Dragon Age: Redemption Episode 5

It's been crazier than usual around here the past few weeks! Lots going on, both on and off site: I dropped by BlizzCon and Long Beach Comic Con. I'm starting a full size Jurassic Park dinosaur sculpture to go on display in Hawaii. I'm in the middle of painting a few DVD covers, designing a feature film, two television pilots, building a couple specialty costumes for a network funded web series, filming some more episodes of Brent Spiner's FRESH HELL series at the BarnYard, prepping new episodes of The Tommy Wi-Show, building stuff for MineCon in Vegas, the .tv booth for BlogWorld Expo, trying to sneak away to roam the floor of Comickaze, starting up a new collectible toy company, and doing some concept art for friends at a major ad agency. There just aren't enough hours in the day.

I will be telling you about all of that stuff very soon. But I promised I would write a behind the scenes art department blog for every episode of Dragon Age: Redemption, and I do not like to break my word. Forgive the run on sentences and any misspelled words you may encounter, as I am typing in the deepest hours of night to make sure this posts on time for the release of Episode 5!

When we last left our heroes, they were attempting to enjoy a moment or peace over some hot stew in the comfort of a rural inn. But Tallis notices the glint of a bladed weapon, and the ambush is upon them!

Photo 1: Welcome back to the Inn! My favorite set from the DA:R series. This 30'x40', two story set looks so cozy and calm at first glance.

Photo 2: but once inside, you will find Felicia Day causing a ruckus!

Photo 3: Much to the dismay of the townsfolk who patron the place. We needed lots of extras for the Inn scene, so a call was made to friends and fans. Here, my buddy Grant Kimura tries to impress the ladies with his tales of the time of dragons. Grant has come in to help The Knights of Good with the planning of several social events. He usually dresses better.

Photo 4: Guild social media marketing guru Brian Kameoka double his work load as second 2nd Assistant Director by making a cameo appearance in the Inn. It was his wearing this costume that lead to the jokes about his resemblance to Return of the Jedi 's Nien Numb, which ultimately resulted in me created a Star Wars cosplay costume for him.

Photo 5: Brian, or should I say Nien, cruised conventions across the country all summer in this awesome costume. You may be asking yourself why I am standing next to a Star Wars character and yet making the Vulcan salute. This is a little know fact, but Nien Numb is actually half Klingon!

Photo 6: Here he is enjoying San Diego Comicon with the rest of the family!

Photo 7: I was trying to make everything in the Inn big and bulky, to capture a sense of medieval grandeur. But I guess I chose to make the tables too big at first! When Felicia came in to rehearse on the nearly completed set, she looked like a Hobbit sitting at the table! We ultimately cut the legs down six inches, and raised the chairs up a few inches more, so our heroes stayed larger than life.

Photo 8: Of course, my initial instinct was to make the tables to accommodate all walks of life from Dragon Age II. You never know when a massive Qunari is going to need a hot meal!

Photo 9: We chose to serve real food, so the cast and extras could have the option of actually eating in the scene. Bread, chicken, potatoes, and asparagus where on the menu. I chose these items because they looked the part, and most of it stayed edible for long periods of time. Every few shots, the art team would swap out the chicken for fresh pieces to keep the customers happy. And you need to in a place like this...

Photo 10: ...Otherwise people start smashing tables!

Photo 11: Actually, that was Art Director Bryan Fulk and Leadman John Bell who dropped the chandelier onto the table! The original plan was to have a stuntman fall off the loft and crush the table, but things changed and that shot got cut. Felicia still wanted to smash the table since I had put a lot of time and money into carefully creating an exact replica out of balsa wood in order for it to break, so she decided to have Josmael use magic to bring down the chandelier. You may have noticed that the chandeliers are actually the wagon wheels off the Dalsih wagons! That's me using magic to stretch the budget!!!

Photo 12: The other tables, however, were not made of balsa. They were quite the opposite. Three tables in the room needed to be built sturdy enough to support actors jumping up on them during the fight scene. Here, Tallis prepares to do a back flip off the table. I say Tallis because I can't remember if this is Felicia or her stunt double, ! Can you tell? Hey, Felicia, leave a comment and let us know who's in the picture. If you can tell, that is!

Photo 13: This photo is DEFINITELY Felicia! Here, she grabs a throwing dart to use as an impromptu weapon. This is the thing with fantasy and sci-fi scripts: there are lots of every day objects mentioned, but its not as simple to find the props as going to Target or thrift stores! Something as ordinary as a dart board needs to be made from scratch so it looks like it belongs in a Medieval Inn and not a modern sports bar. Bryan Fulk made this one from bead foam and burlap, with staples sapling twigs for rings. The darts were cut from branches, with nails attached to the front and turkey feathers for fins. It had the crude look I wanted, but I tested it out as a joke, and actually got all 5 darts in the bulls eye from the center of the room! He must have balanced them perfectly, because I have never done that before in my life!

Photo 14: Tallis is pretty good with a dart, too, it would appear! One throw and she takes out this rogue's frontal lobe! A wise move, considering the fire power he was wielding.

Photo 15: I believe in the game it is called the Dark Spawn crossbow. Here is one of the images BioWare sent of the game asset.

Photo 16: Here is the final DA:R prop, as constructed by Amish Ivers. It has a pine body, aluminum bow and trigger mechanism, and sintra spikes back filled with 808 urethane for durability.

Photo 16: All 0f that stunt rehearsal in the set space as it was being built really paid off. It gave the performers and production a good sense of how to move within the space, and utilize every aspect of it. The art department was also able to inspire some ideas and make some changes to the set to heighten the action. The best example would be the loft. I originally intended it only to be a facade, only sturdy enough to handle some set dressing so it added some depth and shadow to the space. But when the team saw the design in reality, imaginations ran wild, and I rebuilt the loft to be weight baring so it could support a crew.

Photo 17: The Inn fight also offered the opportunity for the art department to create a few original weapon designs. Although we made sure to stay within the aesthetic created by the BioWare team, we broke away from the weapons chart and made a few unique pieces, such as this mercenary's sword-staff, designed and built by Armorer Mazin Dajani.

Photo 18: The only thing more dangerous than a mercenary brandishing a sword-staff is Mazin MAKING a sword-staff! The blade was cut from 1/4 inch aluminum plate, and ground down to a rounded edge. This was bolted onto a section of 1 1/2 inch aluminum pipe. The finished weapon was decorated with leather and feathers for fashionable slaying.

Photo 19: Some of the hired hunters preferred getting more close and personal to their prey. And you can't get closer than hand to hand combat.

Photo 20: Of course, it's cheating when your hands are shielded inside these spiked steel gauntlets!

Photo 21: Art Department Coordinator Pooja tested them out thoroughly! She was very effective in budget meetings!

Photo 22: Felicia implemented the same method on set to keep the crew motivated. Just kidding, of course! Everyone involved wanted to have their picture taken with Tallis, and Felicia was kind enough to take the time to assassinate each crew member with the weapon of their choice!

Photo 23: The war hammer is huge, but actually pretty light. It is a block of bead foam coated with a textured spread of Bondo.

Photo 24: We all know Nyree carries a much more lethal weapon, but she showed us that she can be spontaneous and resourceful when alternative killing devices are needed. Cornered by the fireplace, Nyree takes out a mercenary with a lethal blow from smoldering log.

Photo 25: Rob "The Kid" Lindores carved the logs from styrofoam, and assembled the ash end out of scraps left over from the casting of the chains in the Chantry cell. Each ember was connected with a small daub of hot glue so that it would easily break apart on impact without hurting Luci Romberg when she got hit. Luci is a friend for the Team Tempest Freerunning Academy!

Photo 26: Not everyone visiting the Inn is looking for a fight. Second Unit Director is just dropping by for a visit, shooting a little behind the scenes video, and maybe grabbing a refreshing Cold brand cola.

Photo 27: Elves just come to be social. The beautiful Marissa Cuevas hangs out for a moment between takes elsewhere on the stage. That face tells me I obviously caught her in the midst of some interesting gossip!

Photo 28: The Inn is a very popular place. There is always a line outside. Even bouncers. Alright, I'm delirious. That's actually production assistant Greg Checchi giving our heroes an off camera cue to enter the Inn. Notice the exterior walls are bare flats, completely different from the design latent interior.

Photo 29: The exterior you saw in the show was actually a digital effect done by the VFX team. A CG model of the Inn was placed into a plate we shot on location. We looked at potential sights all around LA, and finally found the right one in Malibu. Here, two of my favorite people ever, Kim Evey and Felicia Day, check out the final location during the scout.

Photo 30: Our journey is almost at it's end. Next week brings us the sixth and final episode of Dragon Age: Redemption. But there is so much more to talk about before we reach that final credit scroll, so don't lose hope. Honestly, the adventure is only beginning...

Dragon Age: Redemption Episode 4

I spent so many hours of my childhood, and most of my teenage years, huddled over my desk, under the dim glow of a single lamp, painstakingly painting tiny lead orcs, dragons, and knights for the weekly D&D gathering. It seemed that the role of laying out the dungeon, or plotting the storyline was always going to fall into the hands of the friend who had more rank, age, books, or muscle (even in nerd circles there is always the one friend who can punch the hardest and get their way) but no matter who I played with, I always got the task of doing the art.

My earliest experiences with model making centered around trying to build the Star Wars vehicles that were either unavailable at the time, or out of reach financially, and creating physical environments in which to act out our D&D quests.

Photo 1: The caves, castles, and evil fortresses where always fun, but for some reason my favorite was always the Medieval Inn. It's a classic staple of fantasy lore, the modest thatched roof structure offering a moment of comfort, a warm meal, or shielding from the elements to a weary band of travelers. It is the perfect place for a brew, a brawl, or, most likely, both!

Needless to say, I was ecstatic to find that Felicia had written of such a place in Dragon Age: Redemption. And I was even more excited when BioWare provided this concept art, plucking the building right out of my imagination.

Photo 2: These were the only two images we received as reference for the inn, neither showing the actual interior we would film in. But I pulled from both drawings to create the final set.

Felicia dreamed big, but at all times we must remember that this was a web series. We made this show with all the professionalism of a major motion picture, or a network television series, but in all honesty, our budget probably wouldn't cover the daily Starbucks tab on a studio lot. There were so many conversations about the script and how to achieve it, where to cut corners, what seemed to ambitious. I had the full support of my art team when I continuously chose to argue on the side of NOT cutting elements, and the inn was a major one that kept being a possible contender for deletion.

Poor Felicia was constantly torn, knowing that it was a huge sequence to film, but also knowing that it really cemented the reality in this fantasy world she was bringing to life. We explored many avenues, such as finding a location, using sets from RenFaire, and filming on a greenscreen stage. But in the end, she was convinced to keep the episode script in tact, and had faith that I could build the set from scratch.

Photo 3: The first step was to figure out how much floor space the set would take up, and how to fill it while still leaving adequate room for the fight scene. I did some quick sketches on scrap paper with estimated dimensions, starting with a 30'x40' floor. Mazin took that info and did a simple SketchUp model, making this walk thru video so Felicia and the production team could get a sense of what a space that size would look like.

Photo 4: When everyone agreed that the layout felt right, Mazin went back in and added another layer of detail. Here is the same walk thru with more elements.

Photos 5-7: The next step was to take the 3D model and print gridded floor plans and elevations from sections of it. This allowed my carpenters to replicate the model in full size without massive amounts of blueprints. Each square of the grid above equals one foot.

Photo 8: The basic structure of the inn was assembled from existing 10'x12' flats that I traded my friend Doug at 41 Sets for. It was a good deal, as that amount of walls can cost tens of thousands of dollars. We made the ponywall flats separately, and covered them in multiple layers of styrofoam sheet insulation, which was carved to look like stacked field stone.

Photo 9: The fireplace was built in 4 sections: the hearth, the firebox, the mantle, and the chimney. They were all wood structures skinned with foam. The hearth was capped with 3/4' ply, since I was sure a stunt person would jump on it during the scene. I felt it was better safe than sorry! The fireplace was built at the BarnYard and trucked to the stage in pieces.

Photo 10: When all the walls were up, a temporary version of the back loft was erected to make sure that the proportions worked for the shots planned before diving into the expense of building the final, structural loft.

Notice the warehouse support column to the right. It wasn't that hard to blend it into the set, but it was difficult getting the set into a position where it fit on the stage AND the pole wasn't in a terrible place for the look of the inn.

Photo 11: We started working alternate shifts, do more construction at night, so Felicia and the gang could come in and figure out how to utilize the space. Here, director Peter Winther works on the choreography with Tallis and Cairn.

Photo 12: As the sets were being built on stage in downtown LA, the weapons, props, and makeup FX were moving along at the BarnYard. I was constantly running back and forth between both, and when I couldn't be at one, photos were taken to communicate. Here, Stunt Coordinator Thom Williams demonstrates his idea of how the Templar sword should be sheathed. Notice that lead stuntman Tim Eulich is holding a fiberglass stunt copy of sword.

Photo 13: Thom chooses a position for the Templar shield to be stowed.

Photo 14: Nyree (Marcia Battise) can't take the waiting and decides to choke someone!

Photo 15: The stunt team left, and it was time to get back to work. Oh, I remember these late nights!!! I wanted the walls to have a muddy, stucco look, so thinned down joint compound was randomly, and roughly, slapped up on the walls.

Photo 16: Then it was time for everything to get a base coat. The stone all went medium warm grey, and the walls a pale beige.

Photo 17: We didn't have enough tall ladders, so sometimes people did both steps of wall treatment as high as they could go, and then the rest would get done as the ladders became available! Here, Jason Swearingen does his best to reach the 8' mark!

Photo 18: Quite the opposite, Frank Bonanno finished the wall by hanging off the ladder!

Photo 19: Here, the next step of painting the wood trim has been finished. With everything base coated, it's time for scenicing.

Photo 20: Multiple washes are applied to all the stones, using different color combos to separate them individually from the carved styrofoam sheet. A burnt sienna wash is sprayed around all the edges of the wall, then wiped down with damp rags to simulate age and water stains.

Photo 21: This was probably the longest task of the entire inn building process, but it was worth it for the amount of realism it added. We used several hundred rags to accomplish it!

Photo 22: Not to mention the amount of paint I ended up wearing!

Photo 23: It took several nights to scenic the inn, and by the end of each I looked like I had severe frost bite!

Photo 24: Even Red 5 couldn't escape getting covered in paint. Here, she takes a momentary break from painting under the second loft, which hung over the bar. Red sits on a stack of barrels, which are placed exactly were they were in the CG concept model!

Photo 25: We finally finished painting, and then the fun part started: Dressing the set! All the fancy construction in the world won't help a set if it isn't dressed properly. The items in a room are as informative, if not more so, than the architecture itself. If you compare this photo with photo 20, you can see how much more alive the fireplace seems with the addition of candles, fire irons, and trophies. One glance and you instantly understand that you are in a huntsman's lodge.

Photo 26: Across from the fireplace, I tried to add a "homey" touch by adding shelves of earthware behind the bar.

Photo 27: Chandeliers were hung from the warehouse's real rafters, and sections of thatched roof were added onto the back and side walls so the camera could look higher and wider. The thatch is actually fallen palm fronds from the trees in my yard!

The stage floor was concrete, and not very Medieval looking. We weren't allowed to paint it, so my idea was to cover it in hay. I was surprised to find that hay was pretty cheap, being a city boy and all, so I got some extra bales to use as set dressing, Turns out it only took one or two bales to put a thick covering over the floor, so I had LOTS of extras for set dressing and props. Not sure why an inn would have that much hay in the loft, but it look cool and didn't feel out of place, so I went with it.

Photo 28: Can't say Art Department Coordinator Pooja Sharma was as excited about the hay as I was, especially after she shoveled hundreds of pounds of it across the floor.

Photo 29: Here is what the inn looked like from up in the back loft. You can see the fake rafter I put through the middle of the set. It's actually a hollow "U" of luan suspened with rope from the building's real rafters. And look how far two bales of hay stretch!

Photo 30: It did indeed get everywhere, though. Art Director Bryan Fulk found out pretty quick how easily hay gets into your shoes. Armorer Mazin Dazani thought it was pretty funny...wait! Mazin! What are you doing on the set! There are soooo many weapons to get ready for this scene!!!

Dragon Age: Redemption: Nyree is definitely my favorite episode so far, and this is without a doubt my favorite set. I feel like everyone has the same image in there mind when they think about a Tolkien-esqe fantasy inn, and I hope I came close to capturing it in real life. This set was a dream come true for me, and I felt like my 12 year old self playing the ultimate game of D&D the entire time we were working on it.

Anyone else out there more obsesed with painting the figures than actually playing the game? Or am I alone on that one!?!? Let me know in the comments below. And don't forget to like and/or share this blog!

More to come on DA:R...