Research Mackinnon and Saunders

Another company I would love to work for is Mackinnon and Saunders. This is a company that specialises in making puppet for different companies, ranging from television shows to, feature films and commercials. This is their website http://www.mackinnonandsaunders.com/what-we-do/. They've done things like 'Corpse Bride', 'Bob the Builder', and 'Fantastic Mr Fox'. I will hopefully be able to look around the place when I finish University.

They are also based in Manchester, which is somewhere I would be happy to live.

Research on the company Chapman

Another company I'm going to apply for is Chapman. They do stuff like 'Roary the Racing Car' and 'Fifi and the Flowertots'. They are based in London, but they maybe will be coming up to Manchester soon. Here is the website http://www.chapmanentertainment.co.uk/#/home/, with contact details.

Animation Lighthouse Shots

Also over the Easter I animated the lighthouse scene. I had a lot of trouble fitting in the light through the tube, but it looked really nice in the end. When animating I use tie downs, which are a rod and screw. But because the lighthouse's base was so thick I couldn't do that. so I painted a long flat piece of wood and screwed the character to the base of it, to keep her upright when she walked.

In the end I decided to do this scene on ones. This was really difficult because it took twice as long and I had to animate three things, as well as the light. This has been my biggest challenge so far.

This is one of the shots I did. It was quite tricky because of doing lip sync, especially because it is shot from the side where it's difficult to see the mouth.

Here are some photos of the scene.

Website Design Research

Once I finished University I want to create my own website and display my animation and artwork. I wasn't sure what design to go for though because I don't know my style and I focus on stop frame animation ranging in different looks. So I a found a great site that gave loads of amazing website designs http://www.thebestdesigns.com/. Ones that were my favourite were these ones.

Out of all the websites, I like the ones you can interact with by scrolling over or clicking. Also, because I do stop frame I thought it would relate more to my style if I did a website in a collage.

Animation Shot 11

Over the easter holiday I worked on this animation. This is where Sophie comes out of the lighthouse entrance in the morning.

Animation Sand shot 7

Just before easter I finally started animating and started with the sand animation on the multi plane. This shot is when the Dad is telling the tale of the sand troll, inside the girl's mind. I think its a bit bright, so I'm going to darken it in post production and probably make it flicker like an old film.

Work Research

It has got to that point where I will be ending University soon and will be in search of a job. My plan is to apply to many companies, mainly children's T.V programmes. Companies I have found are from me searching on line work I like and my tutors giving information. I'm not too picky about what kind of job I do, but if I could choose then I would love to model making or set building. I also don't mind where it is either.

I guess my biggest goal/aim is to work for Aardman. So I've done a bit of research in to them.

They are based in Bristol and do many things ranging from feature films, T.V series, commercials. They also recently have a in house production in Salford.

Things they are working on that I would like to work under is either 'Timmy Time', 'Shaun the Sheep' or any of their commercials. On their website http://www.aardman.com/ they have a email links where you can send a showreel and a c.v. There is a link for enquiring about work placements as well.

I have also been lucky in this department because last summer I had a workshop making Gromit and was given a business card by Jim Parkyn, who makes Gromit for Aardman. Also, Miles Bullough Prodution manager came in and gave a talk and I have his contact details. He gave advice on whether to be a practitioner who make stuff or a creator who comes up with ideas. I personally see my self as a practitioner. Bullough said that they look for people who can produce ideas, they are happy to invest time and train. If I have nothing by October there is a Pitch festival that month to exhibit work, like storyboard or anamatic.

Overall Bullough said the best thing to do is have a strong showreel, have creative ideas and get your work across, like with a blog or vimeo (which I have got up and running).

Finished all Characters

I have finally finished all my characters. The little outfits were cut out of old clothes and have wire thread through the seem. The buttons I made myself out of milleput and painted. As for the hair and beard I bought some wool fibre and glued it to a wire mesh so it can be animated.

Dad

Sophie

Dad and Daughter

Sophie and Sand Troll

Altogether