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AB taking another stab (swipe?) at Freeborn!

Posted: Fri Sep 20, 2019 4:14 pm
by Uniform Two Six
So apparently AB got some renewed interest in the Freeborn project from investors and they're funding a full transformation proof of concept scene. He's a little close-hold on the details, but says "there's money now". I know we've been down this road before, but personally I'm stoked. AB posted new videos of the practical effects they're working on.

https://youtu.be/4Znz_WLZfoE
https://youtu.be/Qbo_wwEs_0E
https://youtu.be/9a9cJjjnJ2k
https://youtu.be/KB1LeKRnPdk
https://youtu.be/t-b9oF6wCRE
:o

Re: AB taking another stab (swipe?) at Freeborn!

Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2019 4:48 pm
by Meeper
"This?... Is a butt." For a moment there I thought it was an exceptionally shapely forequarter! :P . Cue the never moon a werewolf puns. :lol:

Is it me, or did that butt look a bit girly? Tasha maybe? The extremities are looking pretty good too. Not going as far as to say I'm stoked, but I like it.

Also, practical effects! :D


The Meeper.

Re: AB taking another stab (swipe?) at Freeborn!

Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2019 4:46 am
by Uniform Two Six
Remember! All they need is a full moon! :D

Also, definitely girly. But... I'm thinking it's probably not Tasha, but rather what's-her-name... Zane's main squeeze. (Jeez, I can't believe I forgot the character's name. I think it's been, like, a really long time since I read the script).

And I agree. Practical effects are awesome.
:howl:  :oo

Re: AB taking another stab (swipe?) at Freeborn!

Posted: Fri Sep 27, 2019 12:03 pm
by Meeper
Uniform Two Six wrote: Wed Sep 25, 2019 4:46 amAlso, definitely girly. But... I'm thinking it's probably not Tasha, but rather what's-her-name... Zane's main squeeze. (Jeez, I can't believe I forgot the character's name. I think it's been, like, a really long time since I read the script).
Sherri Frost (I remembered the name, just not how it was spelled, had to look it up. :P ). I don't know, I just figured it'd be Tasha because of the blood 'n' guts trailer which was going to feature Tasha wolfing out. Now THAT would be a treat for a "simple" proof of concept piece. :o

The Meeper.

Re: AB taking another stab (swipe?) at Freeborn!

Posted: Fri Sep 27, 2019 2:13 pm
by Thylo
It's actually going to be a prequel short, and the lovely lady going to transform is Jack's Wife. From what has been described, it's going to be her first change and she has no idea that she's a wolf. So i'm curious to see how it plays out.

Re: AB taking another stab (swipe?) at Freeborn!

Posted: Fri Sep 27, 2019 8:05 pm
by Uniform Two Six
Meeper wrote: Fri Sep 27, 2019 12:03 pm Sherri Frost...
SHERRI! Argh! That was figuratively killing me. Thanks.
Thylo wrote:...and the lovely lady going to transform is Jack's Wife.
Woah, woah, woah... Jack had a wife?
Oh my god, I can't wait to see this thing.

Re: AB taking another stab (swipe?) at Freeborn!

Posted: Fri Oct 04, 2019 1:12 am
by Meeper
Uniform Two Six wrote: Fri Sep 27, 2019 8:05 pmSHERRI! Argh! That was figuratively killing me. Thanks.
Welcome.
Uniform Two Six wrote: Fri Sep 27, 2019 8:05 pm
Thylo wrote:...and the lovely lady going to transform is Jack's Wife.
Woah, woah, woah... Jack had a wife?
Oh my god, I can't wait to see this thing.
I dunno about "wife", but Jack was going steady a proverbial mate mate till about 3 or so years before Sherri showed up, that is, until she wasn't (Edit: Edited by author due to probable Non Disclosure agreement violation).

On a side note, I think I may be becoming a Freeborn nerd. :shift:


The Meeper.

Re: AB taking another stab (swipe?) at Freeborn!

Posted: Fri Oct 04, 2019 10:50 pm
by Uniform Two Six
Meeper wrote: Fri Oct 04, 2019 1:12 am I dunno about "wife", but Jack was going steady a proverbial mate till about 3 or so years before Sherri showed up, that is, until said mate lost here head in a traffic accident (literally).
?? I don't remember any of this! This was in the script AB posted?

Re: AB taking another stab (swipe?) at Freeborn!

Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2019 9:49 pm
by Meeper
Uniform Two Six wrote: Fri Oct 04, 2019 10:50 pm
Meeper wrote: Fri Oct 04, 2019 1:12 am I dunno about "wife", but Jack was going steady a proverbial mate till about 3 or so years before Sherri showed up, that is, until said mate lost here head in a traffic accident (literally).
?? I don't remember any of this! This was in the script AB posted?
No, not the '05 script (I did a quick check but found no mention at the time of writing this). I can't say too much because AB told me to shush, but Jack had a lady friend who came up in a conversation with another character at some point. If this is a prequel short then I'd hazard a guess this is her.

The Meeper.

Re: AB taking another stab (swipe?) at Freeborn!

Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2019 2:20 pm
by Uniform Two Six
So... car accident, huh? I guess even werewolves need to wear a seatbelt? :eyebrow:

Re: AB taking another stab (swipe?) at Freeborn!

Posted: Mon Oct 14, 2019 6:11 am
by Meeper
(Paragraph edited (deleted) by author due to probable Non Disclosure Agreement violation.)

More on topic, I'm kinda tempted to drop AB a line about these prosthetics and such. I've some ideas, probably overkill for a film/TV show, but may be worth the investment if werewolves hang around and/or do active sequences in gestalt form often enough. He'd probably say thanks but not appropriate, but I still wanna do it. In case you're curious, I've been working on turning a full body werewolf costume into basically a one-man vehicle: Soft exoskeleton for load bearing and dynamic muscle contraction simulation, with some power assist built in for stunt models. It's totally crazy but if it works they'll rip the Underworld werewolf suits a new one in the speed & agility department :) .

The Meeper.

Re: AB taking another stab (swipe?) at Freeborn!

Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2019 2:15 am
by Uniform Two Six
That sounds -- expensive. I'm sort of getting this mental image of the cargo-walker from Aliens -- but with a tail scotch-taped on. :cyborg3:

Re: AB taking another stab (swipe?) at Freeborn!

Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2019 6:01 am
by Meeper
Hah! No, don't let the word "exoskeleton" fool you, or shadow the word that preceded it, "soft". The human body already has a hard skeleton, which the "soft" exoskeleton will use to maintain its shape in the majority of axes, molding itself to the body's contours like a harness, all except for the axis of rotation appropriate to each joint (ankle, knee, hip, etc). In theory the exoskeleton will form a distributed layer of load bearing structure about 5-10mm thick, thin enough to integrate into prosthetics and makeup appliances to form a complete suit, and able to be worn in much the same way as a wetsuit.

As for cost, Kevlar is pretty cheap on Amazon (50 foot of Kevlar rope for about $10 I think), and they get roughly 5 years of R&D for the princely sum of reading an email because that's how I roll. You'll need Kevlar for its flexibility and tensile strength in load bearing structures. All AB & Co will need to do is buy enough to make whatever performance suits they need. Considering they already have a workshop for rubber and glass fiber, I'll go out on a limb and say they can probably handle Kevlar just fine, without having to hire new talent.

Edit: I forgot to mention, all of this works without batteries or electric motors, everything is done with passive mechanical parts.

The Meeper.

Re: AB taking another stab (swipe?) at Freeborn!

Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2019 7:17 pm
by Uniform Two Six
Well, if pitching it as a theatrical thing doesn't work -- Halloween is coming up. :evil:

Re: AB taking another stab (swipe?) at Freeborn!

Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2019 4:35 am
by Meeper
Welllll... I've been considering building a prototype for halloween in the next year or two (too late for this year). I'd probably do a minotaur though, something blatantly bulky to try out the muscle simulation on so it's easier to work with (yeah yeah, a huge built werewolf would be fun too; decisions decisions).

Joking aside, this sort of thing could be sold to other customers, you and me, for recreational purposes. The way I think of it is as sort of like a bicycle, something that can be worn, or in more conventional sense "sat on" and you walk and run around. Something like this could be sold to LARPers who want to play more elaborate critters. I'm not really in a position to do that, but someone like AB potentially could be, he could sell 'em as a specialist line right next to the werewolf slippers! :lol:


The Meeper.

Re: AB taking another stab (swipe?) at Freeborn!

Posted: Sat Nov 23, 2019 3:02 pm
by Meeper
Uniform Two Six wrote: Sat Oct 19, 2019 7:17 pm Well, if pitching it as a theatrical thing doesn't work -- Halloween is coming up. :evil:
Update: Welp, I did it. A couple of emails later, here's what I know: I told AB about the suspension system, mobility enhancements, and a couple of other bits and pieces, and he told me of the two 3D printers in the workshop and CNC machine in the mail. Long story short, if I've got it, then he's interested, but right now he's doing this transformation. Patience padawan.

That said, I've not sugar coated it, what we'd be doing is not a trivial task, making a full-blown digitigrade "vehicle". I mean for making a movie/TV series there may be far simpler ways of accomplishing things with wire-work, green screen... Hire a small mobile crane to drive with the actor in the werewolf suite... I think the only thing in favor of a vehicular suit is cutting all the cords and let the actor let rip.

This could get pretty wild. 8)

Also, I feel like a virgin on prom night, oof. :o :P


The Meeper.

Re: AB taking another stab (swipe?) at Freeborn!

Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2019 4:06 am
by Uniform Two Six
Y'know, a little off topic, but I've seen some neat practical (as in NOT CGI) creature effects done by (of all things) fursuiters. One guy did this sort-of digitigrade leg thing... the paw was simply made big enough that it could hide his foot inside it, and the hock and everything was simply an empty extension that was behind his calf, suspended from his knee. The "werewolf knee" was another extension that protruded a bit further from his thigh. Like, it was so simple in design, and he's just walking around normally (well, stalking around with this hunched, predatory werewolf pose...) but the whole thing looks really natural and totally looks like he's got a digitigrade stance -- unless you really look.

That thing's on youtube somewhere. I need to go find that again.

Re: AB taking another stab (swipe?) at Freeborn!

Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2019 6:58 pm
by Meeper
Ahh yeah, I know the ones. I seem to remember seeing an equine suit that made me do a double take :lol: .

This one is pretty cool. Movies can "green screen" cheat though :P .

As for me, it's a bit of a funny story. I began work after thinking the Underworld suit's mobility sucked. Later I saw some interesting potential for medical applications, people with say muscular distrophy, or recovering from injury, you could wear an advanced leg strength enhancement exoskeleton to improve quality of life; this drove design innovation toward making things super sleek, to fit under clothing. Then about a year ago I came full circle back to werewolf suits, and am having a bit a field day. I guess it depends what the goals and trade-offs are.

The Meeper.

Re: AB taking another stab (swipe?) at Freeborn!

Posted: Mon Dec 09, 2019 10:46 am
by Meeper
Well now, seems there's more to this endeavor than Freeborn.

I'll just leave this here... 8)

The Meeper.

Re: AB taking another stab (swipe?) at Freeborn!

Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2019 3:49 pm
by Uniform Two Six
I should be absolutely ashamed to say this (but am not): The coolest thing on that site is actually the caltrop dice. I'm going to have to get myself a set of those.
:evil:

Re: AB taking another stab (swipe?) at Freeborn!

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 7:51 am
by Meeper
I should be ashamed of upbringing, no board games for me (I've no real relationship with dice, sadly). These ones are cool though! :D

Y'know, when I suggested "werewolf slippers" merchandise years ago, I thought maybe some fairly conventional fluffy foot-paws with nicely refined detailing. Wasn't quite expecting full-on anatomically correct everything, these are pretty intense :lol: . Not that I'm complaining! :) .

The Meeper.

Re: AB taking another stab (swipe?) at Freeborn!

Posted: Fri Dec 13, 2019 2:22 am
by Uniform Two Six
I've got the following scenario in my mind:

"Let's play Werewolf the Apocalypse."
"Werewolf is stupid."
*Throws caltrop dice in front of other person who steps on it barefoot*
"Hey, you can get these on the Werewolf Stuff website -- AND the werewolf slippers that would keep you from bleeding out of your foot now. See, Werewolf isn't so stupid after all."
:evil:

Re: AB taking another stab (swipe?) at Freeborn!

Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2019 6:14 pm
by Meeper
Oww! Talk about giving someone the Hard sell! :lol:

On a vaguely related note: I've been trickling designs for a few weeks now, and AB is still responding to emails periodically (hence the link). Last word is he's chewing it over as and when he has time.

The digitigrade legs stuff is mostly done and in his inbox. Now it's mostly a matter of hashing out a completed design, testing, and manufacture. Next on my hit list is head/neck mobility, and some ongoing optics research for sight/eye related things, so our werewolf can see where they're going and not act like a guy in a suit groping around for his victim with a stiff neck and no depth perception (no names mentioned *cough*Underworldwerewolves*cough*).

This is purely for film/TV and has nothing to do with my fantasies of buying a consumer grade werewolf suit based on it, honest guvna. :crazy:

Update: The muscle simulation is done, plus a performance tweak. I hope everyone has a very merry Christmas. :wink: :whistle:

The Meeper.

Re: AB taking another stab (swipe?) at Freeborn!

Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2020 2:46 pm
by Meeper
Another day. Another post. Laaa la-laaa, la-dee daaa... :whistle: Oh good, nobody's watching. Time for some Vogon level bad poetry!

I stood aloft a rocky shore, and with narrow eye a froth I saw. And with ringing ear I thought I heard, ominous churning as the kraken stirred.

I wonder... If I just leave this here, how long folk would take to notice a suggestion request for perks related to a werewolf suit crowd-funding campaign.

I suggested your choice of movie quality animal head as a top tier perk, but I don't know if AB will go quite that far. Jolly shrewd chap that.

Oh well, probably just a dream. Laaa la-laaa, la-dee daaa... :whistle:


The Meeper.

P.S. I wonder what real life werewolf tennis looks like. Hmm... I wonder what it'll take to find out... :whistle: :evil:

Re: AB taking another stab (swipe?) at Freeborn!

Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2020 8:35 am
by Volkodlak
intresting we may get Freeborn after all