Blade Runner SUSHI BAR + SLICE OF LIFE making of

Yooooooooooo guys! What's up?

We had a busy period with boring commercial work that screwed up our chi, but we're getting back on track!
I got a new toy in the meantime, the one I wanted for a long time - a CNC machine!!!!

cnc.jpg


It's called the OX and it's made by a great UK company named Ooznest. This particular model is 100x150 cm big, and it's around 1500£ which is pretty cheap for this kind of machine. I sent them an email about our project, and we even got a discount - which just goes to prove how cool they are.

Ok, so after a long but enjoyable assembly I was faced with the problem: how the hell does one use this thing? And it was by far one of the hardest things I had to learn in a long time. First you have to prepare the graphic you want to cut in vectors. For that I used Adobe Illustrator but I had to learn it first as I never used it before. I'm a RASTER kind of guy! :lol Then, you import the vectors into another program where you tell it to use that vectors as a cutting path, and you set up the depths of the cut, speed, and so on.. Of course finding a decent program and learning it was a pain in the a**. (I chose Vectric Aspire in the end and it's pretty intuitive and works good).
And then you import that new file into yet another program that communicates with the machine itself, and you're ready for cutting.

But that's only the digital part of the process.

Then there's the physical part: learning how each material behaves when you cut it. What speeds to use? Why is the plastic melting when I cut it? Will the bit break if I go faster? And so on and so on...... Now after a month or two of playing with it, it all works just fine. But man, it was a nightmare when you're at the beginning and you don't even know where to start...

So anyway - I will use the CNC to make new and final set of buildings for the miniature city! I call them "buildings 3.0". And the way the machine really helps is by cutting tons of these little windows that the light will shine through.

3.jpg


You can also see a layer of shallow lines. That's just some kind of panneling to give more texture to the building. And for that I invented this wonderful contraption:

2.jpg


It's a ball point pen and it just pushes in these lines in the soft plastic. The ink doesn't bother me as it will all be painted anyway.
The CNC cuts out all the parts of the building too, and all that's left is to assemble it.

4.jpg


I detailed it with 3D printed parts, and some good old random junk.

5%20copy.jpg


Primed, of course:

6%20copy.jpg


And after some weathering, here's the beauty shots:

7.jpg


i2.jpg


i3.jpg


I really like the quality of this one.. It looks more professional then the old ones, and these windows give it a real sense of scale. It would be impossible to cut them out by hand.
It does take some time to prepare the graphics and cut list, but the advantage is that once I do it - I can cut out as many copies as I want quickly. So for the price of one I can get three buildings for example! :lol And if I change the scale and rotate them differently in the shot no one will know they are the same.

Ok guys, I hope you like it.
New updates very soon!

Chiao! :p
 
Last edited:
As always, turned out really great. I just love how you take the time to learn something new to help better the project even more.
I don't think I could have learned that machine. I have a hard enough time getting a regular printer to work right most the time. Like after putting a puzzle together, ended up missing a piece, so wanted to print out the area and line it up to the missing part. I must have had to print it about 10 times to get it right.
 
Awesome stuff (as always)...I see that you've taken the WETA route (on how they did the buildings for BR2049). Looks really Pro:cool You could be in the business of making those buildings (and the little greeblies on top of the roof) for a bunch of us;)
 
Awesome stuff (as always)...I see that you've taken the WETA route (on how they did the buildings for BR2049). Looks really Pro:cool You could be in the business of making those buildings (and the little greeblies on top of the roof) for a bunch of us;)

Right you are. On a recent Weta tour the guide pointed out these buildings and rusty pipes from BR2049.

KwBHc6P.jpg


The small building is 3 printer cartridges and the rusty pipes are painted straws! Lol.
 
Hey Guys!
We've been filming a couple of really small new scenes and one more is in the works. More on that in the next video diary hopefully. This could actually mean we'll FINALLY be done with the live action part of the shoot. Phew..

I wanted to show you another miniature I made in the meantime.
So apart from the city there is another location we have.. something like a waste yard or a shipyard. We just need to show it in a couple of shots, and we'll do it in miniature of course. So I figured I need to make a lot of quick and easy shipping crates.

And what else to use but my beloved electrical boxes!

a1.jpg


They've been following me on this journey since forever. They really make for a great building material. So I just glue two of the same kind together and I have a cool sci-fi looking shipping crate.
Then to make them more realistic I decided to draw graffiti all over them and apply a heavy weathering.

a2.jpg


I literally drew and wrote whatever came to my mind. Some of my friends signed their names and wrote gibberish also.. It was a fun process :lol

a3.jpg


So then my logic was that I needed a crane! Because what else is moving these crates around?

a4.jpg


I must say the new 3D printer helped me soooooo much with this. Almost all of the grey parts are printed. And the process is super fast as the parts are so simple that I can model them in 5 minutes, and the printer prints a batch in 10-15 mins. I need a window? no problem, in half an hour I had 8 of them printed. To make them by hand would take me much more time. And I don't even wanna start on how boring and time consuming would be to make all these girders by hand. So it was a quick and enjoyable build. Oh, and yeah, that's a big computer cooler vent the crane sits on, and it will allow me to rotate it in the shot. :D

a5.jpg


Then I primed it and airbrushed lots of different colors on. Oh, the EEG logo on the side.. I needed some "Shipping company logo" to spray on everything, and I remembered Douglas Trumbulls' company was named EEG at the time they worked on Blade Runner. So I thought it could be a nice tribute and I made a stencil. The irony is I sprayed it correctly on the crane, but when I was painting the shipping crates I accidentally turned the stencil upside down - thus getting the "EEe" logo, hahahaahah.. ah well... not that it's going to be seen anyway.. :lol

a6.jpg


And then, just as with the shipping crates, I drew some graffiti all over the crane... and payed tribute to some of my favorite films, Fox Mulder, and Lucas Arts video games... :lol

a7.jpg


a8.jpg


a9.jpg


It was cool to make something new and different, and unlike the city buildings.

Se ya soooooooon!
 
Last edited:
Beautiful, so good so see you updating again. Been a while. Looks awesome as well. Cannot wait for the screening with you. Think of that, a live Directors community could be cool too. That way I can ask SOOOOOO many questions. :devil nudge nudge, wink wink.
 
Most excellent! You're getting to be the King of rust, grimes, and overall damages on various structures/cars, etc...
 
Hey guys!

There was some interest in our 3d printed pieces that I glue all over the buildings, and someone asked if we would share them with the community. And since that's a great idea I went and prepared the downloadable 3D PACK!

3d%20pack.jpg


There's 50 different models in the pack, and hopefully they will be of use to some of you who play with 3D printers in your spare time.
As you know 3d printer is a new toy for me so I just modeled them according to my understanding of how it would work best. Also I'm just an occasional user of 3ds max so they aren't modeled professionally. I did get some good results with most of them however, so I hope you will too if you find the use for them.

Here's the download link: http://sliceoflifefilm.com/downloads.html

In other news here's the new Production diary from the workshop:


As I mentioned in the diary and in the last post we'll have another location in the film - "The shipyard".
It will be done completely in miniature, and I did a quick small sketch first, just to get it out of my head.

wasteyard.jpg


So with the atmosphere set, and with the understanding of how wide will the widest shot be I started building these cranes and other stuff.
I showed you the main crane last time, and now here are some smaller ones:

g1.jpg


Some kind of a water tower...

g3.jpg


This thing made from two packs of potato chips:

g2.jpg


And finally I turned an old printer...

g4.jpg


...into an industrial building! :lol

g5.jpg


Til the next time!
Cheers,
Luka
 

Attachments

  • 3d%20pack.jpg
    3d%20pack.jpg
    839.3 KB · Views: 137
  • 3d%20pack.jpg
    3d%20pack.jpg
    839.3 KB · Views: 136
  • wasteyard.jpg
    wasteyard.jpg
    1 MB · Views: 126
  • wasteyard.jpg
    wasteyard.jpg
    1 MB · Views: 122
  • g1.jpg
    g1.jpg
    2 MB · Views: 126
  • g1.jpg
    g1.jpg
    2 MB · Views: 129
  • g3.jpg
    g3.jpg
    1.8 MB · Views: 133
  • 3d%20pack.jpg
    3d%20pack.jpg
    839.3 KB · Views: 132
  • g3.jpg
    g3.jpg
    1.8 MB · Views: 137
  • wasteyard.jpg
    wasteyard.jpg
    1 MB · Views: 117
  • g2.jpg
    g2.jpg
    2.1 MB · Views: 122
  • g2.jpg
    g2.jpg
    2.1 MB · Views: 128
  • g4.jpg
    g4.jpg
    1.6 MB · Views: 130
  • g1.jpg
    g1.jpg
    2 MB · Views: 123
  • g4.jpg
    g4.jpg
    1.6 MB · Views: 125
  • g5.jpg
    g5.jpg
    1.4 MB · Views: 120
  • g5.jpg
    g5.jpg
    1.4 MB · Views: 132
  • g3.jpg
    g3.jpg
    1.8 MB · Views: 122
  • g2.jpg
    g2.jpg
    2.1 MB · Views: 132
  • g4.jpg
    g4.jpg
    1.6 MB · Views: 134
  • g5.jpg
    g5.jpg
    1.4 MB · Views: 120
  • 3d%20pack.jpg
    3d%20pack.jpg
    839.3 KB · Views: 130
  • wasteyard.jpg
    wasteyard.jpg
    1 MB · Views: 114
  • g1.jpg
    g1.jpg
    2 MB · Views: 137
  • g3.jpg
    g3.jpg
    1.8 MB · Views: 117
  • g2.jpg
    g2.jpg
    2.1 MB · Views: 117
  • g4.jpg
    g4.jpg
    1.6 MB · Views: 120
  • g5.jpg
    g5.jpg
    1.4 MB · Views: 121
Last edited by a moderator:
Love the printer building. I actually took apart a printer for parts for my model I'm working on now. Had colored ink spray in my face.....not so fun.
 
The change of look from raw or painted model, to film look is incredible! Just goes to show how good lighting and a bit of smoke can completely change the way you look at something. Thanks for sharing your work again, this is some amazing inspiration. :thumbsup :thumbsup
 
I love this Work and the models, Blade runner is one of the best film ever made
and your project is a dream
 
Hey guys!!!
I have a big update today!

A few days ago we filmed the last scene that we needed for the film, and with that we finally finished the live action filming of Slice of Life!!!
After Kickstarter we upped the ante a bit and added A LOT more stuff than previously planned so it took us more time to get to this point.

Anyway, all that's left now are the miniatures! (And I know I said that two years ago - this time it's true! :lol)

The last scene we filmed was the NIGHTCLUB scene, and like everything else we filmed it in our garage. Here's a couple of BTS progress photos:

s1.jpg


I'm setting up the neon lights on the wall. The white canvas was used for the projection. I prepared some interesting visuals that we projected over the whole wall which is a very practical way to "dress" the ugly wall in the background.

s2.jpg


You can see the projection in action here. We also made a small bar and filled it up with tons of interesting glasses and vases.

s3.jpg


And here's an artistic photo of the actress and the final look of the scene.

I also made a new Production Diary No.13, with more detail about this and other scenes that we filmed so be sure to check it out!


Here's a small B-Roll clip of the "back alley scene" if someone's interested. No fancy editing and glamour here, just raw truth!!! :lol:lol:lol


Ok guys, see ya soon! ;)
 

Attachments

  • s2.jpg
    s2.jpg
    1.4 MB · Views: 122
  • s2.jpg
    s2.jpg
    1.4 MB · Views: 118
  • s2.jpg
    s2.jpg
    1.4 MB · Views: 117
  • s3.jpg
    s3.jpg
    1.1 MB · Views: 123
  • s3.jpg
    s3.jpg
    1.1 MB · Views: 121
  • s3.jpg
    s3.jpg
    1.1 MB · Views: 112
  • s2.jpg
    s2.jpg
    1.4 MB · Views: 117
  • s3.jpg
    s3.jpg
    1.1 MB · Views: 116
  • s2.jpg
    s2.jpg
    1.4 MB · Views: 109
  • s3.jpg
    s3.jpg
    1.1 MB · Views: 109
Last edited by a moderator:

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.
Back
Top