Connect with us

Business Management

Nice Carvings Turns Up The Heat With Movie-Set Sign

Melissa Jones skillfully creates customized FBI sign for film starring Sandra Bullock

Published

on

In July, a décor-crew representative for the film, The Heat, contacted us. The action/comedy film, which was produced for 20th Century Fox Films and stars Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy, has recently finished filming and will premier in theaters this April. For a scene, they needed a 3-D FBI logo on a sign (Bullock portrays a straitlaced FBI agent opposite McCarthy’s unkempt Boston police officer; the “odd couple” main characters track down a Russian mobster.). Our first movie sign was created for The Green Hornet, starring Seth Rogen and Cameron Diaz, which premiered last year. The company that contracted that sign introduced us to the set-decoration team for The Heat; 20th Century Fox contracted us directly.

As is often the case, the customer needed a rush job on the 3-ft.-diameter sign – a five-day turnaround. After we agreed on a price with their production team, we worked with the set-decoration team and FBI officials to make sure the sign’s logo wouldn’t infringe on any trademarks. We made the shield in a slightly different shape, replaced the scale on the actual FBI logo with the “Lady of Justice,” and slightly altered the wording on the sign’s outer ring.

Sometimes my husband, Jason, and I administer the design and layout changes; in this case, the film’s production team executed the changes and provided a .BMP file with reasonably high resolution. It was up to us to translate it into a 3-D object – and fast!

To aspire and perspire
I carved the Lady of Justice emblem, scroll banner and plants that protrude from the banner by hand. I quickly modeled them in Aspire, Vectric’s 3-D software. Although I mostly use Aspire to prep image files for CNC routing, it’s also useful for presenting color, 3-D renderings for clients, such as what we presented to Fox when we began the job.

I didn’t like the level of detail achieved solely on our ShopBot PRT 4 x 8-ft. CNC router. Instead,
I finished carving these elements with a Milwaukee Tool Co. rotary tool and fine-detail bits. I usually do this on movie-sign projects; I can sometimes carve by hand more quickly than computer modeling and CNC routing. And, of course, I want the project to appear as authentic as possible. I only loosely modeled the banner and Lady of Justice because I completed most of the details with a rotary tool.

Notice that part of our image looks like a bowl. Previously, the outer edge was tilted in the opposite direction. We knew this wouldn’t look right, so we created the bowl and hatched the elements in Aspire. The result was perfect! The final angle was, of course, less severe than what’s pictured. We simply decreased the component’s height until we were happy with its size and angle.

Advertisement

My weapon of choice for routing by hand is a Porter Cable router. I can’t count the different versions of the Lady of Justice emblems she’s had to carve for movie plaques. The “Fidelity-Bravery-Integrity” banner was started on the CNC, but I finished it off by hand with precise detail.

Places, everyone
By the end of day one, we could glue up our rough-cut Western red cedar dimensional lumber. We happened to have it on hand, and we thought it would work well as a wood border for the FBI plaque. Beckwith Décor Products rush-delivered a load of bits; they were a lifesaver.

We emailed Gary Beckwith a shot of the rendering, and he found us the bits we needed. Beckwith Décor produces its own tapered, ball-nose bit set. These bits achieve a remarkable cutting depth. He’s one of the few router-bit dealers who cuts the same materials signmakers cut; he knows what we need. We also used end-mill bits, chip breakers and Onsrud bits for our CNC router.

Unfortunately, cutting the border and rosettes proved to be as difficult as modeling it. Fox wanted wood-grain rosettes, which we made from Western red cedar. When you typically cut high-density urethane (HDU) on your CNC, and you abruptly switch to wood, difficulties can arise. Wood is more difficult to cut, and much less forgiving. If you don’t adjust your router beforehand, your production time will increase. Though it was difficult, we created a piece that worked.

Method acting
Compared to real wood, HDU cuts like butter. You can smooth it enough to mimic just about any material. The ½-in., Onsrud chip cutters we purchased made some amazingly smooth edges. We barely sanded any edges, which is very unusual.

We had many obstacles to conquer in planning and cutting this project on our ShopBot router. To demonstrate segments of the routing process, we’ve included many screen shots taken while using Aspire 3.5.

Advertisement

When we attach items to our signs, we cut inset indicators to guide placement. For the sign’s 14 stars, we cut lines with a 30º, V-groove bit 0.04 in. deep. Obviously, this precise level of detail requires considerable planning and concentration.

The most challenging 3D design was the wood border. It featured a jagged pattern that needed a specific appearance. Generating the vector lines necessary for this effect presented a challenge. The border’s design alone required 10-12 hours to model. Using the software, we created the “teeth” individually until we had a sufficient amount to copy, and we pasted them in groups to maintain the project’s uniformity.

Chemistry on the set
I’m known for carving, but I’ve also become an experienced painter. Essentially, I had one day to paint this entire piece. Luckily, it wasn’t full of complex details. We painted the entire sign with aluminum-colored Rust-Oleum; we lightly topped this with another coat of stainless-steel spraypaint to reduce the sheen. We decorated the letters and stars with gold paint. Such shortcuts are sometimes required for movie signs with rapid turnarounds.

I applied details to the Lady of Justice, the shield and scroll banner text. We sprayed the rest and assembled the pieces in layers to create very clean transitions from one item to the next. We learned this technique from one of the best in the business, the 3D-sign “professor”, Joe Crumley of Norman Signs (Norman, OK). Joe frequents many online forums, where he helps fabricators perfect the art of sign production, and can now be found as a regular contributor to our blog, the 3D Sign Forum.

Assembling all of the painted parts resembles breezing through a child’s puzzle. The indication lines we created earlier made this part of the job simple. To join the sign’s parts together, we ordered West Systems’ two-part, combination epoxy. We knew West’s product would cure quickly and reliably.
To install the sign, we created a cleat hanging system from ¾-in.-thick, PVC sheet with a 45º angle on its edge, and embedded on the sign’s backside. We created a duplicate angled cleat for the decoration crew to mount on the set wall.

Movie-production customers are always very particular about delivery. They always specify an exact arrival date; we usually arrange delivery with FedEx. When shipping signs up to 25 sq. ft., we dispatch them in cardboard boxes rated for contents up to 200 lbs. For larger signs, we construct crates from lumber and plywood. For signs with irregular faces or delicate parts, we’ll cut EPS-foam panels to fit the signs before shipping.

Advertisement

It’s always very rewarding to see our work on view before millions in audiences. And, we’ve refined our process such that, the next time the phone rings from Tinseltown with a rush project, we’ll be ready.
 

Equipment and Materials
Adhesive:
Two-part, epoxy adhesive, from West Systems Inc. (Bay City, MI), (866) 937-8797 or www.westsystem.com
Media: Western red cedar, from such distributors as Allwood Sign Blanks (Errington, BC, Canada), (800) 528-6699 or www.allwood-signblanks.com; high-density urethane (HDU), from N. Glantz (Plymouth, MN), (866) 645-2689 or www.nglantz.com
Paint: Rust-Oleum spraypaint, available from home-improvement and hardware stores.
Routers: ShopBot PRT 4 x 8-ft. CNC router, from ShopBot Tools Inc. (Durham, NC), (888) 680-4466 or www.shopbottools.com; Handheld router, from Porter-Cable (Jackson, TN), (866) 375-6287 or www.portercable.com
Software: Aspire 3.5 routing software, from Vectric Inc. (Redditch, England), www.vectric.com
 

 

More About Nice Carvings
In 2006, Melissa Jones began Nice Carvings with a scroll saw, rotary tool, a handheld router and “tons of sandpaper,” with the goal of manufacturing signage for clients nationwide. Despite such basic implements, she made her business grow through sharpening her skills and persevering despite her spartan set of tools. In 2008, she purchased a ShopBot PRT 4 x 8-ft. CNC router. After this purchase, her business grew exponentially.
A pivotal job in Nice Carvings’ growth was a 30-sign campaign she completed for Dr. Robert Behar, director at El Gran Rancho Linda, a Medina, TX ranch. A satisfied customer, he’s subsequently ordered hundreds more, from 1 to 6 ft. in diameter, for the large property.
One day, she received a call from someone asking for signs for a film set. However, Melissa didn’t realize where they would be shipped until she received the shipping address: Columbia Pictures in Culver City, CA. She was excited to learn it would appear in the major motion picture, The Green Hornet, which stars Seth Rogen and Cameron Diaz. After this successful project gave her a good reputation around Tinseltown; she’s also produced set designs for GI Joe: Retaliation and The Ides of March.
For more information, visit www.nicecarvings.com
 

 

 

Advertisement

Subscribe

Advertisement

Most Popular