Musings & Interests of David Stipes
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  • Here comes another remake!

    Posted on June 1st, 2009 dstipes No comments

    My son, Nathan, sent this to me with the following comment:

    “Not sure how I feel about this yet…”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsZelpXj-CE

    Well, here comes another remake!  Before the new “V” gets here I thought I would put up a few pix from the original.

    v03

     

    v_moon_148

     

    This was an in-the-camera forced perspective shot with saucers at different sizes from about 30 inches to about 6 inches. 

     dsp2_s_012-corrected

    L-R:   David Stipes and Richard Bennett  in front of the set-up.

    Richard was Visual Effects Supervisor of  “V: the TV Series”  and is a good friend. We met at Universal Hartland on “Buck Rogers.”

      

     

     

    19 responses to “Here comes another remake!”

    1. Oooooo, first I heard of it, I’ll be there with me wifey, tunin’ in, eh. Guess we know Juliet is not comin’ back on Lost then too, eh.

      And fun with FP, nice. Is that a physical Moon model, or just a pic mounted on foam-core?

      Thanks, David!

      LLP,
      deg

    2. It was a 36 inch hemisphere with craters accurate down to 1/4 inch. We used NASA moon maps for reference. It is actually the ‘dark side’ of the moon; the side away from earth’s view.

    3. Coolness, thanks David. 🙂

      Now, how did you go about fabricating the surface then? Is that all hand-sculpt, or did you develop any type of process to speed things up?

      Very nice, eh.

      LLP,
      deg

    4. Hand sculpted with acrylic modeling paste.

      This moon model was also used in Star Trek:TNG credits.

    5. All the saucers look great! Used to watch “V” all the time. What was the story behind the skull? Was this from the last visit of the Reptillians to denote these are not helpful aliens?

      Nice to see the moon in photos. It looked very real up close at your exhibit at AI. What happened to the saucers?

    6. Don’t sweat it Dave. In my profession my work is superceded within 5 years because of the rate of progress in software/hardware development. Atleast your body of work is incapsulated in time and will most likely out live you.

      Loved the original V, I’ve got it in the old DVD collection. It was a new spin on retelling how facists come to power.

      Anyway I’m like a moth to a flame when it comes to Sci-fi and so look forward to this new retelling.

      BTW, you aware that Glen Larson is looking to make a new Galactica film based in his original universe?

    7. Wow, that’s awesome. So how long did it take to sculpt, David?

      Do you still have that model per chance?

      LLP,
      deg

    8. that’s awesome Dave,,, I forgot about that old show and didn’t even hear they were making a new one!!! Hope Greg Jein gets back on this one!!!

    9. How fun to see you behind that camera,, You had such a talent at the VFX shots you did!!! Always was a fan!

    10. Hello Cookster,

      Thank you for the encouragement to post about “V”! The skull was a funky shot from an archeological dig location in the original mini series. I suspect it was to foreshadow our human demise. Most of the saucers were given away as gifts to people who worked with me on the show. I still have a couple.

      RKW,

      Thank you for the kind words! I work to keep current so I won’t be encapsulated in time, too! I will watch the new show with all of you! Can’t keep this ol’ moth away either!

      And… I did not know that Larson is looking to make a new Galactica movie! I hope it is as fun as it has potential to be!

      DEG,

      That moon took weeks to build. We wanted it to be right, so we took the time. Yep, I still have it; or actually, my son has it. 😉

      John Eaves,
      Thank you for popping onto the forum! You are always very kind. It seems we have a mutual fan thing going here as I certainly admire your work!

      I haven’t spoken with Greg Jein in ages; it would be great if he were involved with the new “V” somehow! He contributed so much to the original!

    11. Coolness, thanks David. And cool to know that fine work is still around, and in such good hands, eh. 🙂

      LLP,
      deg

    12. deg,

      I don’t think you could pry Nathan’s hands off of it.

    13. As it should be. Lucky guy Nathan. Lucky you to have a son that appreciates his Pop’s models so much. I feel the same about my Pop’s 1/4-scale R/C aircraft.

      Nathan in the biz as well?

      LLP,
      deg

    14. Hello deg,

      Yes, I am lucky to have Nathan for my son! He is interested in the film business and is leaning toward make-up effects, props and some on-set physical effects.

    15. Coolness, best of success to him in the biz, eh. 🙂

      LLP,
      deg

    16. Is that the moon that was in the Studio for the longest time?

    17. Hello Lisa,

      Yes, that is the one; a tiny bit of film history …

    18. Hi david.
      Just discovered this site.
      I’m a collector of V props and costumes and recently got hold of a front landing gear and small back cicular gear from a model transporter. The items belonged to Doug Turner who also worked on the show alongside Greg Jein. Do you recall Doug or still in contact with him?
      In his information on the pieces he stated that he was asked to refurbish the ships from the 2 miniseries when V went into weekly show and replaced the two gear somewhere in the process.
      Was your work limited to the mothership models or did you work on the shuttles?
      Also, in episode 2 of the series there is a wonderful looking ship called the “Triax”. I read somewhere that this had been built by one of the prop guys before hand and Warners was impressed by it that they wanted to use it. A way for them to save money.
      Can you shed any light on the above?
      thanks

    19. Hello andyd,

      I apologize for the slow response to your post. I have been pretty busy with life and school. Thank you for joining us.

      I remember Doug Turner but not so much from the show as through his father, George Turner.

      We did do some work with a “V” ‘fighter’ landing on a parking lot. That was fun to do.

      The ‘Triax’ was a pre existing model designed and constructed by Dale Fay, who was working for me as a model maker. You are correct, it did save some production costs.

      Dale went on to do visual effects work on the TV series “War of the Worlds,” “I Robot” and more. I think he may have done some directing, too.

      See: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0269553/

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