[mrmichaelt]

A screen used hero P.K.E. Meter from GB1 and 2 was taken apart.
https://youtu.be/Ce3U--uuQog

[GuyX]

A screen used hero P.K.E. Meter from GB1 and 2 was taken apart.
https://youtu.be/Ce3U--uuQog

Wait. Whoa whoa.

The PKE METER wasn’t made just for Ghostbusters? It was rented prop? I thought Stephen Dane made it?

[mrmichaelt]

Wait. Whoa whoa.

The PKE METER wasn’t made just for Ghostbusters? It was rented prop? I thought Stephen Dane made it?

For the P.K.E. Meter specifically, I know he at least made 1 concept design but it looked more like a metal detector you see people using at the beach and referred to as the "G.E.V. Meter / Psychomagnetheric Giga Electron Voltmeter". if Dane was involved in the final design that this company then used, made, and rented to production and a few other productions, I'm not too sure. It was in the Visual History book by Wallace.

[GuyX]

Wait. Whoa whoa.

The PKE METER wasn’t made just for Ghostbusters? It was rented prop? I thought Stephen Dane made it?

For the P.K.E. Meter specifically, I know he at least made 1 concept design but it looked more like a metal detector you see people using at the beach and referred to as the "G.E.V. Meter / Psychomagnetheric Giga Electron Voltmeter". if Dane was involved in the final design that this company then used, made, and rented to production and a few other productions, I'm not too sure. It was in the Visual History book by Wallace.

So you’re saying one of the most iconic props this franchise has…might not even be purpose built for GB? Crazy.

Whats odd is they mention PKE was used in other productions but all the TV shows and films I could find came out AFTER 1984.

I swear I remember an interview with Dane where he discusses using a shoe polisher for a base and that he made it himself. In the interview Dane talked about GB2 and I think Dane showed the interviewer blue prints or concept art for the Ecto 1A. I feel like this interview was posted on this forum somewhere. Maybe like 5-8 years ago?

[mrmichaelt]

So you’re saying one of the most iconic props this franchise has…might not even be purpose built for GB? Crazy.

Whata odd is They mention PKE was used in other productions but all the TV shows and films I could find came out AFTER 1984.

I swear I remember an interview with Dane where he discusses using a shoe polisher for a base and that he made it himself. In the interview Dane talked about GB2 and I think Dane showed the interviewer blue prints or concept art for the Ecto 1A. I feel like this interview was posted on this forum somewhere. Maybe like 5-8 years ago?

No, I think Dane did the final design but for whatever reason probably time crunch since he was doing a lot even the roof rack that I'm thinking he sent his final design to the prop company and they assembled it and shipped it to production but whatever contracts, the PKE staying with that company and they loaned it to other productions post-GB1.

Yeah, that sounds familiar. The Beyond the Marquee one maybe. I know with the trap and packs he said, " I was mainly involved in buying parts and guiding the prop fabricators in constructing several of the early mock-up designs."

[prodestrian]

I think this was pretty common with Modern Props, it's possible they would offer a discounted rate to build something for a specific production on the condition that they could keep it in their inventory afterwards, and be able to loan it out to other productions. Or maybe there was an added cost if the studio was going to be allowed to keep the prop after production ended. They definitely did commission builds, such as the communicator props in Star Trek 2 (which were obviously heavily inspired by the original series). There's no way they just happened to have them in their inventory already. And as you can see, they held onto it after production ended (it's now in a museum in the Modern Props exhibition in Ohio):
https://www.instagram.com/p/DGVvtOSRsMb/

[GuyX]

So you’re saying one of the most iconic props this franchise has…might not even be purpose built for GB? Crazy.

Whata odd is They mention PKE was used in other productions but all the TV shows and films I could find came out AFTER 1984.

I swear I remember an interview with Dane where he discusses using a shoe polisher for a base and that he made it himself. In the interview Dane talked about GB2 and I think Dane showed the interviewer blue prints or concept art for the Ecto 1A. I feel like this interview was posted on this forum somewhere. Maybe like 5-8 years ago?

No, I think Dane did the final design but for whatever reason probably time crunch since he was doing a lot even the roof rack that I'm thinking he sent his final design to the prop company and they assembled it and shipped it to production but whatever contracts, the PKE staying with that company and they loaned it to other productions post-GB1.

Yeah, that sounds familiar. The Beyond the Marquee one maybe. I know with the trap and packs he said, " I was mainly involved in buying parts and guiding the prop fabricators in constructing several of the early mock-up designs."

Man. You’re like an encyclopedia of Ghostbusters info. It’s impressive. How long you been a fan for? Is Ghostbusters your main fandom focus?

It never ceases to amaze me the knowledge fans like you have or the resources you’ve compiled over the years. Some guy whose name I’ve forgotten has a YouTube channel and almost every promotional appearance the GB’s made promoting GB2 in summer ‘89 he recorded on a VCR. Like…what a treasure to have. He had no idea decades later there would be this thing called the internet and a website called YouTube where his foresight recording TV and love of GB could be shared with the world. It’s beautiful in a way.

The internet can be such an ugly awful place but then you see forums like this. Sharing the love and, yes sometimes the not so loved, of Ghostbusters.

[mrmichaelt]

Man. You’re like an encyclopedia of Ghostbusters info. It’s impressive. How long you been a fan for? Is Ghostbusters your main fandom focus?

It never ceases to amaze me the knowledge fans like you have or the resources you’ve compiled over the years. Some guy whose name I’ve forgotten has a YouTube channel and almost every promotional appearance the GB’s made promoting GB2 in summer ‘89 he recorded on a VCR. Like…what a treasure to have. He had no idea decades later there would be this thing called the internet and a website called YouTube where his foresight recording TV and love of GB could be shared with the world. It’s beautiful in a way.

The internet can be such an ugly awful place but then you see forums like this. Sharing the love and, yes sometimes the not so loved, of Ghostbusters.

Thanks, GuyX, that's kind of you. Hard to say at this point, my main fandoms are pretty tied neck in neck, Ghostbusters and anything DC Comics animation. I've been fan since before I can remember, probably since 1988 then after 1997 off and on and off again but didn't get really 'serious' about GB and go all-in until 2009, 2010.

I reread the Beyond the Marquee interview and rewatched the video interview, P.K.E. Meter didn't come up oddly. But Mr. Dane did reference prop builders in the former while talking about Ecto-1, "Some confusion still exists about the extent of the work I did on the car. Although I did closely supervise the building of the Ecto-1 before it was shipped to New York, I did not physically build or paint any part of it. As I mentioned, it was the studio painters and the prop makers at The Burbank Studios Mill (now under the Warner Brothers name) that put it together. I did the fully detailed plans and elevations of the interior and exterior as well as detailed isometric drawings of the car and roof rack and then oversaw its construction, painting and acquiring of various parts. It was a very hands-on involvement without really touching the car." The Burbank Studios Mill. I wonder if they were also involved with most of the gear, too. There was one auction back in 2010 - 2012ish muddled the origin of who built the packs, implying Boss Films did. Or for that matter, if Modern Props helped build the P.K.E. Meter - what else if anything.

http://beyondthemarquee.com/34980

[One time]

If I could just figure out who designed the ghost traps and proton packs, like final design, not Aykroyd's original H.G. Wells / George Pal "Ray Gun" design, but the actual final proton pack and trap we saw on screen. Was it Dane? Gaspar? Someone else?

If I could just figure that out.

Dane's concept drawings look incredibly close to the final design. But was he adding functionality to an existing prop layout done by someone else or was he really drawing up everything himself?




This Dane 1983 concept is fascinating. The offhand details seem to indicate Dane was drawing this with a prior established known design. Grip/ dial / toggle switches / bargraph, DANGER decal etc. These are lacking details and at the same time are established enough to indicate a prior accepted general design. Done by him or someone else?

[Kingpin]

It's possible that in the context of that Proton Gun sketch, Stephen was working at a point where the physical shape and design of the props had been finalised, andhe may have just been finalising the choice and location for the decals/coloured details, to a similar degree as he had with Ecto-1.

That's not to say he didn't have a bigger role in the conception of the props, of course.