James Clay Stuff

November 25, 2014

Jurassic World Trailer

This is the new trailer for the new Jurassic World film.

It’s over twenty years since the release of the original Jurassic Park, which apart from making me feel old, it’s interesting to note how far CGI technologies have come. CGI back then was very innovative, but now most films have a CGI element to them. I also am seeing how many film makers are now moving away from CGI for some effects and going back to models and live action.

In the original Jurassic Park, there were only fifteen minutes of actual dinosaur footage in the film: nine minutes were Stan Winston’s animatronics (live models), six minutes of it is ILM’s CGI.

August 18, 2014

Legoland Workshop

This is the onsite workshop at Legoland Windsor where they fix, refresh and make (some of) the models across the site. In the workshop are various broken, old, new and part-completed models. Mainly for Miniland, but also other parts of the park.

The tubes are ventilation tubes, as the Lego models are glued and these tubes take the fumes away.

This cabinet contains a range of models, mainly heads and vehicles.

Note the drawing on the bottom left that was used to help plan the lego model next to it.

You can also see a small Lego version of the Atlantis ride submarine.

August 15, 2014

First Legoland Park opens in Billund

The first Legoland Park opened in 1968 in Billund in Denmark. I actually went there in the early 1970s, don’t remember too much, but I do recall not going on driving school as I was too young!

This is a news item (Pathe News) about the park.

Model design has obviously got a lot more complex and detailed, but the basics are still there today that were started back in 1968.

August 14, 2014

Legoland Miniland

One of the fascinating aspects of any visit to Legoland are the models in Miniland. It always impressed me how detailed and authentic the models look as well as they are made with lego bricks.

The models cover most of Europe including Belgium.

The models are very clever and must have taken hours to build and also required a fair bit of planning.

After our visit last year I write a post about how tired the models in Miniland looked, it was nice to see that Legoland has listened 😉 and there was evidence that many of the models were been refreshed or renewed. There was for example a whole new section on France including the Eiffel Tower.

See more photographs of Legoland.

August 13, 2014

Found this on Google Street View

I am sure most people are aware that Google Street View extends to some theme parks, including Legoland.

Following a recent visit to Legoland I was comparing how it had changed from my recent visit to when the Street View images were taken in 2009 and I found this…

Click the image for a larger version.

Nice little Easter Egg, not sure of the connection though…

August 1, 2014

The Slap

No idea what this is about…

Is it art?

Please do not try this at home…

June 9, 2014

The Doors in a Ford Training Film

The Doors provided instrumental backing to a training film for Ford, before recording their first album. Recorded in 1966 and not previously released.

Rather than watch the whole film, just watch the end credits to hear some classic sounds from the Doors (and see their name in the credits).

You can watch the whole film, but remember this was made in 1966 and though focussed on customer service, is rather sexist.

May 3, 2014

The internet of things…

The internet of things

April 14, 2014

Caracal – Desert Lynx

I am never surprised that you can learn something new. Last week I was at Exmoor Zoo and discovered a large cat, the caracal. I didn’t know such big cats existed.

The caracal (Caracal caracal), also known as the desert lynx, is a wild cat widely distributed across Africa, central Asia, and southwest Asia into India. In 2002, the IUCN listed the caracal as Least Concern, as it is widespread and relatively common. The felid is considered threatened in North Africa, and rare in the central Asian republics and India.

You don’t usually see them in zoos in the UK as they are not considered endangered. They are unusual in their appearance with their large ears.

I am no animal expert, nor even have a real interest, but do think I know what most of the big cats are, well I have used Mac OS X for the last few years. Having never heard of the caracal it makes you realise how diverse our planet is and how much there is to learn about it.

April 2, 2014