Objects At Rest

explorations in audio and moving imagery

Category: Animation

Vitruvius Character Development

May 2006 was character development month complete with armatures, mask-making, and clothing. The puppets for the Vitruvius project are made of aluminum wire and epoxy putty for âbonesâ? in the arms, torso, pelvis, legs, and feet. Iâm using the Nick Hilligoss T-shaped tie down method for the feet.

The head construction starts with balsa wood and hot glue which bulks out the shape and also provides weight reduction. A thin layer of Super Sculpey is applied and the heads are baked. The eyes are wooden beads with pre-drilled holes and are baked inside the sockets. I sprinkled some talcum power into the eye socket via the pre-drilled hole to help the eyes move around easier (thatâs a tip from Strider I believe).

I use Sculpey flex over the wire armature to bulk out more body shape and then bake the whole armature. The Sculpey flex allows me to create tighter joints while reducing fatigue on the armature wire over time since the edges of the Sculpey near the join are not rigid like regular Sculpey or epoxy putty. Theoretically I will bend my wire joints over time but reduce the possibility of the body mass eating into the wire.

I patch the joints with liquid latex and build up a latex skin over the whole armature. I used polyester fabric and hot glue for the clothing. Some of the edges of the clothes have a strip of aluminum wire hot glued in a seam to allow for positioning. The robes are made of wire-ribbon, purchased at Michaelâs Arts & Crafts, and glued together like an accordion to simulate cloth folds. With the polyester tunics, I was able to run a cigarette lighter quickly across the edges to cauterize the fabricâs plastic material and keep the edges from fraying while also keeping the fabric from becoming to bulky. It also eliminated the need for sewing edges.

Here are some photos to illustrate various stages of character development for Vitruvius.

2006-06-28
My First Stop Motion Tests: 2003 – 2004

View Quicktime MOV (approx 4MB)

Prior to 2003 I had been working with Lightwave and 3D computer graphics as my medium for independent film projects. As it turns out those projects never left the pre-production phase because in 2003 I made a wooden ball-and-socket joint to see if it would simulate the function of a metal armature. The results worked well enough for me to develop a full character armature (which is what you in the test video). I had never done stopmotion animation before but found the armature was a pleasure to work with and the results were sufficient. Subsequently, I made the short film “Man Drawing a Reclining Woman” using this method for the two characters in the film.

The wood is basswood, which is stronger than balsa but still very light, and the wooden beads have pre-drilled holes that can hold a section of square basswood or a dowel rod pretty well. For the joints and plates I used the open hole socket method and 4-40 bolts and nuts to sandwich the beads between the plates. Superglue and hot glue were used to hold various non-moving parts together.

2006-06-24
Atlanta Film Festival Wrap-Up

Animation News

The Animation Extravaganza took place Thursday night and I would estimate that about 300 people attended both shows. My film, Man Drawing a Reclining Woman, was the first to be shown which surprised me since I thought the line-up would be different. It is a different experience to see your film in a room with hundreds of other people and all I could see was the flaws in my work. But, I think I have learned some things from the whole experience that I hope to apply in my future projects.

Here is the blurb about my film from Creative Loafing’s article on the film festival’s animation venue.

“‘Man Drawing a Reclining Woman’ provides the story behind the Albrecht Durer woodcut of the same name, and implies that great art outlives both the artist and the subject.” By Curt Holman, Published 06.14.2006, Creative Loafing”

It is both an honor and a humbling experience to be in the same billing with other works of higher quality and clarity of craft. Some of my favorites were the 2D animations Fumi and the Bad Luck Foot, Juxtaposer, and Chickenheads / Fluidtoons. Brett W. Thompson, the creator of Chickenheads, is a local artist and his flash animations seem a bit like Bruce Bickford in terms of organic transformation of objects. I told him he was the Bruce Bickford of Flash animation.

Stop motion was represented as well with the films Dragon, Loom, and Ichthys. Dragon was a nice mix of stopmotion and 2-D animation. Ichthys was a technical marvel with lush cinematography. The story of the Ichthys is obscure enough to warrant multiple viewings to fully realize what is going on. It appears to be some commentary on life, death, and Christianity. Loom is a technical marvel that you should try to view if possible. Loom has some of most precise stop motion animation I’ve seen with excellent rendition of body language in the characters. The story in Loom communicates a singular idea regarding death in a powerful but intimate way with a creative implementation of symbolic elements running throughout the work.

Another stop motion animation titled The Wraith of Cobble Hill won the festivals animation award but was screened on Wednesday. I wonder why it wasn’t in the Animation Extravaganza? I was able to catch it on Wednesday but think it would have been a nice addition to the animation venue. Adam Parish King, the creator of “Wraith” hails from Knoxville Tennessee which is not far from here and his film is being shown in festivals and seems to be winning awards.

I was fortunate to have some discussions with Scott Kravitz, the creator of Loom, and other festival attendees that saw my film to get their thoughts about my work. I have decided to spend some time to forge an objective or vision statement to help clarify what I am attempting to do with my films. I have several ideas in my mind but have been unable to articulate them in a clear and cohesive manner. It seems that some people like the film but don’t know what it means, others just don’t like it, and a couple of people did like it and provided unsolicited statements that reflect what I was trying to do. I have drafted some notes since talking with people about the film and will probably revisit this topic later. In the meantime, if you are reading this and have seen the film, I welcome any thoughts you may have regarding what the film means to you, its strengths, its weaknesses, or any areas that are confusing.

Other Film Festival News

I saw Psychopathia Sexualis Friday night. It was made locally and had a form and presentation reminiscent of Peter Greenaway. The music was created by a local composer named Paul Mercer who did a fantastic job of providing an atmospheric score with hints of Arvo Part. I am really considering approaching him about music for my project. The film is going to be available on DVD from Kino.

On Saturday night I attended the closing night ceremony which screened the little Death, awards were handed out, and free beer and food was provided afterwords. The little Death was very well done and had that independent film “feel” with great looking compositions, excellent performances, and a story that kept your attention. I wish the venue where it was showing had better acoustics and a projection system that didn’t blow out the whites which affected the overall experience. I chatted with the DP and he assured me that if you watched it on a DVD that it would look different and better that what was projected that night.

Final Thoughts

The festival was fun and I had pleasant conversations with various people in the animation and film making community. I’ve attended the festival before but it was a different experience having a film selected. I’ve submitted my film to a handful of other festivals and will wait to see if it has any more life in the festival circuit or if it’s ready for online or DVD distribution. In a way I am ready to put it to bed and focus on the current and future projects.

2006-06-18
Atlanta Film Festival News – Opening Night and Puppet Screening

I went to the opening night event and got my filmmaker badge and the program. Tonight is a screening at the Center for Puppetry Arts called “Handmade Puppet Dreams” which I plan to attend unless it has sold out since I didn’t know about it until last night.

Before the event there are tables out in the lobby with handouts, programs, and other goodies. I did notice that some films (including the stopmo film Ichthys from Poland) had postcards and flyers. Very similar to miniature movie posters. I collected a handful for reference since they help “sell” the films and look really nice. I didn’t make any materials like that for my film but will probably consider it in the future. I particularly like the Ichthys (view the film makers site) flyer since it is printed on card stock and has a mix of contact info, production info, goals, inspirations, and story of the film, the biography of the director, and selected shots from the film. I can see how that would work well since it is a single document that can be used as both a press kit and also as a flyer/poster to advertise the film. Here is what it looks like:

They used a camera from the 1930’s. I can’t wait to see it later in the week and the puppet films tonight.

2006-06-10
Durer Project: Behind the Scenes

Here is some more production information about the Durer project which is complete and being submitted to various film festivals.

The armatures and puppets are made out of bass wood, wooden beads, and threaded rods. The smallest bolts I could find are used to clamp the wood plates around the wooden beads that make up the character’s joints. It’s very similar to a metal armature but instead of aluminum or brass it is made out of wood. It works pretty well but the puppets have to be handled carefully and if you apply too much tension at the joints the wood plates start to crack. The masks and clothes are made out of craft foam sheets and hot glue. I also used acrylic paint to add shading and color.

I don’t recall having a written script or storyboard sketches for the Durer project but at least I found these sketches of set design ideas.

For the stage and set construction I used a metal shelving unit on wheels and a sheet of MDF board with pre-drilled peg holes for the floor. I made the covering for the floor and the walls out of matt board. The table and props are made out of basswood and matt board. Finally, I used hot glue to join everything and acrylic paint for color, shading, and texture.

2006-06-04