Author Archives: djuby

Pop Quiz – October 5, 2013 – Winner!

atomicpunk-thecolonel HerrD-MisunderstandingInMaternity_zps94aeb06d imcn KericsTechnomage spacepope_zps6f1fce41

Five entries this week - well six actually but the Link led to an error page - so let's call it five. Space Pope was very cool, but I was unable to find the three items anywhere in it. If they are there, I apologize for my "thickness". Of the remaining four, although all very creative and quite funny, I can only pick one winner.

Although I don't particularly understand it...again...kinda thick...this week's winner is...wait for it...Herr D.

HerrD-MisunderstandingInMaternity_zps94aeb06d

To claim your prize, simply link a pic of the character you would like me to re-imagine in the comment section of this post and I will post a link in your gallery when it is done.

Please join me in congratulating HerrD and all the other entries this week.

Join us again on Friday, October 25th at 9 pm eastern for a special 48 hour Pop Quiz Halloween extravaganza. Bring candy!

Pop Quiz – Saturday, October 5, 2013 – Hat Trick

hattrick_productions

Your Pop Quiz challenge is to use the three items posted below to create an amazing HeroMachine work of art.

hattrick

You can create a hero, a villain, a robot, or even an abstract work of art. The only limit is that your image must include these three items at least once.

You only get one entry so be creative, and above all else, have fun!

All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like the HeroMachine forums,ImageShackPhotoBucket, or whatever);

  • Entries must be made as a comment or comments to this post, containing a link directly to the image and the character name;
  • The image must be new and designed specifically for the Pop Quiz;
  • Please name your files as [your name]-[character name].[file extension] before you upload it. So DiCicatriz, for instance, would save his “Bayou Belle” character image as DiCicatriz-BayouBelle.png.
  • Please make the link go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this). See this post on how to get the direct link for most sites.

This week's prize...such as it is...the winner will get one of their characters re-imagined by yours truly. Please contain your excitement.

This contest will close at 9pm Eastern on Sunday, October 6th.

Make It Sew: The Costume Blog – The Sultan of Sequins

bob

Robert Gordon "Bob" Mackie is an American fashion designer, best known for his costuming for entertainment icons such as Carol Burnett, Cher, Judy Garland, Diana Ross, Liza Minnelli, Tina Turner, and Mitzi Gaynor. He was the costume designer for Carol Burnett on The Carol Burnett Show during its entire 11 year run and designed the costumes for its spinoff, Mama's Family, and for the 1993 television adaptation of Gypsy.

Mackie was discovered by legendary costumer Edith Head in 1961 while working as a novice designer at Paramount Studios. Mackie designed costumes for the Las Vegas Strip-based burlesque shows, Hallelujah Hollywood, which was inspired by the Ziegfeld Follies and ran at the MGM Grand(now Bally's Las Vegas) from 1974 to 1980, and Jubilee!,  which has been running since 1981. Both productions involve intricate, elaborate costumes and grandiose sets. Images of many of Mackie’s design drawings for these productions are available in the Showgirls collection from UNLV Libraries Digital Collections.

Two of Mackie's best-remembered creations had a humorous side. While working on The Carol Burnett Show, he designed a "curtain dress" (complete with a curtain rod across the shoulders) that Carol Burnett wore in the Gone with the Wind parody: Went with the Wind. Mackie also designed the garish ensemble worn by Cher at the March 1986 Academy Awards: black stretch pants, a bejeweled loincloth, knee high boots, a black chainlink top, and a huge feathered Mohawk headdress that was one and a half times taller than her head. Introduced by Jane Fonda with the words, "Wait'll you see what's gonna come out here," Cher was appearing as a presenter after what many considered an Oscar snub (Cher was not nominated for her performance in Mask). "As you can see," said Cher, "I did receive my Academy booklet on how to dress like a serious actress."

Mackie is often called the sultan of sequins, or the rajah of rhinestones, known for his sparkling and imaginative costume designs He has won nine Emmy Awards for his designs, and was nominated for three Academy Awards.

Mackie has said, "A woman who wears my clothes is not afraid to be noticed."

Mackie is also known for his exclusive dress designs for collector's edition Barbie dolls.

barbie1 barbie barbie 4 barbie 3 barbie 2

Mackie's vast celebrity client list includes...

Beyoncé, Carol Burnett, Cher

beyoncebob mackie burnett editcher-oscar

Whoopi Goldberg, Elton John, Liberace

whoopieeltonliberace-the-official-liberace-website_750_767_80

Madonna, Pink

madonnapink

Diana Ross, The Supremes, and Tina Turner

dianasupremestina-turner (drawing) 1

The Pop Quiz Returns…

pop-art-gary-grayson

 

Just a reminder that the next Pop Quiz will be on Saturday, October 5th. In addition to the regular monthly version, I am thinking of running a second monthly Pop Quiz with a seasonal theme of some kind...Halloween is coming! Let me know what you guys think.

Iron Man 3: Pix of Armour Construction

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/nailbiter111/news/?a=87076

Make It Sew – The Costume Blog: Tales From The Fitting Room

indiana-jones-and-the-raiders-of-the-lost-ark-original

I love my job. I am reminded everyday as I walk into my shop how truly lucky I am. There is an old saying that if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life. While I wouldn't go quite that far, the fact that I have managed to combine what I love with what I am good at, and that someone is willing to pay me for it, is pretty cool.

But the job of a costume designer is not just drawing pretty pictures and making pretty clothes. There is an astonishing amount of paperwork involved in costume design - a fact that I have been trying to find a way around for 25 years. There is the script analysis: studying the text and flagging all references to what the clothing needs to be and what it needs to do; the costume breakdown which is a comprehensive list of all the pieces worn by the actor in a given scene; the all important budget which assigns a monetary "limit" to each piece required for the production, and the costume plot which traces a performer's entrances and exits and costume changes and provides information like potential quick changes.

Doing this for a play can be daunting enough - especially in Shakespeare - but when you approach a musical with a cast of anywhere from 24 to 60 people it can be a huge undertaking. But it has to be done - every time - all the time.

All of this is countered with what I consider to be the true joy of costume design: working with actors. I love actors. I admire their talent, their discipline, and the balls it takes to stand in front of an audience night after night and deliver text committed to memory as though they are saying it for the first time. Couldn't do it...never want to try. But working with actors - or anyone for that matter - has its pitfalls.

Image is an interesting thing. We design ourselves every day. Each morning as we get ready to leave for the day, we make subconscious decisions that will dictate our image to the world. Battling that image can be the biggest challenge for a costume designer. Throughout my career I have run into several image issues. Predominantly they have involved young performers who are just starting to figure out the actor/designer relationship. Seasoned performers have, for the most part, figured this dance out. It's a collaboration. Through the rehearsal process they build a character from the inside out, while the designer works from the outside in. Once a performer reaches some sort of fame or recognizability, image can become a whole other issue.

One of my most memorable encounters with "image" occurred when I first started designing and teaching for the Sheridan College Theatre Program. I was working on a production of "The Return of the Curse of the Mummy's Revenge!", a musical which is a send up of 1950s B horror movies. It's the story of a guide, an heiress, her archeologist father, an evil priestess, and a tap dancing mummified Egyptian slave. For the design of the show it seemed that using images of movie icons would be appropriate. The heiress became Kate Hepburn from the "African Queen", and the guide was modelled after Indiana Jones.

When the actor playing the guide showed up for his fitting I could never have predicted his reaction. We recreated the look to a T. Fedora, worn khakis, stunning vintage leather jacket stripped of dye and weathered with French enamel varnish, bull whip, the whole nine yards. When he emerged from the fitting room he looked great - except for the fact that his eyes were filled with tears. Truly concerned, I asked what was wrong. His response floored me. "This is all brown, and I have blue eyes!"

Stunned silence.

I was dumbfounded. My years of experience had prepared me for a lot of things, but not this. As I explained - again - the theory behind the character's look his anxiety continued unabated. It was only after a quickly manufactured lie that he started to come around. "Well you see Mike. by dressing you in a contrasting colour, we are actually drawing focus to just how blue your eyes are. If we dressed you in cool colours they would get lost." While this is true in practice - especially in film - on stage, the distance from the audience all but ensures that eye colour is rarely noticed at all. He came around slowly, but bought it hook, line and sinker. The next time I worked with him, which was in a production of "Guys and Dolls" he even asked if he could have a brown suit!

He is not the only of his kind that I have encountered over the years, but he is certainly one of the most memorable.

 

 

Make It Sew – The Costume Blog – The Creators

Costume Designer Penny Rose

Penny-Rose-headshot-Spotlight-On-page

Selected Film Credits

2013 The Lone Ranger

lone ranger tonto first still

2011 Pirates of the Caribbean: Tales of the Code: Wedlocked (Short)

2011 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

pirates-of-the-caribbean-on-stranger-tides-original1_0

2010 Unstoppable

2010 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

persia

2008 Made of Honor

2007 St. Trinian's

2007 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

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2007 Wild Hogs

2006 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

pirates-of-the-caribbean-dead-mans-chest-20060623044131238-000

2005 The Weather Man

2004 King Arthur

arthur

2003 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

pearl

2002 Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister (TV Movie)

2001 Just Visiting

2001 Neanderthal (TV Movie documentary)

1999 Entrapment

1998 The Parent Trap

1996 Evita

1996 Mission: Impossible

1993 Shadowlands

1991 The Commitments

1982 Pink Floyd The Wall

1981 Quest for Fire

 

 

Power User Profile – JR19759

When I joined Heromachine and started perusing the forum pages, JR's was one of the first I landed on. Since that time I have been a regular visitor watching this amazing young person's work evolve into the glorious work they are creating today. Their singular, angular style, mastery of colour, and the complexity in their detail and shading makes them one of the most original creators on Heromachine . When I read their profile, the thing that surprised me the most was the fact that they are only 20 years old, and while I am impressed with their brilliant artwork and concepts, I must also make mention of the thoughtful and insightful comments and critiques they post as part of their regular Blog contributions. Congratulations JR...this is long overdue.

Continue reading

Movie News: WB CEO Kevin Tsujihara Mentions Multiple DC Movies Are In The Works

CBN › News › Movie  News
Posted by: Matt  McGloin, Editor/Publisher September 16, 2013 13:55 | Updated: 3 hours 16  min Ago

 

Previously, Warner Bros.  CEO Kevin Tsujihara let it be known at an investors  meeting that the new Ben  Affleck Batman would be a seasoned veteran, and now new details have become  known about the direction of the DC movie universe.

Yahoo has a transcript of the investors meeting with  Kevin Tsujihara being questioned by Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Jessica Reif. The transcript doesn't look to be all that  well transcribed, but there seems to be enough present to understand.

Tsujihara lets it be known that multiple  DC movies are being planned as he notes the basis of WB's 12-14 movies will have  the DC characters as the foundation.

Then you have 12 to 14 pictures coming from Warner Bros. And I think the  basis, foundation of those 12 to 14 pictures are going to be coming from DC  Entertainment. We have Batman versus Superman coming out in  ’15, but those are going to be in the coming months a lot of announcements  regarding kind of the future movie, television, games and consumer product pieces that are going to be coming from  DC.

Tsujihara continues with mention of Ben Affleck and the Batman Vs. Superman movie. Note: I  believe "Jake" is supposed to be director Zack [Snyder], and the "15" mentioned  is the year 2015, otherwise it would be read as "the next 15 movies," but Tsujihara just stated  above 12-14. At least that is my reading of it.

We couldn’t be happier about the movie that Jake and with Chris Nolan’s help  can be created. It was a total reboot of the Man of Steel or Superman  and it really gives credibility to that character and Henry did a great job. It’s a perfect springboard to then move  into next 15, we think Jake is going to be directing Batman and Superman.  Batman, in the movie we haven’t titled it yet and we are really excited about  the fact that we were able to convince Ben to play Batman. It is a perfect for  the role and it’s going to be a Batman that you’ve absolutely never seen before,  he’s kind of tired and kind of weary,  he’s been doing this for a while and Ben is the exact perfect for the vision that Jake has for that character and  the fact that you saw such a passionate response and that is really kind of a  testament to the love that people have for this character and it’s really  exciting to see kind of where this is going and exact vision of how he’s going  to put that movie together. We think it’s going to be huge.

Interestingly enough, the source close to Warner Bros. that told us Bryan  Cranston is cast as Lex Luthor also told us  a  lot is leading up to the Justice League movie. Cosmic Book  News is also told that Bryan Cranston signed on for 6-10 movies  with Ben Affleck signing a multi-picture deal as well, possibly as high as 13. We are told Warner  Bros. wants to create a more connected world than what Marvel has done.

Tsujihara also  states DC will be the focus of things related to video games and more.

And as you said it’s being driven – the new  franchises that we are going to be zoning are going to be DC franchises.  We think there is big opportunities to  build off of what we are doing throughout the rest of the company in games as  well.
And as I said, we are number one in – we are really well positioned  for that transition on the home entertainment side and with the DC pushing, if you are in consumer products and games we think there is opportunities  there as well. So we are able to get some margin expansion also through the  digital initiatives and continuing to look for ways to be more efficient and we  are very confident that we can grow this business going  forward.

Read more at http://movies.cosmicbooknews.com/content/wb-ceo-kevin-tsujihara-mentions-multiple-dc-movies-are-works#gbeHcGmRP2ihyfYR.99

TV News – The CWs Arrow gets a Flash!

CBN › News › TV  News
Posted by: Matt  McGloin, Editor/Publisher September 13, 2013 20:06 | Updated: 1 day 10  hours Ago
 grant-gustin

Grant Gustin is the  new Barry Allen - aka The Flash - set to appear in three episodes of Arrow Season 2 before getting his own spinoff series.

The 23-year-old actor is known for Glee and 90210 and will  appear in episodes 8, 9 and 20 of Arrow.

Barry Allen is described as an assistant forensics scientist working for  the Central City police department, where a string of unexplained robberies may  have a connection to a tragedy in his past. It's also said Barry Allen is a  comic book fan boy who is obsessed with the Arrow and is unaware  that working with Oliver Queen and Felicity to solve the crime has  brought him right into the dangerous world of the vigilante.

Greg Berlanti,  Andrew Kreisberg and  Geoff Johns will executive-produce the Flash spin-off, with David  Nutter directing the  pilot (Nutter also directed the pilot episodes for Arrow and  Smallville) and episode 20.

The Flash Arrow episode begins filming at the end of September.  Previously, Greg  Berlanti offered that  The Flash will have powers and the red suit.

"That said, he does need powers to become The Flash. And he will be The  Flash. He will wear a red costume, and he will go by that name."

Arrow Season 2 returns Wednesday, October 9th at 8pm ET on the CW;  it's thought The Flash episode will air in December.