BACKGROUNDS FOR YOUR ACTION FIGURES !!! - Part One

Would you like to have some background scenery to pose your figures in front of , rather than in front of  a blank wall ? I'm sure you would . Here are a few backgrounds I've discovered on the web and some I custom made from movies and television . These are mostly backgrounds for Marvel and DC characters / figures . The first few pics are pics of my figures blended in with the scenery , and the last few pics are shots of the backgrounds themselves . Feel free to download the backgrounds and use them for your figures .

In this pic Bat-Man is standing in front of the Batcave from the 1966 Bat-Man series starring Adam West and Burt Ward as the Dynamic Duo . This is not the original image, but a cropped image that I cropped myself. The original pic includes a shot of the barricade in front of the entrance . Just Google "batcave" or something similar and you may bump into the pic . Without Bat-Man of course .

Martian Manhunter on Mars . This pic is one of a variety of pics I've googled of Mars' surface .

Google "Baxter Building" or "Fantastic Four Movie" and you may bump into this background like I did . This is a real pic of the Baxter Building computer room from the first two motion picture Fantastic Four movies of the mid 2000s . 

Just go to Google and type in "outer space" for a variety of space backgrounds that you can pose space characters such as the Silver Surfer , among others , in front of .  I really like this pic because the flash from my camera gives the illusion that the bright stars are shining off of the Surfer's metallic skin texture . 

Now on to some pics from Marvel and DC television shows and movies . 

( NOTE ) These pics were made by pressing the pause button of my DVR unit , and using my digital camera to carefully take a still photograph of the pause image . I then uploaded the images to my computer cropping and editing them . 

This pic is from an episode of "Smallville" that I took of . Ma and Paw Kent's farm . Make your Clark Kent action figure feel at home by standing him in front of this pic . 

The above two pics of the Daily Planet entrance way are also from an episode of Smallville . I made two shots of this scene, one from a distance and the second shot is a closer view . Make your DC Direct Jimmy Olsen, Perry White and Lois Lane action figures feel at home by standing them in front of these Daily Planet pics. Along with your DC Superheroes Clark Kent figure . You can pretend that the woman in the pic/pics is their co-worker . 

I'm sure everyone knows where these are from . Shots of the Danger Room from one of the X-Men motion picture movies. I don't remember which X-men movie I snapped these pics from . I did however cropped it from a scene from one of the X-movies and edited it making it a little brighter . Make all of your Marvel Legend good guy X-Men figures feel right at home. 

More backgrounds for your X-men figures . Professor Charles Xavier's mansion . Also taken from the X-men movies . 

A night time shot of Aunt May's house from the first Spider-Man movie starring Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker / Spider-Man . Feel free to display your Mary Jane and Peter Parker figures in front of this scene . 

Also from the first Spidey movie with Maguire , a shot of Oscorp. The company owned by Norman Osborn AKA Green Goblin . Pose any one of your Green Goblin figures in front of this scene . 

Shot of a New York City street also from the first Spider-Man film with Tobey Maguire . This shot is from the scene were Peter and his Uncle Ben were in the car together. Right before they got into that small argument they had with each other . 

If you do not know this is Fisk Corporations , and it belongs to Wilson Fisk AKA the Kingpin of crime. Enemy of both Spider-Man and Daredevil . This shot comes from the Daredevil movie starring Ben Affleck as the lead character . This pic is good for aerial shots, such as Spidey swinging on his web . 

That's it for now folks . I'll have more posts like this in the future, as I do plan on making more backgrounds. Before I go let me give you some tips on making your own backgrounds or for downloading the ones you see here . 

BACKGROUND SCENERY  TIPS FOR ACTION FIGURES

(1) When downloading pics off the computer, after you save a pic print the scene out with your printer . You may have to use the whole page, especially if you plan on posing or displaying 6" scale or larger figures in front of your scene . Edit your printer settings to make the image larger . 

(2) After you print the picture, use a hard piece of cardboard to lay it upon . Then it's up to you to decide rather you want to use glue, tape , or staples  to adhere the image to the cardboard. After this step you can now display any figure in front of the scene . 

(3) When taking pictures of a paused scene from a television set or monitor , make sure the flash on your camera is off . Then upload the pics to your computer and repeat the above steps of 1 and 2 . ( NOTE ) You may have to edit pics from television and movies unlike pics from the web . The reason for this is because the pics off of a screen may be dark since flash is not used . So you may have to brighten the pics using picture editing software . 

(4) I also just noticed a mistake I made . In that pic of the Silver Surfer , if you look closely you can see the shadow of both of his left and right hands . Now this would be okay if he was standing in front of a solid surface such as a wall, building , etc . However he's standing in front of thin air, so there is no need for shadows . You can see Bat-Man's shadow as he stands in front of the Batcave, but this is okay since he's in front of a solid surface, whereas the Surfer is not . No problem , I just figured out how to fix my own mistake. All I had to do was use better lighting , or some extra lamps/ lights to eliminate the shadows . Either that or display the figure in a pose where shadows can not be seen . 

Now I'm finally finished with this article. I hope my tips are helpful to those of you who plan on making your own backgrounds for your action figures. Also you do not want to make the same mistake I made with the shadows. If you do not plan on using these pics I hope you enjoyed the article .