittendorf made the original suit over a period of 4 weeks. Pretty quickly so not sure how many pics may have bene taken. Looks like chronicling the films behind the scenes was a small priority.

Richie
 
OK, I've come to the conclusion that this map is indeed, made of individual pieces and then taped (or glued) together. I'm leaning toward tape. I've circled several places where the drawing lines do not line up with each other, which they would if it were one big piece, folded.

catacombsmapmodified.jpg


If it is taped, it is very thin tape... 1/8 or maybe 3/16 inch.
 
Jaruemalak said:
OK, I've come to the conclusion that this map is indeed, made of individual pieces and then taped (or glued) together. I'm leaning toward tape. I've circled several places where the drawing lines do not line up with each other, which they would if it were one big piece, folded.

If it is taped, it is very thin tape... 1/8 or maybe 3/16 inch.
Click to expand...

I haven't the slightest bit of familiarity with Metropolis, but I do know taping maps was a common technique to cut down on wear and tear in the past. I believe it was especially common with maps that had been treated with a preservative like lacquer or varnish. Without the tape the map would crack along the fold lines and eventually fall apart.
 
As far as the map goes, I suspect it is made of a map cut into sections and then glued to a large cloth backing.

When I was volunteering at the local history museum, I saw many maps (and other paper items) which had that done to them. I suspected at the time it was a way to preserve a delicate original: this way it could be folded (along the bare cloth 'lines') without damaging the brittle or delicate paper original.

In the case of Metropolis, within the context of the story, this may have been used to make the maps more durable or to imply they were very old.

As far as props and replicas go, you might draw your map on cardstock or thick paper, then carefully cut it into segments. Carefully apply an adhesive to the back of the map segments and reassemble them on a piece of cloth. Trim the cloth to the edges of the map pieces, then carefully fold it up.

... My two cents.


-Mike
 
Enhanced contrast screencaps from the region 2 Kino release (2003):

Map-1_1.jpg


Map-2.jpg


Mad props to WackyChimp for the image hosting.


-Mike
 
Sith Sheriff Brody said:
As far as the map goes, I suspect it is made of a map cut into sections and then glued to a large cloth backing.

<snip>

As far as props and replicas go, you might draw your map on cardstock or thick paper, then carefully cut it into segments. Carefully apply an adhesive to the back of the map segments and reassemble them on a piece of cloth. Trim the cloth to the edges of the map pieces, then carefully fold it up.

-Mike
Click to expand...

Excellent point! They kind of do look like they were glued to a cloth backing. I knew it wasn't any kind of transparent tape; I was going to try using thin strips of archival cloth tape, but I like the 'glued to the cloth' thing. I'll try both.

EDIT: when looking at those images, it DOES look more like they are pieces glued to a backing, especially in the first picture, the one with the two maps. If you look at the bottom of the first map, near the right, at that fold it really looks like a piece glued to a backing.

I figured they'd be printed (drawn) on some kind of thin card stock, rather than paper. Question... what kind of card stock was common in 1920's Germany? Is it pretty much like modern index stock?
 
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Happy to help fellow Metropolis fans :)

As far as I know, there have been no revolutions in card stock in the last 80 years :rolleyes

I imagine some off-white card stock would be reasonable ... perhaps go with a tan color with little specks, so it looks like something a poor worker in the future might have handy. A craft store or scrapbook store should have many options.


-Mike
 
I'm going with an off-white card stock, speckled with an airbrush, to give it a "dirty, used" look. I'll try two versions, one mounted on cloth and one mounted on strips of cloth tape. Once these are mounted, I'll weather the lot... as you said, something a poor worker would have handy. I get the impression these workers are covered with coal dust and oil and grease.

I am more and more convinced these are pieces on another mount. The first picture shows clear shadows on the right edges of the pieces of map.
 
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