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Spy in the Wild animatronic cameras

Spy in the Wild post header

Spy in the Wild series two is now available on iPlayer.  If you are a fan of wildlife programmes you have probably already seen it, but did you know that some of the amazing animatronics featured in the show were developed and produced by Amalgam?  We had to keep the secret for a very long time, but now, John Downer Productions, the company behind the series, have allowed us to tell the world about our involvement in producing some of the spy creatures that were key to capturing a unique view of nature.

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Fosters’ “Daveo” male body awareness campaign

Fosters Larger Daveo sculpture

Amalgam Modelmaking worked with Adam & Eve DDB for Fosters Lager on a UK viral campaign on male body awareness.

A parody of Michelangelo’s David was created at slightly smaller than full size (the real one is 5.5m, Amalgam’s was 4m). In keeping with the Australian Fosters cultural tradition, he was to be called ‘Daveo’.

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How Interactive Props help bring drama into a story

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This month we look at how interactive props make such a difference when you’re running an educational workshop.

Every business, charity or organisation has a story to tell, which they may share in visitor centres or through their open events and professional workshops. The greatest challenge is similar for all: making the story resonate with the audience. For children especially, they love drama.  We create our memories by forming stories, so the ones we can best recall are the ones that were dramatic.

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Five secrets about the famous Bristol arts trail, Gromit Unleashed 2

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With Gromit Unleashed 2 launching all over Bristol, we can finally start to tell the story of our involvement in a bit more detail.  There has been a lot of fun and hard work building the sculptures for this summer’s art trail for The Grand Appeal. We were thrilled to announce our involvement last year and since then, the team has stretched their combined creative muscles to prepare the sculptures in time. It’s been a pleasure working with the artists and the organisers, and now it’s nearly time to reveal our own design – InCognito.

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Technical 3D design for a high impact display

G Shock display

When a new product is ready for the big reveal, a large scale in-store display often works to grab attention and get people talking, which we talked about for premium brands. To create a high impact display, it’s often the technical detail which matters most – looking at how the display is made, and what structural support or suspension points it needs – to be congruent with the design.

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Festive Fizz – resin casting techniques to create realistic visual effects

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Realistic visual effects are in demand at this festive time of year for window displays, point-of-sale and attention-grabbing in-store concessions.  Using artificial food and drink obviously avoids the issues of short-shelf life and spillage hazards.  Our wide-range of in-house creative skills enable us to test, develop and replicate everyday products for visual displays or to use in photography and filming for advertising.

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Creating premium brand displays: here to make you look good

premium brand displays

Premium brand displays in store have a mysterious appeal. Done well, the mix of quality and exclusivity inspires us to spend more because it feels good. Behind the scenes, we know a lot of work goes into product innovation, developing the brand, premium props, designing spaces and creating visual merchandising. Wow-factor premium brand displays are a blend of creative concepts and excellent delivery, just like any project. To deliver it successfully, you have to stretch the budget and time across both design and build quality, although it can become skewed by one premium prop or bespoke design. At Amalgam, we're here to make you look good, with our tips for creating your premium point-of-sale display: Share your plans early When exploring concepts, your team will have plenty of ideas - whether working with a creative director or agency, retail designer, shop fitter or specialist prop makers. The earlier you can share…

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Creating Aardman sculptures for The Grand Appeal 2018 Sculpture Trail

Aardman sculptures - Gromit

We were honoured to be asked by The Grand Appeal to sculpt the characters for next year’s 2018, Bristol sculpture trail, Gromit Unleashed 2. The three characters, Wallace, Gromit and Feathers, were unveiled yesterday at an event in Aardman HQ in Bristol and we were lucky enough to be there to witness the great reveal. Please keep an eye on this space where we will be talking more about the processes involved with making these iconic sculptures!

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The New Crystal Maze props and replicas

Crystal Maze Logo

Amalgam was extremely pleased to be asked to work on key props for the new TV version of the Crystal Maze which starts this Friday at 9pm on Channel 4. We were asked by James Dillon, who was the designer on the original early nineties TV show, to produce the Crystal Dome Timer Table as well as a large prop for an extra special one off episode to be shown later this year! We designed the table in 3D CAD software, CNC cut the panels then finished it using a variety of textures and paints to match photos of the original, supplied by James. The program was filmed here in Bristol at the Bottleyard studios not far from Amalgam's workshop. Amalgam offers a one stop shop for prop buyers, film makers & other media in the local area and rest of the UK, offering our services and resources to those in need of…

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Development of the Holovis game controller for immersive 3D experience

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Published in this month’s Develop 3D, you can take a look behind the scenes at the development work we did for Holovis to design and manufacture the Crimson Wing game controller. Holovis came to Amalgam with a basic outline shape developed as a 3D concept. Their first priority was to develop the ergonomics, starting with the handle of the controller. To test each handle design, we made controller handles out of modelling foam, using our 3-axis CNC machine.  Once we determined the desired shape and best size, we adjusted our CAD model and applied finer exterior design details to it. The concept version was then shelled out, for us to apply all the required internal features and electronic support bosses.  The next stage was to develop our CAD file into a final design, which took four weeks of computer-aided design work.  Once the CAD files were complete, we 3D printed…

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