Sergio Leone Movie Set Diorama

[JohnReid]

This side of the open set is where I imagine the interior shots of the opening scene would have been taken.The opening on the left is where there is a little jog in the interior wall which I presume was a sleeping area for the station master.I am only building that part that can be seen in the film.After the jog is a badly built brick wall with the doorway at the end where the movie begins.The large opening will be from where the interior scenes would have been taken in my little scenario.HO scale track makes a perfect dolly for the camera and really tells the story here without even having to show a camera which would be out of place on an abandoned set.The figure is there to check the scale.
I am presently building the sleeping area/camera platform but on a reduced scale due to space requirements at the edge of the round base.In the film the shot through the door to the outside(where the first nations lady is running away)opens on to the desert and in my scenario would have to have been shot in other open set.The wall where the figure is standing actually extends for a long way and is held down with ropes and stakes in the ground.Nice scene but I can't show it here.

 

[JohnReid]

Some of you guys must be wondering why does he keep posting this stuff when hardly anyone ever responds ? Well in the beginning ten years ago I wondered the same thing myself and almost gave up.I build every day so I don't have a lot of time to socialize on the net, other than sharing my work and techniques with you guys, which I find extremely rewarding.So why is it I don't quit ? well my photobucket tells me a different story.Sometimes over a five month period I can get up to a million hits ! Recently it has been running around 600,000.I post my stuff on about 35 websites; aircraft ,RR,cars and ships, some more than others depending upon what I am working on at the time.It is very time consuming but I love the opportunity to do it.You see I am almost 70 years old and I remember how it used to be years ago when most modelers built in isolation from one another, except for the occasional phone call or snail mail.Now I can instant communicate with other modelers, on a day to day basis, and show my stuff in real time.Until now this was never possible, before the era of computers, digital cameras and photobucket etc....I show it, if you like it fine, if you don't that is fine too ,but at least the majority of the official gatekeepers, as I new them,are pretty much irrelevant today and thank goodness for that. Cheers! John.

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

This small closet looking area is actually a prop set up for the camera.You never see this room in the movie only the suggestion of it being there.The near wall will be fake brick made from previously cut artists watercolor board.Attached to the brick wall will be the door from the opening scene of the film and then finally the actual set.The exterior of these walls will be almost new wood ,while the interior will be painted and weathered to look old.Most of the camera shots from the opening scene were taken from this end of the rail car.
There is one area that had me stumped for a long time and it took my wife's fresh eyes to spot it.The brick area was curved I thought but why would anyone build such a crooked brick wall? Sergio did everything for a purpose and I couldn't figure it out.A closer look actually reveals that there is another wooden wall behind the brick one and it is this wood that has warped to create this odd form.The brick actually starts at the wood post and ends at the rear door and is fairly straight but heavily weathered.

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

Finishing seams,gaps and screw heads.

The pics in photobucket are almost self explanatory on the final cosmetic stuff.
The screw heads are covered using round felt pads the tops of which were covered with white glue and then dipped in the original earth soil,glued on using contact cement and blended into its environment with the materials shown in the pics.You just have to play around with this until it looks right to your eye.
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[JohnReid]

 

[Tommi]

Always interested in following your progress, your work is amazing

Tommi

 

[JohnReid]

Thanks Tommi, glad you like it .Cheers! John.

 

[JohnReid]

I have mentioned this book before and it is now out of print but my good modeling bud Ken Hamilton has given his permission to put it on the internet.
Ken encouraged me to get into doing landscaping,making good looking junk and super weathering when I needed a lot of encouragement.Ken's work along with Shep Paine are the two rocks that my stuff is built upon. Thanks guys!

See Ken's book here:

http://s8.photobucket.com/albums/a2/mercman51/DIO Book/

Enjoy!
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"Once upon a time......." Storyboard dioramas by JohnReid.
My photobucket:
http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

 

[JohnReid]

Hi guys ! I have had to put the Sergio piece aside temporarily as the museum will be picking up their aircraft dioramas soon .I still have the finishing touches to do and take the final pictures with the lighting as I intended it to be.I did these dioramas mostly for taking pictures but museums have other priorities for display.Example ,I used real bulbs for the lighting fixtures but they can't remove a huge glass case every time they have to change a bulb,so these pics I am taking now will probably be the last where I can control the lighting.
Cheers! John.

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

I hope that you guys don't mind me just posting pictures of my recent progress on this diorama.I am doing this in the spirit of "a picture is worth a thousand words".Most of this is plain old woodworking and there isn't really much to add.All of the building techniques I use I have covered before and will add again in my upcoming online book.If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.Your input is very important to me.
Recently I was given a great idea for the old west diorama that I am working on now, that will add a whole new dimension to the piece.Old west = ghost town right ? Old movie sets have much the same feeling about them,and this diorama will be no exception,it will have its resident ghost too. Everything is there except the actors.Imagine the feeling of being alone on a set such as this after everyone has gone home !
The figure will be set in the shadows painted an iridescent white .The figure is already in a nice pose just quietly standing there and fits right in with the fantasy nature of this piece.This is where the art of storytelling really comes into the picture.

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

This is the basic composition.The open set that I am working on now.Then a closed set as represented here by the passenger/baggage car and finally where you see a flat car the" General "locomotive and tender.In the center will be the empty directors chair and of course the ghostly figure will be inside the station.The locomotive will be constructed as a fake made of metal and plywood, probably cut in half but with a full cab and front portion.
The closed set will be identified as such by a sign posted on the sliding door."Keep door closed", filming in progress "or something of that nature.I may add to the outer perimeter a prop with a backdrop picture of Monument Valley depicted on it.Other than that the car will be completely closed with only some interior lighting filtering through some closed blinds.Anyway ,that is the plan for now!

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

Here is a better pic of the rail car/passenger station with the shack built over the top.This is the station from "Cattle Corner" depicted in the opening gunfight scene in the movie.I presume that it was built as a temporary station, as the railway was being pushed through the area, or it was just a cattle station that happened to sell tickets and pickup and drop off passengers until a real station could be built.The railway tie platform was obviously built for cattle and not human traffic.
The" Sweetwater Station" is just newly built and would handle the regular passenger traffic for the area although cattle were also loaded and unloaded there as well.
The whole Cattle Corner thing is special and very unique to this film ,I believe that it was built to symbolize the new ways taking over the old.A station in transition and soon to be replaced by something completely new.