Theme update,I am planning to expand the storyline a bit to make it more appealing to a wider audience.The new idea is to do this diorama as a tribute to Leone and at the same time a tribute to old west movies in general.I plan to do this using old west movie posters arranged in such a way as too center on Leone’ favorites ,while the same time tell the history of the old west movies in general.It will be an outdoor temporary exhibit set in Monument Valley ( yes red earth and all) there will be villans and heros corners,a movie history wall and very little rain to worry about.I also plan to light it with LEDS.Leone and I had the shared experience of the weekend movie house, showing mostly westerns.His experience was ten years ahead of mine but little had really changed over that period of time. Cowboys were always our heros.Should be fun ! 
Here is the basic layout.I am planning a walkway around the diorama right up against the fence.On the fence will be posted a whole series of movie posters by the date the films were made,right up to the making of "Once Upon A Time…I will have a hero’s and villain’s corner and anything else that I can think of.There will be room for future expansion if I want to, maybe a car parking lot.All the posters will be lit using LEDS.
I never knew that there were so many movies produced with an old west theme,so many to chose from.Every poster will require a lot of preparation before being displayed on the fence,spraying,cutting ,gluing etc…etc…It will be a history lesson for me too.
I am really looking forward to lighting this piece inside and out,should be interesting.
You will have a lot to choose from but what a great fence it will be. A number of them used steam engines and trolleys but I’m not sure how many made it into posters.
Here’s a poster of a trolley on Hollywood Blvd., with Hollywood Tower in the background:
http://mickeycity.com/blue-sky-cellar-open-today-with-new-disney-california-adventure-park-updates/
Here are the first few glued to a wood board. If you have a favorite old west film prior to 1969 please advise and if I can find the poster I will put it up in my rogue’s gallery walk of fame.I am only doing the movies filmed before '69 because I want to keep it relevant to what might have influenced his work. On the walls in the interior of the baggage car (out of normal view) I plan to put up posters of the westerns directed by Leone.The roof of this car will be removable for viewing.
If there’s a train in it, it’s my favourite movie, except for The Clintman in just about anything, but especially those spaghettis.
Those posters you’ve done so far look really great.
Not a Western, but a good Hitchcock, is “Strangers on a Train”. Couple good posters online to choose from.
http://www.google.ca/search?num=10&hl=en&safe=off&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=&bih=&q=Stranger+on+a+train&btnG=Search+by+image
No matter what else you do, you’ve just gotta include “Union Pacific”, which also qualifies as a western:
http://www.google.ca/search?num=10&hl=en&safe=off&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=&bih=&q=Movie+Poster%3A+“Union+Pacific”&btnG=Search+by+image
I raise my glass very high to Sergio Leone, that’s for sure! For real man pictures he’s the greatest!
I think your poster fence won’t ever be long enough!
I’m liking your diorama a whole lot, but it is a still life! 
You must get up to Fr Fred’s in Ottawa and see, and help out, as all those trains roll over his amazing Backyard RR. up there ! 
Fred’s in Ottawa is on the list for next year ! Union Pacific will there soon Thanks John.
Man I sure love the creative process, with so many different options to explore, I keep changing my mind on the storyline.I could appeal to a wide audience by using the poster idea or I could narrow it down to my original idea.This decision has to be made fairly soon before I get too far into it.
All of my dioramas to this point have been aimed at a wide audience in a museum setting.My last diorama " The Homecoming" was originally to be titled “The Road Taken”.The idea was quite simple a man returning from war, standing on a spot in the road and remembering making a decision that changed the rest of his life.Now he has returned from the war and is standing in the same spot looking at his “Backyard Flyer” and wondering that after all that he has seen at war could he ever go back to those innocent days and continue his life as before.
Any veteran would understand his dilemma but would a wider audience really get the point of the story.(Fortunately this original story still exists but now in pictures only that I took before I decided to make all of changes.)
The changes that I made came at the suggestion of many of my friends and family to open things up a bit to make it more of a celebration of his return home.
They made many good points,the subject matter is too heavy and most viewers would not get it.It is too stark in nature and does not have enough detail to keep a museum audience interested for very long.The colors are drab and not very appealing.Too depressing in general. These are all valid points but not my vision of what it should say or what I am trying to say in the diorama.And of course there is the money aspect.Originally the diorama was appraised by my appraisers at half the value of others that I had done mostly because of the reasons I have already mentioned.
Well in the end you could say I sold out artistically and went for the buck and pleasing the viewer which of course is true when looked at from this point of view.In the end I had to ask myself are you doing this for yourself or have you already promised the piece to a wider audience when it was finished.
Viewers usually love detail and enjoy searching for it.It has been said that a good diorama is one where you can always find new things to look at.Capturing the imagination of kids and holding it for awhile has always been my primary goal in doing this stuff. I think that I made the right decision.
The next diorama I am doing is for myself and it is promised to nobody.
“Something To Do With Death” (The Wages Of Sin)
Heavy ? well I guess it is but it is something that I would like to explore.Once Upon A Time… is a masterpiece on so many levels.
Storyline ? Haven’t quite decided yet but movie posters will still be involved somehow.Actors pics and famous lines from the movie,probably.
Directors that influenced Leone ? Movies that inspired him ? His perfectionism and attention to detail,his cinematography.
Sounds like fun !
Your description of the soldier’s return reminded me a bit of Norman Rockwell’s work… he did both types of painting - plenty of details in some, so you’d see something new every time you looked, but he also did ‘solo’-type pieces, where we see only a single figure in a setting that somehow captured a mood or hinted at a backstory. … And of course, always the nostalgic element. I think Rockwell had an underlying positive approach to his subject matter and I wonder if maybe you aren’t drawn to the darker, more melancholic side of things. Certainly it is true that most people would prefer to experience art that makes them feel good, and as an artist, you have to recognize that simple fact of human nature. On the other hand, you also have to be true to your own vision and your own nature. Many artists in the past have gone both ways, sometimes simultaneously, sometimes in stages. Both are of course, perfectly OK - cool.
With the soldier, I realize you’ve finished with it now, but here are some thoughts of mine anyway, maybe for next time… It strikes me that you can keep it starkly simple and still get your point across, regardless of what your advisors may think at the time. I asked myself, “OK, so what would Rockwell do with that soldier bit?” He wants maybe to combine the memories and the decision and the nostalgia and the welcome, all in some single symbolic thing. Figuring out just what that single nugget might be - that’s the problem…
FWIW, I believe Rockwell might well have tried to fill this difficult role, not with a little red wagon, for that would be to ask too much of an inamate object, however nostalgic, but with a dog, or, heavier perhaps, with an ex-girlfriend, and maybe her present beau…
Whatever, it’s neat to listen in on your musings…
Today I hope to finished boxing up the latest diorama and sending it off to its new home on Friday.It has been a long but interesting journey.
The new RR/Sergio diorama is now well underway but the storyline has yet to be finalized.I have mulled this over in my mind for some time now,mostly about how broad or narrow should I make it.The overall theme is a movie set and how old movies were made using a kind of theme park idea set in Hollywood or even as a Monument Valley tourist attraction.
Because I am doing it as an imaginary general public attraction,it should be made appealing to a wide audience just as any creative entrepreneur would do in real life.
The time era would be from the beginnings of the western genre to the present day taking in movies up to the present time.
I want to represent the best examples of each decade ,from silent films to the talkies to today.I will have a special corner for Sergio’s work and a hero and villains section as well.
Later if I decide to I can open a parking lot with cars and motorcycles outside the main gates of the park and lots of other interesting things going on as well etc…etc… Anyway that is the plan for now.Should be fun !
Yes John ,Rockwell’s work has always appealed to me and his painting was the inspiration for my piece.Thanks for the ideas and I am so happy that you like it. Cheers! John.
You know what, John? Railroad movies are one thing, Westerns another. Occasionally they overlapped, but usually not by very much; the railroad scenes being really just incidental to the dramatic action. For example, in “High Noon”, if I remember aright, the train - its whistle, or its arrival or departure, was a signal for significant action to begin. But the drama could have been produced without a train, with some other signal, and often, some interior train shots might be used as a setting for some important dialogue, as in “The Gambler”. Again, the movie could have been made without a train.
So I’m thinking you want to concentrate on Westerns, and on the tourist aspect of that set, but maybe not so much on trains, because that would dilute what you’re trying to immortalize - the cowboy picture. I’d like to suggest that you don’t let train movie posters dilute your theme. That could happen so easily!
But you’ve placed your memorial to the Cowboy flick in a Railroad setting! This may be a mistake, you know… Mixing genres, so weakening both. Wotchagonna do? Maybe you should have a ranch or a cattle-loading dock beside the tracks, or a saloon next door or a jailhouse for your cowboy pics memorial! And next door your railroad-theme movie set. Tne idea being to treat them as closely related, but separate, genres.
Your thoughts?
Of course , none of this is any of my business, but if you and I were sitting down together discussing your project, I think I’d want to bring these ideas forward to you in as gentle a way possible, and see how you respond. If it seemed to be getting up your nose I’d drop it!
And, yes, I do like your work! Cheers. 
Diorama 5 ready to be picked up !
You know this guy is alright…he even knows how to post pics!!
Good sense of humor to!!
Welcome!
Hi John ! thanks for taking the time to help me with this project.You are right ,I don’t plan to use railway posters in this piece.After I make the movie set,I may expand into what you are suggesting.I never know where it will end up storywise as I like to keep all options open to me.Glad you like my stuff.Cheers! John.
John Le Forestier said:i think he made a good choice. that movie was one of the high impact westerns for the younger generations.
...But you've placed your memorial to the Cowboy flick in a Railroad setting! This may be a mistake, you know... Mixing genres, so weakening both. Wotchagonna do? Maybe you should have a ranch or a cattle-loading dock beside the tracks, or a saloon next door or a jailhouse for your cowboy pics memorial! And next door your railroad-theme movie set. Tne idea being to treat them as closely related, but separate, genres.
only remember the opening scene with this station. the waiting guys. one playing with a fly, one knacking his knuckles, one letting drip water on his bald head.
i think, it was well chosen and well done.
(and if i were to kriticise, i would suggest to include the watertank to the diorama)
yes,I would love to find room for the watertank if I could.Thanks for the idea.