29
Dec11
MODERNGRUMBLE: A CROWDFUNDING JOURNEY / Special Effects Part 2 – or how A Bird Hatches from a Man’s head
by MODERNGRUMBLE
The blue bird hatching from a man’s head; a surrealistic flourish in retrospect obviously indebted to the cinema of Alejandro Jodorowsky but one none the less that presents a real challenge. Like many of the effects in Moderngrumble, anything less than perfection could send us into a downward spiral of cheesy over-indulgence or worse, camp. Much of Moderngrumble walks this fine line. Tone is key and it’s all in the presentation. What to do then when you are dead serious in creating such a scene as realistically as possible with the intent of imbuing the scene with not horror but wonder and even a warped sense of beauty?
Well, first of all you have to build the moment appropriately, give the scene a suitable context, and frame the hatching head just right but that’s another discussion entirely. Chief among our concerns at this point should be the deft execution of a believable silicone head with a built in skull compartment complete with an easily removable but seamless cover. The idea being that we create a nest inside the silicone head for our Bluebird, close the skull compartment and then use a blast of compressed air from inside the head in conjunction with mono-filament line attached to the outside cover to create the effect of a startled bird escaping the head wound. Of course if I had my druthers we would figure out a way for the Bird to tear its way out of the skull and not simply fly out.
The logistics of such an effect are relatively simple save the bird which could present any number of practical problems and that is why we are including this scene in the trailer shoot and devoting a large portion of the budget and shooting schedule to getting it right. With a trial run on one of the more significant effects in the film hopefully by the time we are shooting the feature we will have a good handle on what works and what does not. As much as I want to rely entirely on practical effects for Moderngrumble, digital will always remain an option should any unforeseen complications arise working with live birds.
However, if anyone can make it work, it’s Marcus Koch, our expert on any and all things related to head trauma. If anyone can make a bird fly out of a man’s head it’s him. How well we sell his efforts will be the true test and with myself and Joriah Goad working closely with Marcus on framing and lighting the scene I think we will all be surprised how fantastic it turns out to be.
Now we just have to figure out how to handle the floating dead.
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