Pistolas Cruzadas Film

Machete

2010-09-05T10:30:00.000-07:00

Machete is out in the theaters! Go and see it..you'll love it! Violence, Nudity, Laughs and Danny Trejo!!! what can I say but go and see it! A lot of my work is in it and at my other blog I will post some of the cool things I have contributed!

Just one more tease before the big Post

2009-07-18T08:32:00.000-07:00

I had to post this...The Featurette part 1 will be up very soon!

The Nun shoots Guey from alex toader on Vimeo.

New Stuff very soon!

2009-07-15T11:29:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a while since I have posted any new material.. Please visit very soon I am finishing up right now the Making of the Trailer Featurette part one..the pre-production and the shoot of Pistolas. Sorry about all the delay but I have been extremely busy working on two projects at the same time Machete and Predators...I have 6 more vfx shots to finish on Pistolas and then on to the final touches of edit. Can't wait to finish it...been working on it for a long time and I have other personal projects I would like to get off the ground. Thanks and please check back for the part one Featurette.

Spit and Shine

2009-02-11T16:46:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick shot of the bartender played by Carlos...in the original plate there's a peculiar thing that happens when he spits in the glass, the air rushes back into his face and he blinks...so I had to track part of his face over 3 or 4 frames to fix that peculiar squint. The shot is color corrected. For some reason it plays better and crisper if you click on the name link on the bottom left corner of the image ..directly from vimeo.

Spit and Shine from alex toader on Vimeo.

The Cigar Shot

2009-02-01T13:49:00.000-08:00

Hello
here is a shot where I added a computer generated cigar, the cigar at the head of the shot is real, after she blows the smoke and raises the hand in frame to throw the cigar, that cigar is cg...and so are the gun blast and smoke. The clip has couple speed changes and is also color corrected. Disclaimer it may play a bit choppy courtesy to Microsoft Windows .wmf file format. Enjoy and as always comments and constructive criticism is welcome!

another temp comp from alex toader on Vimeo.

2008-12-29T19:06:00.000-08:00

Here's another quick test, the last one for this year...I still have a lot of stuff to do, so I better get my behind in gear and finish it. My Friend Aaron Burns (he was also the camera operator/gaffer/cg artist) is helping me with the gun blasts, he created the gun blasts and I added the smoke. Enjoy!

Test_comp from alex toader on Vimeo.

2 shot punch

2008-12-12T18:28:00.000-08:00

2 shot punch shot, vid rez and compressed...but you can see the blood squirt vfx in both shots. More on Sunday when I will post some HD stills also and I will have more about the project.

2 punch shot from alex toader on Vimeo.

2008-12-07T10:08:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick shot, compare top and bottom,

TOP: raw footage plate shot with a Sony 900
no color correction/overcast day, 16x9 aspect
BOTTOM: color corrected plate, 2:35 aspect
, teeth yellowed, blood splatter added.

(QT is compressed) I will get a subscription to vimeo.com
so I can show HD qt's. enjoy!

Before and After from alex toader on Vimeo.

more stills

2008-12-05T17:07:00.001-08:00

As promised more stills from the project
first, Carlos as the barkeep in the cantina scene,
second still is from a stare down shot...yep yours truly,
third a collage of the costumes before dirt and grime...
Nina and her husband Steve dirtied, dusted and grimed
all the costumes the morning off the shoot...they all
looked awesome! The costumes were pieced together from off the shelf pieces I bought at discount stores, some pants were just jeans
that I added the silver buttons on the sides (botonadura, the correct Spanish name) and the buttons were just cheap jacket buttons I bought at a discount hobby store...The hats on the other hand, I had to purchase at a specialty store in San Antonio...
same with the holsters they were bought at the Mercado
in San Antonio, the gauntlets I bought really cheap and added
details myself...same with the jewelry and necklaces...
I made most of them myself...the weapons were something else
I bought 3 replicas Colt Cavalry type and added details myself and
those were the hero guns for close ups..
the other guns were molded off a Single action Ruger Redhawk (modern gun), my friend Marcus Laporte
pulled the mold for me and I painted them..I know I could of pulled molds off
of the replicas but I did not want to take any chances at clean up... but when holstered
they looked authentic...I will post some pictures of the guns later.
Enjoy!

first post

2008-12-04T18:08:00.000-08:00

Hello,
this is my personal film project I have been working on it for the last year and a half,
it's a trailer for my western script... I was very fortunate to have Jeff Fahey (Lost, Planet Terror, Lawnmower Man, Silverado, etc) play a part,
He had seen some of my art and also heard about the project and was very intrigued...Emmy Robin the beautiful young lady you will see in the trailer, she is a local actress here in Austin but she had roles in movies such Planet Terror, Sin City and the Sno Cone Stand, and numerous commercials...I am very fortunate to also have such good and generous friends that played parts or helped out in post production. I have to mention Elizabeth Avellan, without her generosity this project would not of been possible...the Sony 900 cam, locations and equipment were all possible because of her.

I have to make a disclaimer , I have been working in the entertainment industry (film, commercials and video games) for over 15 years and I am a senior vfx artist on the creative team at Troublemaker Studios, so it's not a hobby...the guys and gals involved in the project are all pros.

We prepped for 3 months ( I have a day job so prepping was done at night and weekends), making props or altering stuff I had, doing storyboards and rehearsals for the fight choreography...also had to put costumes together..which I did myself with the exception of Emmy's outfit (protagonist) and Jeff Fahey's (antagonist) ...I had help from Nina Proctor, the costume designer of "Sin City, the movie" fame...she fitted both actors and made adjustments. I have to say, that this project could of not have been done without each and everyone involved...people of whom I am eternally grateful for... I will mention each and every person that was involved as we go...I will not leave anybody out!

During prep and rehearsals, also during the shoot I had my friend Carlos (also helped out as actor, crew and post) shoot behind the scenes, documenting the making of this trailer project...I will have that posted very soon...until then enjoy some stills! I will update again soon with more news and info...images, storyboards, designs and a making of quicktime.

So the first image is, a before and after, the way it was shot and then the matte painting that I did, Drew De la Cruz did the roto, he is also the guy banging on the door...(will post the quicktime soon)...the second image is a collage of stills from the shoot no color correction or visual effects...

I hope you will check back soon to see the progress and get a glimpse of a very small project in the making!