Click on a picture to see the original version or the new version.

For more information about how this shot was created, see below!


This is the much anticipated hover-craft shot from the Jonny Quest openting titles. Very cool.

How to make a Hover-Craft in 4 easy steps!

Step 1. Raid the local hardware store for plumbing PVC, plastic and fittings.
 

Step 2. Cut into the desired shapes. Note the flanged lip from the PVC piping.
 

Step 3. Assemble into something resembling a retro-60's hover-craft.
An admission here:
Since I was a kid watching my mom wash dishes, I just knew that one day
I would figure out a use for the sink strainer.  Makes a dandy exhaust port, don't you think?
 


 

Step 4: Douse with a good coat of chrome spray paint and, ta-dah! You're done!

In the mean time, the set required many, many stalagmites (did I spell that right?)


 

Here Brandi is up to her armpits in wood putty, her medium of choice for this project.
 
 


 

The shot calls for 4 different henchmen but, since I would be compositing this anyway, I just made one.
I started with a typical action figure.
 

Some Super Sculpey is applied to cover the joints.
 


 

And then a coat of paint to complete the sinister look.
 

As the hover-craft float along, I realized that reflections were required in the "chrome".
 


 

To facilitate this effect, I created a series of vertical stripes.
These were then animated moving slowly left to right behind a white matte to define the edges
and then superimposed onto the shiny skin of the hover-craft
before compositing into the final shot.
 

The painted stalagmites on the stage. Groups were shot moving slowly left to right.
Groups closer to the camera were moved at a faster rate than those further from the camera.
This forced the feeling of depth during the shot.
 


 

Me animating a head turn for one of the henchmen.
 

And this is what the composite looks like after I finished!
(click on photo for larger image)

The completed clip is at the top of the page!
 

Thanks for looking!

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For those that enjoy the creak of leather, click HERE for my gallery of western art paintings