Animators Diary : Constructing Creepy Treats Castle pt.3

Well it has been roughly three months since I last did an animators diary … now that’s a long time. I would be lying if I said I had been busy during this period. In fact I have been putting off the set construction a little due to it being incredibly boring and time consuming. BUT… I have a little free time in November coming up and I have set that aside to start filming ‘Creepy Treats’. So this has pushed me to get everything ready for November.

In the last three months I have finished the scripts for three episodes of ‘Creepy Treats’.

Sharif who does all the technical gizmo stuff for my films is going to be voicing one of the characters. He did a rough reading the other night and I nearly fell off my chair with laughter. These episodes are going to be truly strange and ridiculous.

I’ve started constructing the second set … the potion room.

I painted some self made bricks that I had cut from a polystyrene board..

… I then stuck them around the cut out arches creating frames for the doorways and window.

In this picture there are some furniture to give you an idea of what the potion room will be like.

Now comes the part that I have been putting off for the last three months … painting all the bricks.

This job takes hours to do and is very very boring.

But it is now done .. so I can start sticking on the bricks. Here’s one I made earlier…

I think the end result makes all those hours spent painting individual bricks worth while.

Animators Diary : Constructing Creepy Treats Castle Pt 2

Here’s an update of the construction of Creepy Treats Castle.

As you can see i’ve cut out some arches from the supporting frame of my set to make way for door ways and windows.

I can then attach card board to the frame with butterfly clips. This is so I can remove and re-attach the different set pieces to the wooden frame as needed.

This is all surpassingly secure.

I then cut out a doorway and window and painted the set .. Mr Skeleton is here simply to give me an idea of scale.

The white strips in the centre of the set is polystyrene which I’m using to create the brickwork.

I cut up the polystyrene and then paint it gray … this is very time consuming and rather fiddly.

By this point i’ve gone slightly mad …. and become horridly messy.

Next i’ll stick on the bricks.. when i’ve stopped dancing round the room and singing the Wonder Woman theme.

Animators Diary : Constructing Creepy Treats Castle Pt 1

I’ve got the first episode down in story board form and have ideas for future episodes. So it’s about time I started constructing the sets – the first being one of the rooms in Creepy Treats Castle.

I’m re-using parts of the set from my last animation ‘Sensations of the Season’.

As i’ve done with my last animation sets – I need to build a firm and secure set to reduce any movement when filming.

Well this is about all I can report at the moment as I don’t want to say to much about the story development. I’ll be updating the progress of the set designs on here as I go. Bye bye for now.

Animators Diary : Back To The Drawing Board

With Sensations of the Season (my recently finished animation video for Onethirtyeight) now gearing up for the festivals… I’ve headed back to the drawing board to start work on my next project. 

My next animation project is titled ‘Creepy Treats’ and will be a series of short episodes involving two very silly witches living in a castle. I plan to make three short episodes at the same time .. then if they go well I would like to make more. 

So here are some early doodles I did for the look of the castle and characters in Creepy Treats. 

The caste will have a very garish look. 

I have recently received an order of plasticine in the mail, so can now get started building the main characters.. more to come. 

Sensations of the Season : Animators Diary 19

I meant to do one of these diary entries about a week ago, but everything has suddenly been snowballing along..

I was going to discuss how I was making the audience .. I think these photos will say more than words. 

It was probably the easiest part os this animation to put together. 

I wont go into a whose who of the audience members – all I can say is that you may recognize some and others are close friends and family. 

Over the past week Sharif Salah (my partner in crime) has been busy working on the motion graphics.. and now it’s all finished – ready for the world. So keep your eyes peeled for info on where, when and how to see it …. bye for now.

Sensations Of The Seasons : Animators Diary 18

Well as I reported in my last Diary entry .. I have a dead line (or is it death line) for this project which I really must meet or I’m in trouble. Things were really moving along – I must have filmed at least a minute in just under a month and I was bang on track.

Then I went on holiday and things have slowed down since I got back. As the zep’s once sang.. “It’s nobodies fault but mine”. 

But I am pulling up my socks and starting to run again .. and have very nearly finished all the filming. Then all that’s left is a few digital effect shots – and then WHAMO i’m done!

Today I have been filming some very interesting shadow shots – using candles for the lighting. Has been very effective indeed. Can’t tell you what it’s all for i’m afraid, but here’s a still to wet your selves over. 

Sensations Of The seasons : Animators Diary 17

Firstly I’d like to say a big merry Christmas to one and all .. secondly I’d like to apologies again for the poor updates and blogging content lately. 

As you may or may not remember from my last diary entry – I was making a rubber latex model of Unzie. Unfortunately I didn’t take any photographic evidence of the atrocity that became of the second attempt. The latex very quickly deteriorated, turning to a poo brown colour and going all stiff! So although I said I wouldn’t  give up .. i’m afraid I did. I have no idea what I did wrong with the latex mix but until I’ve done some more research I’m going to stick with the plasticine. 

You may have seen in one of my blogs that OneThirtyEight’s album London Transmissions is available on iTunes and you can find out more about the project HERE. This includes the track that this animation is accompanying – ‘Sensations of the Seasons’. It’s a fantastic album SO BUY IT NOW !

I now have a deadline for this project too. This has given me a good kick up my bum bum .. and I have been animating a lot lately – completing the second freaks section. leaving me only about a minute or so to film by the end of January … peace of pie. 

 

Until next time ….. lovesx

Sensations Of The Seasons : Animators Diary 16

So here we go with attempt two at making a latex mould/armature for Unzie. 

I mixed up some more plaster – this time making sure I didn’t add too much water so it would be stronger. 

Once dry I pulled the cast apart…

I then removed the plasticine from the plaster mould and started adding layers of latex.. 

While doing this I removed the plasticine from the wire armature. Then placed the wire in with the drying latex. Added more latex over the wire and then pressed the two halves of the latex filled plaster cast together. 

Leaving this to dry for twenty four hours. 

The next day was the moment of truth … all is well and good as it seems to have worked perfectly. 

I am now cutting off the excess latex. 

Once i’ve done this I’ll paint the latex and finish off my bendy latex armature Unzie.

Sensations On The Seasons: Animators Diary 15

Today I’m going to talk about my attempt at making another wire armature Unzie. I have given this a go before .. both failing miserably I might say .. but this time I have done a little home work and felt more confident about making one. 

As before I started by forming a wire structure. 

Then I covered the wire with plastercine moulding Unzie’s body.

I then mixed some plaster to get a cast of the model. The idea being that I could then create a latex model from the plaster cast …. yet this happened…..

So again things haven’t paned out as planned, but I’m not letting this get in my way … more to come.

Sensations Of The Seasons : Animators Diary 14

So what have I been doing …. here are some clues.

Any ideas yet? Here’s another..

Well I can’t really say what it’s all about as I don’t want to spoil the finished animation, but all this has been giving me a headache for the past month or so. 

You may have read in one of my previous posts that my last animation (Danny Silk : Intergalactic Exterminator) was shown as part of the Portsmouth Film Festival. It was a delight to see your work up on screen for the first time. Again I can’t wait to see Sensations of the Seasons up on screen .. you can find out more HERE.