Welcome to BlogDogIt Monday, March 18 2024 @ 11:28 PM EDT

PJ Has Created A Monster

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masodo's musings

Big Biting Pig ProductionsI can't decide if Big Biting Pig Productions is truly getting better with every project or if I am just becoming that much more of a fan. Whatever the case may be, I came away from my viewing of PJ Woodside's Frances Stein with a fresh appreciation for that crafty band of horror-bent denizens of Madisonville, Kentucky.

This year was PJ's turn to head-up the project and not only did she decide to bring us a completely original take on the beloved "mad scientist" genre, she made the very bold move of casting herself into the shoes of lead/title character (in addition to wearing hats of writer, co-producer, director and likely any other role one can ascribe to a master of independent film production.)

Big Biting Pig ProductionsI must confess that in the days, weeks and months leading up to the release of this picture I was a little nervous regarding PJ Woodside assuming such a monumental role in the success or failure of the project. I have seen every film released by Big Biting Pig Productions (make that 9 now) and am very familiar with spotting PJ on screen in one supporting role or another but would never have expected her to be our leading lady. Simply put... What was I thinking? PJ was the perfect choice to play the brilliant (but whacked-out) suffering scientist driven to madness, ultimately by the effectiveness of her discoveries.

Big Biting Pig ProductionsFrances Stein plays as much to the heart as to the horror. Fans of PJ's work will be quick to tell you that she is not content with knocking your socks off (which this film certainly does) she must grab you by the "gray-matter" and pull you to the edge of your seat. You will want to experience this story first hand so my advice to you is to avoid any synopsis or (other) reviews and get thee to a screening of what is sure to become the talk of the indie horror circuit. This one will become already is a classic.

Followers of Big Biting Pig Productions will recognize many familiar faces on screen and/or names when the credits roll. If you do not do as I did and applaud as those credits roll I would be very much surprised.

Thanks and congratulations to entire cast and crew on yet another successful release.

Be sure to see: GIFed Mad Scientist

 

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Too Uncomfortable for Comfort

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masodo's musings

The NeighborhoodI really have to admire the skill with which Kendall F. Person (publicblogger.com) adds excitement to an already exciting event. By directing each of the artist competing in the perennial best of the web show (known this year by the cosmic/magical title "A Star Is Born") to submit performances for round three in genre that fall outside of the artist's admitted comfort zone, Kendall has leveled the playing field and delivered to fans of the show a deeply entertaining gimps into the minds of the contestants. Add to that, the fact that for this show a "Panel of Judges" was assembled as a further means to thwart anyone's assumptions regarding the outcome for week three of the competition.

Kendall PeaceI was approached by Kendall via a pre-existing social media connection we share and asked if I would consider joining the panel; a task I readily accepted and one I would almost immediately regret having accepted.

Now don't get me wrong, I am a long time fan of The Neighborhood at ThePublicBlogger.com and am always happy to contribute to the content in terms of comments and discussion but little did I realize that in addition to steering the artists outside of their comfort zone he had every intention of putting this judge right alongside the competitors - a front row seat you might say - too close for comfort...

In addition to finding myself in the "Lead" position of the four member panel of judges, I was also informed - as-a-matter-of-factly - that I would be required to record a brief audio or video statement to the competitors and submit that along with the results of our voting process. I accepted this caveat outwardly with humility and resignation while internally I was coming to terms with the fact that in so doing I too would be required to step outside of my creativity comfort zone. Positively brilliant!

InfinitelyRemoteIt should be of no surprise that I am more in my element with words that are considered and then written and would always prefer to remain behind the camera than to venture onto its shinier side. The video I dutifully submitted required my spoken word and myself on camera as "me" and to share that self with the world. Adding to the pressures of stepping-out from behind that curtain of mystery which webmaster wizardry provides, loomed a deadline that gave only 14 hours to judge the performances and create the video and - oh yes - sleep.

You probably will not be able to tell from this presentation but trust me when I say, this is some of the greatest fun I have had blogging in quite some time. I would never have thought that that blogging efforts would impart to me feelings akin to those felt on that fateful day when I stepped backward off a 60 foot cliff to experience the thrill of rappelling for the first time. But it has, and I have Kendall F. Person to thank for the assignment. I can honestly say I have a new appreciation for what those performers that now find themselves competing in the spotlight of "A Star Is Born" must be feeling.

Not that I am destined to enter the Vlogosphere or anything, but I do hope you Enjoy!
 

 The Video: https://youtu.be/0Aag2AIcUhs

Awesome Music Featured With The Very Kind Permission of:
Rob From Amersfoort
From the album:
Failed Entertainment
This Is Not A Good Day
  If You Don't Like It - Give It Back

Robs Webstek - with history, art, old photographs, maps and more... by Rob From Amersfort

Thanks Rob!

 

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Luna Sanguinis - Study

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masodo's musings

Updated Post: Now Featuring Music By Jens Lekman & Annika Norlin


 

Blood Moon

This postcard is from me [Jens Lekman] and the always amazing Annika Norlin. We wrote this together in a few hours and recorded our vocals in the voice memo apps on our phones...

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Sound Trek

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masodo's musings
Sounds Like a Plan

While the original unedited video I shot at the Church Cookout / Water Balloon Fight was a lot of fun to watch its sound quality was pretty awful mostly because the location for the event was the windy courtyard situated between the Church and the highway. Even the portions of audio that were not offensive had very little to offer in the grand scheme of this "documentary" and so I decided to edit all clips with the sound removed. I figured once I had the video where I wanted it I would seek out music to accompany the footage. This was somewhat the opposite of what I had done for the Rockin'4God video where I had first completed the soundtrack and then built the visuals around that.

Rockin'4God was a major project that did not surface until nearly three weeks after the event; for this production I assigned myself the arbitrary deadline of having it finished before one week had passed. As it turned out I met that deadline with a few hours to spare.

I almost turned to Cinelarra on Centos to work on this project but I have never really taken the time to become comfortable there since I installed it awhile back. Instead I called upon those open-source utilities I have grown to know so well over the years: I am referring to VirtualDub, Audacity, MPlayer/Mencoder, ffmpeg and good-old-fashioned DOS batch files.

The Samsung HMX-F90 camera I use produces MP4 files in-camera and I was recording in HD 1280 X 720. This was probably a waste since I end up converting everything down to 720 X 402 anyway (to better match the poor performance of my Pentium 4 editing station) but staying true to the maxim "Garbage in. Garbage out." I wanted to give this project every chance for success. 

The first step after uploading the original files to the computer was to batch-remove the audio and down-sample each clip to get those files I would be taking into the video editor. I turned to Mencoder for this task and created the following batch file to process all MP4 files in its same container directory:

desound-720.bat

for %%t in (*.mp4) do <pathto>mencoder.exe %%t -vf scale -zoom -xy 720 -nosound -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4:vbitrate=2084 -ofps 30 -o "%%t.NS.avi"

This command resulted in the creation of files named the same as the original video clips but with the appendage of ".NS.avi" - these files being ready to go for editing in Virtual Dub.

I knew going into the editing process that there would be five major segments in the telling of this story:

  1.   Opening Titles
  2.   Pre-War Preparations
  3.   Cookout
  4.   Balloon Battle
  5.   Post-War Cleanup
  6.   Closing Title

I created six folders in the projects working folder to correspond with these segments. As each clip was edited down to their essential bits they were saved in their appropriate folder and given a new name corresponding to their segment membership and the order in which they were shot (e.i. OT_001.avi, PW_001.avi, CO_001.avi, etc...)

The title cards were created in PhotoShop and saved-out as JPG files of the proper dimensions to match the video. These images needed to be converted into AVI video files so they could be incorporated into the film. I have found ffmpeg to be the perfect utility for this operation and have created the following reusable batch file to handle the task:

pic2vid.bat

rem Usage pic2vid <input_img> <seconds-N> <fps-N>

<pathto>ffmpeg.exe -loop_input -f image2 -i %1 -r %3 -t 00:00:%2 -vcodec libx264 -an %1.avi

The Awesome Power of DOS - 15 seconds @ 30 fps

This allowed me to create a video clip from a still image that is compatible with Virtual Dub. It must however be converted from within Virtual Dub (saved-out as AVI) to give it the same characteristics as all other video clips.

When a video clip has been edited in "V-Dub" it must be saved as AVI using "full processing mode" configured to use the desired compression codec/scheme - I saved all edits for this video using ffdshow codec as I find it results in a very compact file size while still retaining a high degree of quality.

Once everything had been edited down and converted I used the following batch file to gang process the collection of clips into four distinct segments:

joinclips.bat

<pathto>mencoder -oac copy -ovc copy -o WBM1.avi Title001c.avi PW1_0005-001.avi PW1_0006-001.avi PW1_0007-001.avi PW1_0008-001.avi PW1_0009-001.avi PW1_0012-001.avi PW1_0013-001.avi PW1_0014.avi PW1_0015.avi

<pathto>mencoder -oac copy -ovc copy -o WBM2.avi PW2_0014-001.avi PW2_0015-001.avi PW2_0016-001.avi PW2_0017-001.avi PW2_0018-001.avi PW2_0019-001.avi PW2_0020-001.avi PW2_0021-001.avi PW2_0022-001.avi PW2_0023-001.avi PW2_0024-001.avi PW2_0026-001.avi PW2_0027-001.avi

<pathto>mencoder -oac copy -ovc copy -o WBM3.avi WAR_0028-001.avi WAR_0029-001.avi

<pathto>mencoder -oac copy -ovc copy -o WBM4.avi PWR_0031-001.avi PWR_0032-001.avi PWR_0033-001.avi PWR_0034-001.avi PWR_0035-001.avi PWR_0036-001.avi PWR_0037-001.avi PWR_0038-001.avi startend.avi TheEND.avi

This resulted in four video files: WBM1.avi (Opening & Pre-War), WBM2.avi (Cookout), WBM3.avi (Battle), WBM4.avi (Post-War & Closing)

With these chapter videos "in the can" I was now ready to scour the internet in search of musical accompaniment for each unique segment. I now knew the length of each portion and took my search to Archive.org knowing that they would likely offer a grand selection of public domain music from which to choose. When I would come across something that seemed it might work I would play the video in one Mplayer instance while simultaneously playing the audio selection in another Mplayer instance. Using this technique I had located several pieces of music that would serve the purpose.

Foley ToolWhile previewing the video in this way - with an ear bent toward the audio accompaniment - I spotted a scene wherein Pastor Mike slipped and fell (albeit gracefully) in the wet grass. It was at this point I thought how fun it would be to synchronize the sound from a slide-whistle - ala cartoon comedy. I figured I could lay this sound down in Audacity (where I planed to build the audio track anyhow) so again I ventured out to the internet to find that familiar slide-whistle "fall-down" sound and before I knew it I was hunting down water balloon breaking sounds, various splats and splashes, and any other sound effect I thought might take this production to a new level.

Using VirtualDub to time required sound effectsOnce all the necessary sound effect files were assembled they were converted to WAV format and normalized to common levels converted from stereo to monophonic where necessary and then re-converted to MP3 format to be used in the sound track. The obvious next step involved listing each sound to apply and its precise timing information. I started jotting these times on a legal pad but soon began to feel that a timeline style form would offer a more instinctive way to make these notations. After searching the internet for a pre-made form and finding none I decided to whip something up in CorelDRAW to do the job. Now the internet contains at least one option for the downloading of a timeline work sheet [download: AV-CueSheet.pdf]

In all there are nineteen separate sound tracks utilized in the making of this video. The screenshot below shows the finished audio layout as a clickable image map. Hovering over each track will display its function while clicking a track will play its associated sound file. In order to create the finished tracks as efficiently as possible a count was made of how many of each sound effect was required and that number of copies was placed within its assigned track with approximately 2 seconds between each instance. The job then became one of working down each sound track row and adjusting the timespan (as measured from 0 starting point) by inserting precisely measured silence between each until all sounds were positioned at their exactly prescribed position along the track. Each of the various sound tracks were completed one at a time until the job was complete. Several adjustments in volume were performed throughout in a effort to balance many competing sounds.

 Click on the pictured tracks below to hear their mp3 audio file.

Audacity Map Click To See Larger (Non-Mapped) Image Music - Ride of the Valkyries SFX - Dripping Faucet SFX - Filling Bucket SFX - Ker-Splash SFX - Highway Sounds Music - WINDLASS AND CAPSTAN Music - HICKSVILLE Music - Wolverine Blues SFX - Cart Wheels Combo SFX - Ambient Noise Music - CUSTARD PIE CAPERS SFX - Mini-Splatsh SFX - Mega-Splatsh SFX - Geyser SFX - Bird Whistle Music - FRED KARNOS ARMY Music - Pop Corn SFX - Slow Motion Splash SFX - Splatsh

 

The finished audio job was exported as MP3 to a single file that was mated as audio source for the silent video file in Virtual Dub. Since there was no video processing to be done the export was accomplished using direct copy of source audio and video. The entire blending of audio to video took less than two minutes to process.

The published video ["The Water Balloon Fight Movie"] represents the first and only version of this project. I am sure I could spend many more hours tweaking this and adjusting that but I am very pleased with this video and have learned a trick or two that may factor in to my next video project. I can hardly wait to find out what that is going to be.

 

 

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Appropriate Attire For A Water Balloon Fight

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masodo's musings

When I learned that the church was planning to hold a water balloon fight my first thought was "this cannot happen without my video camera and me in attendance." My first words had me volunteering to document the event. And so that "snowball" was put into motion...

It did not take too much thought to realize that in the midst of a water balloon war is not the optimum location for the delicate, precision electro-opticals of a digital video camera (unless yours happens to be of the Go-Pro® variety.) My Samsung HMX-F90 - as it just so happens - is not designed for making movies in moisture so I had to figure out a way to take the camera out from under the umbrella and into the field of battle.

Slipping the video-cam into a Ziploc bag was the first idea that had merit but polyethylene bags are not manufactured for optical clarity and I did not much relish the thought of filming a water balloon battle as though it were a Doris Day close-up. Since I do have several bits of scrap Plexiglas in the workshop I considered cutting a disk to serve as a port-hole to allow sharply focused rays of light into the bag-o-cam.

Mozertstudio.comWhen I was a kid I had the plans for building an underwater camera housing using Plexiglas, epoxy, o-rings and wing-nuts-out-the-wazoo and wondered if the time had come to put those plans into action but was curious about what other "DIY" types are doing to waterproof their cameras. This is one of those questions that helps the internet earn its keep and as expected there was a fair amount of advice on building home-made submersible camera enclosures.

Pipe UW HousingMany of the more popular methods involved using PVC drain pipe and fittings with Plexiglas for a window - some really good ideas but these involved turning on the camera before loading into the housing and allowing it to run non-stop until its retrieval; this left a lot to be desired in the way of composing, changing focal length, reviewing shots and cinematography in general. I had to dial back the enthusiasm a bit and - by way of the drawing board - invent what I think of as a "rain coat" for my camera, as opposed to those "Helmet Diver Suits" that certainly serve a purpose but are not really what this assignment called for.

In the laboratory, er workshop I was reminded of how well suited the scroll saw was for cutting out Plexiglas [see Bridge Head Template] and returned to that workstation to get this manufacturing process under way. The dimensions for the largest part - the "wrap around" piece - was worked-out using cardboard. The locations for the bends were transferred in pencil to the protective paper coating on the stock Plexiglas. Using a pen knife I lightly scored the brown paper in the hopes this would lead to a more accurate bend.

The bending was accomplished with the use of a heat blower gun; the material being situated between an iron straight edge and along the edge of the iron table saw top. There is a certain art to bending Plexiglas this way but it is a skill that once mastered will serve you well for many ingenious solutions. You should however, exercise great care when heating Plexiglas because the temperature at which the material bends is uncomfortably close to the temperature at which it will ignite. That being said, you are also well advised to have a fire extinguisher handy anytime you plug in the heat blower gun - just sayin'...

Once the large piece was formed the camera is tested for fit and  I discovered the camera controls could be manipulated easier if there was just a bit more clearance space above the camera. This adjustment was made by re-heating and some creative jig rigging but ultimately resulted in a satisfactory shape which was then traced onto more Plexiglas stock to form the front and back panels. These pieces were cut out handily on the scroll saw and the next step involved the rather tedious task of removing the paper from the parts.

The only reason I came to posses a supply of this 1/8th in. Plexiglas is that its previous owner was storing it in a poorly climate controlled warehouse and after several years of heating and cooling extremes the protective paper - which under ideal conditions is adhered with low tack adhesive - is mindbogglingly difficult to remove to expose any usable clarity. Not one to let such a valuable cache of resources find their way to the nearby land-fill I offered to let them continue in their tradition of improper storage in an out of the way nook in my unheated garage/workshop.

I will let it be known here that I have arrived at a method for removing even the most stubbornly adhered protective paper coating from even the most mistreated of Plexiglas rewarding you with crystal-clarity with a minimum of fuss. For this most valuable of trade secrets I ask only the paltry sum of $15 and a self addressed stamped envelope sent to "Tell Me How To Do It" P.O. Box 555..... but seriously here's how it's done:

Soak the Plexiglas parts in a container appropriate for complete submersion in a mild water/ammonia solution for anywhere between overnight and a few days. This will enable you to remove the paper without much trouble. The use of a hard plastic squeegee as a scraper will speed the process and save your fingernails. The only problem now will be the glue residue that is left clinging to the precious Plexiglas. There is only one thing I have found that will cause the glue to release its death-grip and that is none other than Denatured Alcohol. In fact if you ever need to remove sticky residue (as from bumper stickers etc.) go straight for the denatured alcohol and take care of it lickety-split (of course the usual disclaimer about "check for color-fastness in an inconspicuous location to determine if safe for your application" applies here.)

Once the protective paper with its glue mess was gone, window cleaner and paper towels finished the chore. Using a bit of emery cloth I sanded 1/4 in. bands where the Plexiglas pieces needed to be bonded to add some "tooth." At this time I also drilled the hole for access to the camera's tripod socket and scuffed that area to give a bit of grip to those surfaces. Using clear plumbers silicone caulking I applied a bead to the perimeter of the flat end pieces and assembled the project on end and weighted it down to dry overnight. The caulking goes on white but drys clear and make for a clean looking bond despite my rather sloppy caulk beads. The shape of the housing did not allow for the usual technique of smoothing the caulk with a moistened finger so it is what it is.

This video camera rain coat turns out to be a perfect companion piece to the "steady(ish)-cam" that was constructed for the "Rockin'4God" event [see: About this Rockin' 4 God Video] and the combination performed admirably in the heat of battle providing close-to-the-action footage that helps to make "The Balloon Fight Movie" the instant classic it is (among all those who took part in that most epic day of fellowship and fun.) The proof is in the pictures. Check out the video made with this rig and you will agree that without this clam-shell layer of protection it would have been the end of this video camera as we know it. All in all this was the proper amount of engineering to make good on my promise to "deliver the goods."

In my next post I will talk about editing "The Water Balloon Fight Movie" using open-source software and the complexities of building the soundtrack that added so much to the enjoyment of this video project.

[See BlogDogIt Article: Sound Trek]

 

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Peace Baby!

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masodo's musings

All Aboard the Peace Train!

"Peace Train" (as sung here by Cat Stephens) is one of those songs that resonate with many of my generation as an anthem for peace. Cat Stephens (who changed his name to Yusuf Islam after converting to Islam) says: "'Peace Train' is a song I wrote, the message of which continues to breeze thunderously through the hearts of millions. There is a powerful need for people to feel that gust of hope rise up again. As a member of humanity and as a Muslim, this is my contribution to the call for a peaceful solution" [IZQUOTES.com]

Carlethal's "Peace Signs Up" (ft. Bridgette Cooper) is a modern-day song that is destined to touch the world with its message of love, hope and understanding. The song is featured in the following video with the very gracious permission of the artist.

Share the Love!

 Included Images Were Collected From Results Pages Of Yahoo Image Search

Download This Image Collection As Zip FileDownload This Image Collection As Zip FileDownload This Image Collection As Zip File

Mount Zion General Baptist Church kumbaya

A serious search for peace cannot be said to have happened if one is unwilling to investigate the teachings of the one known by many as "The Prince of Peace," Christ Jesus. Therefore, I invite all-comers to visit this humble little church on the south-side of Indianapolis by way of these podcasts that focus on the topic of peace.

Pastor Mike Stephens is an entertaining young preacher offering a fresh approach to Sunday morning inspiration. If you are ever in the neighborhood feel free to join us...

MtZionIndy.org

Enjoy!


Know Peace

Download KnowPeace.mp3


The Shoes of the Preparation of the Gospel of Peace

Download SOGOPs.mp3

 

This post was created in conjunction with:
"A Spontaneous Day Of Peace"
August 15, 2015
A prompt by Kendall F. Person
The Neighborhood @ ThePublicBlogger.com

 "We are controlled by our imagination." – Kendall F. Person

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I Am Travis Just Uploaded A Video

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masodo's musings

#BreakfastClub

I Am TravisThis is a Class Project for VP172 at Southern Oregon University. Directed by Travis Wheat.

I happened upon the Travster1000 YouTube Channel several years ago and even featured his video titled "Nahalem Bay Adventure" here on BlogDogIt (it has since been set to private.[smiley::(]) Although it was basically a "home movie," it exhibited all indications of having been created by a budding cinematographer and was edited to a tee. "This kid," I thought, "is on the right track."

Thanks to ability to subscribe to channels on YouTube I received the notification today that  I Am Travis was back at it...

The video featured here is a fun bit of "hamming" that ultimately proves to provide the viewer a reasonable comedic "lift" and no shortage of entertainment value. Just remember this is a class project and enjoy it for all it's worth...

The Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGDh8vk4iwo

The Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/Travster1000/

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Free Flat Plane Plan

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masodo's musings

Flat PlanePretty much anything you want to know, you need only jump on your favorite search engine enter some keywords and before you know it you just modified your IQ by some fraction of a point. If the internet was kind then that should be a net intelligence gain; you know however, that you always run the risk of shaving off a point (or maybe two) in the exercise.

Sometimes the subject you are seeking to explore is so obscure you don't turn up anything remotely helpful. That is what I was facing this morning when I finally got around to doing something I have been meaning to do for quite awhile...

Build an airplane from 1/8 inch thick Fome-Cor board.

Flat PlaneI have a hard time imagining that I am the only one who has pondered making a glider out of Foam-Core; not intricately carving a model plane out of Styrofoam but creating a bigger version of those little balsa gliders that all the really cool kids fling around the neighbourhood. I have worked around Foam-Core for a great many years (in photography and graphic arts) and I finally waited as long as I could; I just had to know. Since the internet was pretty useless for this project, I decided I would just wing it.

The results are pictured here. Channelling my inner Wilbur/Orville I carefully 'engineered' the following lines. I was kind-of going after a Spitfire feel and think it's not too far off the mark. After first drawing the fuselage (which came in at 27 inches overall) I came up with the wings which offered a 30 inch span - swept back 1 inch in the leading edge; swept forward 2 inches in the trailing edge; measuring 8 inches at the center-line.   The tail-wing/elevator spans 12 inches and is reverse swept compared to the wing at 1" leading edge, 1/2" trailing edge sweep through a 4-1/2" center-line.The yardstick is included in the picture so we might rightly call this a scale template

Flat Plane

Wing mounting slots were positioned somewhat more carefully than random by intersecting the fuselage in the horizontal at the center of the nose and perpendicular to the vertical of the tail. Fuselage center-line is 6 inches behind the wing's leading edge. All cutting was done freehand with an X-acto Knife. I intentionally designed this to be cut using all straight lines to ease the job of reproduction should I ever duplicate this prototype. A jumbo paper clamp was just about right for a nose weight leaving the finished glider just a tad tail-heavy. "Close enough for government work."

The time had come to launch the maiden voyage. Recruiting my back deck and yard into service as an impromptu Kitty Hawk I was fortunate to be facing only a slight head-on breeze and deemed conditions perfect to gently push this bird from the nest. A 20 foot, gentle, sloping fall from a 10 foot height resulted in a safe landing in the grass (as shown in the picture.)

Flat PlaneNot a bad first attempt at realizing a long held daydream. Tinkering with bending the wings into a dihedral, adjustments to elevator, inserting wings in reverse orientation all resulted in no improvement to the original design and ultimately led to a catastrophic stall that resulted in a nose-dive and subsequent crushing impact. Foam-Core is nowhere near as resilient as balsa wood and that is probably why you don't often hear of these sorts of experiments.

So, bottom line? As an art form flat Foam-Core airplanes might have potential but as a toy... not so much. I think any further attempts to build a model aeroplane out of Foam-Core will have to utilize a more complex foray into three dimensions in a quest for durability. Before you invest much time in this pursuit, might I recommend the boundless entertainment and joy available in the building and flying of kites.


Flat PlaneUpdate:

Using the original fuselage as a template I tried cutting a new wide-body version from 1/2" thick foam-core. Attaching the same wings, elevator and nose weight give a far better flying, more durable craft. So if you are looking for something to wow the kids (or the kid in you) this just might be a step in the right direction!


 

 

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The Truth Comes Home

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masodo's musings
World Premier - Ezekiel's Landing - At The Irving

Indie in IndyWhile the rest of geekdom was shedding a happy tear over the announcement of a new installment in the the Star Wars franchise - Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens - this nerd was beside himself over the fact that the world premiere of the long awaited, much ballyhooed, indie sci-fi, horror, action, thriller Ezekiel's Landing was about to occur and in my own back yard (so to speak.) Now don't get me wrong I am a big fan of Star Wars and take pride that I was among the first in line for the premiere screening of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope in Indianapolis at the luxurious Eastwood Theater in 1977.

Writer/Director James Treakle

 

Irving Theater - not as plush as the infamous Eastwood but with a far more colorful history - was the "happening" place-to-be in Indianapolis for die hard fans of independent films of the sci-fi persuasion. On April 24 the world premier of Eziekiel's Landing was featured "At The Irving."

On first inspection one might find the Irving better suited to a random Rave than a world premier, motion picture unveiling but what it lacked in bolted-to-the-floor seating, carpeting and ceiling tiles it more than made up for in warm, friendly fans of creativity rubbing elbows with the craftspeople who came together to make the night even possible and ultimately enjoyable.

Stage LeftExecutive Producer Kate Chaplin took to the microphone as a pleasantly enthusiastic Master of Ceremony sharing the spotlight with Writer/Director James Treakle who set the stage for a respectable crowd of eager theater goers. The 85 minute film, included the briefest of intermissions 3/4 of the way through by some very needy anti-virus software on the projectors source MacBook - that's free anti-virus for you.[smiley:;)]

Stage RightFollowing the featured presentation was a very informative Q&A session that had all cast and crew in attendance standing in the front of the hall. After taking several questions a suggestion was made that perhaps the wireless microphone should be passed down the line so that each member in attendance might declare their favorite scene and share one of their fondest memories of the production. This was priceless entertainment that can never be equaled. I am thankful to social media for keeping me in the loop so that I could attend this once in a lifetime event.

I encourage you, dear reader, to support the independent filmmaker in whatever genre suits your taste and discover right there, in your own "back yard," what it is that makes the movie industry so magical: the blood, sweat and tears of those individuals with the vision and drive to love, create and share in pursuit of what can only be called a really good movie.

In an effort to show my support for these folks I offer the following review of the film Ezekiel's Landing - originally posted to IMDB:

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