Indiana Jones idol with screen accurate motorized eyes

[agent5]

Its a bit ridiculous actually if you think about it since its supposed to be an inanimate object. It was really pretty ineffective. However, its still cool as hell and being one of the biggest Raiders fans out there it really piques my interest.
You can really see them move when you see it on the big screen or a large tv on bluray for about a second and a half of screen time.

The disc the pics come off of is the bonus disc on the top left.

 

[kurtyboy]

Found the clip. It's on the Blu-Ray bonus disc.

 

[agent5]

Cool. I couldn't recall which one it was on. It's been a while since I've watched them. Regardless, the bonus disc has some great stuff on it if you're a true fan.

 

[belloq]

Ping pong balls would be quite thin wouldn't they? These look quite thick. Squash?

Yes it does look thicker so who knows, but the little black stamp on the left ball is so close to those on vintage ping pong balls. Squash balls are usually colored so probably not.

 

[Zombie Killer]

I think the ping pong balls were just used as a shell. Im thinking resin was poured into the pinpong balls and then a saran wrapped eye pushed into it to create a perfectly sized socket. I found a really good match for the stamp on the ball. I think KB already ordered it.

 

[kurtyboy]

I meant to post this earlier: ZK has been showing me his balls as well. But 40mm diameter is a lot bigger than the idol eyes at 24-25mm diameter.

 

[Checkboard]

The eyes didn't move, in the final cut.

In Raiders of the Lost Ark, the original idea for the scenes with the Chachapoyan Fertility Idol was to have its eyes following Indiana Jones as he moved around the room. As such, one of the props built featured mechanical moving eyes. Evidence of this can still be seen in the archival footage on the film's DVD. Ultimately, the idea was abandoned though one shot remains in the final film -- the one where Indy is pouring sand out of the bag.[7]

Chachapoyan Fertility Idol

"The beliefs and superstitions of an entire culture, all wrapped up in a 2000-year-old, six-inch lump of gold!" ―Indiana Jones[src] The Chachapoyan Fertility Idol, also known as the Idol of the Chachapoyan Warriors (shortened to Idol of the Warriors), Golden Idol,[4] or the misnomer Idol of the...

indianajones.fandom.com

 

[Zombie Killer]

edit for inappropriate comment

 

[Checkboard]

Actually I wrote that in reply to post #20.

But, thank you - sarcasm is always appreciated as the height of wit.

 

[belloq]

Not to derail this thread further but to offer correction where it is needed: the idol's eyes do move slightly in the final movie at about 7:16. There are also threads here and/or on Indygear that discussed this years ago. Back to this thread's topic...

 

[kurtyboy]

And back to the topic, I got my Arduino sketch working so I can make a servo move left and right using my Sony remote control. This is just really for testing as I'll use the vintage RC parts once I have it working.

I have the whole mechanics rig figured out with help from ZK and now I'm waiting for some brass rods and tube to be machined and I have made the glass eyes (but they'e plastic).

 

[Zombie Killer]

Yes i edited my previous post because i misread Checkboards post. The eyes most definitely move. I think the right eye (Idols right our left) moves more then the left. On a big screen it is pretty easy to see. Im not at home so its hard for my to get a good shot but if you watch it a bunch of times you will see it. Between 7:14 and 7:17

 

[kurtyboy]

The irises are about 2mm too wide but I didn't have much choice as that was the size of the lens on the blank eyes I bought. I couldn't find any with smaller lenses.

 

[agent5]

Not to derail this thread further but to offer correction where it is needed: the idol's eyes do move slightly in the final movie at about 7:16. There are also threads here and/or on Indygear that discussed this years ago. Back to this thread's topic...

Yes, you can see this very clearly when seeing it in the theater.

 

[RedheadKevin]

I'm wondering if they could have inverted the eyes (made them concave) to make them follow the camera, like the concave face sculptures in the Haunted Mansion.