BEHIND THE SCENES SCENES

ELEVATOR

Our elevator was tricky to use. The light for horizontal or vertical travel on the ship was a slit in a large drum that we rotated by hand. It revolved on wood to wood and needed constant greasing. Thick black grease was packed onto the hub. Often right in the middle of filming a loud “squeak” would happen and we would have to re-shoot the shot.

How about that “evil eye” defensive Sellek staring down Kirk?  Is Kirk afraid? Watch the bloopers and see what happens with our total control of his emotions  Vulcan known as Sellek.

That’s me on the left and my brother Bill loading the drum up for a grease job. Bill was our Doctor C0sta in the movie.

OTIS THE ORGANIAN  ORGANTIPUS

“Otis” was the illusion monster. He was named Otis because it was made in  Otisville Mi. where Ted Rae lived at the time. It was about one foot tall. Ted did the armature. The cotton/latex build up I think was done by me?.  The illusion  shot of Otis  did not need to be complicated. Just something simple.  I knew the scene would be short and animated by me. Animation requires patience and an eye for detail.  I lack patience for animation. Ted also did a miniature model space ship for Alien Factor and the head of the Lizard man in Galaxy Invader. These were projects that I let hem help me out with so he could get started with some film credits of his own. This was before  he moved to CA. and became a top notch professional. His first jobs were with  Roger Cormans studio where he got lots of experience and training in sci-fi  film making.

Ted at home working on something or other.

A SHORT NOTE ABOUT ANIMATION

One of my Paragon followers and an old Cinemagic fan: Wallace, has a blog that is like a video version of Cinemagic magazine. In the blog he shows how to make a simple armature and monster to use in stop motion. He also explains how to do it in a clear, organized, and simple manner to follow and duplicate.  If you want to have some fun with a simple beginners hands on project give him a look.

He also has three links to other stop motion sites.

Wallaces blog is at stopmotion.moonfruit.com

CAVERN MINIATURE

The cavern was paper mache” and plaster of paris. It was constructed over a moonscape that Larry Gerardi had made for a theme park demo model. A park that would let you feel like you were on a vacation on the moon. The project never happened.

Lighting and special effects done in my  Optical Printer made the cavern look special.

SHUTTLE ENTRANCE DOOR

Shooting  things like the shuttle door is what makes movies really fun to do. The illusion works. The panels of the shuttle door were set up in my mom and dads family room on top of buckets.  It was the best landing pod we could come up with in the middle of winter with a foot of snow outside.

That’s nuf fer now.  If you are a newcomer and want to learn more about me and how I payed for the movie film and materials go and check out my carpet repair site.