Womp Rats

02/23/2024

We are now on Instagram...
https://www.instagram.com/womp_rat_cantina/

02/23/2024

“Womp Rats” the series is a large, complex production. Before the team tackles that, we will test and prove our abilities with some short prequels entitled “Hyper-Spaced Out.”

Synopsis: Demoted and effectively banished from the Rebellion for gross incompetence by Princess Leia, rebel pilot Cherise Kalb endures a comic week in hyperspace in a derelict imperial shuttle traveling to Add’Eden with an astromech droid she does not trust. The story will be told in eight approximately five-minute vignettes.

We already have a set. We have our actress. We have a script. Our droid is partially built, and 3D printing of their remaining parts is underway. We plan to begin filming in late March and hopefully stream the episodes early this summer.

Look for more updates here.

02/21/2024

“When you marry someone, you marry their family too, for better or for worse.” 😁

02/13/2024

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1134981734185559

02/13/2024

When Kenner secured the toy license for a new Science Fiction movie called Star Wars, nobody seemed to really notice, until the movie hit the theaters, and the toy world would be forever changed.
It began with the Early Bird Certificate at Christmas of 1977.

The first retail wave in 1978 consisted of 12 figures, which were followed by eight more.

The last figure released was the mail-order “Rocket Firing” Boba Fett in 1979, for a total of 21 figures.

They were accompanied by multiple accessories, vehicles, and playsets.

02/08/2024

It's a trap!

02/05/2024

By The Oatmeal

01/31/2024

From Cloud City to Emerald City, welcome the legendary Billy Dee Williams to ECCC 💫 Most famously known as Lando Calrissian in Star Wars, Billy joins us on Thurs, Feb 29 and Fri, Mar 1 2024.

*Join Billy as he recounts stories told in his brand new memoir What Have We Here? Portraits of a Life at an exclusive ECCC separately ticketed event: What Have We Here? Spotlight on Billy Dee Williams 🎤 Fri, Mar 1 at 12:30 PM. More details and ticket info coming soon!

01/29/2024

Our set design and construction team is also hard at work developing our cantina layout concept models.

The sabacc table is even under construction.

01/28/2024

Our props department has been hard at work.

We have some alien blasters (repurposed Nerf guns), coinage for the gambling scenes, and a 3D print of a Star Wars blaster (SE-14r) for the Imperial Colonel character.

Big thanks to Miette and Manie for the painting/detailing.
Richard

01/19/2024

More character costume ideas and some set design concepts.

Our two main characters (Nix, the failed Jedi, and Cherise, the over-eager rebel) are pictured in a concept model of our cantina.

The actual location of the scene would be at the Sabbac table where our droid, C-3FU spends all his time.

01/16/2024

Spoiler alert! We've been playing around with green screen replacement and digital atmospheric effects.
When finished, this will be part of the crowdfunding pitch video.

Testing green screen background replacement and digital atmospheric effects.

01/12/2024

On this day in 1982, filming began for Return of the Jedi.
Pictured is artist, Christopher Evans finishing a matte painting for one of the scenes.

You knew it was a painting, right?

01/10/2024

Emperor Pawpatine 😁

01/09/2024

🥲

01/03/2024

Christy is playing Viz, the Womp Rat's pugnacious runaway Twi'lek slave bar server.
These photos illustrate Christy's evolving Twi'lek cosplay, which will be adapted to match the vibe of the Womp Rat cantina.

12/25/2023

Droids are as essential to Star Wars as Jedi and alien monsters, so of course Womp Rats has its own eccentric bots. One is a protocol droid with the unfortunate name of C-3FU, who lived a tragic life before ending up in the trash on Add’Eden (well, at least the upper half was in the trash; not sure where the rest of him is). Rescued by our cantina owner, FU is bolted to Nix’s sabbac table where the socially maladroit droid deals cards and often insults the customers.

I’ve 3D printed most of FU’s major parts and glued together whatever was too big to print in one go. Since the costume fits several potential actors (including myself---barely), I’m confident with printing FU’s remaining parts and moving on to sanding and painting.

Richard

12/19/2023

A few frustrating but educational months later, I cleared the editing-process’s last hurdle. It wasn’t a graceful run. After many stumbles, scraped knees, and temper tantrums, I crawled over the finish line.
he result: I’m a fair novice editor, and our pitch video is nearly done. I will keep watching tutorials and expanding my Resolve skills until I am an expert at color, sound, and special effects, but my focus is now on our crowdfunding campaign.

Look for a launch in early 2024 on a platform called Seed&Spark.

I’m making progress on several other fronts, so stay tuned for further updates…. Richard

12/18/2023

Building my own computer was scary, but with guidance from my kids, I purchased all the right components and ended up with an excellent machine. My son and daughter did most (nearly all, actually) of the assembly and set-up. That’s probably for the best. It’s also in keeping with tradition. When my son and I built the Lego Imperial Star Destroyer (4,784 piece) kit a couple Christmas’ ago, Dad was only allowed a small segment. (Part 2)

Richard

12/18/2023

Because the cinema camera we are using for Womp Rats is a BlackMagic camera, I decided to purchase and learn the DaVinci Resolve professional editing software package (BlackMagic owns DaVinci Resolve). All my prior editing and special effects experience was with an old version of the Adobe Creative suite (e.g., Premier Pro and After Effects), but Adobe has moved to a subscription model that I find ridiculously expensive, so they lost this customer. After using both software packages, I think Resolve is superior and way less expensive (one-time purchase) anyway.

Whew! First hurdle crossed, but I soon realized I wasn’t running a sprint. This was a marathon. Professional-level editing involves much more than selecting which parts of which clips to use. Colors must be corrected, lighting problems fixed, audio leveled with background noises removed, appropriate sounds added in (i.e., foley work), layering music, and incorporating special effects. I not only had to teach myself how to use the Resolve software (which has a 4,000-page plus user manual), I had to become a competent-enough editor to at least produce my short pitch video.

Thank the Force for on-line tutorials, but it soon became apparent that I needed a new computer to handle Resolve’s sophisticated and computationally expensive processing power, especially in the future when it comes time to edit our full-length Womp Rats episodes. Advice from experts indicated Resolve editing efficiency relies upon a high end-graphics card (GPU) more so than a screaming hot CPU (essentially a gaming computer). I needed to upgrade anyway, but off-the-shelf versions of what I wanted were over $3,000. Since my daughter has built many computers for her lab and my son had just finished building his desktop, I selected the self-build route to save money and ensure the computer met my needs. (Part 1)

Richard

12/18/2023

Womp Rats started the year with plenty of energy and enthusiasm from cast and crew. In April, we shot the introduction to our crowdfunding campaign pitch video. Joe and Alyssa’s workshop was invaded one weekend and converted into a temporary studio. This was my first attempt at storyboarding, directing, and shooting a live-action scene.
I admit to many newbie mistakes, but it was an excellent learning experience and a ton of fun. Angie and Christie gave amazing performances as the author’s (my) shoulder demon (Sith) and angel (Jedi), respectively. All subsequent criticism is upon me for not anticipating what came next.

Richard

05/10/2023

and action... Womp Rats

05/10/2023

Fight scene set up Womp Rats

05/10/2023

Promotion video : Rehearsing fight scene...

05/10/2023

Saturday rehearsal for promotion video of Womp Rats

04/23/2023

more lovely Womp Rat art...

04/21/2023

Womp Rat art Gallery 🎨