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Weta Senior Designer Greg Broadmore To Attend SDCC!
Posted by Curto on July 10, 2008 at 11:17 PM CST:
Greg Broadmore will be chained to his desk at the convention every day of the event from 1pm to 2pm and 4pm to 5pm at the Dark Horse stand (booth # 2615) where he will be available to deface newly purchased property (and quite possibly body parts) with his autograph.
Afterwards, he shall be retired to his hole for the forcible reapplication of his nose to his grindstone.
Greg Broadmore Available for Interviews
Creator and Designer Greg Broadmore will be available for interviews via telephone, telegraph and the external electric web in the period leading up to the convention. No time for dawdling. If you want to nab your chance at talking to one of Weta?s great artists before the show, make contact now.
Additional Information on the World of Dr Grordbort?s
From the fetid and possibly incriminating imagination of Weta Workshop designer Greg Broadmore comes Weta Original Rayguns: Dr Grordborts Infallible Aether Oscillators, is a line of 1:1 scale antique styled, sci-fi hand weapon props. Meticulously built by Master Model Maker David Tremont, each finely bespangled metal and glass Raygun comes packaged in velvet-line, tin-pressed case and evoke the nostalgia of a lost age of exploration and discovery.
www.DrGrordborts.com
Six years ago, Greg started illustrating classic Rayguns, and after creating a series of nine full size illustrations on canvas, he showed Weta Workshop's Richard Taylor, who, in turn asked for a painting of his own. Greg agreed and tentatively suggested launching a range based on these drawings. The Rayguns were unveiled to the world at the San Diego Comic Convention in 2007 and the rest is history.
Four Rayguns and one book have been revealed so far in the Weta Originals Rayguns range ? the Manmelter 3600ZX Sub-Atomic Disintegrator Pistol, FMOM Industries Wave Disrupter Gun, Goliathon 83 Infinity Beam Projector, Victorious Mongoose 1902a Concealable Ray Pistol and Dr Grordbort?s Contrapulatronic Dingus Directory.
Since then, the Rayguns have exploded onto the web, have been hurriedly added to collectors? Christmas and Birthday wish lists and have been featured on International Directory BoingBoing.net and Gizmodo.com, who dubbed the Rayguns "your weapon of choice ? a Raygun that'll blast away giant monkeys ? or evil wizard dudes". WIRED Magazine featured a six page spread on the making of these weapons and New Zealand daily newspaper The Dominion Post dubbed the heaviest of the Rayguns, the Goliathon 83, ?Weta?s Alien Buster?.
The concept of the Weta Originals line stemmed from the abundance of creativity that thrives at Weta Workshop under the Direction of Oscar? Award winner, Richard Taylor. Greg Broadmore is one of many artists who create their own art outside of work hours, and the Weta Originals line aims to showcase these talented artists.
The self-confessed gun nerd says the contraptions have been a long time coming in his mind. "I clearly and fondly remember watching the old black and white serials on Sunday afternoons as a little kid and the classic Sci Fi imagery has always stuck with me?, says Greg. ?The swept shapes, spikes, fins and beautiful forms that are all jammed together with boiler plate and extraneous mechanical detail. That's how I saw Flash Gordon, Tarzan, King Kong and others. But what I've [always been] fascinated by is the macho idiocy of the 'hero' in science fiction. The 'heroic' attitude of killing anything and everything in sight, especially if it's jeopardizing the swooning heroine.?
'Dr Grordbort's Contrapulatronic Dingus Directory' plays to all that Sci Fi imagery I love", grins Broadmore. "It's full of bizarre inventions and man-melting weaponry. The three Rayguns are featured alongside many others including Servile Automatons, War Wagons and even Mass-mo-trons. Almost all of them are capable of accidentally crippling the user or worse. That's one of the things I loved about the classic Science Fiction machinery. They all looked like death traps. Just as likely to kill you as your enemy."
The guns are limited edition pieces. There will be only 500 of each gun made worldwide, except for the Victorious Mongoose, of which there are only 400. All of these are handcrafted and made out of metal with some glass parts. Every Raygun comes with its own velvet lined pressed tin case, Certificate of Authenticity and an assortment of implements and crafting tools. Not only that, these bad boys will be a decent punch of metal ? with each gun weighing in at over 7 pounds these are no light investment.
For product details and purchasing, please visit www.WetaNZ.com
Goliathon 83 Infinity Beam Projector
The advantage with this trusty wave discharger is heft. In the unlikely (but statistically probable) event of its malfunction, it doubles as a wonderful cudgel. Brigands and ne'er do wells will cringe when the Goliathon is brandished at them. Of course, its infra-wave undulations will dissolve 7/9ths of an African Elephant in 10 earth seconds, a handy implement to wield on all occasions. On lower settings a quick zap will cook a Dodo egg to perfection. Order right this moment or consider one's self a snotty cur.
FMOM Industries Wave Disrupter Gun
Are you genetically pre-disposed to not wanting to blow your face to bits? Then, by crikey, this may not be the device for you - Try a kite! But, if you're a man, then send large money orders forthwith and procure yourself FMOM's latest and greatest. Built from the exacting plans of the famed Dr. Grordbort, and reinforced with purest Tremontium, this little tiger will turn your foes to aslurry!
ManMelter 3600 ZX Sub-Atomic Disintegrator Pistol
This ?ready to use? ManMelter 3600 ZX comes prepped to vaporise all and sundry down to a molecular level. Featuring many of the latest ameliorations in Raygun Technology, it comes with Phlogiston cannisters, cleaning apparatus and wingdings, so that you may commence atomising Moon Soldiers or neighbourhood dogs at your earliest convenience. Be a Better Man with a Manmelter. Your wife may come back to you!* (*Disclaimer ? wife may not necessarily come back?)
Dr Grordbort?s COntrapulatronic Dingus Directory
The Rayguns are just one part of the graphic novel designed and conceptualized by Greg Broadmore, titled 'Dr Groadborts Contrapulatronic Dingus Directory'. The directory is a catalog of weird and wonderful contraptions that look as though they have been lifted from somewhere between the turn of the Century 'Scientifiction' and early Pulp cover art. A preview of the comic was released exclusively to Comic Convention attendees in 2006 and the full comic has yet to be released.
Additional Information about the Artist Greg Broadmore
Greg Broadmore is a Dinosaur nerd. He probably always was a dinosaur nerd. As a boy he drew dinosaurs, tanks and robots. Now he is paid to draw dinosaurs, tanks and robots. And Rayguns.
In 2005 Greg co-designed and oversaw the art direction of the Tripod-Wellington Film Industry Tribute sculpture, (a six metre tall robot of doom which lives on Courtenay Place in Wellington city) as well as the Riff Raff-Richard O'Brien tribute sculpture in Hamilton, New Zealand.
He was a designer and sculptor on Peter Jackson?s remake of King Kong and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and was also one of the illustrators and concept writers for Weta Workshops first publication, 'The World of Kong: A Natural History of Skull Island'.
In 2006, Weta revealed their first Weta Originals range, entirely designed and conceptualised by Greg. The Rayguns: Dr Grordborts Infallible Aether Oscillators, is a line of 1:1 scale antique styled sci-fi hand weapon props. With charming, 1900s contraption styling and finish, the Rayguns evoke the nostalgia of a lost age of exploration and discovery. He recently published 'Dr. Grordborts Contrapulatronic Dingus Directory', a graphic novel publication filled with Rayguns, contraptions, moon soldiers and detailed alien breeding pictograms.
Before joining Weta Workshop, Greg illustrated over 30 children?s stories and books and released his own comic, 'Killer Robots will Smash the World'.
He is also a videogame ace and friend to robots.
For more detail, check out www.thebattery.co.nz
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