Eye of the serpent

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone knew what color that stone was in the movie.
The color changed depending on the lighting.
The color appears very light purple. to pink to clear.....

Does anyone know what the script called out for it to be?
Thanks
Steve

Blood red. Think of the size and apparence of a human heart.

The inspiration came from the Robert Howard tale TOWER OF THE ELEPHANT. Conan takes a heart and squishes it over a transparent jewel, wich takes the colour of the blood.

Is also a nice symbol (human heart) when he gives it to Valeria, I guess

Thanks!!

Can anyone grab some clear screen shots from the movie?

S

Only shots I have are of my prop copy.

However, the stone used through MOST of the film was, in fact, CLEAR with some red muddling in the center (in the first screen-capture, the prevalent red color in the 'Eye' is refraction/magnification of the color of the ruby on the table behind it). Additionally, in most of the scenes you can see the color of the actor's skin right through the stone:



















You can even see the clear color in this production still used for the cover of a Starlog magazine:



It's my opinion that the red color (visible when the jewel is first shown on-screen, in the Tower of the Serpent) is a trick of the lighting. Even Conan appears red as he approached the Eye of the Serpent.

Having said that, it's common practice to use more than one prop to represent a single object on film. In fact, in the 12th screencap above (the one of Valeria leaning over the wrapped-up Conan at the mounds), the 'Eye' (viewed from it's side) appears to be carved & faceted like one might expect a diamond to be.

It was a very cheap and last minute makeshift prop and really not one of the better pieces in the film. Cobb I think goes into some detail over its creation in some mag article somewhere.

The Horn of Dagoth is actually probably one of the better talisman props in the CONAN movies, very well made.

Cromulus The Destroyer wrote:

It was a very cheap and last minute makeshift prop and really not one of the better pieces in the film. Cobb I think goes into some detail over its creation in some mag article somewhere.

If I recall correctly, in one of the special features on the DVD, Ron Cobb states that they had a very intricate jewel created for the prop, which promptly got stolen. So they went to a local gift shop & bought one of those art deco crystal paper-weights & had someone do a quick job of reshaping it on a jewler's wheel.

Thanks guys.
Very interesting. I also want to say thanks for the great replies.
I look forward to being part of this forum.

Best
Steve

Great responses guys! I would love to see a shot of the prop off screen as well. I wonder if it was indeed to have had an "eye" quality to it that we just never get to see. I understand the facts of the case, but I'd love to see Cobb's intentions.

OK, it is in the Cinefantasque issue #12:

Quote :

The Eye of the Serpent was actually a purple paperweight, a prop gem that Ron Cobb considered a major disappointment. "It was a disaster," said Cobb. "Originally I drew up exactly how I wanted the jewel to look. I consulted with Milius on this we both decided how we wanted it. We were very detailed about it. I then gave the designs to Nick Adler, but techinque after technique failed to produce anything that looked good. They were terrible. We were getting close to shooting and Milius didnt like them either. I thought I could rely on the wonderful, fantastic plastic and all that, but --nothing. So I launched an emergency trip all over Madrid, trying to find something. We went all over the place. jewelers, chandelier makers, everywhere.

'Finially, i said, Christ, waht about paperweights? Raffaella De Laurentiis promptly found this paperweight shop, I dont know how. She bought this ghaslty purple thing and Milius decided to use it. We changed it into an egg shaped thing, drilled a hole in it and added fiber optics. It glows on you, I suppose. But basically I miscalculated the kind of work you can get from the effects department. It should have been a very important prop."

Peter Kuran's VCE company was called-in to provide postproduction animated effects around the jewel, enhancing the gem's luster with hypnotic glow.

Thanks for the info though!

I've been looking at those waterford crystal eggs for a while... anyone know what would happen o the color and structure if you ground the facets into true flat facets? How about recoloring it red? Anyone know how to color crystal?

Well I broke down and snagged one cheap. Now to maybe train myself in resin casting and track down a rubber rattlesnake to mold. I figure three of them and a central hub, and I can make the stand for the movie. I'm also thinking about how to rig an LED in the crystal so that when it's placed on the stand it grounds and lights up. I figure I'll need to drill the crystal, run wires through one of the snakes, and make it's tongue the leads for the LED. Or I'll just find some nail polish that I can use to turn this red. Still going to work on the stand at some point.