As always, I now only have VERY limited time to "pop in" to the FX forum maybe once a month or two (or more)...
...figured I'd best leave some links for people to learn more about what I did regarding "becoming Vader".
Not certain where to START, but... I guess here goes:
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LATEST thing was / is me testing doing some
real-time vocal mods + my own totally custom vocal amp box. We'll see how it goes:
NoVader tests custom 'Vader Vocal Changer' Electronics (SaberCombat.Com) -Going "way" back (kinda)... this was the Rubies vader costume with almost no modifications... so... just testing it out. I was also still essentially ~5'11" with the height... instead of ~6'2" or so:
"NoVa-der" Test 02 - still no alterations to materials (mostly) - YouTubeFinally able to accomplish some rudimentary "fight actions", but... at this point--and this is TOUGH to explain--I was still pretty limited with my motion:
NoVa-der Fight Test 03 - Santa Cruz Saber Combat - YouTubeA LOT got fixed regarding this later on. Subtle, yet important "invisible" details...
When my good friend & associate Gary Ripper re-did the paint work on my mask (my attempts/work were... not as ideal, but it was my first attempt at doing such a thing, and I learned a ton!):
Darth Ripper paints NoVa der's Vader Mask - YouTube----------------------------------------------------------
"CHELSEA-WAN VS. NOVADER"Chelsea-Wan vs. NoVa-der (Google Saber) - YouTubeA lot of improvement here, although I STILL had not affixed my cape to my shoulder pauldrons in order to prevent the cape from "floating back" (due to rigorous activity) behind the space/hinges. Hard to explain. I also finally had a single fan in my helmet (finally!)
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NOVADER "CRASHES THE PARTY" @ LOOPKICKS ("Tricks & Treats" event):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43F7jtPn9ZoThis has actually got to be one of my most favorite moments in working with my good friends and martial arts associates @ LoopKicks. :) Seriously... these are the best people EVER! The sound layering I did with the vocals ended up working PERFECTLY, even though Ryan and I had only like 10 minutes to go over the details, practice a bit... and then just have fun going for it, heheh
I've met a lot of martial artists, performers, creative people, etc. -- some of 'em cool, some of 'em phony... but these guys are the TRUTH, and they are one of the most positive things to EVER happen in my life. I only wish I could be there more... :(
Anyhow...
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"OBI-VILLA WAN VS. NOVADER"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hSlSf2ULSgIt's pretty obvious that at this point... a LOT of tweaks, changes, improvements and more were there. At this point, I had TWO fans in my mask (again, all installed and set up by myself), a microphone to boost my vocals, super loud desktop speakers in my shoulders for breathing/music/JEJ quotes, and some minor tweaks to other things like overall wiring, belt buckle, head mount & more.
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Electronics explained (to a point):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2F210s1v0gAI had a few moments after the above performance to demonstrate the sheer
volume & features going on.
Some BTS (behind the scenes) of the OWK v Vader thing from a different performance where you get at least a SMALL window of what is going on:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNnA9PbPeYQThat was an event for a gent named Chris Taylor... and yes... here I was intro'ing him again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naeRobXFO74That's about the jist of it...Thoughts / questions welcomed, but... I can't promise to be able to answer except maybe once in a few months (unless you e-mail me or something like that)...
It's gettin' late, so... savin' my brain's bandwidth and gettin' da heeaalll OUTTA here!!!
--MTFBWY,
--Novastar