A:M Saves the day... again

[heyvern]

So here's the story...

 

I do these play posters for my brother's community theater down in VA. The latest one is one of my favorites, Deathtrap.

 

So I had originally planned to just do the whole concept for the poster using photoshop and royalty free images from my photo CDs. However during the layout and research stage I totally goofed up. I needed a pair of vintage handcuffs (if you know the play you know why) for the title on the poster. I found the perfect pair... ON THE FREAKING WEB! I used the darn thing through the whole creation all the way to the final and had completely forgotten it was a copyrighted image and I really couldn't legally use it. It was sort of in the back of my head that I needed to replace it but I completely zoned out.

 

I searched for ages on every stock photo site I could find for those exact handcuffs... nothing! NOTHING! Couldn't find the darn things anywhere. If I had time I would have bought a pair of replicas I found for $26 and photographed them myself! The original photo I used was from a catalog of old west stuff. I needed those exact type to create the "letters".

 

Here is a portion of the original photo as I used it in the poster. As you can see it is a bit fuzzy due to the low resolution of the original web image:

 

 

At the last minute I'm agonizing over it. They need the darn files to get printed... I was torn. I could have risked it but decided against it.

 

I chose to bite the bullet and try to model and render as quickly as possible a pair of antique rusty handcuffs in A:M.

 

Here is the result which in my opinion turned out pretty darn good considering how little time I worked on it... well for me it was a little time, about 15 hours... with some more time I could have gotten the shadows done better in A:M. I chose to "fake" the shadows in Photoshop to save time:

 

 

 

A:M to the rescue baby! Yeeehaaa!

 

 

Here is the final poster. I'm quite pleased with it to be honest.

 

 

-vern

[KenH]

It turned out well and a great idea! Now release the model to the AM Community to show your gratitude.

[Mr. Jaqe]

Whoa, awesome poster. Quite a few neat and sassy details. I enjoy neat and sassy details. They're sassy.

 

A:M does indeed save days, or even weeks. As a matter of fact, A:M saved me an entire year by rescuing me on my art porjct in school a few years back.

[martin]

I like the whole design of that poster... It's incredibly well done. Is it something you came up with or do other "Death Trap" posters incorporate those design elements? (I tend to believe it's original to you.) How many people watch these plays? Or see the poster? Is it 1000s? (Is the poster better than the play?) I'd expect to see a poster of that quality at the movie theater. Very nice indeed.

[Paul Forwood]

First class work, Vern!

Are the hands from an image bank or did you photograph them yourself?

Great concept executed beautifully.

 

And the handcuffs are really well done too.

[Eric2575]

Nicely done Vern.

[stinkyu111]

it turned out great ...

 

and the shadows are fine, i don't think you would have wanted a deeper shadow, it would have been to distracting

 

and 15 hours ...(yes i find that time flys when your in A.M.) in photoshop 15 hours would have been forever hehe

 

Steve

[KNBits]

Very nice Vern

[agep]

Great job!

[heyvern]

Thanks for all the comments!

 

All the images came from a set of ancient disks from Hemera called Photo Objects Vol. 2. I couldn't even find those images online anywhere. I think they have been destroyed by now... they are very dated.

 

Basically... the hands... not holding pens. I had to put the pens in there. The sleeves are from different images. The sleeves are a bit rough. Just couldn't find anything that matched perfectly and at the same resolution.

 

The woman's hand didn't have finger nail polish or jewelry... I had to add that in from other images. I also had to extend the arm.

 

I love that "Liquefy" filter!

 

Here are the raw images:

 

 

Martin you are so right! They put these up around Harrisonburg VA... I doubt 1000 people would see it, but they almost ALWAYS sell out all the shows. I keep saying to my brother... "The dang posters are better than the play!" But they are fun to do. I always tell the director that I get to do WHATEVER I WANT NO QUESTIONS... if they want to "art direct" they have to pay me.

 

Whenever I start one of these I do a google search for posters for that play... and then I try to come up with something new... of course not EVERY production has their posters online, but I can usually find about 5 or 6. I like to hope these are unique though.

 

As I think about it... it might not have been 15 hours for the A:M model. I kept stopping to search for a stock photo and work on paying jobs... it was definately in the 6-8 hour range though. Had to paint the rust textures.

 

-vern

[heyvern]

This is the final render of the hand cuffs. I had to do some minor touch up in photohshop. I used a displacement map which caused parts of the model to "bump out" kind of strange around the top of the key. I also did a bit of desaturation and levels adjustment in spots to make it look a bit more realistic.

 

 

 

-vern

[dougwills]

Vern,

 

Wonderful work, as usual. This is the kind of poster I like to hang in my "movie room" (just a FROG with lights, bar stools, posters and a big screen tv) at home. Any possibility of buying one?

 

-Doug

[heyvern]

Any possibility of buying one?

 

Hee hee!

 

Thanks!

 

Uh... let's see... they are only printed on tabloid size paper (11 x 17) at the local "Kinkos" type print shop down in Harrisonburg (they also support the community theater by printing at cost). I could certainly send you the PDF and you could print it out and hang it up!

 

I would love to see one of my posters printed HUGE someday.

 

Here are the others I've done so far:

 

http://www.vernsworld.com/vw/resume/images/poster-final.jpg

 

http://www.vernsworld.com/vw/resume/images...oster-final.jpg

 

http://www.vernsworld.com/misc_images/aol_poster.jpg

 

http://www.vernsworld.com/harvey/harvey_poster_final-1.jpg

 

-vern

[Zaryin]

Nice! Where's your contact info on those posters Vern? If you're doing it for free you might as well get some free advertisment out of it .

[heyvern]

Nice! Where's your contact info on those posters Vern? If you're doing it for free you might as well get some free advertisement out of it

 

I get my name and contact info in the program. I should put my name on the poster... but... I love clean design... sometimes that bit of text just seems to get in the way. I have a hard enough time making it fit the way it is. At least with the program they take it home with them... I think some people have been stealing the posters which is really COOOOOL! I will make the effort on the next play to put in my name somewhere.

 

I am thinking of getting some of the posters printed out in a large format and having them framed.

 

My brother just informed me for this latest poster that he forgot to mention some "requirements". The disclaimer for the company that provides the scripts... that wasn't in there before... the author's name should be 50% of the size of the title... never knew that before... probably get sued now.

 

p.s. Many people have asked if that was my shirt in the odd couple poster... no... it isn't. I may be a slob but that's going a bit far.

 

-vern

[largento]

Great job, Vern! Cool concept and great execution. The handcuffs came out great and I'm sure they look better than a photo would have. ...'sides, with this, you can position them to fit your layout, rather than vice versa.

 

I'm sure some folks don't realize how much of a reward there is in getting to do a project that isn't beaten to death by a client. Not quite as good as money, but pretty close!

[Moonsire]

Hey Vern.

 

As an actor in many shows (including Arsenic and Old Lace) and collector of the posters for the shows, I can tell you that yours are great. This one is sue..eeet, and the cuffs look real good. I liked the nod to the movie stars of Arsenic and Old Lace, one of my favorite of the ol' time movies.

 

Phil...

[trajcedrv]

Great work Vern (you already know that, but I wanted to repeat it again, just in case ;-)

[dougwills]

Vern,

 

I would love to get a hi res printable of this if you have the time. I could also print at Kinko's right down the street and put it in a poster frame. My wife would love it.

 

If it's no trouble.

 

-Doug

[Sacman]

Okay so I stared at the original photo for a bit before I finally read the post. I couldn't figure out what CLEAT meant.

 

Am I the only one?

 

 

 

Wade

[heyvern]

Okay so I stared at the original photo for a bit before I finally read the post. I couldn't figure out what CLEAT meant.

 

AHHHHGGG!

 

Give a guy a heart attack!

 

I had to go back and make sure there wasn't a typo.

 

------

 

Doug, I'll get you a "high res" PDF (it's 150 dpi so it might get fuzzy if printed REALLY big) soon as the client gets HIS copy. I just got final approval and sent the file to the printer today (approval shmoval... when I say it's done it's done! ). These people are so slow. They usually wait till the last minute to even ask me to do the poster. In the past my brother would ask me... then say he needs it in two days. He wouldn't ask me sooner because he doesn't want to impose. Then when he gets desperate... he doesn't feel so bad asking for the help.

 

I lucked out this time and knew 2 months in advance what the play was going to be and that eventually they would ask me to do it... I had to wait for the official request of course.

 

-vern

[Mr. Jaqe]

Me thinks the thread should be called "Vern saves the day... again." with the picture of youself in your supermanoutfit.

 

Cheers,

J

[heyvern]

Thanks Mr. Jaque,

 

Actually... it was so cool how AM just fit right in. It was like a life preserver. It's always there when I need it. Even for small simple things I can throw something together under pressure. I tend to lean towards photorealism and this has always been a big part of my use of any 3D package. Can it render something that would be hard to tell was "3D". Sometimes more so than animation I need it to do photorealistic stills.

 

I knew as soon as I did the first test rendering of the hand cuffs I would write this "case study".

 

-vern

[dougwills]

Vern,

 

Thanks, the PDF should work great.

 

Aren't all brothers good for that kind of thing? Mine just got shipped to Italy for three years. Just before leaving he asked if I could watch out for his son who is heading off to college. You know, nothing big, just make sure he gets there, keep on him about his grades, be ready to help in an emergency, give him a place to stay for holidays and vacation, fill up his gas tank when necessary.... lol. You know, nothing big.

 

Seriously, I am happy to help him, but who else do you ask to do this kind of stuff if not your (in your brothers case - very talented) brother?

 

Way to come through for him. I'm sure he truly appreciates it.

 

-Doug