AndyJ
Active Member
Back in April 2017 Amazon had started setting up shop to shoot Electric Dreams in Chicago. We don't get much sci-fi stuff--so this, a show based on Phillip K. Dick-- was like an absolute dream come true. I had to work on it!! As it happens, a friend had already referred me to their props dept and out of the blue I got a call to come be a prop builder 
I had just gotten off Chicago Med to work on it, and I showed up, was shown around, saw some sets, and basically went "Cool! So where is everybody else?"
Turns out, I was everybody else.
What followed was the most difficult 4 months of my life. "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe" definitely applies. Despite that, it was an amazing opportunity to make some amazing stuff and work with some incredibly talented people! Towards the end we also brought on some extra hands which made all the difference.
I just wanted to make a post showing off some of the props, show some behind-the-scenes photos, and give some details on how they were made. If you guys have any questions, let me know and I'd be happy to answer. Also just a little about me since I know there are some people who are interested in professional prop building, I'm 25 now, I was 24 during this production. I own a special effects and prop shop in Chicago called MadlyFX, which I've run for about 4 years, and before that I was in camera dept. Like you guys, I build this stuff for fun, being paid is just a bonus What I'm posting here is about half of what I did, I just didn't get a chance to take photos of a lot of it.
This was one of the first things I worked on, the headset for Terrence Howard in Real Life. We went through a few iterations of this, trying to find a balance between "prototype" and "finished product." Our headcanon was that this was some sort of standard medical device that had been modified into a VR headset. To that end, I wound up also making one in a pale white color, but we wound up going with this dark gunmetal black. The finish was Alclad black gunmetal grey.
The headset itself was a laser cut pattern, which I made a mold of, then I cast Smooth-Cast 321, which is a rotocasting resin. When the plastic was still green, I SUPER carefully peeled out of the mold and formed it over a headform. It was pretty tricky, but gave a great result. The visors were laser cut smoked acrylic slump-formed over a hydrocal buck made from a pair of ski goggles. Getting a compound curve on the visor was really important to us.
The circuit board and ribbon cable was from an old HP laptop motherboard my dad was throwing out and asked if I wanted (hey, even on big shows you take what you can get.) All in all I made two hero headsets and 10 breakaways for when Terrence smashes them.
These are some other misc. props from this episode, trackers and such. A lot of these were used for BG so you don't really get a chance to see them. Usually what would happen is I'd be working on something, get a request for another prop, then go home and 3D print it. Let it run overnight, then the next day assemble and paint.
This was an interesting one. We went through a couple revisions of the memory device and it's holder. It started as a cigarette box sized, but thin, slide-out white plastic piece. The director wanted it much smaller and simpler, so we had a sheet metal company bend us some small rectangles. Unfortunately, they didn't turn out great--and we only had one day before shooting. So I quickly 3D printed what you wound up seeing onscreen, you can tell I really didn't have time to sand it much beyond an initial sweep!
The tray inside was hollow and contained a coin cell and white LED, I think the illumination really adds a lot to this. The memory disk itself was 3 layers of laser engraved/cut PETG glued together, and it just stuck onto skin with top stick.
The enclosure was painted with Alclad chrome, and the inside tray was white acrylic paint mixed with graphite.
---------------
The next episode I did was was Kill All Others, which by far had the most custom stuff built for it. It's really the only episode that tried to build it's own universe. The main thing I worked on for this was Philbert's watch.
This was a prototype made from laser cut acrylic, sanded and polished. It was made to fit a Tinyduino LED circle display, so it could actually do something. This prototype was super small, maybe the size of a quarter, and they requested it be made larger for the final version.
I can't find any photos right now of the final watch--I definitely took a bunch, so I'll post when I find em. The watch itself was 3D printed with a PolyJet printer by a local place here. It was super last second, when I called them I literally said "Hey so...I'm going to send you some files. But I need to pick them up...today." They were not pleased, but totally came through.
We had many watches, the main hero ones just had a piece of black acrylic as a screen. There was also a watch with an actual Tinyduino+ LCD screen inside it displaying a graphic art dept. whipped up. I made rubber ones for stunt sequences as well as a special one with pins on a spring (actually a piece of heat shrink) for when he pulls out out of his skin.
Video of the box working
The box was also kinda neat. The main frame was heat bent acrylic, and I 3D printed a little box to fit on the front. Inside that box I managed, somehow, to cram a Tinyduino, a Neopixel array, a battery, button, and servo. The result was a totally practical effect of the box opening after "scanning" a finger. I'm actually super proud of this one!
The Sani-Buds were off the shelf walmart earbuds with an extra bit glued on. Their holders were 3D printed end caps on a piece of PVC and a laser cut faceplate. I did rig one to light up for a "cleaning" cycle, but we never shot it. They were attached to the train with grey zip ties.
In this universe, all screens were square, so Philberts phone had to be square-fied. I did this with custom phone cases for an iPhone 8+, made of laser cut acrylic.
------------
The next episode was Safe and Sound, my personal favorite to work on. I didn't have to do much for this one, which freed me up to make the stuff I did do extra awesome. The main thing was the lighted wristbands the kids have, called Dexes.
The wonderful people at Cirque FX made the Dex's themselves, they're made of Dragon Skin with a the Slide additive to keep them from picking up dirt. They glued in some bra clasps to attach them. Inside each one, I ran a strip of Mini Neopixels, with wires we ran down sleeves. The wires ran to a control unit that housed 3 AA batteries an a WiFi Arduino.
By rigging up a Raspberry Pi to act as a Blynk server, I was able to control each Dex individually, and coded several custom light patterns. I could control speed, intensity, color, etc. all wirelessly.
For the security guards in this world, we wanted to make some "safe" weapons. These are repainted toys that I turned into stun guns.
I also had made a scanner for the border patrol guards. I wanted to have some fun with it, and made a "hairdryer" scanner. I am told it was held backwards on the day. Oh well.
-------------------
Finally, the last episode we shot was Autofac, by far our most ambitious.
This was the cable to plug into the Androids head. It was PolyJet 3D printed, and actually a cool gag. The small metallic dots on the base are all magnets, and there is also a magnet in the tip. On the Androids headpiece, we glued a washer underneath the port. So the way it operated was when you stuck the connector in, the center part would retract, and the magnets around the base would stick to the washer. When you pulled it out, the magnet in the tip stuck, drawing the center part back out. The result was a plug that could be actually inserted and pulled out without springs!
The cable on this was high-voltage silicone coated cable, which was suuuper flexible, covered with metal braid.
The Drone Brain was 3 layers of laser cut acrylic with some mesh sandwiched in between. It took a lot of trial and error to find out how complex the engraved pattern should be. The "frame" portion was initially laser cut as well, but we slowly replaced it with 3D printed parts as it broke off. The blue lighting is Neopixels with a small arduino in the back, to give it some fade and flicker effects, and it was powered by a 5V USB battery bank.
One of the other big things I built for this was the drone camera. Belive it or not, I somehow built this in a weekend--I guess when you get into a groove, things just flow. The main body was 3D printed, and it fully animatronic with an XY pan/tilt mechanism. The frame was all Actobotics framing with some cosmetic touches. Inside the camera, a spaghetti portioner with a servo acted as a working iris, which added a lot. I also had wireless control of the LED ring inside.
The fake iris was screwed to a piece of plastic, and over that was a domed piece of plastic (I think it may have been a clock front cut down.) I super lightly sprayed some Spax Stix Ultimate Mirror Chrome on the domed piece, just enough to create an internal reflection. This made a subtle "infinity mirror" effect that gave the lens the appearance of being way deeper than it actually was. On the shooting day, I spent 2 hours inside the drone attaching it--the pouring rain didn't help.
Video of drone camera
I had just gotten off Chicago Med to work on it, and I showed up, was shown around, saw some sets, and basically went "Cool! So where is everybody else?"
Turns out, I was everybody else.
What followed was the most difficult 4 months of my life. "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe" definitely applies. Despite that, it was an amazing opportunity to make some amazing stuff and work with some incredibly talented people! Towards the end we also brought on some extra hands which made all the difference.
I just wanted to make a post showing off some of the props, show some behind-the-scenes photos, and give some details on how they were made. If you guys have any questions, let me know and I'd be happy to answer. Also just a little about me since I know there are some people who are interested in professional prop building, I'm 25 now, I was 24 during this production. I own a special effects and prop shop in Chicago called MadlyFX, which I've run for about 4 years, and before that I was in camera dept. Like you guys, I build this stuff for fun, being paid is just a bonus
What I'm posting here is about half of what I did, I just didn't get a chance to take photos of a lot of it.
This was one of the first things I worked on, the headset for Terrence Howard in Real Life. We went through a few iterations of this, trying to find a balance between "prototype" and "finished product." Our headcanon was that this was some sort of standard medical device that had been modified into a VR headset. To that end, I wound up also making one in a pale white color, but we wound up going with this dark gunmetal black. The finish was Alclad black gunmetal grey.
The headset itself was a laser cut pattern, which I made a mold of, then I cast Smooth-Cast 321, which is a rotocasting resin. When the plastic was still green, I SUPER carefully peeled out of the mold and formed it over a headform. It was pretty tricky, but gave a great result. The visors were laser cut smoked acrylic slump-formed over a hydrocal buck made from a pair of ski goggles. Getting a compound curve on the visor was really important to us.
The circuit board and ribbon cable was from an old HP laptop motherboard my dad was throwing out and asked if I wanted (hey, even on big shows you take what you can get.) All in all I made two hero headsets and 10 breakaways for when Terrence smashes them.
These are some other misc. props from this episode, trackers and such. A lot of these were used for BG so you don't really get a chance to see them. Usually what would happen is I'd be working on something, get a request for another prop, then go home and 3D print it. Let it run overnight, then the next day assemble and paint.
This was an interesting one. We went through a couple revisions of the memory device and it's holder. It started as a cigarette box sized, but thin, slide-out white plastic piece. The director wanted it much smaller and simpler, so we had a sheet metal company bend us some small rectangles. Unfortunately, they didn't turn out great--and we only had one day before shooting. So I quickly 3D printed what you wound up seeing onscreen, you can tell I really didn't have time to sand it much beyond an initial sweep!
The tray inside was hollow and contained a coin cell and white LED, I think the illumination really adds a lot to this. The memory disk itself was 3 layers of laser engraved/cut PETG glued together, and it just stuck onto skin with top stick.
The enclosure was painted with Alclad chrome, and the inside tray was white acrylic paint mixed with graphite.
---------------
The next episode I did was was Kill All Others, which by far had the most custom stuff built for it. It's really the only episode that tried to build it's own universe. The main thing I worked on for this was Philbert's watch.
This was a prototype made from laser cut acrylic, sanded and polished. It was made to fit a Tinyduino LED circle display, so it could actually do something. This prototype was super small, maybe the size of a quarter, and they requested it be made larger for the final version.
I can't find any photos right now of the final watch--I definitely took a bunch, so I'll post when I find em. The watch itself was 3D printed with a PolyJet printer by a local place here. It was super last second, when I called them I literally said "Hey so...I'm going to send you some files. But I need to pick them up...today." They were not pleased, but totally came through.
We had many watches, the main hero ones just had a piece of black acrylic as a screen. There was also a watch with an actual Tinyduino+ LCD screen inside it displaying a graphic art dept. whipped up. I made rubber ones for stunt sequences as well as a special one with pins on a spring (actually a piece of heat shrink) for when he pulls out out of his skin.
Video of the box working
The box was also kinda neat. The main frame was heat bent acrylic, and I 3D printed a little box to fit on the front. Inside that box I managed, somehow, to cram a Tinyduino, a Neopixel array, a battery, button, and servo. The result was a totally practical effect of the box opening after "scanning" a finger. I'm actually super proud of this one!
The Sani-Buds were off the shelf walmart earbuds with an extra bit glued on. Their holders were 3D printed end caps on a piece of PVC and a laser cut faceplate. I did rig one to light up for a "cleaning" cycle, but we never shot it. They were attached to the train with grey zip ties.
In this universe, all screens were square, so Philberts phone had to be square-fied. I did this with custom phone cases for an iPhone 8+, made of laser cut acrylic.
------------
The next episode was Safe and Sound, my personal favorite to work on. I didn't have to do much for this one, which freed me up to make the stuff I did do extra awesome. The main thing was the lighted wristbands the kids have, called Dexes.
The wonderful people at Cirque FX made the Dex's themselves, they're made of Dragon Skin with a the Slide additive to keep them from picking up dirt. They glued in some bra clasps to attach them. Inside each one, I ran a strip of Mini Neopixels, with wires we ran down sleeves. The wires ran to a control unit that housed 3 AA batteries an a WiFi Arduino.
By rigging up a Raspberry Pi to act as a Blynk server, I was able to control each Dex individually, and coded several custom light patterns. I could control speed, intensity, color, etc. all wirelessly.
For the security guards in this world, we wanted to make some "safe" weapons. These are repainted toys that I turned into stun guns.
I also had made a scanner for the border patrol guards. I wanted to have some fun with it, and made a "hairdryer" scanner. I am told it was held backwards on the day. Oh well.
-------------------
Finally, the last episode we shot was Autofac, by far our most ambitious.
This was the cable to plug into the Androids head. It was PolyJet 3D printed, and actually a cool gag. The small metallic dots on the base are all magnets, and there is also a magnet in the tip. On the Androids headpiece, we glued a washer underneath the port. So the way it operated was when you stuck the connector in, the center part would retract, and the magnets around the base would stick to the washer. When you pulled it out, the magnet in the tip stuck, drawing the center part back out. The result was a plug that could be actually inserted and pulled out without springs!
The cable on this was high-voltage silicone coated cable, which was suuuper flexible, covered with metal braid.
The Drone Brain was 3 layers of laser cut acrylic with some mesh sandwiched in between. It took a lot of trial and error to find out how complex the engraved pattern should be. The "frame" portion was initially laser cut as well, but we slowly replaced it with 3D printed parts as it broke off. The blue lighting is Neopixels with a small arduino in the back, to give it some fade and flicker effects, and it was powered by a 5V USB battery bank.
One of the other big things I built for this was the drone camera. Belive it or not, I somehow built this in a weekend--I guess when you get into a groove, things just flow. The main body was 3D printed, and it fully animatronic with an XY pan/tilt mechanism. The frame was all Actobotics framing with some cosmetic touches. Inside the camera, a spaghetti portioner with a servo acted as a working iris, which added a lot. I also had wireless control of the LED ring inside.
The fake iris was screwed to a piece of plastic, and over that was a domed piece of plastic (I think it may have been a clock front cut down.) I super lightly sprayed some Spax Stix Ultimate Mirror Chrome on the domed piece, just enough to create an internal reflection. This made a subtle "infinity mirror" effect that gave the lens the appearance of being way deeper than it actually was. On the shooting day, I spent 2 hours inside the drone attaching it--the pouring rain didn't help.
Video of drone camera
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