Dryad Viv Concept (Life size girl in a box!)

[Dendro_Dave]

(This is copy/paste of major sections of thread from another forum..sorry but a lot to write all over again, and again...)

A little teaser, this came up in my holo/lightning thread, and I thought I'd just give it its own thread and get the ball rolling...maybe people will share some thoughts, inspiration, or product ideas that may help me with this project when I'm ready to start on it...

So one of the upcoming ideas planned...is to have nearly a life sized girl in the viv... or at least her head/torso, basically made up to look like a dryad, perhaps bathing in a pool or just lounging in the woods. Bark looking skin, green eyes, spanish moss hair...and pretty of course (And special FX of course)

Couple of pics to give you an idea what look/feel I'm going for with that idea...



This pic is probably most similar to the look I'll be going for, but not quite there...no bark skin (I'm thinking aspen bark pattern)


2 things holding me back...the expense...and the looks I'll get when they deliver a life size department store mannequin to my house

Thread Continues...

...originally I had planned on carving a face or something out of foam, or molding a live face, or perhaps sculpting one out of polymer clay..but while I'm pretty sure I can do that from my dabbling in sculpting, It is ambitious to do on a large scale and very time consuming, so being lazy like I am...I'm thinking start with something pre-made as a basis, and then work from there, to guarantee a life like appearance.

Here are a couple products that had interesting poses that may work nicely for this idea, and decent faces...(Hopefully this won't be to racy for the mods:o)


I'm thinking mostly of using torso on up...partly because I'd need a very large viv for full body. I think the red heads dimensions will fit in a 75 from about the torso on....and I feel like besides being more work there is more chance for it to come off tacky/creepy going full body. I'll start on a slightly smaller scale before I risk to much.

So basically find/create some dryad looking clothing/wig/skin (incorporating natural materials like spanish moss), surround them with hanging vines, live plants, rock/wood...a stream/pool...firefly FX (I came up with a way to do ones that actually fly around the viv ), the storm/plasma lighting, fiber optic stars, underlit pools, perhaps multiple fairy cave like modules so she has some little friends, possibly some limited animatronics, etc..etc... (I may have a few more surprises )

I think it is important to try to bring a sense of life/movement...if the scene is to static you'll focus on the girl to much and she'll just be a statue in a box with plants...which still might be cool if well done...but I think we do better

Thread Continues...

...Like a Fox![/B] (What!?!?!...shut up Echo!, I said like a fox...not that I was a fox...gawd...mind your buisness lil one...pets )
Echo, the new internet Mem! LOL Foxes...



Anyways... This pic really shows the look I'm going for but with tree bark (probably Aspen) skin/texture...and probably slightly different color scheme.


Here are aspen bark samples to save you the google trip if you don't know what it looks like right off hand...




I'm thinking something like this for the eye makeup/lipstick (painted and sealed against moisture like everything else about her)...



Lip Ideas:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uUnmOUzpp_8/TT...CF9349.JPG


I have a friend that use to Intern with Mac Cosmetics and has even done makeup for at least 1 movie so if I can't pull off the makeup job myself with my painting skillz chances are she would help.

It's a crappy 1mp digital pic of the actual drawing but maybe this will serve to reassure people I have the artistic chops to pull this off... (lean back/view from a couple feet away...looks more like the actual drawing then)

More crappy digital pics of drawing in my Flickr galleries below in my sig...

Thread Continues....

... Uh I don't know exactly how I'm gonna do it when we get to that project. In order to guarantee the look, and save myself some effort I'm thinking about wallpapers/decals and especially this hydrographics stuff that people are using to camo up guns/bows/ apply FX to cars etc..etc...

Here is one hydrographic pattern that may work...

Basically I could take a foam or plastic mannequin bust or head/torse/arms and just dip it and pull it through these hydrographics, seal it and be done mostly.
Check out these 2 vids on hydrographics...
[youtube]iP7BKHU4WUc[/youtube]

Skip first 5 minutes on this one to get to the good stuff...
[youtube]XOqa034MhGI[/youtube]

And then we may try adding some texture to it, and maybe some real aspen bark, if not to the face then other places...probably sealed in clear plasti dip or polyurethane to prevent rot.

If we can go that route, and I can find the right graphics for my look...then basically it is just painting the eyes, dressing her, doing up the wig and sealing everything up best we can to withstand the moisture/humidity...then build the viv around her.

Simple stencils or hand painting are other options of course. Here is one stencil I found in a quick search...


More inspiration...




My favorite, and very much if not better then what I was thinking...

I gotta change up that hair somewhat...I want her to have hair.
...(and don't think I haven't been thinking of ways to grow moss/live plants on the model )

Here is another mannequin that I found with a good pose, and gave me an idea of having her in/looking down at a pool of water...and little fireflies flying in circles just over the water. (I know how to do it )


(Likely this would need to be a vertical tank though...so maybe next version)

Thread Continues...

I'm thinking if I do this in the 55, that basically her Head/neck will be coming out from behind a rock, that looks to be hiding most her shoulders and/or torso, maybe part of her arm, and then she'll be reaching out into the middle of the viv over an underlit blue/turquoise pool with the associated FX that I mentioned like the flying fireflies, all around her, and I may move the storm fx more to the other side of the viv and put in an aurora australis FX (Northern lights...but these are the Southern lights, visible from parts of S. America...though probably not where are frogs live, or at least very little...compromise! )

"Its southern counterpart, the aurora australis (or the southern lights), has almost identical features to the aurora borealis and changes simultaneously with changes in the northern auroral zone[7] and is visible from high southern latitudes in Antarctica, South America, New Zealand, and Australia"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_(astronomy)


This FX will likely be based on similar concepts as the holo lightning...but really no need for sound activation here.

I plan to try to go with about a 50/50 rock/planted background/sides...probably hanging vines, and possible undersides of branches just barely visible at top of viv to help give that lush old growth look.

Basically we are going for a scene much like in the first pic in first post... (She's even got the blue flowers!)


Now imagine... that pic with more rock mixed in with the lush background, A large boulder obscuring part of her body in the foreground, an aurora FX above her on the right, a storm off in the distance coming in from the left...fireflies swirling over pool, vines hanging down around her, with tiny fireflies lit up on some, and more fireflies in the background...and perhaps the holo fairy cave down near the pool or well somewhere...I don't know, but its going in there!

Her physical orientation will be more of a side profile, with less of her lower body visible, and a more outstretched reaching pose...she may have water being pumped through to her palm so it pours down into the pool...Maybe a holographic fairy over the hand too ...or something.

Led strip lights with FX controller will be able to dim/change lighting sequence to cast the viv in different hues in day or night (and the color of the under lit pools too...did someone say lava viv:o!??!?!?!)...possibly uv and/or glowpaint fx too.

Thread Continues...

Meet Echo...Our new Dryad [/B]

Her pose isn't ideal, at least not for my initial concepts, but I can work with this.... I think, and her model name was "Echo", same as my Fox...so I thought, Serendipity?

Anyways she was about $40-$50 cheaper then just about anything else I could get, I felt may work...so I figured what the heck...if not this project, she'll go in another.

She'll probably get different hair, but I wanna go with something kinda feathery like this, but maybe a bit longer....


She seemed to have better eyes/eye makeup then most, so that was another selling point.


Hopefully be part of the first FX build...If we can wedge her in there some how.. may require a saw :o
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/parts-c...ncept.html

P.S. Do not shop for or google female mannequins and associated stuff unless you are serious about your art... I saw things...:o Things I will never unsee

Anyways found this hydrographics film I like...this may be her skin instead of the aspen looking stuff...


The base coat will show through so I'm thinking of giving her base coat a dusting in either white or green glow paint.... It should shine through the graphics a bit and give here an ethereal mystical kinda look...I'm thinking led glowing eyes too, in either green, blue, or purple (Possibly with a synced flash so she "blinks", I got an idea how to do this)

[Dendro_Dave]

May mix this with something like this...like here neck/upper chest bark pattern, face/lower chest woodgrain...


If we do that we may make the bark sections have an undercoat of green glow paint, and the woodgrain a white glow paint. (for both patterns I will likely need to lay down a white or light grey base coat)

[Dendro_Dave]

Hydro graphics ordered....hopefully in the next 2 weeks we'll catch a glimpse of our dryad coming to life (**** was expensive, nearly what I paid for the stupid mannequin)

What kinda screwed me on price was getting 2 types of film...I wanna do her face and some other parts mostly in wood grain, but the upper chest, maybe some of the forehead and other parts in the bark pattern.

So for the woodgrain like on the face we'll do this gray wood (better look like this photo or I'll be PO'd)


And for the bark on the upper chest area and other parts this pattern...


The plan is to do white base coats so the patterns come out looking like they do in the pics, but then layer in some true white glow paint under the woodgrain, and a dusting of green like in the bark areas (glowing moss accents), so she'll have this ethereal kinda glow at least for a little while after lights out...the true white glow paint is known to fade fast, and the krylon green glow doesn't hold its charge terribly long...so if it looks like ****, won't have to look at it long (But I'll test on one of her unused legs or something first and won't do it if I don't like the effect)

Then I'm considering doing like a partial facial and chest, maybe a shoulder woad tribal looking tattoo stencil that glows a faint purple or something.

Her lips and eyes may get some glow paint too but I'm not sure...the eyes especially, I'm thinking of punching holes in and installing some kinda flashing led's in her had so it looks like she is blinking periodically and her eye glow when open.

More nuggets of Info on DB...It is hard keeping up with the 4+ forums I have this posted in
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/parts- ... post845616

[Dendro_Dave]

Glow and reflective paints ordered to begin experimenting with the dryad's skin techniques/look, hydrographics should arrive today or tomorrow. Once I have both we'll begin creating the dryad. Another sponsor appears to be on board so a massive dent is about to be put in what I need for the hardscaping/fake rock work. Planning a trip to lowes soon to get the materials to construct the vivarium.

[SDRiding]

Such a cool idea! Are you going to keep frogs in there? And have you thought about how to manage plant growth around her so she looks "alive"? I think it might detract from the look if rogue plants start growing on her like it was a fallen tree. Excited to see what you come up with

[Dendro_Dave]

Such a cool idea! Are you going to keep frogs in there? And have you thought about how to manage plant growth around her so she looks "alive"? I think it might detract from the look if rogue plants start growing on her like it was a fallen tree. Excited to see what you come up with

Thanks....ya definately frogs...may add a day gecko or something at some point but mainly frogs...it will basically be like any other large vivarium, only will have 1 or 2 mannequins in it, and some special FX

Rogue plants growing on her is kinda what I'm hoping for...she is going to be a Dryad, with treebark and wood grain skin, probably a epiweb/hygrolon bikini that plants/moss mix should stick to and grow on.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dryad

[SDRiding]

I just meant plants from the ground taking over and adhering to the mannequin, it would create the effect that it hasn't moved. I mean it hasn't... but I think it might look more "alive" if the plants that grew were only growing off of her and not connected to the ground in any way. Does that make sense? I was just basing that off your first image where it looks like someone caught a candid shot of a dryad at the water, and I assume that's the feeling you want to capture when looking into the viv. Take the feeling you get from the first image and compare to the one of the statue where the moss on the dryad blends with the base. Just wanted to add an additional perspective because I think the idea is really creative!

[Dendro_Dave]

I just meant plants from the ground taking over and adhering to the mannequin, it would create the effect that it hasn't moved. I mean it hasn't... but I think it might look more "alive" if the plants that grew were only growing off of her and not connected to the ground in any way. Does that make sense? I was just basing that off your first image where it looks like someone caught a candid shot of a dryad at the water, and I assume that's the feeling you want to capture when looking into the viv. Take the feeling you get from the first image and compare to the one of the statue where the moss on the dryad blends with the base. Just wanted to add an additional perspective because I think the idea is really creative!

Ok, I get what you mean... ya I would generally prefer the plants that get on her, are ones I put there and are basically acting like clothing or part of her body...I can see how plants clearly rooted to the ground growing up around her, or coming off the walls wrapping around here might make her seem more static. I do plan on probably having some aquatics around her stomach, because the pool will only be 6-8 inches deep probably, and I need to kinda obscure where her torso meets the tank floor...that is one reason this pond will not be up against the glass...and may have kind of a cliff in the front that partially blocks the view of the pond surface from straight ahead, a long with a bit of cliff/drop off on the side shoreline to give the illusion she is standing in a deeper pool then what is really there. I may add floating plants like salvia natens or frogbit to the pool also to help obscure how shallow it really is.

Her height and the pool being so shallow are in part also why this viv will sit on the floor...and also because I need the top of the tank to be at or below eye level so the holographic lightning guts are not clearly visible...if you can easily see the top glass while looking into the viv that would kinda defeat the purpose of the holographic aspect of the lightning. I may at a later date kinda add fake rock and maybe potted plants to the outside of the vivarium too to further the illusion that there is a rocky blue forest pool there...and kinda hide the big glass box sitting on the floor aspects of it all

[Dendro_Dave]

Ok it was suggested to me by friends to start a funding campaign for the Dryad project... So that is exactly what I've done. If you'd like to help out, be a part of the fun and see this thing done sometime semi soon...donate!

I'm not sure how much I can modify it now that it is live but feel free to PM me with any suggestions/criticism (be nice please)

OK here it is, check it out...(hope I did ok on it)
Huge Living Vivarium with Life sized Dryads | Indiegogo