Lighthouse Texture

At the moment I am painting my lighthouse 'big' and 'small'. Now I want the lighthouse to come across old and weathered. So I've done a bit of research in to some textures and pictures of the interior of a lighthouse.

So first of all I've looked at these two textures for the metal. I decided on my last design to do the top of the lighthouse dark grey metal, but because it is old I want to add a bit of rust texture.

As for the lighthouse stairs, I want them to look like stone and warn away.

I also found a picture what the lighthouse paint could look like. I don't want the white to be too weight or the lighthouse will look too flat. 

Another thing I'm working on is the light. Now originally I picture the light to be half covered up so i would only shine in one direction, but when looking online I found mainly lensed lights.

I think the lamp will look nicer this way, but I'm a bit worried about filming straight in front of it. Will come back to this soon.

Sophie's head replacements

I have gone through the storyboard and dialogue to figure out all the different expressions I will need. In the end I have rounded it down to 18.

So with my mould I have made 18 identical faces and have filed the mouth to create a different shape. Then I have added Milliput, which is a green putty that dries at room temperature, to cover up any mistakes or to extend the chin. When they dry I will sandpaper them down and spray them with acrylic to give an even coating before the final coat of colour.

Progress on wellington boots

I sculpted the wellie for the girl and the dad, and made a mould for them. In side the is a plug that will make sure the wellies have a gap at the top.

My next step in to fill the mould with latex rubber that will be mixed with green oil paint.

Tide Research

Over the weekend I went to the beach again and luckily the tide was in so I got to take pictures and film the water.

When i do my animation I'm going to do a blue screen where the water is and then I will add in later the sea. The sea will be done by animating a blue filter sheet and running a pole underneath. I will also animate cling film for the froth of the sea. 

As well as these I took some photos of the beach as well.

Lighthouse Colour Design

Now that I've got my first cote of paint on my Lighthouse, it is time to give it some colour and give it detail. My animation is aimed at children, so I have looked at some children's books about lighthouses to try and see what would suit it best.

After looking at these they tend to be quiet colour and mainly red and white. Here are some real lighthouses that I liked the look of. 

I've done different coloured designs, and the ones I like the most are the bottom far right and the top far left. They look more appealing the colourful ones. As for the top of the lighthouse, I don't think red is a good idea because Sophie is all in red and she would blend in too much.

Lighthouse Set

At the same time as the puppets I have been making the set for my lighthouse. The small model and the big scale of the top of the lighthouse.

The small one is made from polystyrene and the railing is made from wire. I used paper mashy to round of the edge at the top.

I've painted the lighthouse with gunk, which is white paint, p.v.a glue and plaster. The windows are made from plastic packaging and glued down.

This one the roof is made from foam, which I've carved in to shape.

As for the big lighthouse, the base is made out of wood and I've made it so the acrylic sheet windows can slot in the pieces of wood at the base and in between the foam slots.

My idea is that the camera will shoot from the right from outside the glass dome and have a camera shot from the inside. So to do this I have made the wall detach.

Shot for inside

Shot for outside

The lighthouse also has a staircase, which I made out of polystyrene.

Dad's armature

I have also made the armature for the Dad. The head has been sculpted and made the same way as Sophie's.

I have started making a mould for the hands of the girl and Dad that are going to be made out of a rubber latex. 

Sand Troll finished

I have finished my Sand Troll puppet and I am very happy with it.

I did the Sand Troll's hair out of florist wire and painted it differently to resemble dune grass.

I collected some seaweed off the beach to reference off and made some seaweed out of wire mesh and paper mashy.

Real Seaweed

 Made Seaweed

I also collected some twigs, tiny shells and pebbles that I stuck on the Sand Troll, and the eyes are beads for teddy bear's eyes, painted black and vanished. This is what he looks like finished.