Making Board Game
Sunday, January 31, 2016
I was stunned to discover that this year is the 30th anniversary of my 16mm short film Board Game -- shot in 1984, finished in 1985, premiered on BBC TV in November 1986.
The amateur filmmaking magazine’s editor, Tony Rose, had covered the BBC competition. As well as some nice compliments about Board Game, and a barbed note chastising the NFTS for rejecting me, Mr. Rose mentioned that he had been intrigued by how we had brought the chess pieces to life in my short film -- it was not by Harryhausen-style stop-motion animation, as many people suspected. So I responded by sending him a 900-word explanation, detailing the work of my talented effects man, Nigel Booth.
Movie Maker did not publish my tell-all account, as they claimed I did not have imagery to support such a lengthy piece. But I was amused to see, years later, that I was apparently shooting for the moon by considering another outlet for my article, as indicated by a single-word scribbled on the top of my manuscript: ‘Cinefex?’
I can’t recall if I ever sent Cinefex my story -- sorry, Don and Jody, if I did -- but I thought it would be fun to finally confess how we brought those chess pieces to life.
Happy 30th, Board Game!
The Chess Men of ‘Board Game’
Article by Joe Fordham (January 1987)
Chess set by Nigel Booth
The idea for the film was simple. Two strangers facing each other in a quiet game of chess find themselves so involved, emotionally, that things get out of hand.
To create this emotional chess set, we called upon the talents of a member of our filmmaking group, ‘Dangerous Visions,’ who has been making nasty things for our earlier Super 8 productions. Nigel Booth -- who is now actually working in the film industry in the creature effects trade -- designed and sculpted the entire cast of King, Queen, Knight, Bishop, Rook and Pawns. This gave us maximum control over the two most important criteria: the characters of the figures, and the ability to bring them to life.
To create the main chess set, Nigel sculpted and cast 32 figures in dental casting stone. He made the ancient homemade chessboard to look appropriately stained and aged, and as an extra vintage touch backed the board with 1950s newspapers. After the main body of shooting, Nigel then began several months of sculpting, casting and moulding. While I edited the film on nights and weekends, using equipment borrowed from the postproduction company where I worked in London, Nigel was also working when he could between finishing his first professional job, sweeping up and helping out in the creature shop on Highlander. We were both putting what we were learning at work into practice on Board Game.
Nigel could not fit the mechanics necessary inside a character only a few inches tall, so he re-sculpted his own designs, scaling them up. This was made easier since he was using his own original sculpture to begin with, as was part of his plan. He took castings from molds of his sculptures and made soft foam latex skins and rigid resin substructures.
He then fitted each skin over the substructure skull, and attached it to the internal mechanisms that would provide internal movement. A series of strings threaded up through the skull and attached to the inner surface of the foam skin. After a skillful paint job, the character would then be ready for what was, basically, marionette puppetry. For the first time, we were able to see these apparently solid ceramic objects moving and, with sound effects, coming to life.
Finally, I could slot the remaining shots into place in the cutting copy of my film. Now all I had to do was the sound effects track, the music, the sound mix, the neg-cut and the answer print. We premiered the film on August 2nd, 1985, at the Bijou cinema in Wardour Street, and in November 1986 it won £2,000 in the BBC TV Showreel ‘86 film competition.
But all that work, and the short screen time, is necessary for special effects. Creaky though the saying ‘less is more’ may seem, it is true that a filmmaker should only need to produce a special effect, the impression of images, rather than gloating over it. We didn’t exactly have the money to produce much to gloat over, but from the reactions we have had to Board Game it has struck me how this observation is so true. Nigel’s chessmen may only be on screen for a few seconds, but they leave you with a lasting and magical impression.
Board
Game boards (click
for
more)
Nigel
and
his
skulls
Action!
Bored
Boy
(Richard Merry)
Bilious
Bishop