Hey,
I just wanted to see whether you guys had any thoughts on how to make some pretty realistic props.
We have superheroines bending metal bars, lifting heavy objects, bending guns and knives in half, etc. But I’m always on the look out on how to do it better.
Metal bar bending
I was watching Greatest American Heroine at h and I really liked the way that the metal bar they used looks real when she twisted it round that guy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbqr2sv7rWU (1m 24s)
I’ve also seen on the Powerbeauties site a girl bends a real bar:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OiLxWqos_4&NR=1
Oh, and on Astro Girl:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO_63jlejKc&feature=related
Bar bells
Then I started looking at realistic looking really heavy dumbells, and again Powerbeauties looked good:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqFb7wuv7W4&feature=related
I also like the dumbbells at Powerbeauties: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxdseG0uYKs
Other effects
I guess there are loads of special effects that are possible. Gun bending, bending the tip of a knife, crushing objects, etc, etc. Would really love to hear what would interest you guys, and how you think it could be done.
Jon
i would like to see lifting cars please
I made a breakable chain for the Awefilms people. I used lead. It’s very soft and
pliable. Polish it on a buffing wheel and it
looks just like steel. You could also make
bolts, a gun, etc.
I would think you could use a compressed
air / hydraulic jack for the car lifting.
A few well placed balloons
for some muscle growth?
They are Super Strong girls?
I hadn’t even known there WAS a Greatest American Heroine until I saw that first clip. It shows up on IMDB only as an episode of The Greatest American Hero, even though it was produced five years later as a pilot for a distaff version of the original show. Great pretzel work. Any other good scenes?
Since you’ve abandoned video, Photoshop can cover up a multitude of sins. Styrofoam is your friend. Use 1″ thick styrofoam sheet insulation, painted to look like wood for busting through doors, tables, walls and crates. A styrofoam sheet can also be a good placeholder for when photoshopping in a large object that casts a shadow on the girl. Foam circles can be painted black to look like weights, and a long plastic curtain rod can be the bar that holds them.
This past Halloween, I saw the big chain used by the Astro Girl movies (to hold the big chunk of Kryptonite) among the fake swords and skull staffs. If you want a girl to rip open a metal box, shoot all of your photos with the un-bent box, then wail on it with tools for the ripping-the-lid off effect. A palm pilot can have anything photoshopped onto it’s screen, making it a remote tracer, a kryptonite detector, bomb trigger, etc. Toy laser guns painted black/silver to hide the “toy” aspects can be cool. Photoshop touchups can make them even cooler.
In ALL cases of super action, remind to get your actresses to ACT like they’re putting SOME effort into it; it’ll helps sell the effect a lot more. When Mr. Incredible grunts and strains in The Incredibles, it adds more to what he’s doing. And if she’s lifting someone with her left arm, have her do something with her right arm as well, even if it’s just flexing and clenching a fist. For your bustier models, have them wrap a tight towel for a smaller chest while in street clothes, and de-powered, or just wear baggy clothes. It’s okay to not wear the costume underneath until the transformation shots.
I would like the idea of bringing in a younger smaller girl then having her wake up and becoming a larger more muscular girl. Like switch out girls to make it look as if something happened to her to make her super strong. That has always been a fantasy of mine?
How about hiring a female bodybuilder
for the “Super” scenes.
Have both the thin girl and the muscle
girl shoot the same things, then do a
photoshop head swap.
Some close up shots of the new
improved body without showing the
face & hair.
here is the chain breaking video.
Only two of the links were lead:
http://blip.tv/file/128557
I still like the old established way where the heroine overpowers her adversaries physically. Either with punches or martial arts/wrestling and a little triumphant posing at the end as they stand over the beaten opponent(s).
Some more crushing ! New Goddess Cinema has some interesting scenes, by example one where a bad superheroine crushes the head of an enemy between her palms… Quite representative of the strength of the lady !!
Maybe props from a magic shop? New Goddess had the heroine crush a golf ball(i assume it was one of the exploding ones).
And all of the stuff mentioned(transformation, bending steel, bars, cage, guns, lifting boulders, people) are interesting.
Hey, some great ideas here. Thanks for the comments, ideas and suggestions.
I looked at the link on http://blip.tv/file/128557 and really like the ripping chain and the bent metal weight (at the end).
I’m presuming that they’ve used lead or some sort of lead composite? Any ideas?
We’ve had ideas for a muscle-bound superheroine and in a few months you’ll see the results of that story!!
Thanks for the ideas. I’m going to have a think about everything on this page and implement them in coming stories/comics.