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Tag Archives: model ships
Operation Pacific 1951
A pretty unremarkable John Wayne movie about dud torpedoes. Varied quality miniature effects, most close ups suffering from poor depth of focus. Many shots taken from much earlier films and exhibiting an obvious grainy quality. A particularly odd over use … Continue reading
Posted in MOVIES
Tagged John Wayne. visual effects, koenekamp, model ships, movie miniatures, Operation Pacific, submarine
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The Cruel Sea 1953
A very good book by Nicholas Monserrat, adapted with care into a very fine British film about the Corvette service during World War two. The Miniature effects are varied in quality, but for the most part depict the action well. … Continue reading
Posted in MOVIES
Tagged British cinema, Compass Rose, Corvette, Cruel Sea, miniatures, model ships, special effects
1 Comment
Fortunes of Captain Blood 1950
A B movie with some of the best model ship effects of the period. Based on the book Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini and a remake of sorts of Captain Blood filmed in 1935 with Errol Flynn. Many of the … Continue reading
Das Boot 1981
Das Boot is without a doubt, the most realistic and immersive submarine movie yet made. Up untill this film, the Submarine movie genre was pretty comfortable, descended into well worn cliche. This movie which was made as TV mini series … Continue reading
Posted in MOVIES
Tagged battle of the Atlantic, Das Boot, miniatures, model ships, special effects, submarine, U boat
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TANKS
Shipping themes in many forms have long been popular movie subjects, encompassing many genres including swashbuckling pirates, fantasy, historical epics and war. Nearly every major studio in Hollywood used to have its own tank facility to support this. Now most … Continue reading
MODEL CONTROL
In miniature visual effects work usually the maxim “simpler the better” is employed and most miniature ships have been moved across the tank by pulling an underwater rope. Usually divers are employed to man-handle the ship into position and to … Continue reading
Posted in ModelControl
Tagged miniatures, model ships, movie miniatures, special effects, vfx
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CAMERA, LIGHTING AND LENS
A fundamental factor in making models appear life size and massive is to shoot them at high camera speeds. This results in them being viewed in slow motion when projected. At normal live action speeds, say when an actor is … Continue reading
MODEL SCALE – how big are the miniatures?
As mentioned in the About this website introduction, Water droplets do not scale and the water droplet size is the single most tell tale sign of a miniature effect, consequently the size of the model has a very great bearing … Continue reading
Posted in Scale
Tagged miniatures, model scale, model ships, models, movie miniatures, special effects, vfx, visual effects
2 Comments