The 1st episode is still pretty far from being done. I've taken a couple of sequences and that's about it. I just sorted thru them tonite! Anyway, I'm gonna show you guys the Compound set. It's just a bunch of dood dads, nicknacks, and foamboard. I always use a wooden base to set stuff up on. Those who know me knows that my basic construction for ANY set is to use wood, wood screws and L-brackets (which hold up the walls) and masking tape.

This was done on the kitchen island. I had it set up for several days. I admit, I'm not very creative (ok, lazy) about trying out multiple angles. For me, it's about where I can set the camera up and do my thing. I use those water bottles to help press down on the ceiling to block extra, unwanted light.


A shot to the inside of the main compound. The computer board, there's actually a wall there. So if I change to the other side of the island, I'll set up a wall behind it (and of course, remove the opposing wall). The S6 cases are helping hold up the wall on the left.


The Red Room. I have no idea what the Cobras are doing in this particular room, but it IS a separate room. I'm guessing that the red will actually be lava (pretend with me, ok?) and they are regulating it's heat and flow. Or for fans of LOST, they are pushing #s every 120 minutes.


More below.

Another shot from where the computer board is. You can kind of see the corridor leading into it. When I did the shoot, I had the main compound built as well as a corridor leading up to it. Pretty expansive and probably unnecessary, but I needed to keep my thinking straight. The ceiling was actually used for a wall in the S6 dio. I reuse the walls and everything. However, when doing this set... Oh wait, I DID chop up the walls from the end chapter from the last dio. Also, that's just regular gift tissue paper to help defuse the light. (I use red too for the red lit shots)


Another shot from where the computer is. But this time, I'm trying to show the doorway which leads to the barracks. I haven't decided if I need to build a room for the barracks yet but it's to give the idea that the compound has corridors leading off in another directions. The real fun of this shot is the fact that the wall is held up by 2 S6 weapon cases and a roll of packaging tape. How complicated is that?


Ok, this is an overview shot w/ me holding the ceiling up. Some of the walls are just resting against each other to stand. Most of the talking will happen here. On the far side, there's a doorway. That wall is easily removable so I can shoot from the other side. More importantly, that corridor leads further into the volcano/island and lots of Doom/Aliens stuff will happen there. It's NOT a rehash of "War For Territory" and "Transformations". It retains my usual storytelling and style but I'm hoping to step things up. I have YET to take an outdoor shot for this dio. :|


In the end, I'm trying to defuse some of the stress and anxiety people have about building sets. Seriously, it's not that hard. It is time consuming and the more you work on it, the better it'll be. Enjoi.

Holy crap, that looks AWESOME!. I'm totally going to use that technique if that's ok with you.

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Whoa! 'nuff said!

That place is fantastic! I just don't have enough patience to build something like that, which is why I mostly use Hasbro's (or other companies') playsets or very simply designed sets (construction paper walls have become my best friend).

The most effort I've put into a set is my redesigned Autobot Headquarters from the upcoming sequel to my crossover, and even that's not saying much. It's just orange paper taped to the inside walls of a box. Though I did spend several hours making Teletran-1 (the Autobot computer).

Hmm... Actually, the first one was just yellow paper taped to the inside walls of a box... But this one came out a lot better.

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is on indefinite hiatus...

If you guys ever bother, if you check out my blog (down in the signature) and look up the old stuff, I tell how to construct basic hallways, corridors and well, rooms. It's all the same concept in the end. I buy the wood at Lowes. one of those big 8x4 pieces or whatever and have them cut it in half. It turns into a 2'x2' piece in the end. From there, I just plop in those wonderful metal L-brackets (w/ screws). Add foamboard of varying heights (dependent on what you need it for) and you're set. It's really that easy.

I don't remember how Luke does his but iirc, it's more complicated! Foamboard does warp so you just crack it on the side not visible and it should straighten out. Don't worry if it looks like utter crap. You can fotoshop out most of the inaccuracies. Seriously, you gotta figure the basic wall construction is easy and you can do tall, wide or big with them.

That ender to my War For Territory dio, that was a headache. I was using FULL pieces of foamboard (32"x24" or something) and bracing them on whatever I could so they wouldn't fall in. It was a 2-level set. It was an ambitious set but the final product wasn't so hot.

Just to note, I prefer to keep a very particular look to my dios. So therefore, for me to use plastic walls all of a sudden, it wouldn't mesh. And to a degree, the playmobil stuff doesn't always fit in. I build my own stuff; from steps to computer consoles. I HAVE gotten lazy w/ computer consoles and just go the Star Trek route where it's a screen on the wall and the people give it commands. lol.

NICE! Man, that's excellent. I've been remiss in reading your Sigma 6's, just because I really love the 3.75's, and really need to finish the set I started working on...

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KungPhu (personal site)

You should totally cut and paste those entries from your blog into the "How-to" section! Or at least put a post over in the How To Section with a direct link to those particular blog entries!

Great work G. That shows just how simple a set can be. The main deterrent for me (apart from laziness) is that as I only work in one-shots rather than full on dio stoties, so to spend a couple of hours building a set that will be used for just one pic is just not worth it. I did build that briefing room set a while back, but that was only one room and a hallway, and around 30 or 40 minutes work. But if I ever do build a large set, I will certainly use some of the methods you have outlined here.

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"The future's uncertain and the end is always near." - The Doors "Roadhouse Blues".