Asteroid City - (yet) unnamed prop

[Markus]

More references:
I just found another clip from the movie that shows the prop in action, with a new pattern.

And from another "Making of" clip, I captured this image, showing some models and a photo of the prop.

 

[Markus]

The electronics is much more work that I thought. In particular the fact that I need EIGHT of the LED PCBs.
But now, I finished the PCB that has the Arduino Pro Mini, and I finished two of the LED boards.
I wrote some test code, and to my surprise, it works!

 

[Markus]

These are the patterns seen in the "Thanks a lot, Ricky" clip.
The left one is blinking three times and then the right one is blinking once.
They are on for approx. 2/3sec and off for approx 1/3sec.

 

[3Dsf]

By the way - for those people in London, there's an exhibition of Asteroid City costumes and props and stuff happening:

Wes Anderson Asteroid City — 180 Studios

Delve into the incredible creative world of Wes Anderson with this immersive 180 exhibition that transports you into the realm of the director’s new film, Asteroid City.

www.180studios.com

I haven't been yet, but the 180 Studios exhibit on Isle of Dogs was truly spectacular.

 

[3Dsf]

I'll be going to the exhibition in a week or so if there's anything folks want me to take snapshots of.

 

[chrisplowman]

I was at the exhibition yesterday (it is excellent)

I filmed this clock for a couple of minutes. Was looking for a repeat but didn't see one.

 

[Leinads]

Wow that’s very cool! Snagging that lighting sequence is terrific

 

[Markus]

I was at the exhibition yesterday (it is excellent)

I filmed this clock for a couple of minutes. Was looking for a repeat but didn't see one.

Thank you so much for sharing this! It seems they are using purely random patterns - sometimes this leads to empty digits, as we can see in your video. This is what I intended to do before learning more (I will not watch the movie before finishing the prop).

 

[Markus]

Yes!!! I finished all of the remaining LED boards. After inserting the TPIC 6B595M shift register ICs, I checked each board. One had a bad LED (and I really checked all 48 LEDs before - maybe it did not survive the soldering). But now, that LED is replaced, and everything is ready for the final assembly.
[technical details: 5V Vcc is provided through the wire at the top || the yellow and blue cables are for data in & out for the shift registers || the 4-wide connector at the bottom passes the connections for GND, Enable, Clock, and Latch from board to board]

 

[Markus]

Now, everything is assembled (and no, I'm not aiming for a price for "prettiest assembly").

Before watching the movie, I can only rely on light patterns that I saw in the clips on the web. So, I programmed the Arduino to display random light patterns (as in the trailer), randomly between 12 and 30 times, and then once the "alarm/warning" pattern (from the "Thanks a lot, Ricky" clip).

I took the finished unit to various places in town to take these photos.

A video clip is in preparation.

 

[Markus]

And here is the video:

 

[3Dsf]

Nice work! A couple snapshots of the prop from the exhibition.

It's interesting how it had totally anachronistic milky white LEDs, but since it's never shown in closeup you don't know that.

I could post others if anyone's interested. So-so movie but magnificent design with gorgeous props, sets, and models!

 

[Markus]

Nice work! A couple snapshots of the prop from the exhibition.

It's interesting how it had totally anachronistic milky white LEDs, but since it's never shown in closeup you don't know that.

I could post others if anyone's interested. So-so movie but magnificent design with gorgeous props, sets, and models!

Thank you so much!
This is interesting. These LEDs seem to be larger than 'regular' 5mm LEDs - most likely 8mm (as I assumed in my built).
However, since previously I only heard about clear 8mm LEDs (the 'straw hat' type), I used those.
But now, when I search for "8mm LEDs, diffuse, white", I find those too, at amazon and aliexpress - like these:

or the second one from the left here:

However, now it's too late (for me) - but if someone else wants to build it, I would recommend using the 'frosted' ones.
At least, in my video it looks good enough because of the camera sensor's response.

 

[pylorns]

Yeah, it looks like the ones in the film have the brightness of the LEDs turned down a bit so you don't have the lens flare effect around each one.

 

[3Dsf]

Yes they’re 8mm frosted white, definitely.

 

[3Dsf]

Maybe you could mask the panel and spray the LEDs with a clear matte finish. “Transparent” white paint is probably too opaque.

 

[Markus]

Maybe you could mask the panel and spray the LEDs with a clear matte finish. “Transparent” white paint is probably too opaque.

Hmmm.... not sure....
Of course, you are right that this could improve the appearance.
And if I really wanted to do that, I could still relatively easily remove the modules - so masking would not be an issue.
But I'm very hesitant. It's so easy to make it worse.
I need to think about this...

 

[3Dsf]

Well, it's easy to test on an unused LED. And if you don't like it, isopropanol would get the clearcoat off.

 

[Markus]

Funny: When I started this, based on the trailer, I really expected this prop to play a larger role. And I expected that from the movie we would learn more about its patterns and their meaning. Well, but that did not happen. It's still a 'mysterious' thing. It also means that I did not get any input on how to possibly modify the light patterns.
And the dialogue is still true:
"What do those pulses indicate?"
"What? Oh, the beeps and the blips? We don't know."