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PROJECTS : Hard-Boiled
"Give the man a gun and he thinks he's Superman.
Give him two and he thinks he's God."
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(August 17, 2004)
Chow Yun-Fat in the teahouse shootout of "Hard-Boiled"
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Director
John Woo's "Hard-Boiled" is pretty much my favorite action
film. When it comes to over-the-top gunplay, nothing in cinema
has ever topped the astoundingly exciting and stylish shootouts
found in this movie. It opens with a jaw-dropping shootout in
a Hong Kong teahouse; this mere introductory sequence is more
impressive than the climaxes of most other films. Bottom-line,
if you like crazy action films, then "Hard-Boiled" is required
viewing. You should be able to find it in almost every video
store on the planet, so you have no excuse not to give it a try.
If you want to own it, then the new region-free DVD from Mei
Ah is probably your best bet (unless you live in France, in which
case get the release by HK Video). It has a cleaned up anamorphic widescreen image and a solid DTS surround sound track
(make sure it says DTS or you'll be buying an older version). |
The figure depicts movie star Chow Yun-Fat as he appeared in the film's opening
teahouse sequence. Despite the figure's relatively simple design, this
project was actually quite daunting as it involved several techniques that
were completely new to me: Using rabbit fur to simulate "real hair,"
painting Asian skin tones, sewing a complete article of clothing (the
pants), and weathering clothes (that awful shirt).
The background is part of an old hallway set I built for a diorama of
CYF's "The Corruptor." I trashed that project because, well, I like
"Hard-Boiled" a heck of a lot more than "The Corruptor," so if the Chow head
was going to be used for anything, it was going to be for a HB custom.
However, I did want to recycle the background, so here it is. Expect
to see it used with any other figures that need to be jazzed up as well. :)
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Special thanks goes out to customizing giant Alyasha who provided
the fur by bringing it all the way back from China! Your efforts are much,
much appreciated!
Thank you's also go out to the following talented customizers:
Jim Van Spronsen for blowing the doors open for fur customizing with his
great figures.
Dan Chung & his Crouching Tiger figure for showing me that Dragon's old
"Chow" sculpt still has some mileage left in it even among today's modern
super head sculpts.
Rainbow Avenue for posting a fantastic pants sewing tutorial just as I needed
it. If it weren't for his message post, I'd still be trying to figure
out how to put together those dang pants!
(All of these gents can be found at the OSW message board or in my
Links section)
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