February 11, 2009

A Few Last Tweaks

The Bates House model is nearly finished. I completed the construction diagrams and  just have to add the few written directions. Then I will save everything as a single PDF.
The entire model including the directions, will be 11 pages.
Ever since completing the prototype, I have been bothered by something that was not quite right.
The tower seemed wrong. I stared at it for days trying to figure out if there was something wrong with its proportions or angles. It just didn't have the same feel as the real house.
Then I suddenly realized that the little oval window on the tower roof was too large and placed too high. I fixed it and now it "feels" like the Bates House!
It is funny how something so small and subtle can make or break a design, and now it seems so obvious.
Below is the corrected tower roof with an inset of the way it looked before, along with a photo of the real tower window .

2 comments:

  1. Wow, what talent! Awesome work.

    Would you settle something for me once and for all, from your knowledge as a Bates house expert? :)

    Is the house in Ghost and Mr. Chicken the same house, just moved? It's next to the Munster house on the Universal backlot, and in a lot of shots in other movies, and to me it looks like the same house. Is it?

    -Fred

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  2. The Bates (or "Psycho") House is NOT the same house used in "The Ghost and Mr Chicken". While the Bates House is situated in a somewhat isolated bluff on the edge of the backlot, The Mr Chicken House is located in the "Colonial Street" neighborhood lot and is actually the left side neighbor of "The Munster's" house. This house was used in the movie "Harvey" with Jimmy Stewart and recently is/was Gabrielle's house, in "Desperate Housewives".

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