Week 6
Animatic, sets and maquetting
This week has been full with maquetting. With the skills that we have learnt from the puppet making workshops we have now finally started creating the final models for our film and test are being done with maquettes and puppets in progress. So there has been a lot of testing to get the heads and facial expressions right for Nigel and Mabel and experimentation with materials.
Below is just some of the maquettes that the team have made to start experimenting and testing with.
Below is just some of the maquettes that the team have made to start experimenting and testing with.
Mabel's Making Of
Mabel's body process
Steph and Frank have both been working hard on getting the final puppets started.
All the puppets have been made to the scale of the technical drawings. This ensures that the models stay on design and are the correct size.
As we are working with a variety of different scale models it is very important that they all look the same and the continuity between the puppets works.
As you can see in the photo, Steph has been referencing her puppet back to the technical drawings.
All the puppets have been made to the scale of the technical drawings. This ensures that the models stay on design and are the correct size.
As we are working with a variety of different scale models it is very important that they all look the same and the continuity between the puppets works.
As you can see in the photo, Steph has been referencing her puppet back to the technical drawings.
For Mabel's body, Steph has used foam to pad out her underlying shape. As she is a fairly old lady, things have begun to go a bit south, so the foam has been shaped to show this.
Also as Mabel will be wearing a skirt, Steph has used the foam to create the correct
shape around the legs. The fabric will then cover it and should keep to a similar shape whilst we are animating.
With Mabel we will be having just an individual pair of legs for the close up animation so for that puppet we are also thinking we will put wire into the bottom of the skirt so that we can animate the fabric easier.
Also as Mabel will be wearing a skirt, Steph has used the foam to create the correct
shape around the legs. The fabric will then cover it and should keep to a similar shape whilst we are animating.
With Mabel we will be having just an individual pair of legs for the close up animation so for that puppet we are also thinking we will put wire into the bottom of the skirt so that we can animate the fabric easier.
Replacement eyelids
Nigel's Making Of
Frank has been getting all the different sized Nigel's ready. As each of the models have different requirements only certain parts of the puppet need to be made.
So for instance, the puppet in the photo is our large scale Nigel, and he is going to be used for close-ups so therefore he doesn't need to have his legs, which saves us materials and time.
So for instance, the puppet in the photo is our large scale Nigel, and he is going to be used for close-ups so therefore he doesn't need to have his legs, which saves us materials and time.
Head making process
Frank began making the heads by first creating the wire structure which would enable us to have movement in the jaw as well as the eyebrows. This structure was then covered with a basic Ultra Light Sculpey core.
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Once that had been cooked, Frank then added in the finer details of Nigel face with Super Sculpey. The head was then cooked again.
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The next stage was to skin the heads with latex dipped scrim foam, and then they were given a few extra layers of skin coloured liquid latex. Once they had fully dried, to lessen the sheen on the surface of the skin under the camera the latex was brushed with talcum powder.
An important feature of Nigel is his hair, eyebrows and moustache so that he can really show off his cheeky side. With this being an important aspect we have been looking into using needle felting to create the hair so that there is a life like feel to his look. The above moustache has been made out of needle felting by Elise.
Next step
The Nigel puppets are now at the stage where they have been covered with scrim foam on their bodies.
Underneath the cover they are made up of the same armature that we used in our beginning model making lessons, with changes so that the model fitted our character designs. So the next step is to give the Nigel's some clothes! |
Sets
Bec and Elise have been hard at work on the sets, with quite a few things that need sorting out.
They begun work on it all by deciding from the storyboard what sets were needed for all the different shots and then started with miniature set building to see what would and wouldn't work. Then they began work on scale sets using foam board as fairly cheap material to create mock-up sets. From here the final sizes and dimensions should be able to be taken and transferred across to the final sets. |