Storyboards for 'Scream Street' Competition (CBBC)

"Scream Street" is a new stop-motion series which made its debut on CBBC in October this year. The show is made at Factory, an animation studio in Altrincham, and is owned by Coolabi.

Recently, CBBC, Factory and Coolabi launched a competition for aspiring animators in Northern England, inviting students to create a 45-second long animation featuring the show's comic relief characters, Dig the dog and Lulu the leech. Using these two characters and a selection of props (which the modelmakers at Factory have already produced), I storyboarded a short piece, imagining what these two characters would be like in a particular situation. The situation I chose was "bowling", a situation which would allow Dig to show his over-eager personality and Lulu her bossy personality.

DD3992: Looking Back on my Final Film

Yesterday, after several months of hard work, I finally completed all work on my film 'Gopher Golf', along with my latest show-reel, CV, action plan, poster and official still shot for the film.

There's no doubt that my final film is a lot different from how I first imagined it would look. Over the course of the last eight months, the narrative of the film has become a lot stronger. I am strongly against being able to predict how films will end, so I was pleased with my audience feedback because a mystery had been set up in the film - "we know the Gopher's going to get his revenge, but how?", as one comment from the feedback asks. The film is stronger as a comedy as well, and the final version generated more laughs than the original pitch for the film back in September.

I'm also pleased that the film's visual style is a lot stronger than in many of my earlier works. A lot more time and effort went into trying to make the film look better - I'm still happy today with the narrative and animation in my second year film, although time constraints and various issues meant I couldn't put as much effort into the sets and pre-production as I would've liked.

However, I've felt unsure many times whether the narrative and visual style would work together or not. The narrative has become a lot more focused on surreal comedy and slapstick, much like classic Disney or Looney Tunes cartoons from the "Golden Age of American Animation". Therefore, I've wondered many times if the film would work better if it was entirely 2D, not a mixed media - 2D, or traditional animation, is a lot more suited to surreal humour than either stop-motion or CGI, in my opinion. I only started to feel more comfortable about the film being a mixed media after the positive feedback it received. I have learnt a lot about different directors who have their own styles, so I became quite relaxed after feeling like I have achieved my own look. After seeing the final film all together, I feel very pleased with the end result.

AX3003: Notes from the Creative Festival

These notes were taken from lectures given at the Creative Festival, where the following animation professionals were talking:

• Tristan Oliver (Wallace & Gromit, ParaNorman, Fantastic Mr Fox)
• Simon Partington (Old Jack's Boat, Slumberless)
• Jean Flynn (Cosgrove Hall)

Gopher Golf: Golfer Shoot - Part #2

Recently I filmed a scene in which the Golfer is required to lean down and pick up two leaflets. The puppet was capable of walking by itself, but it couldn't lean down by itself as it was too flexible. I solved this by using two magnets underneath the set - one for each foot - which were strong enough to hold the character down.

No additional support was needed when the Golfer was required to pick up the two leaflets, because the fingers move around freely and could pick up the leaflets by themselves. However, to make the puppet easier to stand up whilst leaning over, I had to remove the Plasticine from the feet and let the two magnets do the work.

Gopher Golf: Lip sync test #1

This video is the first lip sync test for the Golfer in 'Gopher Golf'. Here I'm testing out the idea of creating lip sync animation in Photoshop, but I feel like the styles clash here so I will likely use replacement Plasticine mouths in the final film.

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: Building the Golfer Puppet - Part #8

The hands and head for the Golfer were finally completed this week. The Golfer also now has a hat which, like the clothes, has been hand-knitted.

The hands were dabbed in watercolour paint and talc powder to achieve a colour similar to human skin colour. This took several attempts as it had to match the Plasticine.

The head was attached on with wires, stuck to the main body by Araldite. The joint between the head and main body will be covered by more Plasticine.

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Gopher Golf: Script Breakdown (Final)

Here is the script breakdown for my final film.

Gopher Golf: Final Screenplay, March 2015

Even through the production and shooting of my film 'Gopher Golf', I'm still making amendments to the screenplay. Here is the latest draft.
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INT. HALLWAY - DAY

A leaflet falls through the letterbox on a front door.

A man walks over and picks it up. This man is the GOLFER, a tall man wearing a green golf shirt, hat, shoes and shorts.

The man sees a large headline on the newspaper and gasps - it reads "$10,000,000 prize offered at Golfing Championship". The Golfer clearly becomes excited and nods decisively.

EXT. GARDEN - DAY

The Golfer carefully places the golf ball on a tee in his back garden.

The garden is very large with flat, green, freshly-cut grass, a pond and a single tree at the end and fencing all around the garden obscuring the view outside. At the end of his garden, the Golfer has very badly dug a hole for the golf ball to land into which is clearly too large.

The Golfer swings carefully then hits the golf ball. The ball misses the hole and lands in a tree.

The Golfer GROANS LOUDLY.

We cut to the Golfer trying again. This time he hits the golf ball into the pond.

The Golfer then hits the ball again. It's clear in his aim that he is frustrated and not putting much effort into it. The ball knocks over a garden gnome. The Golfer gives a fed-up look and SIGHS LOUDLY.

Next the Golfer hits the ball over the fence. We hear the sound of the ball hitting an old woman and a car which crashes.

The golfer growls angrily. The Golfer then calms down and looks at the golf hole again. He sighs then proceeds to try one more time. This time he aims much more carefully with greater precision. He hits the ball and it finally goes into the golf hole. The Golfer cheers and shouts excitedly, then looks at his newspaper again feeling much happier.

EXT. PLAYING FIELD - DAY

The big day has arrived. Another GOLFER has just taken a shot but the ball lands too far from the hole. The other golfer cries loudly in anger and hurries off. Our Golfer simply laughs as he starts taking his place in preparation for his perfect shot. A large crowd is seen behind him sitting in stadium seating.

The Golfer is looking very nervous as he prepares his perfect shot. He keeps moving hesitantly as if he is unsure at what moment to hit the ball.

The Golfer finally hits the ball. There is complete silence.

The ball hits the ground after a prolonged silence. It moves its way around the golf hole. Everyone is watching. Finally the golf ball lands in the hole. The crowd cheers and the Golfer cheers loudest of all.

The Golfer takes out a leaflet showing a picture of a mansion up for sale, making it clear how the Golfer plans to use his prize money.

Suddenly, the sounds of cheering start to fade. Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss plays.

Unknown to the Golfer, the golf ball emerges out of the golf hole again, moving very, very slowly. The golf ball is riding on a GOPHER.

The Gopher brings the ball back up to the surface again in a shot referencing the opening of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The Gopher watches the Golfer, looking happy and looking forward to having his revenge.

EXT. MANSION - DAY

We see the Mansion on top of a large hill, with a "Just Sold" sign outside.

The Gopher watches from nearby, looking very pleased with himself. Behind him there is a crate of TNT. He holds up two wires and connects them together.

The entire mansion suddenly explodes.

The Golfer walks up, holding the keys to his new mansion. He screams when he sees the mansion is no longer there - the Golfer has now got his comeuppance.

Gopher Golf: Animating in Photoshop and After Effects

Some scenes in the film 'Gopher Golf' will be animated using a mix of Adobe Photoshop and Adobe After Effects, as well as traditional stop-motion animation. The scenes animated on the computer will be those involving just the props, not the actors (or puppets) which will be filmed in stop-motion. Together these methods will create a unique style for my film; a bright, colourful world to suit the comedic nature of my film.

The biggest advantage to animating in After Effects was being able to create effects that otherwise, when using stop-motion techniques, would create heavy time constraints. One such effect is being able to add motion blur to a golf ball flying through the air, completing the effect. Such effects can be done in stop-motion using an overhead rig, although given I am working to a deadline for my project, I have to consider the easiest and quickest methods to use - which luckily, in this case, are also the most effective. The other main (and most important) advantage is that I can start filming on the project whilst the Golfer puppet is still under construction.

The above screenshot shows what live, 3D objects will look like against my 2D backgrounds. The whole film will be done in this style. Officially, the definition of a "prop" in live-action is anything which interacts with an actor. So, for my film, any props in 3D will be props which interact with the characters. All other visuals in the film will be 2D.

Gopher Golf: Building the Golfer Puppet - Part #3

The puppet for the character of the Golfer will now be built from an armature made using Meccano. Meccano produces reusable metal strips, so I used these for building the armature along with separate components for the head and feet.

I had originally planned to use a Ray Harryhausen Armacreature kit, although I couldn't obtain the correct glue and other materials to make it stand up well. Meccano stands up on its own very well and it is a very strong material, so it was the most convenient alternative.

The feet will contain nuts/bolts to hold them down firmly during animating.

To get the main body to its correct shape, I used foam rubber which was sown on to the character.

The arms are made from wire, since these will need to be more flexible.

To get the arms and legs to the correct shape, a thinner type of duct tape was used.

Gopher Golf: Building the Golfer Puppet - Part #2

The Golfer's hands both have the same design, i.e. both have three fingers and one thumb which are all the same shape - leaving it ambiguous which one is the thumb. As a result of this, I was able to duplicate one hand to create another.

As discussed in my last post on the Golfer puppet, the hands were done in a style which would make it easier for the Golfer to handle props on set.

Both hands were cast from the same mould. A mini-armature for each of the hands was made, using pieces from the Ray Harryhausen armature kit. Small pieces of Milliput were put on the end of each fingertip. Both hands were then covered in foam latex and cooked in a kiln for two and a half hours.

The main armature itself was covered in different materials to get the model to the right size for designing the Golfer's clothes. Otherwise, the clothes would be creased in different ways in every frame of the film. The materials were cut to fit around the model's armature.

The model is now ready for its final stages of production - to create the clothes and create a head. I already have the materials, research and design work required and aim to have a complete model shortly, so I can start filming.

AX3001: Creating a Style

In the making of my film 'Gopher Golf', I've always imagined the film would be shot in stop-motion animation - even though this would mean time management would be much stricter, if the film is to be completed for its deadline in May. This is because each element and effect seen in the film would require a different approach. These would all have to be worked out accordingly before they are filmed.

Effects required for the film include:
*Water = blue tissue paper and cling film (previously used in my earlier film 'Catch of the Day': https://vimeo.com/66972956)
*Rocks = pebbles/slate collected from Wales
*Grass = rolls of Hornby grass/turf grass
*Garden Gnome = photos / miniatures.
*Walls of house exterior/interior = drawn or constructed from wood
*Background crowd shots = animated in 2D in Flash.
*Backgrounds = drawn or animated in 2D in Flash.

The film's main character, the Golfer, is a puppet which is being constructed especially for the film. However, the construction of the puppet has proven more complex and is taking much longer than first expected - which, initially, created huge problems by delaying work on the film's sets. To conquer this problem, I have now decided, under the advice of my tutors, to revamp the style of the film in a mix of 3D stop-motion and 2D Flash animation.

I've always intended for the Golfer's performance in the film to be the focus of the animation, so I could improve my abilities in character animation especially. This has been key to the development of the film's style, since the main character has more focus than most background elements - such as the spectators at the golfing competition, who are only seen in shadows. This means they can be animated in 2D whilst the Golfer, the film's main focus, will remain animated in stop-motion as intended.

I was encouraged by my tutors to develop my drawing style before creating backgrounds and background props in the film. Particularly my style of line drawings has received comparisons to artists such as French painter and sculptor Jean DuBuffet, whose work I was encouraged to look at for research.

I have also looked at previous combinations of multiple art forms in animation. Before directing his own feature films, Terry Gilliam was well known for producing cutout animations for 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' (1969) and the feature films 'Holy Grail', 'Life of Brian' and 'The Meaning of Life'. These combined Gilliam's own drawings with photographs to create a bizarre, surrealist style which matched the Python's bizarre, surrealist comedy.

The popular 1965 TV series, 'The Magic Roundabout', uses 2D trees and backgrounds, with the characters and all other props being animated in stop-motion.

Another famous use of this technique came ten years later, in the TV adaptation of 'Paddington Bear' from 1975. Most famously, Paddington Bear himself is a stop-motion character, whilst all human characters, including the Brown family, are cutouts. The sets are also paper cutouts, although the sets and characters are distinguished through the use of colours - the human characters are in full colour, whereas the sets are only partially coloured or completely white.

Whenever a character interacts with a prop, the prop is also in colour most of the time and crafted as either a 3D model or a 2D cutout, depending on which character is using the prop. In one scene from an earlier episode, Paddington hands a 3D object to Mr Brown which turns 2D when he receives it. Below is another example where Paddington is stuck in strings of 3D film rolls, in front of a 2D background.

The only time all the sets are in colour is in the 1986 TV special, 'Paddington's Birthday Bonanza'. This is also the only time the mouths move on the human characters.

This is very similar to how I can imagine 'Gopher Golf' looking, once all the techniques as listed earlier are applied. By adapting a blend of visual styles, my aim is to still produce excellent quality in my animation in the very limited space of time that I have.

The backgrounds in my film will take inspiration from these styles, using hand-drawn images which will later be coloured in digitally in Photoshop.

This is the art style I adapted for my first designs of the Golfer himself back in September - although the initial drawings were very rough. The final backgrounds in the film will look more refined with darker lines easing the process of colouring in digitally.