A lot of you ask "who is Niubniub?" and "what do you like to do besides making dioramas?". Since my teens, I've loved making things. Be it costumes, airbrush paintings or movie prop replicas. I guess it's a no brainer as to why I work in the film fx buisiness - LOL. So here are some examples of my work created over the last 10 or plus years. As for my physical description and interests, you must find my SECRET page. Here is a hint - it's in the "Choose A Character" section, just think of my name and look around - good luck

AIRBRUSH PAINTINGS

Catwoman 1992 - Latex Paint - 40 X 30 inches	Worf 1992 - Latex Paint - 40 X 30 inches

These 2 paintings were made for a Convention Art Show in Toronto 1992. They took me aproxamitally 50 hours each to paint and sadly the last I have created. I hope to return to airbrushing one day when I find the time.

HALLOWEEN COSTUMES
Alien - 1986 My first attempt to make a costume for the club circuit halloween parties. Took me 3 months to create using books as references. Head is plasticine covered with fiberglass. A hockey helmet was glued inside so that the dome would not fall off - it weighed over 15 pounds. Dorsal fins are tubes covered with same technique as the domed head. The ribcage was made from foam padding. The hardest part was walking and seeing only the feet in front of me. after 3 nights of clubbing - my neck hurt real bad - LOL - but I did win first place.

Robocop - 1987 My mom bought a new refrigerator and that got me thinking as to what I could make with such a big box. The hot film that summer was Robocop, So my choice was an easy one. This costume took me 2 months to complete. Made entirely out of Cardboard and masking tape. Grey and black latex paint were applied to the tape and then 3 coats of gloss medium to give it shine and make it look more like metal. Again used pictures for reference and details. Foam sheets were used for the stomach. The bad thing about this costume was that I could not sit down - Well I could but then I would not be able to get up again - LOL. Again won first prize.		Batman - 1989 My most complexe and professional costume to date. Everything except the mask was made by me. Friends made plaster molds of my body (lost half my chest hair getting the damn thing off) Sculpted muscles and made new mold. Rubber latex was used to make the positives. Hand sticked the rubber to the undersuit. Belt and chest batlogo was made in my university's wood shop. made the cape from Leather vynil. Boots were rubber extensions attached to black sneakers. This was the last of my club costumes - prizes were now arranged ahead of time - so I learned the next day from a friend. At least for once I was able to dance! - LOL

MOVIE PROPS REPLICAS
Alien Egg - 1992 - Silicone Rubber
Alien Face Hugger - 1992 - Silicone Rubber Well in 1982 I was fortunate to meet a new co-worker who had the same fancy aboout Alien monsters as I had :) I remember wanting a face hugger since seeing ALIEN opening weekend in 1979 and remember being excited when I spotted an add in Starlog magazine for a Don Post replica but it was $ 375. Thats like $1000 today. No way would my parents get me this. But now 13 years later, we sculpted our own. The entire egg and face hugger was sculpted in plasticine and then we made silicon rubber molds. Then we used the same silicon to make the actual positive casts and then airbrushed them and coated them with transparent silicone for the gross out slimy effect. The Lungs were made of rubber latex and inside each were 2 tubes attached to a snorkle mouthpiece on the underside. When placed on your face, Not only would the mouthpiece prevent the Face Hugger to fall off but would also make the lungs expand and contract. We made 4 in total for our friends and even 1 for our local radio station for the Alien 3 premiere as a door prize. We made a deal that we would give one free in exchange for sneak previews tickets to all of that summers blockbusters. The radio dude love the hugger so much, the night of the Alien 3 premiere he kept it for himself and gave away T-Shirts. LOL I still have my Face hugger in my room today - unfortunatey my dorky cousin luke tried to scare his children and swung it by the tail like a lasso. I will let you imagine my expression when it ripped in half.

DIGITAL COMPOSITING
Red Violin - 1998 Before compositing the 3D city of Vienna	Red Violin - 1998 After compositing the 3D city of Vienna
What exactly is compositing? Well thats when you take all the elements from a scene, the live action plates, bluescreen elements and 3D computer animations and merge hem seemlessly into 1 shot. kinda like making a puzzle. It really is the best job in the buisiness - hee hee - because you take what all the other people have done and create the image of what will be seen by the public. I personally work on Discreet Logic's Effect and Flame as well as Nothing Real's Shake software. You can click on either of the above thumbnails to view the quicktime comparison in movie form.

Blue Zone	Frescas	Mercury	Molson Ex
Blue Zone Only the swimmers are real, everything else is 3D animation. I had to stabilise, track and warp the pool to make it to fit inside 3D earth Frescas The chocolate is 3D animation. The background is a miniature model quite similar to the dioramas I make. Adding warping and reflections to the window and shadows to the walls bring this chocolate to life. Mercury This was a fun but complicated commercial. it's hard to see in the thumbnail but every wall and floor surface have transparent video projections on them. Lots of roto mattes (outlining objects you don't want to affect like the girl jumping in the air) rig removal of the wires holding the girl, tracking, painting, you name it, everything my machine does I used for this scene. Molson Ex All the characters are Bluescreen. Basically different people moved at different speeds. So I had to key in the bluescreen elements with the background plates from the studio shoot. When people look at this they think there is no effects work which is a great compliment and tells you you did your job good.