Everyone pitches in to strip the sheets and store the mattresses.

We decide to put the abandoned lashing project to good use and build a set for a farewell shot.

The finest bunch of tinkerers you’ll ever find; Chad, Jacob, Julie, Sam, Hanna, Nik, Maxine, Theo, Gever (we missed Leo and Isaac this week).

Three ways of seeing the world.

Nik thinks about how much he’ll miss his perch in the lashed frame.

Waiting for the last 2 parents to arrive, even Hanna finally gets out her phonefor some small-screen time.

I’m not exactly sure what it is, but is certainly is colorful.

Or maybe it was a dinosaur? And, would a three-horned unicorn be trinicorn?

Gever can’t resist one last round of underwater experiments with Max’s Awesome Sexy Underwater Camera Case – this time in the kitchen sink.

Gever is fascinated by the properties of water – and lasers.

Theo has managed to get all of his toys and projects stuffed into the back of the car. His mood about leaving is lifted when he realizes he gets to drive _himself_ home.

The winds are perfect, the tinkerers have all been picked up – so we pack up the tandem paraglider and head up the local flying site. Julie chases Gever and Chad in her solo wing to catch a shot of them flying north towards the Golden Gate Bridge.

Jacob gets geared up and then takes a self-portrait to record the moment for posterity.

With the winds still in their favor, Gever and Jacob take off and enjoy a very late afternoon flight.

Thus ends another summer of Tinkering School. See you next year!

After four hard days of work, the movie is done. Having made it, we see a lot of mistakes and things we’d like to shoot again or differently – but that could be said of any movie. This one is ours and we’re proud of it.

Watch it first, but then you might like a look at the (three-page) storyboard, or the synopsis.

Steady fog, very low light, and now the camera is refusing to cooperate. On top of which, the crew is starting to get skittish.

During the set up of the last shot, Chad and Nik hear "something big" inside the house.

Theo lines up for another kick on the can to create just the right sound element for the scene we filmed at the hobocoonwitch house.

The crew assembles for a view of the first complete rough cut. We are certain that our movie will be baffling to our audience, but we’re pretty amazed at what we’ve done so far.

The shoes come and go from our laundry room like the tides.

The tinkerers preferred outdoor game this year is "kick the bucket" – Nik is very enthusiastic about getting a last game going.

Nik’s preferred pre-dinner pastime is the mini-trampoline.

The crew decides not to do another take.

On arrival, we have correctly anticipated that the marine layer will stop just short of Gazos Creek, so there is sun. However, the wind is howling, so the first order of business is building a wind-break.

There is plenty of room in our fort for lunch, chairs, various stringed instruments, and plenty of sunbathing. All preferably done below log-level.

Hanna can’t keep napping while listening in on the sand strategy and joins in on the new project.

Sam quickly catches on to the concept.

Since Gever isn’t planning to use it, Theo jumps at the chance to wear the 2nd wetsuit. Julie and Theo take turns with the boogie board.

After getting wet Nik lays down on the sand to get warm. Is he sandy enough to go back in the ocean and wash it off?

One vehicle is parked at each end with lookouts, communicating via HAM radio. Theo takes the cart down the far hill, starting around the bend. The steering on the cart is extremely tricky and he can’t straighten it out. Luckily the little turnout gives him a place to lay it down. Another minor injury for the log (side scrape).

The second-to-last shot for the movie requires a band playing in a garage. Luckily Leo and Isaac come for a visit, bringing their guitars. With minimal clean-up, the garage actually looks like kids might actually hang out there, jamming and hanging out (or on, as the case may be).

The dedicated crew as seen in daylight. It probably doesn’t look this nice right now while they’re out there getting the final shot for the movie. I think I’m glad I have blog-duty. [Update: they're back and bring reports of a hobo-raccoon-witch. More tomorrow.]

Theo discovers that reliability is an important feature in a steering system.

Max has finally gotten a good night’s sleep so she and Hanna both get the joke.

Sam has been transformed into Emma, the hard-luck mother of Jack.

The second unit director (Theo) goes over the scene with his actor (Sam) and cameraman (Jacob).

Emma’s hair is particularly dramatic when aloft.

Theo and Sam review the take to decide whether they need to try another one.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, the first unit is filming. Chad has agreed to play guitar-playing homeless guy (and comes complete with guitar-playing ability!). Nik is solidly in character.

Julie tries to help with some camera deployments from the paraglider, but the wind dies and she lands on the beach. The second unit comes to her rescue.

On the way back from the beach we try one last strategy – direct deployment of the camera over the edge.

There’s no doubt that the right soundtrack is essential for any movie. Fortunately there are many musicians in the house.

On location in Pacifica.

For almost half an hour, the sun shone down on Tinkering School – it was spectacular after eight days of solid overcast and fog.

Unaccustomed to the sunshine, a tinkerer stumbles around the kitchen in search of breakfast.

After four takes, Nik lands the fifth one perfectly. Cut and print. Let’s set up for the next one!

We’ve all had to learn not to look Nik in the eye while he’s acting – and then we wonder if that happens on big movie stages as well.

The new go-cart is the lightest (and certainly the loveliest) ever built at Tinkering School.

Theo takes the new cart a little ways up the hill to see how it handles the bumps and the turn at the end of the driveway.

When we planned the Masters class, one of the most frequently requested items was “a day to just lay around and do nothing.” At one point or another almost every tinkerer could be found snoozing somewhere.

In preparation for the “Build a Movie Studio” project that starts tomorrow, we set out to create a story that we can use to write a screenplay. To begin, we all draw random scenes that we think would be interesting to film (one to a sheet) and then lay them out to create various stories. Check out our awesome scene sketches.

Not content to just waste the day doing nothing, Hanna, Maxine, and Theo continue to work on the cart that they started yesterday.

Nik climbs on board to experience that new car smell and get a feel for the controls – which shouldn’t take long because it has no brakes.

The new cart carries a more refined version of the rope-and-pipe steering mechanism from two years ago. This one has the prickly part of velcro wrapped around the steering column to reduce rope slippage.

The open frame design has served to reduce the weight of the cart tremendously. It’s going to be fast, but will it hold together?

Forcibly recruited for a quick test of Theo’s underwater camera housing, the rubber ducky makes his inevitable daily appearance.

A textbook example of inquilinism – a hermit crab has made a home in the abandoned shell of a snail.

The balloon rubber-banded to the top of Theo’s box allows him to access the shutter control on his camera (it also gives Gever a squirt of adrenaline every time he submerges it).

We don’t have a story for this one, it’s just too nice to leave out of the blog.

Suckers, tentacles, crazy coloring – the whole nine yards.

We load up for the drive to the testing grounds for the albatross and the (still very ugly, but charming) glass bottom boat.

Isaacs Albatross takes flight, camera on board.

Hanna makes a few tweaks to Doctor Phil (the camera) and her robocam.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I proudly present some of the finest tinkerers it has been my privilege to work with (oh and some mighty fine collaborators too). Hanna, Maxine, Leo, Jacob, Isaac, Theo, Sam, and Nik, with Julie and Chad helping out.
We had to take the group shot in mid-session this year since some of our tinkerers are leaving early

Bridle adjustments? Attach points? Insufficient weight? It’s not clear what the problem is.

Nik has moments of intense concentration.

Sam and Gever want to see if they can create a "wiggle stereoscopic" image.

note: these images can be dizzifying, make sure you are sitting down. Also, you’ll have to use browser back button to get back to this page after visiting.
Experiment #1 – The Chair
Experiment #2 – The Tree
Experiment #3 – Maxine

The cameras are all the same, but this one is named Buddy.

Maxine and The Duck help Hanna test out the robo-cam.

The crowd roars its approval.

Leo finally agrees to mount the parts of his boat on his boat instead of just carrying everything around like a waiter with a tray.

It’s late, we’re hungry, and we’ve got a lot to talk about – we’re starting the new project soon and there’s some details to go over.

See life from Tywen’s perspective.