Publicity Images

Poster Design

Publicity Still #1

Publicity Still #2

Set Design - Part 2

I set up my animation table in the animation studio and dressed it with all the prop elements.  I glued the set to the table with hot glue to ensure there would be no movement between shots should I bump the table.

I painted the background in acrylic once I could see it on camera.  This was so I could ensure that the paint mix was muted to make them appear a greater distance away from the foreground.  I also applied further grass and foliage elements to break up the green of the AstroTurf in places.  In the image above you can also see that I have begun fabrication on the flag rope which hangs between the tents.

As seen above, I followed my concept art closely when decorating the set.

I took a number of publicity shots of the puppets on set.  This gave me the opportunity to make any final touches, upon viewing how the puppets appeared in the environment.

Stop-Motion Cart Prop

To begin with, I designed all the elements of the cart in Illustrator.  I ensured that the design fit within a single A3 sheet. 

I then handed the files, along with a plank of A3 mdf, over to the university laser cutters.  (See above)  This process took around 45 minutes, which was a heartbeat in comparison to how long it would have taken if I had individually cut each piece in the mdf.

I finally glued everything together following my reference images.  It was extremely satisfying watching the prop come together in such a short time.  Within two hours of handing over my illustrator files to the laser cutters, I had completed a prop, ready for painting.

Set Design - Part 1

The first thing I constructed was the the animation table which was to be the base for my set.  I knew that this would be placed on top of the University studio tables and that it would need to have enough space for me to put my arms underneath to tie down the puppets to the set.  I measured the mdf so that it would fit on the table exactly.  I ensured that the set had multiple supports so that it would be stable and hold up to potential drilling and pressure during animation.

Once the table was constructed I was free to dive into the set fabrication.  I stapled down a layer of AstroTurf and cut away a small section in the middle to serve as the performance area.   (See below)  I also set about building the tents from wood supports, hot glued together with cloth glued in place over the top.

I applied filler as well as a layer of pva and sand to the ground area.  I also added small sections of astroturf onto this area to bring it to life.

The backboard was fabricated from a large section of 6mm mdf which was supported with strips of 12mm wood.  This was then spray painted in first sky blue and then in parts with white for the clouds.

I painted the base and barrels in acrylic.  This was a great opportunity to utilize the painting techniques I developed as a teenager in Games Workshop.  The mountains at the back of the set were constructed with foam board.  I would later go on to paint them following the colour design set in my concept art.

Sewing

Once all the silicone elements had been casted I then set about in fabricating the clothing.  With my coloured character art in hand, I made a nomber of visits to my local fabric store.  I bought multiple cloth strips for each clothing element and I would compare and test these once I returned to my workstation at University.  Sometimes fabric would look different under the studio lights or not drape over the puppet suitably.  Once I had made my decisions on what cloth to use, I set about sewing the elements together with a Sewing Machine which I lent from mt fellow student, Jonathan Garvey.    I also utilized fabric pins, fabric glue and a clover iron to drive out any wrinkles in the fabric.

I found that the blue material I used for the Princess' dress was too 'puffy' in the end.  I had no time to revise and so had to continue onto the other costumes.  If I had another week or two I would have redone this element.

When working on multiple puppets at a time I found that my workstation would get rather messy - as seen above.  The Father's leather arm gauntlets were made from miliput and painted to look like leather.

Here I am placing the gold detailing onto the puppet.  These were first sculpted and then casted in batches using resin.  I then painted each of these pieces in gold, ensuring that the lower sides were painted with a slightly darker colour as they would be facing downwards.  The belt was fabricated from a strip of leather with the buckle glued on which was sculpted with a kneaditite/miliput mix.

Sword Fabrication

The swords were cast in resin mixed with aluminium powder.  As I planned them to be juggled between St George and the Dragon, they would have to be rigged with wire and would require to be able to be re-positioned in the air at different angles.  I devised a rigging system with wire and magnates which would allow the swards to be positioned in anyway required as they would attach to the rigs magnetically.

Head Armatures/Resculpting

I produced an internal wire pulling mechanism on the Princess’s armature head.  (See above) This was designed to pull the lips up in a smile – similar to the character of the Corpse Bride in the film... erm... Corpse Bride.  The mechanism is constructed from a guitar tuner and thin fishing wire.  The armature head pictured here, as well as those for the other puppets, would have to be scrapped as the silicone faces did not provide the effect I desired when I tested them under the camera.  

In the end, I decided to capitalize on my acrylic painting skills and quickly re-sculpt the faces in grey supersculpey.  After taking them out of the oven, I found that some cracks and imperfections had developed.  These were filled up in miliput and lightly filed over to smooth the faces over.