Hey all,
Right then. For those who don’t know, I’m working on a series for the BBC and Discovery about the deep ocean and I’ve been here a while, learning everything I can to make our CGI squid the best they can be. I’ve learned a great deal from all the fantastic posters her already, but now I’m at the next stage in the production process and I’m asking for help again. The sculpts of the Architeuthis and Mesonychoteuthis for the series are complete and with our computer graphics people for the lasers and the scanning and the rest of the stuff they do, and I’ve now got the job of getting the texture/movement references together. I think I’ll just throw these questions out there and see what everyone thinks. If anyone wants to make a stab at an answer, I’m all ears.
a) colouration – In fact, we won’t see the colour of the squid very much as they’re going to be at depth with no colour visible, however, for accuracy it would be good to know whether archie and the big guy are all one colour (red and darker red) or whether they have any variation in markings. For example, I remember in one of the live archie photos that were posted, it seemed to have red on top and white underneath (for disguise against the sky?). Also, I’ve not read anything about chromatophores for either species so I’m assuming they can’t flash colours – too deep for this anyway?
b) hunting posture – and hunting in general. I’m going for the idea that Architeuthis hangs pretty stationary in the water at around a 45° angle with tentacles hanging pretty much vertically down, locked together and with the tentacle clubs open – does this sound right, or have there been some more thoughts on this? In mesonychoteuthis’ case I really have no idea. I’m guessing it’s more of an active hunter and could actually extend its tentacles to seize its prey, but that’s a guess. Also, is it going to be horizontal in the water, or at an angle?
c) photophores/ink – I know mesonychoteuthis has a couple of photophores near its eyes, what are these for, hunting illumination, attracting prey? I believe Architeuthis has none, is this right? Ink would seem to be pretty pointless down at those depths, unless it was bioluminescent, and I doubt it would really help either species avoid predation from something hunting by echolocation, so I’m guessing they have none?
d) keels – Architeuthis (I believe) has keels on its third arms – would these be most prominent during jetting and lunging or apparent the rest of the time?
Phew, that’ll do for now. Sorry for asking all these questions, but you guys are the best, so I may as well get the best answer. I’ve been back through the old topics and got what I can, but I was missing a few things. There’ll probably be a few more things that come up, but any answers, musings or other insights on these topics would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Nik
Right then. For those who don’t know, I’m working on a series for the BBC and Discovery about the deep ocean and I’ve been here a while, learning everything I can to make our CGI squid the best they can be. I’ve learned a great deal from all the fantastic posters her already, but now I’m at the next stage in the production process and I’m asking for help again. The sculpts of the Architeuthis and Mesonychoteuthis for the series are complete and with our computer graphics people for the lasers and the scanning and the rest of the stuff they do, and I’ve now got the job of getting the texture/movement references together. I think I’ll just throw these questions out there and see what everyone thinks. If anyone wants to make a stab at an answer, I’m all ears.
a) colouration – In fact, we won’t see the colour of the squid very much as they’re going to be at depth with no colour visible, however, for accuracy it would be good to know whether archie and the big guy are all one colour (red and darker red) or whether they have any variation in markings. For example, I remember in one of the live archie photos that were posted, it seemed to have red on top and white underneath (for disguise against the sky?). Also, I’ve not read anything about chromatophores for either species so I’m assuming they can’t flash colours – too deep for this anyway?
b) hunting posture – and hunting in general. I’m going for the idea that Architeuthis hangs pretty stationary in the water at around a 45° angle with tentacles hanging pretty much vertically down, locked together and with the tentacle clubs open – does this sound right, or have there been some more thoughts on this? In mesonychoteuthis’ case I really have no idea. I’m guessing it’s more of an active hunter and could actually extend its tentacles to seize its prey, but that’s a guess. Also, is it going to be horizontal in the water, or at an angle?
c) photophores/ink – I know mesonychoteuthis has a couple of photophores near its eyes, what are these for, hunting illumination, attracting prey? I believe Architeuthis has none, is this right? Ink would seem to be pretty pointless down at those depths, unless it was bioluminescent, and I doubt it would really help either species avoid predation from something hunting by echolocation, so I’m guessing they have none?
d) keels – Architeuthis (I believe) has keels on its third arms – would these be most prominent during jetting and lunging or apparent the rest of the time?
Phew, that’ll do for now. Sorry for asking all these questions, but you guys are the best, so I may as well get the best answer. I’ve been back through the old topics and got what I can, but I was missing a few things. There’ll probably be a few more things that come up, but any answers, musings or other insights on these topics would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Nik