Experimenting

Before I start making all the finished props, sets and models, I thought I needed to experiment with how I'm going to make certain things.

So first the trees. I had struggled over the idea for a while of how I was going to make these, and the most feasible idea I had was to create a solid structure with wire, and cover with plasticine. So I experimented with this idea.

First, I created the solid structure out of sculpey and baked it (maybe a little too long):

And I added the plasticine:

The branches were very easy to move. I usually struggle with plasticine because it melts too much, but because there is only a very thin layer over a solid structure, it worked really well. The only problems were the shiney-ness of the plasticine and the fact that the trees need to be really big, and I'll need a lot of the materials. 

I can find a plasticine that is duller than the one I used for experimentation here. 

The next thing I tried out is the colour of the bedroom walls. I know I want it to be a dull green with damp on, but I found a few samples to try out. 

Above is a picture of the wall painted with the three samples. I used two coats to get a good solid colour.

To the right is a picture of the three samples with sponged black paint to add the damp effect.

Below are the three samples individually.

'Melon Sorbet' colour with damp.

'Crushed Aloe' colour with damp.

'Putting Green' colour with damp.

I'm not quite sure which one I want to use yet, they are all pretty similar. I think the 'Melon Sorbet' might be a bit too bright, the 'Crushed Aloe' is wuite a dull one that wouldn't take too much attention away from the character. 

Adding to the armature

I haven't got the foam yet, and the mould making workshop won't be for at least another two weeks yet. So I can't do much with the puppet at the moment. But, I needed something to do. So I practiced on the sewing machine. I am still not sure about the fabrics that everyone liked best. I created a quick outfit for each of the colours and put them on the armature to test.

I'm still not particularly fond of the mis-matched outfit. I prefer the blue one still. I will show these images around for more opinions. 

I noticed that the wrists were loose on the armature. I didn't spend the extra money getting the professional armature with ball socket wrists, so mine are just twisted wire. If I tried to twist the hand the wrist would un-wind and become loose. I tried covering with milliput but this just came off when I twisted, so I thought I'd add something a little stronger. 

I used Araldite glue and wound cotton in the still wet glue. This is a tip I learnt from Henry in the workshops. The glue dries with the cotton to make it stronger.

I also thought about making the plastazote stronger, so I covered it with a coat of PVA.

Final Animatic

Here is the final animatic, I re-did it with images from the final storyboard, as everyone said these images were a lot stronger. I have added in some close ups. The music is the first track Reuben Vincent has composed for this project.

Planning

I've had quite a bit of a break lately, with Christmas and the assessment period. I realised that I am a bit un-organised, and there is a lot I need to get and figure out still. So I sorted my thoughts out into lists.

To figure out:

• Eyebrows & mouth
• Eyes
• Trees
• Hair
• Flowers & rocks
• Giant feet
• Doll

I wanted to have pin-on eyes, eyebrows and mouth shapes, so I quickly sketched how I would do these:

I figured I'd need four eye shapes: open wide, open with eyelid, half blink, eyes closed.
I haven't figured out the material that the eyes will be made out of yet, but it will be made with a small pin in the back that will pin onto the face.

I'd only need one pair of eyebrows, because I can pin them on in the one spot, and just rotate them slightly to form a different expression.

I have decided on five mouth shapes: sad, plain, happy, shocked and scared. I figured out that I can make the mouth shapes out of milliput, as it would be easy to shape and paint, and it would dry with a pin in.

I'm not sure what to do about the hair. I could either have wool hair, that is stuck in place. Or some kind of wire hair that I can animate. But I might be making too much work for myself with animatable hair. 

I'm also not sure what material to make the trees out of, as they need to morph shape. I could do it with brown plasticine with wire inside. I don't like using plasticine to animate with, but it won't need much animating. 

Also, I'm not sure what material to make the rocks out of, as they need to be hollow to be able to pull the pin-end flowers through. 

I'm considering buying a doll, as I already have a bear from a doll house, and it would be incredibly difficult to make one that small. But I would need to find one close to my design.
I'd then need to build the giant feet to match the small toys. I've been told a long rod, foam and fur/fabric will be enough for the giant feet as they are only really moving up and down. But I still need to figure that out properly.

To buy/get:

• Green wall paint (set)
• Black and white paint (set)
• Pins (face)
• Cotton wool (bedding)
• More fabric (bedding, clothes and giant feet) 
• Rods - wood? (giant feet)
• Metal plates (feet)
• Split pins (shadow figures)
• Mountboard/thick cardboard (shadow figures)

Feasibility Study

Here are the animation tests for 'Toying with Fear':

I was really pleased with how the movement of the armature worked. The armature was a bit more difficult to move because it only moves certain ways at the joints, where as the armature I made move in all places, but then I worry about snapping the wire, whereas with the bought armature, I didn't need to worry about that, it is a lot more stable.

I was also very happy with the green screen test. I thought it would be extremely difficult to learn and wouldn't have a very good end look. But it once I had a quick refresher, I remembered how easy it was.
I prefer the look of the green screen to the light changes. The only downside is the background does look too cartoony. So I have asked Deborah Price if she could create a digital background for me. It would be one background but two colours.

The other thing I realised through the feasibility study was that even though the magnets that Henry gave me were incredibly strong, the set would need to be a lot thinner. The magnets could stick to the feet through the floor but it was difficult to keep them in the exact same place when I moved the feet. I already have the set, and I think that a thinner set would result in the floor bending with the weight. So I will look into getting metal plates for the feet.

I think the feasibility study was very successful, even though I don't have a finished model, it helped me figure out where I was and what I'd need to change before I start.

Lighting

I think one of the hardest things to do on my project is the transition between the two worlds. I have thought of three ways to do this.

• Painted backgrounds, fade between them.
• Green screen compositing.
• Lighting tricks. 

So, I will need to do feasibility tests for the green screen and lighting tricks, as I've not done anything like that before.
I have filmed a short animated sequence in front of a green screen to be edited soon.
I have also played around with lighting against a white background (mount board was the easiest option for this). Firstly I tried playing around with the camera settings, as Stan showed us a technique of changing the settings so the camera thinks its under a different lighting and will change its colour to suit that mode. It gives it an orange tint, and I thought this might work.

But the yellow-orange tint isn't strong enough for the colour I need.
So I then tried out with light filters. There were only two colours available in Caerleon: Orange and Blue. So instead of green, it is temporarily blue. But that is ok for the feasibility study, as it is just to see if the lights and the transition works.

 The colours are a lot stronger, and the blue filter actually made the set darker, which I think works well as the world turns dark. I will edit these to see if I can make a smooth transition.

Lighting and Composition

Lighting is an important part of my animation, as it needs to set the mood. There are shadows in the hallway which means there needs to be a strong but not too bright light behind it.

The first one works better in the sense that it gives quite a dark feel. I've yet to add the dull green colour and carpet, so I think it may be too dark once all that has been added. So the second works better now, everything is a lot clearer.

The composition is something that I'm not the best at, so I got a bit of help from Jonathan Bate. His films look spectacular. 

The camera is low on the floor with the doorframe well in sight. This is the opening shot so it needs to be far away to reveal everything. 

It is hard to tell the difference on here, but I wasn't sure exactly what angle to shoot. The top one is slightly more central, and the bottom one is more to the right. Even though the top one isn't completely in the centre, I think it the puppet is a bit too close. So I filmed it in the style of the second one.

To film the shot where the camera shows her point of view, I brought the camera up, and tilted it down slightly. I had to almost remove her head so the camera could see her point of view. 

I have the teddy bear, but I don't have the doll yet, so for the animation tests I cutout a doll shape out of foam.

For the shadows, I had a go using cardboard cutouts, and taped on arms.

They worked ok for test animations, but when I need to animate properly, I think I will use something strudier like mountboard, and split pins.

Bedroom Set

For the feasibility tests, I had to animate 30 seconds. So I had to create a basic set to animate on. With my Dads help, we created the bedroom set, and coated it in a base white colour.

There is enough room between my set and the table for me to maneuver the magnets.

The image above shows where I can create the shadows.

I have still yet to add paint to the walls, with the damp stains sponged, carpet and props. 

Model Making

I finally purchased the standard armature from www.animationsupplies.net. It cost £85 altogether after P&P.  I had to assemble it and cut it down to size.

Here is what the standard armature looks like:

Henry suggested I had a plastazote chest and hip plate to stop the joints moving in inhuman ways. I decided to also make the head out of plastazote, as it is really light and easily carved.

I was originally going to make her completely out of fabrics, like my doll I made in my second year. But I wanted to make it in the style of 'ParaNorman' (2012) and 'Coraline' (2009). I don't have 3D printers like 'ParaNorman' used, but I want it to look aesthetically similar. So I decided to use latex. Only I've never used latex before and I'm not quite sure how to make hands or a head with it. We didn't get a mould-making workshop in our second year, and Caroline is a bit late organising it this year, so I got a bit impatient and had a go. Henry said to make hands you just mix the latex with paint and dip the hand in then let it air dry. So thats what I did. 

It worked ok. It feels really good, but I think it at needed another layer or so. But I don't know how to make a mould for a head. I can have a try with Milliput and Sculpey. But Caroline said she would try and move the workshop forward so I can use that to make my model. 

So for now, model making is on hold, and I will focus on everything else like set and props. 

Model of Katie's Head

Caroline mentioned a few times that I haven't done enough 3D work, so its hard to imagine the animation in stop motion.
So I created a head out of Milliput. I tried with Fimu plasticine but I find it too difficult to shape, Milliput  keeps its shape a lot better.

When the Milliput was dry, I painted it with a flesh coloured acrylic paint.

I then added wool for the hair. I glued it down with PVA, and hair sprayed it to keep it sturdy

I am happy with how this turned out, Although I think the hair is a little thick, but this is a small model, and on the armature it will be a lot thinner. The wool is also very difficult to glue down, and will boil when animating, so I may look into other materials for the hair, maybe thick wire, so I can animate it too.