our first Reality show

My husband and I recently finished filming with our first Reality TV program this summer, and they've finally started airing episodes!

CAPTURE is kind of a Big Brother meets a game of tag with a little Hunger Games flair. All the episodes aired are available online, click the link! Lots of interesting personalities and neat tech!

A peek at base camp from the top of one of our temporary cell towers.

My husband and I were part of the tech crew that designed and built the gimmick of the show, the location devices and sonar vests. The gist of our job description was to build a temporary wifi/cellular network out in a very remote area of California.
We had to cover about 4 square miles of very mountainous, very forested terrain. Each contestant was given a location device, along with a vest that flashed LEDs, made noise, and allowed us to track exactly where they were at any given moment. We knew how fast they were running, how long they stood still, how close they were standing to their teammates, everything!

We were kept busy during the entire shoot, tweaking equipment locations day-to-day, fixing weather damage, changing the types of antennae or dishes used to bounce the internet from the town 7 miles away from the video camp location. We usually pulled 8am to 11pm shifts, so we were too tired to even really enjoy the good craft service meals. I have a hard time even remembering what happened on what day, just that it was nice to sit quietly in the command trailer for the hunt hours when we couldn't work lest we be caught on camera. As soon as the contestants returned to their base camp every day we would hop in the truck and drive around trying to improve the service and coverage for the next day.

Our crewmates were responsible for designing and writing the custom software that allowed the show to do all sorts of manipulations and punishments to the contestants in real time, it was really awesome to watch the teams live running from eachother or from the boobytraps set up by the producers. We also built the hardware that allowed each contestant to act as a walking siren and LED disco ball, which they fit into the vests custom built by the wardrobe department.

I have so many pictures, but most of them are of boring networking equipment and piles of CAT5 hidden in a huge forest. I'll get around to editing them eventually!

Of course on the last filming day we brought out one of our costumes and ran around the main stage area a little. :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dragonsquared/9603147579/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dragonsquared/9603219027/

All in all, it was an interesting learning experience! I've never been at 7000ft altitude for such a long time, or worked in such a huge production crew before. We were put up in a nice cabin in the woods, and had a beautiful 30 minute drive through the mountains to get to work everyday.

I hope it gets renewed for a second season!

Comikaze Expo 2011

November 5-6 was the much anticipated Comikaze Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center. We were invited (along with the rest of the Video Game Reunion crew!) to speak at a panel about the series.

Me & Rainbow Dash!

The VGR panel was a rousing success; apparently fans of the show are quite die-hard, and eager for Season 2 & 3 to start! There was a fellow who flew all the way to LA from Australia just to hear the actors & crew speak! We're a pretty close-knit family of crew and fans, so everyone was excited to meet up at the Expo, and to party afterward. There was some excellent give-aways at the panel; namely custom artwork done by the Production Manager, a copy of the script signed by all the cast and key crew, as well as limited edition prints and other schwag.

We attended the Expo for one day, arriving Sunday afternoon. I can't speak for the rest of the Expo, or any other panels, for that matter, but I has a pretty good time! As a costumer, I definitely appreciated the air conditioning in the convention hall!

After the panel, I changed into my Dog costume (as seen on The Guild!), and went to make appearances & pose for pictures! Met up with folks like Team Unicorn, I <3 NerdGirls, some of the Guild of Extras personalities, someone dressed up as Kanye West as a teddy bear, and lots of other great costumers and cosplayers. They really packed the LA Convention Center full!

 

I'm certainly looking forward to the 2012 Comikaze Expo!

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Seeing as we were in Los Angeles anyway, we took a day to visit Disneyland and a day to visit the fashion district downtown. Exciting! Getting to see and touch all the new synthetic furs and fabrics is really a treat.

Filming of the new Batman Movie!

 Goodbye LA, thanks for an excellent little holiday.

as seen on TV!

Another episode, another costume! See Season 5 Episode 6, Revolving Doors on MSN & on The Guild website. 

Tink and Codex, a photo by watchtheguild on Flickr.

I was asked to build a giant plush doll version of one of The Guild's main characters. My first human costume, a little out of my comfort zone but I hope it played well on camera! I had a lot of fun making her shoes, with big puffy bows on them.
It's so fun watching other people wear my costumes!

There's a really awesome cameo in the episode, but my favorite is still coming up... Can't wait to see!

behind the scenes

Furry in Season 5 of The Guild, a photo by watchtheguild on Flickr.

In case you were wondering (which I'm sure you were!) the Boba Tea was made up of food coloring, milk, and blueberries. Amazing art / prop department magic! Listen to the Knights of the Guild Podcast for more behind-the-scenes secrets. Greg Aronowitz (the genius model maker in everything from Tomb Raider to Batman Forever to Jurassic Park etc etc...) is a master of make-believe.

Working on some new sculpted projects at the moment, promise to have some fresh content up soon!

Appearance on THE GUILD

It's been a while since we had any news in the studio; instead we've been having a relaxing summer holiday. Lots of time spent in the garden, at the beach, and devouring copious amounts of deliciousmess at the family BBQ.

But now there IS some excitement to report! The Guild has started airing episodes from season 5 (as of July 28), and with episode 3 has introduced one of our costumes!

Most of the pictures we have from the behind-the-scenes contain spoilers, so you'll just have to take my word for it 

that that puppy got into some serious mischief! Here he is with Script Supervisor Stephanie R. & Sound Editor 

Oakley, probably comparing top scores from Angry Birds on their iPads...

Episodes can be viewed every Tuesday on XBOX / Zune, and every Thursday on their website.

We also recorded some interviews about the making-of with the Knights of Good podcasters & the Bui Brother's upcoming documentary... can't wait to see how those turn out!

doggy again

Sent the puppy down to Los Angeles for use on another shoot. Can't share any details yet, but I should be able to publish some links soon!

Video Game Reunion

It's so hard keeping secrets, especially about nifty new projects!

But the season has finally finished, so I'm ok'd to post as many pictures as I like, yay!

This was a fun little project I took on over Christmas break, to build a mascot style head in just a few days of the Super Mario's character Birdo. The web-series director gave me free reign to do it however I pleased, so while it was really odd, it was fun! I really like this shot of the head & egg on the nightstand of the Wardrobe department. I love all the behind-the-scenes photographs!

Such neat pictures! Hope it wasn't too hot that day for costumes!

Go to videogamereunion.atom.com and watch the episodes! They're hilarious! But a little naughty. Episode 4 is my favorite, I think the Birdo scene turned out really excellent. I also designed and built Zelda's gold  Armor & belt pieces. Enjoy!