23 Comments
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Frank Mariani's avatar

What a great “making of” video! I spent many years working in commercial sign shops. I remember cutting letters from some substrate like gator board and painting them to look dimensional, but we never had to take it to the next level like you did with actual sculpted surfaces. Fun to watch. Had you considered any way to minimize the appearance of the wires? All I can think of is flat black painted wires against a black backdrop, but they’d still reflect some light I’d think.

James Gurney's avatar

Wow, what did you use to cut the gator board? Ideally now I guess you'd use a laser, but back then it would prob. be a sharp mat knife or a band saw.

Re: WIRES. Soon after I first revealed the gadget, I asked viewers if I should eliminate the wires and I was met with a resounding "NO!" The wires are what make it cool!

I think we will see more of that in the future, as proof of no AI: edges of boards, wires strings, and photos of art taken off-angle

Frank Mariani's avatar

Ha! Yes, no space age tech then. Band saw and scroll saw did the trick. Or hand held jig saw. Which reminds me of a problem with band saws. We often cut plexiglass into custom shapes. Sometimes the friction heat would melt the plexiglass and the cut would weld itself back together. Mind you, it was a weak bond, but weird to have cut pieces stitch themselves back together.

Zoungy Kligge's avatar

That's a classic. I love your engineer/ artist crossover projects.

Zoungy Kligge's avatar

PS very nearly drove up to Rhinebeck/Red Hook/Rockwell Museum today, but came down with a bad cold.

Julie Collishaw's avatar

Awesomeness is analog throwbacks to a more natural way of thinking

James Gurney's avatar

I love your line: "...to a more natural way of thinking." I'm an enthusiastic 'throwback' myself, maybe 'jumpback' is a better word for it,

Tiffany  Jordan's avatar

I watched this quite awhile ago and was delighted with your creativity. I was delighted and also loved that your wife joined you in the process!!! I've been a fan for decades. First introduced with you on the artists book club.

Bob Blowsky's avatar

Unlike cgi, this could be made to work on Dinotopia... Very clever!

James Gurney's avatar

YES! I always loved engineering you can see and analyze.

Like the inside of an appliance. My dad once took the back off a TV and told me what all the parts did (tube era).

Lynnwood Hage's avatar

I love all this! Remember when the local drugstore would have a tube tester! When the tv was on the blink my dad would pull out the suspect vacuum tube and test/ replace it right there in the store!Then go home and resume watching our show:))

James Gurney's avatar

I forgot about the existence of tube testers. Thanks, Lynnwood,

CharlieDenward's avatar

This is my favorite of you videos

Kendra Williford's avatar

I think it is wonderful how you decided to go with the practical effects here. Such ingenuity! And a fantastic documentation of its creation. You've really got a resourceful way of making your creations come to life and I love that. I think you would've been an incredible imagineer if you had decided to go that direction. I think the sloped camera dolly was *chefs kiss*. As always, thank you for sharing!

James Gurney's avatar

Ha, thanks, but really I do things with practical / analog techniques because that's all I know how to do.

Kyle's avatar

Hahaha I always thought they were actually metal. Tricked!

James Gurney's avatar

It was fun to study rust and corrosion before paint-aging.

Heather Dickinson's avatar

One of the things that drew me to your work initially was your practical solutions for things; the maquettes, the sculptures, etc. I love it! I think with the advent of CGI, keeping it practical is a great way to stand out.

James Gurney's avatar

I'm so glad also to see the resurgence of stop motion and hand-drawn animation.

Robbi Freisem's avatar

The ingenuity for making Gurney Studio animated logo is great! Thanks for the behind the scene!

James Gurney's avatar

You're welcome. 2010-2020 was a good era for experimenting with video techniques, and I fell we're still in the experimental era. Audiences want to see things they've never seen before.

Dolores Testerman's avatar

Thanks! I always wondered how you did it!❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️