Jonn called the other to invite Maureen and I to take a little tour of his work place. Of course Maureen and I accepted WITHOUT hesitation. You see, Jonn works for a Special Effects company that is tied in to the Movie industry. Jonn has been in ABQ for the past two months build sets and special effects for stunts in a new Denzel Washington film. Sorry, I actually forgot the damn camera. lol First off, the security to get into the Albuquerque Studio's is tighter than getting on a Military installation. WOW. John had called ahead and left our names at the Guard house and the Guards still called people to verify that we were allowed in. haha We had to drive around Studio 1 as part of the set was blocking the short way to John's building. Was really cool to see how the props are made. Very realistic. Anyway, we get to the shop and do our greetings with Jonn (sorry about the drool, John lol). Anyway, Jonn began the tour by showing us some of the vehicles that they had to customize and fabricate for different scenes. Holy crap. haha They used Suburbans and large van style Ice Cream Trucks. haha They placed 1/4" steal around the vehicles (visualize mad max vehicles) for armored plating. Typically, the plating doubled with spacers between them so that the two plates would appear to be 1" thick armor. Then, instead of welding, more fabricators come in and silicone the plates and then paint the silicone to look like rusty welds. They also bondo the outer edges to fill the gap for realistic looks of 1" armor. I have to say that the silicone and bondo is done so well that until I ran my fingers across it, I would have NEVER have known it was made that way. Next up, Lunch. haha Yea, everyone who works there is fed a very well catered lunch. Ah the rough life. haha They have many many dishes to choose from, and they are ALL five star. WOW! So lunch is settling and we begin our journey into various buildings where they have the sets. The first building had sets that were done being filmed and the tear down had begun. There was one set that was still intact, so in we go. haha This is a bedroom scene and I must say, whomever fabricated this is amazing. It looked and felt like a real room. Of course the scene is dirt, run down and obviously was the place for the villain. haha Looking up at the cat walks was kind of cool. We were able to see where the lighting goes, the positioning of the camera's and of course tape on the floor where the actors are to stand. The next building was even better as they were getting ready to run rehearsals and had the smoke machines going. The is filled the building with what appears to be fog. Mind you, each building is 4 - 5 stories high and the length of a football field. The set that was not being used currently was a bar setting, and by the looks of it, the was a huge bar fight. haha Again, very realistic and again, amazing how the details are so life like. Mind you, the set's are basically ply wood walls and Iron (for stair cases) and then the artists (that's what I call them) do their stuff. I think Maureen and said that the detail was so fine that there were empty gun shell casings scattered upon a checker board? Along the way John introduced us to people who are directly involved with the cast and director. Very nice people. Not the stereotypical snobs the media makes them out to be. Down to earth people who are just like you and/or me (well, not so much like me. haha). We now enter the back side of the Effect building and get to see how they create the vehicles and other cool gadgets. hehe Hell, they had a Big Dog chopper (brand new) that they made to look like it had been sitting in a junk yard for 1,000 years. haha Yet under neath its new found look, was still full of chrome. A little cleaning and you have a new bike again. Of course John showed us how they get vehicles to flip using the props they make. Very cool stuff. Universal Studio's is a JOKE when comparing a real life studio to a tourist attraction. I have found new "Respect" to how a movie is made, and will never again complain about the price to go see a movie (well, I will still complain about the concession's lol). The amount of work, hours, and labor that goes in the behind the scenes is amazing. I think this particular movie was budgeted at a cool 80 million. HOLY CRAP! In the end, Maureen and I had a GREAT time visiting with John and learning so much (in little time) about the Special Effects and making of a movie. Jonn is a class act and a true friend to whom ever has the PLEASURE to meet him. Thanks Jonn, for a wonderful afternoon.
Sounds like you and Maureen had quite the day Ron. Nice writeup. I think I will turn on the N2O for Jonn next time he rides with me.
very cool!! had the pleasure of meeting john at last years spring fest and during the azlx caravan to the sf!!!! great guy and awesome job to have!!!
Yea, I kicked myself in the ass for forgetting the camera. haha Funny thing is, I had the camera all ready to go. On the up side, I camera's are not allowed on set, so I would have only been able to take pics of the Special Effects stuff. Which, by the way, are way cool. haha Guess I will have this day embedded in the back of my burnt out brain.
Too cool! That is what I originally took as my major in college... guess I shouldn't have gone to a recently converted all girls college... about a 9 to 1 ratio of girls to guys... lets just say I didn't get a lot of studying completed in class!
