fuel tv set elements

set elements made at shadow machine for some fuel tv bumpers. i think there were ten in total.

i didn't make all these buildings but i made some of them.


computers for the inside of the spaceship. the set designer laid the groundwork for the set.


i didn't paint the set but here it is all gussied up with my pride and glory, the anal probe


beginnings of the pool for the desert set


it took the better part of a day getting the pool filled out with small pieces of cardboard to make it this shape. tedious but the results were very nice.


cardboard lettering.


the whole set all done and painted up (again, not by me). the set designer did most the work on this one, i just did some of the detail work like the boarded up wall and stone detail in the middle. and the pool, of course :]


didn't manage to take pics of a bunch of the other things i worked on but you get the idea :]

props for fuel tv

here are a few of the props i made at shadow machine for those fuel tv commercials. this first one is a motorcycle. the production designer made the initial frame (mostly from brass tubing. it has to be sturdy for the puppet.) and i did all the fleshing out with cardboard. the wheels and handlebars actually turn!



another cycle with the initial frame built by the production designer that i covered up with cardboard. this one also has moving wheels and handlebars.



a dumpster with an animateable lid.



firehydrant with a removable top pipe. in one of the commercials the puppet smashes into it and the top pipe opens and a paper replacement series of water shoots out.



bad ass skull.



drum set with animateable cymbals.



animateable gong.



here's a fun one, it's the anal probe! lots of animateable stuff on this guy. the front mechanism rotates and has four claw-like pieces that move, there are some dials and knobs on the side that move and the whole unit is able to pivot on these three jointed arms i made (held up with the help of some armature wire). i was happy to see that the animator was able to get some good results out of all these movable pieces i incorporated.



i am not sure what to really call these. title cards? tags? either way they have the fuel tv name and logo and were placed at the end of each commercial. i made a few different variations of these.

fuel tv commercials

after the production for frankenhole finished up shadow machine had me back to help with a smattering of commercials for fuel tv. we made all the sets and props out of cardboard. it's a really fun medium to work with. i think there were ten commercials in all but all i found online were these five posted by the director. they're pretty fast paced.

CHECK THE LOCKS: FUEL TV ID from Jeff Gardner on Vimeo.

In this FUEL TV ID Pinto locks his keys in the van and smashes a window to get back in.

Created By: Jeff Gardner
Client: Fuel Tv
Production:Shadow Machine Films
Music:Jeff Gardner

ACUPUNCTURE -FUEL TV ID from Jeff Gardner on Vimeo.

This Fuel Tv Id follows Pinto to an acupuncture session, where he gets stuck in the back by his nemesis Santo instead.



Created by:Jeff Gardner
Client:Fuel Tv
Production:Shadow Machine Films
Music:Jeff Gardner

SNOW DUMPING: FUEL TV ID from Jeff Gardner on Vimeo.

In this Fuel Tv ID, Pinto attempts some urban snowboarding and ends up dumpster diving instead.

Created By:Jeff Gardner
Client: Fuel Tv
Production: Shadow Machine Films

SHOCKED & PROBED: FUEL TV ID from Jeff Gardner on Vimeo.

In this Fuel Tv ID our action Sports hero Pinto gets shocked by an electric fence, torn up by a cactus, abducted by a UFO and probed in outer space. That's how he rolls.

Created By:Jeff Gardner
Client:Fuel Tv
Production:Shadow Machine Films
Music:Jeff Gardner

POOL SKATE- FUEL TV ID from Jeff Gardner on Vimeo.

A 10 second Fuel Tv ID of Pinto skateboarding an abandoned mid century modern motel swimming pool then getting torn up by a cactus when he loses it coming off of the vert ramp.

Created By:Jeff Gardner
Client:Fuel Tv
Production:Shadow Machine Films

Frankenhole: ghandi's house

this was the third and final set i made for the show. the fun foam stuff was, well, FUN, but this was a nice change of pace for me since i got to get my hands a little dirtier here. the hanging cloth was a great creative challenge, especially on the brick wall that looks like it was cannonballed. i remember research for this set being really fun for some reason :D



and again, my favorite part is the stove... er... adobe oven thing.



the only real glory shot i was able to take of any of my sets. the lighting really brings everything to life!

Frankenhole: independence hall

the second set i made for frankenhole. like the log cabin set this one was pretty much entirely made out of carved fun foam. believe it or not, you will go through a LOT of razors cutting this stuff. fun foam likes a sharp blade. you can see this set in the john thomas jefferson episode (the same episode with the log cabin).

Frankenhole: log cabin

this was the first set i was assigned for frankenhole and can be seen in the john thomas jefferson episode. all of the elements were carved out of soft foam and then glued on to wood. i did the paint job for this set (and the other two i made) as well.




unfortunately this is the only set i took progress pics of. glad i got at least one!






after the set was painted i gave it a dirty wash to give an aged effect.




my favorite part of the set was this little wood burning stove. second favorite would have to be the door which i don't think even got any screen time...? don't quote me on that though, i don't have cable so i can't even watch the show when it airs. but i do know a chunk of the main shot this set was for was cut due to censorship. i'm finding out that happens a lot with these shadow machine shows. just more to look forward to when the dvd comes out! (i hope there will be a dvd!)

props for frankenhole

this was the first project i worked on over at shadow machine. when i first got there i was asked to modify some pre-existing resin casts that would become props for the show. i accomplished that by using a bit of magi-sculpt (a two part sculpting apoxy) and forming it over the pre-existing casts. when the magi-sculpt hardened i went over each piece with some primer and painted them up. so here are a few pictures of that.


the magi-sculpt dries grey so you can tell what parts i sculpted over.












i also spent a lot of time filling tiny glass jars with colored water...



...painting (SO MANY!) resin cast book spines and little creatures (already sculpted before i got there)...



...that were placed into even more tiny glass jars...



...and then placed on a set.



oooh la la~



that's all the frankenhole stuff!