35mm Course Project - Monster Monk

The first of my classes to incorporate extensive miniature use in their 35mm final project did so for a script about a mild-tempered monk who becomes a giant, eventually finding himself cornered downtown.  Rather than create a cartoonish Godzilla-like stomping scenario, his ultimate height was limited to 80-ft.  This meant we could build duplicates of existing buildings in town, and shoot forced-perspective scenes in-camera and on location.  Numerous storyboards and video tests were generated on the way to selecting final shots.

Among the miniature sets were his church, a section of road with facades, and two buildings' upper floor sections.  All buildings were constructed as 2-sided, or L-shaped, sets to show perspective and be self-supporting.  Some were further supported by a layer of 1/4" Plexi that would provide windows as well.  The exterior surfaces were sheets of insulation foam or foamcore to simplify the cutting of clean windows and doors.

The church itself was framed and skinned in wood, with solid 2" Styrofoam buttresses.  Stucco texture was achieved with joint compound, applied with textured rollers and stippled with pieces of carpet.  Sheets of Spanish tile for dollhouses were sparingly applied to the roof edges only, as all shots would be from eye level of people on the street.  Gypsum and other dried floral supplies added a natural element, as well as obscuring bare or damaged corners and walls.  To remove any background scenery that appeared out of scale, but still see the sky, we staged shots of the church on top of a parking garage.  This was scheduled on a Sunday evening to avoid any traffic issues.

The monk grows into a giant while inside the church, and bursts through the roof.  To create that moment, the actor crouched behind the building, with a special debris mix piled across his shoulders and arms.  The mix included sand, broken popsicle sticks, and painted Styrofoam chips.  The effects crew stood below him, with full buckets of the same debris.  With the 16mm camera shooting 60 fps, the monk bolted to his feet, throwing his arms up, as the crew emptied their buckets into the air with him.  In what is known as a "happy accident", the wind was whipping toward the camera position, meaning much of the debris stayed in frame for the whole shot.

The upper floors of a couple of buildings were planned for forced-perspective setups, also on the parking garage, with the nearby skyline beyond them.  These would allow him to interact via reflection or shadow as he walked past, integrating the scenery.  They were eventually shot against bluescreen, as the location shoot ran long.

The greatest amount of time was spent where he wakes up on the street the next morning.  Two adjacent buildings along a brick street were duplicated and slightly embellished for wide shots.  Everything from weathering of the stucco to bags of trash and street signs were reproduced for the miniature.  Molded plastic brick and shingle sheets stood in for the road and sidewalk. 

To make the most of the downtown location, one shot included a pan on the camera's nodal point, meaning it could cover a nearly 150-degree arc from an advancing mob onto the miniature set without giving away the illusion.  Dialogue between the giant and bystanders was accomplished by filming them over-the-shoulder against bluescreen and matching eye-lines, and in reverse from ladders on location.