Hollywood Boulevard (US movie icons)

Nicely done, and great photos, as usual.

blackpool wrote:I'd love to own a real good clint eastwood but I try to stay away from past and ancient eras because ti would be a totally new universe in which I have nothing (so don't tempt me lol)

Quick update I had some free time this weekend, enough to build a small "corridor" set for my driver (I love this character and the quality of his jacket so much I had to play with him again after netflix added the movie to their selection lol)

The headsculpt and glasses remind me of David Soul's character in Magnum Force.




It isn't an exact match but the right sunglasses would make it work. If you find a good Clint Eastwood, perhaps you could do a scene with both characters in it.

Ugh damn, those Drive photos look so damn GOOD! Making me want to watch it again right now. The hallway looks PERFECT. And the lighting on all these shots is so excellent.

Don't know how I missed commenting before, but that Lethal Weapon scene is so killer, and I LOVE the Unbreakable shots (Possibly M Night Shyamalan best movie too). Your photos are always such a blast!

blackpool wrote:the Brangelina couple from "Mr & Mrs Smith"

Cograts on your excellent bashes and photography, Blackpool!
I really like this one! My Mrs. Smith is using that same gorgeous head but on a Phicen S09 so she's too tall.
What i want to ask is... what headsculpt and body did you use for Mr. Smith?
Body has excellent musculature, is it a Worldbox?
As for that nice Brad head, it really looks familiar but i can't remember from what figure set.
(My Mr. Smith head is the ancient BBI Navy Seal Team 8 Trident so he's due for an upgrade!)

The Hollywood Boulevard photos turned out very well! Now let's see what you can do in the ancient era!

The James Bond just made me realize I really NEED Maxwell Smart and Agent 99! LOL. Must be origal pair from the 60's though!

I love your lethal weapon photo series! Amazing!!!

There was talk awhile ago of a custom Maxwell Smart, but it never went anywhere. I wouldn’t want him without Agent 99, though.

Yes, they'd have to be together, agreed! LOL

Stryker2011 wrote:Nicely done, and great photos, as usual.

Thanks a lot mate! That figure is not hard to shoot, the jacket is so well done and such a statement of the movie

shazzdan wrote:
The headsculpt and glasses remind me of David Soul's character in Magnum Force.

It isn't an exact match but the right sunglasses would make it work. If you find a good Clint Eastwood, perhaps you could do a scene with both characters in it.

Actually I happen to have a David Soul headsculpt hehehe! I bought them from an old time friend who sculpted both characters from Starzky & Hutch, gotta find some pics...

ReverendSpooky wrote:Ugh damn, those Drive photos look so damn GOOD!  Making me want to watch it again right now.  The hallway looks PERFECT.  And the lighting on all these shots is so excellent.

Don't know how I missed commenting before, but that Lethal Weapon scene is so killer, and I LOVE the Unbreakable shots (Possibly M Night Shyamalan best movie too).  Your photos are always such a blast!

haha many thanks Reverend! I gotta confess the lighting on my shots greatly improved and is way more simple to build now that I have those small RGB stickable spots, I can quickly get 8 dimmable sources with various colors or intensity, that helps a lot! About the corridor I didn't think of it but you might be interested by those walls, if you want them, i can upload them here for you to print.

Totally agreed about unbreakable, it's my favorite movie from Shyamalan too, even compared to split and glass (I didn't like the sxth sense that much, for me unbreakable and signs are his best works) Still that recent glass movie mde me want to redo my Bruce Willis, may be soon!

rollotomasi wrote:
Cograts on your excellent bashes and photography, Blackpool!
I really like this one! My Mrs. Smith is using that same gorgeous head but on a Phicen S09 so she's too tall.
What i want to ask is... what headsculpt and body did you use for Mr. Smith?
Body has excellent musculature, is it a Worldbox?
As for that nice Brad head, it really looks familiar but i can't remember from what figure set.
(My Mr. Smith head is the ancient BBI Navy Seal Team 8 Trident so he's due for an upgrade!)

Thanks for the kind words Rollotomasi!

That might come from the male body that is quite tall, but I used a S09 as well for Angelina, the skintone matches nicely, and the breast size was accurate at that time lol

The male body is from art figures, it's originally Riddick's body (you might have noticed the tattoo on his neck)

The head sadly isn't very good, it is a clone from Blitzway's Fight Club "tyler durden", I never found the official head loose, and the full figure is way too expensive for what it is... Reason why I didn't shoot the happy couple a lot more than this lol

Now a blast from the past, after watching it again I had to take some shots of that so iconic T800, one of my oldest hot toys figs...

Beautiful shots of my first high-end sixth-scale figure! I hope they don't send me into a shopping spree.

blackpool wrote:

ReverendSpooky wrote:Ugh damn, those Drive photos look so damn GOOD!  Making me want to watch it again right now.  The hallway looks PERFECT.  And the lighting on all these shots is so excellent.

Don't know how I missed commenting before, but that Lethal Weapon scene is so killer, and I LOVE the Unbreakable shots (Possibly M Night Shyamalan best movie too).  Your photos are always such a blast!

haha many thanks Reverend! I gotta confess the lighting on my shots greatly improved and is way more simple to build now that I have those small RGB stickable spots, I can quickly get 8 dimmable sources with various colors or intensity, that helps a lot! About the corridor I didn't think of it but you might be interested by those walls, if you want them, i can upload them here for you to print.

Totally agreed about unbreakable, it's my favorite movie from Shyamalan too, even compared to split and glass (I didn't like the sxth sense that much, for me unbreakable and signs are his best works) Still that recent glass movie mde me want to redo my Bruce Willis, may be soon!

Tell me more about these rgb stickable spots.  Lighting is by far the weakest part of my photography, and something I need to improve.  Yours always looks fantastic, and I must say, you've got me intrigued.

I should consider more printable backgrounds.  Sometimes not having the right set done keeps me from photographing finished figures, and your printable backgrounds always look legit.  

So is Glass actually good? Based on the trailers, I could not get excited for that or Split, but I loved Unbreakable's dark grounded take on the superhero genre.  I loved Signs most of the way through, but hated how it came together at the end.  Everything with the wife's prophetic last words made me cringe, and I just couldn't get my head around this alien race that could travel across the universe (something we can't do) but struggled with doors, seemed to have no actual technology of their own, came to a planet that's 71% covered in water, where water regularly falls from the sky, to abduct people made of about 60% water, but are deathly allergic to water and haven't figured out a rain coat let alone a protective suit.  Shyamalan is such a talented director, and is a master of tension, but it seems like too many of his ideas crumble under any scrutiny.

And those Terminator shots looks awesome!!!  That scene blew me away the 1st time I saw it, and your pics totally nail it.

ReverendSpooky wrote:
Tell me more about these rgb stickable spots.  Lighting is by far the weakest part of my photography, and something I need to improve.  Yours always looks fantastic, and I must say, you've got me intrigued.

I should consider more printable backgrounds.  Sometimes not having the right set done keeps me from photographing finished figures, and your printable backgrounds always look legit.  

So is Glass actually good? Based on the trailers, I could not get excited for that or Split, but I loved Unbreakable's dark grounded take on the superhero genre.  I loved Signs most of the way through, but hated how it came together at the end.  Everything with the wife's prophetic last words made me cringe, and I just couldn't get my head around this alien race that could travel across the universe (something we can't do) but struggled with doors, seemed to have no actual technology of their own, came to a planet that's 71% covered in water, where water regularly falls from the sky, to abduct people made of about 60% water, but are deathly allergic to water and haven't figured out a rain coat let alone a protective suit.  Shyamalan is such a talented director, and is a master of tension, but it seems like too many of his ideas crumble under any scrutiny.

And those Terminator shots looks awesome!!!  That scene blew me away the 1st time I saw it, and your pics totally nail it.

I made a thread about those spots in the tutorials section just for you bro! (I didn't want to say it before it was really done lmao)

Printable backgrounds are of great help for me mainly because I don't have room to store "permanent" dioramas, so I just have a stock of cardboard panels to create whatever I need (I usually make three panels of the same set, the back side being used for another set to save space and money)

After sharing them with my friend Nick (@lenses_on_figures on instagram) I think he found the perfect balance between printed and models, he actually used my prints but still cut out windows an doors, sometimes reused the printed door but with a real cardboard or wood frame and details. The result is veeeeeery cool for a decent amount of work.

About Shyamalan Glass was good, but not as good as I thought, I loved the acting and the main characters but the halfway between shyamalan's usual works and some DC comics style movie doesn't work very well... At some moments it's great, intense, thrilling, at some others I just sit back like wtf...
I found split better! And agreed with you Shyamalan doesn't care much about incoherences in his storylines, it's sometimes obvious, I still love his work mainly for the quality of visuals and his ability at creating thrill and tension.

So Great ! The Figures, Poses and Your Photographie Style

blackpool wrote:

ReverendSpooky wrote:
Tell me more about these rgb stickable spots.  Lighting is by far the weakest part of my photography, and something I need to improve.  Yours always looks fantastic, and I must say, you've got me intrigued.

I should consider more printable backgrounds.  Sometimes not having the right set done keeps me from photographing finished figures, and your printable backgrounds always look legit.  

So is Glass actually good? Based on the trailers, I could not get excited for that or Split, but I loved Unbreakable's dark grounded take on the superhero genre.  I loved Signs most of the way through, but hated how it came together at the end.  Everything with the wife's prophetic last words made me cringe, and I just couldn't get my head around this alien race that could travel across the universe (something we can't do) but struggled with doors, seemed to have no actual technology of their own, came to a planet that's 71% covered in water, where water regularly falls from the sky, to abduct people made of about 60% water, but are deathly allergic to water and haven't figured out a rain coat let alone a protective suit.  Shyamalan is such a talented director, and is a master of tension, but it seems like too many of his ideas crumble under any scrutiny.

And those Terminator shots looks awesome!!!  That scene blew me away the 1st time I saw it, and your pics totally nail it.

I made a thread about those spots in the tutorials section just for you bro! (I didn't want to say it before it was really done lmao)

Printable backgrounds are of great help for me mainly because I don't have room to store "permanent" dioramas, so I just have a stock of cardboard panels to create whatever I need (I usually make three panels of the same set, the back side being used for another set to save space and money)

After sharing them with my friend Nick (@lenses_on_figures on instagram) I think he found the perfect balance between printed and models, he actually used my prints but still cut out windows an doors, sometimes reused the printed door but with a real cardboard or wood frame and details. The result is veeeeeery cool for a decent amount of work.

About Shyamalan Glass was good, but not as good as I thought, I loved the acting and the main characters but the halfway between shyamalan's usual works and some DC comics style movie doesn't work very well... At some moments it's great, intense, thrilling, at some others I just sit back like wtf...
I found split better! And agreed with you Shyamalan doesn't care much about incoherences in his storylines, it's sometimes obvious, I still love his work mainly for the quality of visuals and his ability at creating thrill and tension.

Holy crap Blackpool, thanks so much!!! Using those lights is BRILLIANT. I was looking at the Lumecubes recently too, and seriously flinched at the price. I'll spend a while day shooting a photo series, so the fact that these plug in as opposed to the rechargeable Lumecubes is actually a big advantage. I'll be picking up a set or 2 IMMEDIATELY.

I've seen @lenses_on_figures on instagram too! I'll have to add him to my watch list. I can definitely see the appeal of the printed backdrops, and the fact that he combines them with 3D elements is really tight too. I have at least 2 more figure that are ready to go and I'm trying to figure out what I want to shoot them against. The fact that it's cold as hell out right now means I'm sticking to indoor shoots, so maybe I should look for something to print instead.

The dios aren't as bad a suck on space as you'd expect. I have 2 set up currently in my photo/work room, but everything breaks down pretty flat for storage and while I swap out for different shoots. Honestly, I'd prefer to just set the garage dio up permanently in the living room, but it's all tape and unfinished insulation foam from the outside, and the work room it's in now actually gets way better light for photos. Plus in the living room, I think that cats would be VERY interested in exploring it.

And I agree that Shyamalan is a fantastic director! He's just a terrible writer, and I really wish he would work on other people's projects, instead of his own. I think if he was handed solid scripts, he'd be knocking out pure gold. But I'm totally with you, his pacing, atmosphere, and the overall feel of his work is so tense and incredible.

Ephiane wrote:So Great ! The Figures, Poses and Your Photographie Style

Thank you very much Eph, same compliments for you, I'm such a big fan of your creations and photoshoots, your dioramas as well!!!

@Reverendspooky my pleasure if it can help! I'm gonna give a try at mixing more real props, models, and backdrop, I am working on the bathroom sequence from Lethal Weapon 2 (where a bomb explodes under the toilets seat)

Speaking of which I recently rebuilt my Lethal Weapon duo, upgrading my Riggs with a customized "quiksilver" windbreaker/jacket

Stunning work as always. Your backdrops, set-up, lighting, and overall attention to detail are to die for!!

Very cool. Looking forward to seeing what you do with the toilet scene — that should be awesome.

Still a very nice Lethal Weapon rendition.

great collection!

Your Figures and Dios are so Amazing ! There is much work inside and many references

Thanks a lot guys! ( n gals of course!)

More Lethal weapon, I finished the diorama and could shoot it properly last weekend, it has been sitting in my study for so long, I'm really happy with how it came out... except for a damn cool functioning sash window that I built but could not include in the dio because of a mistake between window and ceiling height ((censored) happens)

Anyway I hope you'll like it!

All of your photography is incredible, but it's so cool and unique that you made a kitbash of lesser seen characters like David Dunn from Unbreakable. I love that movie and you executed the rain effects perfectly. I bet you could pull off really awesome Mr. Glass and The Beast customs to accompany him.

And hey, you'd probably only need to purchase a young bald Professor X then just use his wheelchair for Elijah's character. lol

LOL I love it. Beautiful photography and set up, and the way you customize figures and diorama pieces to work just right for your purposes. Not surprised at this point, but continually impressed and amused.

OMG, this is hilarious and SO well posed, staged, and photographed! You are amazing at recreating scenes. Adore all the little details -- the picture on the wall, the cupboard under the sink, the little bar of soap. I can only imagine the amount of time and work that went into this!

And how did you do the seamless effect on his knees? Is that some clever photoshopping? ;D

skywalkersaga wrote:And how did you do the seamless effect on his knees? Is that some clever photoshopping? ;D

I was wondering about that myself. Blackpool is the God of photoshop, by the way!

This is fantastic. It was like looking at film stills. Excellent job.

blackpool wrote:
Actually I happen to have a David Soul headsculpt hehehe! I bought them from an old time friend who sculpted both characters from Starzky & Hutch, gotta find some pics...

Did you ever find those pics?

Oh Man, the toilet scene ! That´s so well made, all the details of the bathroom and all the Figures, not only the heros itself. Again Your poses bring it to life

AlKelAstra91 wrote:All of your photography is incredible, but it's so cool and unique that you made a kitbash of lesser seen characters like David Dunn from Unbreakable. I love that movie and you executed the rain effects perfectly. I bet you could pull off really awesome Mr. Glass and The Beast customs to accompany him.

And hey, you'd probably only need to purchase a young bald Professor X then just use his wheelchair for Elijah's character. lol

Many thanks for the kind feedback, it really means a lot! I loved unbreakable so much I had to make David Dunn, he was one of my first custom figures, surely the easiest but still among my favs! I plan on doing the beast, waiting on a parted out Charles Xavier's headsculpt... I won't go for the Glass character, I loved him in unbreakable but I quite disliked the last chapter, and this is one complicated custom to assemble, mainly his outfit.

GubernatorFan wrote:LOL I love it. Beautiful photography and set up, and the way you customize figures and diorama pieces to work just right for your purposes. Not surprised at this point, but continually impressed and amused.

Thanks my friend, that is very kind of you! Happy to keep you amused, that's the main goal!

skywalkersaga wrote:OMG, this is hilarious and SO well posed, staged, and photographed! You are amazing at recreating scenes. Adore all the little details -- the picture on the wall, the cupboard under the sink, the little bar of soap. I can only imagine the amount of time and work that went into this!

And how did you do the seamless effect on his knees? Is that some clever photoshopping? ;D

Thank you so much for the continuous support miss, it means a lot! My main challenges here were the sink and cupboard, and the toothpaste and toothbrush even if they are nearly unseen on the final shots lmao

And yep I edited the knees on photoshop, the joints were so obvious

GubernatorFan wrote:

skywalkersaga wrote:And how did you do the seamless effect on his knees? Is that some clever photoshopping? ;D

I was wondering about that myself. Blackpool is the God of photoshop, by the way!

Naaaah, I just work on it everyday, it's been over 15 years that I use photoshop, but I still learn new tricks and functionalities all the time, so many ways to get to the same result with this software the options are endless, not sure anyone will master it one day lol

Stryker2011 wrote:This is fantastic. It was like looking at film stills. Excellent job.

Thanks a ton Mark, straight to my heart!

ironman1188 wrote:

blackpool wrote:
Actually I happen to have a David Soul headsculpt hehehe! I bought them from an old time friend who sculpted both characters from Starzky & Hutch, gotta find some pics...

Did you ever find those pics?

Yep sorry for the delay, here they are!

Ephiane wrote:Oh Man, the toilet scene ! That´s so well made, all the details of the bathroom and all the Figures, not only the heros itself. Again Your poses bring it to life

Thank you so much for the kind words!