Gopher Golf: Gopher's Burrow

The Gopher's burrow is only seen for two short shots in the film, but still required some thought in how it would be produced.

The burrow was initially to be a flat background behind the Gopher, but instead the Gopher was sandwiched between a background and two foreground layers, covering the top and bottom of the screen. This would give the illusion of the Gopher digging his way through a tunnel. Part of this idea was inspired by the way digging is shown in films such as 'Fantastic Mr Fox' (2009). Many recycled drawings from other scenes in 'Gopher Golf' - including the fence, a golf tee and some pebbles - were reused in these scenes, albeit slightly modified with darker lighting and more texture.

Gopher Golf: Editing the Lighting

After reviewing all the footage filmed so far for Gopher Golf, there were a few problems which I had to sort out before filming could continue. Firstly, the blue screen was not flat enough and the lighting was not strong enough for the blue to become one solid colour. The blue screen still had a number of creases in it, which had to be ironed and then pulled taut to both sides of a frame.

The blue screen was moved right against the wall, as was the table I am animating on. The set lights were also moved closer to the set and the wall, improving the lighting greatly. It also gave me more space for any work I needed to do behind the camera, such as reviewing the film on the screen.

The other issue was that, after reviewing all the footage, a black smudge was in the middle of the screen. It was directly on the lens and I didn't have the correct materials to wipe the lens clean. Therefore it was agreed I could switch to using my own camera, a brand new Canon 70D which is more up-to-date and offers higher quality than the Nikon D300.

Keylight, a useful feature in Adobe After Effects, was used to delete the blue background from the raw footage, although the levels of black and white lighting had to be adjusted because the blue background was not a block colour. The outline also had to be erased. I have very rarely used After Effects before this year, so I had to look at online tutorials to help with certain features, although the software was fairly easy to use. It saved hours of time as I was about to try removing the black smudge frame by frame.

I was pleased with the results after I had doctored the footage in After Effects, although hopefully the consistency of the lighting will no longer be an issue. If I do have any more problems in filming, I'm satisfied that I have a solution.

Gopher Golf: Setting up the Shoot

These pictures show the stop-motion set for 'Gopher Golf' as it was being set up.

Every stop-motion scene in the film will be animated against a blue screen (not green screen, as the main character's clothes are green), so there was no need to install any backgrounds as these will be added digitally later. The animation software I am using for this process is Dragonframe and the camera being used is a Nikon D300.

Gopher Golf: Further Background Designs

Here are some of the final (and near final) backgrounds I have developed for the film 'Gopher Golf'.

These backgrounds were drawn out first, then rendered in Photoshop. These drawings lack shadows and fine details which will be added in post production.

Gopher Golf: Background and Set Designs #2

The following screenshots, created in Adobe After Effects, show tests of what the backgrounds in 'Gopher Golf' may look like, albeit currently lacking final detail.

These backgrounds both combine drawings, sets and props I've created using Photoshop. Using these backgrounds I can now create some of the more simple shots in the film - the shots which don't require the main characters to be present. Shots such as the golf ball flying through the air and over the fence can now be done easily animated in Photoshop or After Effects.

I did consider using Hornby grass for the main character to stand on, as I mentioned in a previous post but, in this particular scene (at home in his garden), the Golfer is never actually seen interacting with the set. The only other props he needs to interact with are his golf club and the golf ball, which will be filmed using a combination of stop-motion animation and Photoshop / After Effects animation.

Gopher Golf: Background and Set Designs #1

Here are some background and set designs which were drawn out first and then coloured and rendered in Adobe Photoshop. The background, foreground, Flash animation and stop-motion elements will all be created separately then combined together in Adobe After Effects.

All the stop-motion scenes (involving the Golfer and Gopher) will be filmed separately against a green screen, or blue screen if the characters are standing on green grass. All background elements will be hand-drawn then scanned in digitally.

This last pic is a demonstration (minus shadowing) of what these drawings may look like against a real Hornby grass mat, which may be used in the final film.