One comment in particular that was mentioned by several of the above, was the size (and in this case it does matter!) of the handle. The suggestion was that in our version it is possibly too long in comparison to the rest of the attachment and what was seen on screen when in Troughton's hand. All quite right and this was something that James and I had discussed and considered. It was good to receive the constructive feed-back, and looking at the screen grabs again and using my hands as a template, we have taken some of the length off and reset it to try and match what is it is that we, and the others, are seeing. So, here is the new tweak...
As you can now see the handle is shorter in to our earlier prototype whilst still keeping with the theme of the toy space guns and other weapons made for the Dulkis Museum in the story, as shown in my last post. Though shorter we have retained the slight slant of the handle. Below is a comparison photo highlighting the change.
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| Our designs - Mark 1 (top) & Mark 2 below |
As I said in my last blog we were happy with the design and would have tweaked, so that was always on the cards, we just didn't expect to do so so soon, but both of us were keen to strike as soon as possible. With the tweak you can see we have lost nothing from the overall design based on our research and what we, and now others saw and recommended. Obviously, it is difficult to know the actual slant due to the limited screen time and unclear screen caps as to be 100% correct, but we are both happy with the end result and we hope you are too. Interestingly, Straker made a good point and said perhaps, if Troughton did have the prop around the wrong way in the 1st scene,, then the handle may have been more ambiguous in shape i.e. a little straighter and not so obvious to it being a handle shape. It is a very good point as I said and indeed would make a lot of sense.
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| Oops, where's the attachment gone?!? |
The trouble with this particular Sonic Screwdriver as what is being seen on screen is being interpreted by different people. Hopefully with this version, we are ticking as many boxes as possible by incorporating what is seen in all of the angles of the various scenes that it is seen in... and of course if you don't like any of the designs that have been created by James, myself or others, you can always have it just as a penlight as seen in the final shot where the gun attachment isn't even included! (ah, but which style of penlight as that hasn't, as yet, been correctly identified... Oh don't get me waffling on that again. See the previous post) So, wrong way around, obscured, no attachment... Ha, this Sonic variation has certainly not made it easy for us to work out at all.
With things like this it is valuable to get as many of peoples feedback and ideas, this is how collectively we can build up a better picture on the design of these old props. No ideas should be dismissed out of hand because nuggets of information will always appear and so we have to be flexible enough to except them. After all, that how a picture was built up on the last two Sonics for Troughton's Doctor. Too many times we, as collectors and prop-makers, have been sent down a blind alley in research, hearsay and even our own assumptions. It helps when we can examine & then accept new information. Just look at the incorrect information we ran with on The War Games Sonics blue cap for a while, until that was turned on its head and widely accepted with evidence to back up the correct change. I for one like to keep digging and looking, in order to obtain as much evidence as possible and am happy to be proven wrong if new, or rediscovered, information turns up. Sadly this approach seems to be lacking in some quarters, especially over the number of Sonic Screwdriver props or should I say prop used by 3rd-5th Doctors.
And here endeth the update, its a shorter post than normal, but I thought it was important to get it out as soon as possible with our updated design change. As I said last time re The Dominators Sonic, until further information is found no design is right or wrong. People will have their own preferences re versions of this prop, both now and in the future, when other designs hopefully come along with new back up research.To end, I thought I would add an extra section below for all the fans of prop making and design. James and I were emailing and instagramming (is that a word, perhaps it is now and I claim it!) back and forth from OZ to the UK with the size and design tweaks so here is a selection of photos so you can see the step by step adjustments he made to our version of the prop. Ive also included a paper version in my hand and a child's hand so you can see the size (in real life the prop is just a small bit longer than the Fury Sonic Screwdriver). James no doubt, will be adding more on his Instagram account and elsewhere. We hope you enjoy them!
A size comparison - Here you can see what the prop would look like in my hand and in the hand of a child. The hand was supplied by a local street urchin, who was woefully exploited with no payment of fee. The hand was returned to the child in a brown paper bag the following day!
So that's it for this time. As always, please do feel free to comment on this or any other post it would be great to hear your thoughts on and suggestions on this or any of my other posts, as I sometimes wonder if there is anyone is out there... is there.., are you out there in blog-space, or is it just me and James?
Thanks once again for reading. Until next time...
Photos and video stills used on this site are © BBC Worldwide Ltd. The Doctor Who brand is a trademark of the BBC. No infringement is intended or implied. Design of this Dominators Sonic (c) Lee Moone & James Kieboom.
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