DaylightInventr
New Member
So, I've set out to tackle my first replica prop since my decision to pursue prop making as a professional career! My first prop will be a commission from my amazing girlfriend, Miranda. She has asked that I build her a replica of the yellow satellite phone used in Jurassic Park III. For those of you who haven't seen Jurassic Park III, you're definitely missing out! SPOILER ALERT: The phone is an important plot item in the movie and is eventually used as a means of contacting Ellie Sattler which leads to the eventual rescue of everyone trapped on the island. Not to mention the phone also makes its way through the entrails of a dinosaur...
You might be asking yourself, why *build* a satellite phone prop when you could just go buy one? Well, the short answer is that the phone itself retails for over $250.00, which an educated guess would reveal to be much more than the raw materials would cost to replicate it. The long answer is that it gives me a chance to learn some new skills, challenges my pre-existing skillset, and make a very beautiful girl a very happy customer! Which I'm definitely excited about!
So to start this build I've done extensive research into the make and model of the exact phone used in the movie. I struck out using Google as my research buddy and simply could not find ANYTHING relating to the prop itself. Just nothing, haha. I did learn about the type of satellite phone used in Jurassic Park II though. Cool, but not helpful. So I took to my own investigative research! The movie came out in 2001 and there are not as many satellite phones on the market as cell phones, so I took to scouring the internet for satellite phones similar in appearance to the one used in the movie. Here is a picture of the phone from the movie for your reference:
It took about an hour before I found a match. Searching for satellite phones through Google images by the year they were made I eventually found it! Meet the Globalstar SAT 550 Satellite phone! Here are some of the decent reference photos I've found of it (you can find the rest on my blog):
From closer inspection I have decided that the top shell of the phone used on set for the movie was simply repainted a bright yellow (presumably to emphasize its importance and visibility in the movie). I know this because the phone was never sold in bright yellow and because the phone in the movie lacks the branding found on the actual product. Because I wanted to make sure that my replica is as accurate as possible to the one seen in the movie I pulled up the movie and grabbed some frames of the phone in use:
Based on those images I'd say that it doesn't seem like there's too much else different beyond the color. Now to find some specifications on the phone. At first I was excited to have found a picture of the phone next to a floppy disk for a size reference, until I came across these on the Globalstar website:
Future posts will cover the blueprint creation, initial building, refinements, painting, and finishing! So, please stay tuned and thank you for reading!
I'll also be posting my process on my blog: The Path to Prop Making- the Chonicles of Aaron Sherman
You might be asking yourself, why *build* a satellite phone prop when you could just go buy one? Well, the short answer is that the phone itself retails for over $250.00, which an educated guess would reveal to be much more than the raw materials would cost to replicate it. The long answer is that it gives me a chance to learn some new skills, challenges my pre-existing skillset, and make a very beautiful girl a very happy customer! Which I'm definitely excited about!
So to start this build I've done extensive research into the make and model of the exact phone used in the movie. I struck out using Google as my research buddy and simply could not find ANYTHING relating to the prop itself. Just nothing, haha. I did learn about the type of satellite phone used in Jurassic Park II though. Cool, but not helpful. So I took to my own investigative research! The movie came out in 2001 and there are not as many satellite phones on the market as cell phones, so I took to scouring the internet for satellite phones similar in appearance to the one used in the movie. Here is a picture of the phone from the movie for your reference:
It took about an hour before I found a match. Searching for satellite phones through Google images by the year they were made I eventually found it! Meet the Globalstar SAT 550 Satellite phone! Here are some of the decent reference photos I've found of it (you can find the rest on my blog):
From closer inspection I have decided that the top shell of the phone used on set for the movie was simply repainted a bright yellow (presumably to emphasize its importance and visibility in the movie). I know this because the phone was never sold in bright yellow and because the phone in the movie lacks the branding found on the actual product. Because I wanted to make sure that my replica is as accurate as possible to the one seen in the movie I pulled up the movie and grabbed some frames of the phone in use:
Based on those images I'd say that it doesn't seem like there's too much else different beyond the color. Now to find some specifications on the phone. At first I was excited to have found a picture of the phone next to a floppy disk for a size reference, until I came across these on the Globalstar website:
- Dimensions: 224 x 65.5 x 50 mm (8.8 x 2.6 x 2.0 in.)
- Weight: 415g with battery (14.6 oz.)
Future posts will cover the blueprint creation, initial building, refinements, painting, and finishing! So, please stay tuned and thank you for reading!
I'll also be posting my process on my blog: The Path to Prop Making- the Chonicles of Aaron Sherman
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