Signs of the Times - November 2012 - (Page 22)

STRICTLY COMMERCIAL By Melissa Jones Melissa Jones owns Nice Carvings (Baxter, MN). Hooray (and Hurry) for Hollywood How a Minnesota signshop got its work on the big screen In July,thedécor-crewHeat, contacted a representative for film, The us. The action/comedy film, which was produced for 20th Century Fox Films and stars Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy, has recently finished filming and will premier in theaters this April. For a scene, they needed a 3-D FBI logo on a sign (Bullock portrays a straitlaced FBI agent opposite McCarthy’s unkempt Boston police officer; the “odd couple” main characters track down a Russian mobster.). Our first movie sign was created for The Green Hornet, starring Seth Rogen and Cameron Diaz, which premiered last year. The company that contracted that sign introduced us to the set-decoration team for The Heat; 20th Century Fox contracted us directly. As is often the case, the customer needed a rush job on the 3-ft.diamater sign – a five-day turnaround. After we agreed on a price with their production team, we worked with the set-decoration team and FBI officials to make sure the sign’s logo wouldn’t infringe on any trademarks. We made the shield in a slightly different shape, replaced the scale on the actual FBI logo with the “Lady of Justice,” and slightly Melissa Jones, who founded Nice Carvings (Baxter, MN) six years ago, proudly displays her 3-D, HDU and cedar sign made for the set of The Heat, a major motion picture starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy, that’s due for release in the spring. She’s previously fabricated a sign for the set of The Green Hornet, a movie starring Seth Rogen that was released last year, and has gained a reputation in Tinseltown for her high-quality work. altered the wording on the sign’s outer ring. Sometimes my husband, Jason, and I administer the design and layout changes; in this case, the film’s production team executed the changes and provided a .BMP file with reasonably high resolution. It was up to us to translate it into a 3-D object – and fast! To aspire and perspire I carved the Lady of Justice emblem, scroll banner and plants that protrude from the banner by hand. I quickly modeled them in Aspire, Vectric’s 3-D software. Although I mostly use Aspire to prep image files for CNC routing, it’s also useful for presenting color, 3-D renderings for clients, such as what we presented Jones devised the sign using Vectric’s Aspire 3-D software. Here, she developed the rosettes that frame the plaque. 22 SIGNS OF THE TIMES / NOVEMBER 2012 / www.signweb.com She roughed out the panel on Nice Carving’s ShopBot PRT 4 x 8-ft., CNC router. http://www.signweb.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Signs of the Times - November 2012

Signs of the Times - November 2012
Contents
ST Update
Technology Update
Vinyl Apps
Strictly Commercial
Lighting Techniques
The Moving Message
Technology Review
Technology Review
Design Matters
New Products
London 2012
The Rules of Attraction
Extreme Weather
An Icon Looks at 80
The Value of Signs
Enter ST ’s 2013 Intl. Sign Contest
Industry News
Industry News
Editorially Speaking

Signs of the Times - November 2012