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Off-the-Shelf FX: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"I've seen more convincing dinosaurs in a packet of Wheatyflakes!"''
|'''Kryten''' on Gappa, '''''[[Red Dwarf]]'''''}}
An act of desperation by a cash- or time-strapped effects team in the days before digital imaging became affordable and subsequently took over [[Special Effects]]. Instead of incurring the time or expense of building their own miniatures, they instead take a shortcut by purchasing off-the-shelf toys or model kits. Depending on the quality of their manufacture (and, in the case of models, assembly), the results can range from surprisingly effective, to sub-par, to obvious [[Special Effect Failure]].
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThpdB-W89gg This clip] from the [[Godfrey Ho]] <s>train wreck</s> masterpiece ''Ninja Terminator'' speaks for itself.
* ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' episode "Danger! Death Ray!" featured an obviously plastic off-the-shelf helicopter model sinking while parked atop an obviously plastic off-the-shelf submarine model in what was obviously a swimming pool.
* Used in-universe in the finished cut of "The Case", the Amateur [[Film Within a Film]] from ''[[Super 8]]'', in which it's
* The commercial [http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Ruger_Mini-14#Ruger_Mini-14_in_Muzzelite.E2.84.A2_MZ14_Bullpup_Stock Muzzelit MZ14 Bullpup Stock for the Mini 14] and [http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/AK-47#AKU-94 AKU-94 kits for AKM variants] are staples of movie armorer collections for use as "futuristic" guns because [[Bullpups Are Futuristic]].
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** ''[[Farscape]]'' wasn't beyond a bit of this as far as props went, the Peace Keeper comms headsets used necklaces for mics (specifically, one called [https://web.archive.org/web/20100419051320/http://shop.bico.com.au/details/2205448.html "Anchara"] by local Aussie company Bico), and a slightly-altered Logitech flightstick showed up as a holo-projector.
*** Don't forget Moya's "Manual control" in the premiere episode - aka Logitech trackball mouse on-a-stick
* [[Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)|The new ''
** Parodied in ''[[Star Wreck|Star Wreck: In The Pirkinning]]'': the manual controls for light balls consist of a TAC-2 joystick, instantly recognizable by any owner of a 8/16-bit home computer.
** Another example: Viper engines are actual military aircraft engines: retired Rolls-Royce Model 250's. Other bits of set dressing like the storage racks for ordnance are probably also surplus Air Force or Navy equipment.
** Some of the hangar scenes contain what are very obviously commercial forklift trucks with a couple of vinyl stickers of the ''Galactica''{{'}}s unit patch.
* In ''[[Kamen Rider Decade]]'', Kivara has gone from being a fully CG creature to a toy on a string since episode 8. The switch is extremely noticeable, especially in one episode where they use the old CG model for precisely one shot, then bring out the toy for the rest of the episode. In episode 14 (the start of [[Kamen Rider Den-O|Den-O's World]]), they brought back the CG version, but the toy makes a return at the end of episode 27.
* One special effect in ''[[Red Dwarf]]'', meant to represent a vortex, is simply the camera looking into somebody's cup of coffee that had been swirled around with a spoon quickly. It passes, because ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' is a comedy anyway.
* Done by Abed and Troy when making a [[Fan Film]] full of [[Stylistic Suck]] of the [[There's No B in Movie|B-Movie]] feature "Kickpuncher" in ''[[Community]]''.
* An episode of ''[[Andromeda]]'' used dollar store FM radios as remote controls.
* ''[[PJ Katie's
* ''[[Dollhouse]]'' does this too. The GPS tracking unit they remove from the back of the neck in one episode is shown on the sink. It is the packaging strip for surface-mount-resistors/capacitors, each bump on the strip holds one and they're cut from a long reel.
* Apparently ''[[Terra Nova]]'' is [https://web.archive.org/web/20120122011005/http://geeks.thedailywh.at/2011/10/18/low-budget-tv-props-of-the-day/ a fan of Nerf]
* In one episode of ''[[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]]'', where, in a scene set in the future, a squad of soldiers are exploring a submarine, they can be seen wearing
** [[Fridge Brilliance|After
=== Newspaper comics ===
* ''[[Garfield]]'' mentions it [https://web.archive.org/web/20120320192009/http://www.garfield.com/comics/vault.html?yr=2011&addr=111028 here.]
=== Web Original ===
* The crew at ''[[That Guy With The Glasses]]'' do this a lot with their skits. It makes sense, given that their budgets are a lot lower than those of anyone else on this page.
* Present in nearly all [[YouTube Poop]]s, which use no more than video samples and stock effects straight from the video editor of choice (and occasionally an after-effects program).
=== Western Animation ===
* Season 5 of ''[[Transformers Generation 1]]'' (which was, if you're not a fan, just slightly edited re-runs of the original 80s cartoon) was introduced by a Powermaster Optimus Prime toy, made slightly less blocky with CGI. Yup. That's it.
** Also, many of the shots in the ''[[Transformers Zone|Zone]], [[Transformers Return of Convoy|Return of Convoy]]'', and ''[[Transformers Operation Combination|Operation Combination]]'' manga were simply photographs of the relevant [[Merchandise-Driven|toys]].
=== Real Life ===
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*** In a Straight Out Of The Box example, there are a few action figures in there too, one of which is clearly [[Shadows of the Empire|Prince Xizor]]. [[Epileptic Trees]] ensued.
** Blasters across the series are real firearms decorated with model part kits and whatnot, both for ease of editing (adding the energy bolts to the scenes, timed with the effects of the blank cartridges) and so the blasters actually looked like real weapons.
* In J.J. Abrams' ''[[Star Trek (film)|Star Trek]]'', there are two items on the Conn Console in the bridge that will seem very familiar to any one who works retail. Apparently, bar code scanners are vital tech for Federation starships.
* In ''[[Back to The Future]] Part II'', the garbage insertion device on top of the "Mr. Fusion Home Energy Converter" on the new improved [[Cool Car|DeLorean]] Time Machine, was actually a coffee bean grinder (a Krups Coffina model, to be specific...which actually a highly valuable item among ''BTTF'' collectors, especially those who build models of the DeLorean).
* Used a lot during ''[[Blade Runner]]'' for textures. During the extras, the model builder reveals that this is common practice. When it comes to making textures for a model, they tend to use kits, as they can provide nice detail at a great price.
* In the stop-motion adaptation of ''[[Coraline (animation)|Coraline]]'', at least some of the flowers in the garden scene are made out of dog toys, [[Doing It for the Art|with various mechanisms hooked onto them to move them between the frames without relying on CGI]].
** The flowers on trees were created with popcorns. Lots of them.
* The Tumbler in ''[[The Dark Knight Saga]]'' was created by through kit-bashing.
** Or, more specifically, they were initially designed through kitbashing; afterwards there were four custom
* In ''[[XXX (2002 film)|xXx]]'', the heat-seeking rocket bazooka is clearly a Sony handycam with a couple of pieces of PVC pipe attached and then dipped in gray paint.
* The Ecto-1 from ''[[Ghostbusters]]'' is a life-sized example of kit-bashing. Every part you see is commercially available.
=== Live Action Television ===
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*** Some were even Christmas ornaments!
** Most of the ships and debris at the Battle of Wolf 359 were kit-bashes.
** The act of kitbashing is "honored" in ''[[Star Trek Online]]'' via the customization methods in place for Ships - a player can make their own distinctive designs by mixing pylons, nacelles, and saucers from the different official ship classes (themselves often based on the kitbashes from ''Deep Space Nine''). One notorious case of this from the shows is the similarity between the "Akira-class" escort seen in ''Deep Space Nine'', and the NX-01 Enterprise from, well, ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise]]'' - it was essentially the same ship, just turned upside down!
* The opening of ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' TV series shows the sun rising over a lovely landscape. Many viewers wrote in asking where it was, except for the model railway enthusiasts, who recognized the commercially available trees.
* ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' used everything from car seats to gumball machines to vases to create the robots used throughout the series' run.
=== Western Animation ===
* Gerry Anderson vehicles often used this, whether Supermarionation or live-action, ''especially'' the Pod Vehicles in ''[[Thunderbirds]]''. They went through a lot of Tiger Joe tank tracks, among other things.
** This is why everything in Gerry's TV series
** Many of the models are seen disintegrating as they fall from cliffs, are dropped or collide with towers; but most are rebuilt and repurposed in later episodes; notably the half-track trucks. Several aircraft are visible in backgrounds that had been "destroyed" in earlier episodes, notably the "Red Arrow" fighter (a modified SAAB Draken).
*** [https://web.archive.org/web/20130112062733/http://tobor2.com/redarrow/redarrow.htm This site] shows how easy the kit-bashing for the Red Arrow likely was.
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