Have you accumulated a huge Ghostbusters Collection? Talk about what you have and show it off!
By Alex Newborn
#4803430
Matty Vinz Clortho is still wandering around Manhattan. Now he's at the Maine Monument. This is the movie location from right before he talks to the horse.

Image

Unhappy with the depth of field issues, I did try to combine this pic with one where the Monument was in focus, but found the Manhattanites too distracting.

Image

I only have three more 'on location in NYC' Matty figure pics left to share. But I've got an idea for a cool shot one month from now.

Alex
By Alex Newborn
#4804481
It was right around midnight. We'd also been there earlier in the day, but the firemen had the roll-down garage door up to cool things off, so it wouldn't have made a good backdrop. Then after doing lots of other sites including but not limited to the Statue of Liberty, the Museum from GB2, the New York Public Library, Lincoln Center fountain, 55 CPW, and Columbus Circle, we went back by the Firehouse for some nighttime shots. Luckily they had the door down, but I'd nearly exhausted BOTH camera batteries by that point.

I took the pic of Peck first, then the 'Ready to Believe You' pic seen on the previous page. As my camera struggled to focus in the gloom, I thought to ask Adam if his cellphone had a light. So the tiny amount of keylight on the figures was what really made the pic. I then went back and re-did the Peck shot with the same trick, and just then the second battery died.

Too bad, because I kinda wish I'd been able to record what happened next. As I already reported in a different thread, four girls passed the firehouse, and one commented, 'that's the Ghostbusters firehouse'. Her probably-drunk and definitely-too-loud-for-midnight friend began shouting "No f***ing way!" and they started snapping pics.

As I packed up all my stuff and we made our way down the block, we could hear the too-loud girl shouting things like "Who ya gonna call?" and "I ain't fraid of no ghost" and even wordlessly 'singing' the theme song: "Doo da doo doo doot doo!" I felt bad for those firefighters having to endure that sort of stuff all the time, even late at night.

I'd tried to be as respectful and low-impact as I could. I didn't even go up and ask them about the Hook & Ladder 8 t-shirts when I was there during the day, and two guys were standing right there inside the open door. There was something about getting on-site and seeing the plaques on the outside about the firefighters who've died, it suddenly felt very silly to focus just on the films, even if that was why I'd made the trek.

Alex
CaptCyan liked this
By Alex Newborn
#4805264
I found that New York City has a definite pulse. The traffic signals create a rhythm to the congestion, releasing it in bursts. If you get set up right after a burst, sometimes a noticeable lull followed right when you were ready to shoot. But it was always tricky to get it lulled from both directions at the same time.

Sometimes you just had to wait until no one was coming. Other times, you had to take two pics from the exact same angle and hope to paint out a lone slow-moving pedestrian later.

This PARTICULAR photo is combined from no less than four photos!

One was Vinz held up by the legs in my free hand. The other was Vinz's slightly out of focus legs while I held him by the torso. When I combined the two, presto, no hands in the shot anymore.

But the tight focus on the figure left the street too blurry, so I painted it back in from a different photo. That photo had pedestrians really prominent on both sidewalks, so then I replaced the sidewalks on either side from yet another photo, which wasn't used for the street shot because it had a vehicle moving down the center lane.

Image

And Vinz's shadow is added digitally, since he wasn't actually touching the ground.

The street, by the way, is White Street, right around the corner from the firehouse. It's the same street Moranis walks down right after the containment unit explosion. This was about 11am.

Ironically, this is the intersection of two one-way streets, so theoretically we only had to worry about the pulse from one direction each, and yet it was one of the hardest corners to catch a perfect lull on.

Image

Notice that the mailbox seen in the movie frame has since been removed (lower right pic in the four-in-one image has the best view.)

Right after this, a delivery truck BACKED down the one-way street I was standing on and parked, blocking another shot I was trying to take.

Image

This is the shot I was trying to duplicate. Still mad at that truck driver. He backed down an entire block to park there.

Image

Oh well, I guess I could have gotten that shot before lingering on White Street so long.

Alex
By Alex Newborn
#4811214
The picture is actually assembled from four separate photos.

Image

And it came out even better than planned, due to a 'happy accident'.

To get the tiny Twiki figure to look the proper height, he had to be substantially closer to the camera, so there was a big problem getting all the figures to be in focus.

It seemed far easier to take two exposures and combine them digitally, so I snapped one pic with Twiki as the only toy in focus, then I took him out and was just in the process of snapping the Ghostbusters by themselves... when the black foamboard backdrop fell over, knocking the trio down.

I reviewed the photo and it actually captured the moment just before impact, with the backdrop leaving a much more cinematic dark shadow behind them.

Even though it was a pain to paint this darker background around Twiki to combine the pics, I liked the look so much better, I opted to spend the time on the photoshopping rather than start over and take additional pics.

And of course, the Scoleris were shot separately to give them a bit of transparency.

I later realized I could also do a no-Twiki version from the remaining three pics, but this was a total afterthought.

Image

Alex
Jake LeRoy liked this
By Alex Newborn
#4814226
Exactly right!

It's the same no-pack Egon figure on both sides of the photo, digitally combined.

But I DID temporarily swap out his head with a swarthier GB2 charcoal-suit Egon for the 'Tom Morga' version.

Alex
By PssdffJay
#4819159
Woot! New photo!

Ok, background is a screen grab with some photoshopped pieces, and the foreground is a model?

Or did you go all out and build a whole set?! You have been missing for a month...
Alex Newborn liked this
By Alex Newborn
#4819178
This post may contain an affiliate link that helps support GBFans.com when you make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

Nope, it's not a whole set.

The foreground is a slightly redressed toy, borrowed from J. Jonah Jameson. It's the same toy that the chairs I use for Courtroom scenes came from.

Image

The printed 'flat' behind them is, as you guessed, a modified screen grab.

First I combined two frames to paint out Venkman. (Peck was in basically the same spot the entire shot.)

Image

Then I did several things to the image. I sharpened some of the details by painting them in from later closeups (Wise potato chip bag, USA Today logo from the montage, etc.)

I replaced the Durston firehouse photos with originals from this website: http://www.lafire.com/stations/FS023/FS ... 921-hd.htm

I also added a Google-searched 'New York Tribune' flag to the top of some of the blurry newspapers-- just a best-guess as to which paper it might be-- and re-typed their headlines digitally from things I've spotted in theatrical viewings. The smallest one says "Airline Denies Haunted Plane".

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Then I painted out Peck completely (along with some desktop clutter and other details), cloned the tops of the walls to extend it vertically, and deformed the entire image to make it look as straight as possible for printing.

Image

I did have slightly more ambitious plans for the back wall. I own a real 1938 Philco radio like Venkman's, so I photographed it from every angle and made one I could print and fold up like a little cube.

Image

I even duplicated the curve along the front edge when I made the one-inch-wide cardstock version.

Image

Image

(And yes, I put my DR. P. VENKMAN deskplate on the scanner and made a miniature of it too.)

Image

But the concept of building a dimensional shelf in front of the printed backdrop never materialized, partly due to the difficulty of getting everything in focus at the same time. I originally wanted Peck seated in a chair in front of the desk, and Venkman leaning forward for the "You go get the court order" moment. But Peck can't really sit properly, and he was too large and blurry when closer to the camera. It looked much better with both of them standing and turned profile.

As it is, the Venkman figure is right up against the backdrop, meaning the shelf idea wouldn't have worked, so I just turned the mini-Philco around and put it on the desk with only the vacuum tubes showing. Note the deskplate and other desktop details are also out of focus.

I also trimmed the newspaper with the Chevrolet ad out of the printed backdrop and affixed it to the JJJ chair. I took the pic two ways, with that foreground element and without. In the end, I chose the one with it but it could have gone either way.

Image

The last thing I did was to modify the no-pack Venkman figure with some glove-less forearms found in my leftover parts bag from older customs. This is a non-damaging parts swap done by heating-and-popping the elbow joint. I also used an older head.

But I JUST noticed that, after all that prep, when I snapped the photo his left forearm was rotated the wrong way. The teardrop shape of his cuff was pointing up instead of down as it should.

Doh!

Alex
Grimmy GB, Zack, Jake LeRoy liked this
#4820840
Alex,

I really enjoyed this thread, your work is amazing. The Statue of Liberty was my fave. My kids were looking at all this with me. So you have the approval of my kids too! Haha

--Chuck


Alex Newborn wrote:My newest #MidWeekMattyMatters pic.

Image

Alex
By Alex Newborn
#4820842
Glad to hear you've been enjoying some family time browsing my pics.

Did you see the video of how the Liberty pic was done?



And I probably had no clue back in April that I'd really be standing there come July!

Image

Alex
Jake LeRoy liked this
By Alex Newborn
#4832218
Sometimes, I wonder why I am driven to customize.

Why do I imagine doing more with my toys than the manufacturer bothered to do?

Why do I search for and buy the extra pieces that I need to fulfill my vision?

Why do I log the hours modifying and combining the parts?

And why do I take so many progress photos?

What's the payoff?

It doesn't make me rich. No one's offered me a job or even given me free toys to tinker with.

My wife thinks it's an obsessive self-indulgence, and most of my friends just think I'm weird.

So, for instance, why did I bother buying all of these Matty RGB figures?



Why did I swap their clothing out and doctor up the background for this photo?

Image

I mean, I did all that more than a year ago, and what's the payoff?

Is there even any point to doing this?!?


Oh...

Image

Right.

Totally worth it.

Alex

Hey and welcome

My Little Pony/Ghostbusters crossover done by my d[…]

Great work identifying the RS Temperature Control […]

I read Back in Town #1. Spoilers : Hate to b[…]