Project #Harryhausen100: Animating and interviews...

First I'd like to start this post off by wishing everyone a Happy New Year! Over the Christmas/New Year period, I took a break from the animation/creative projects, but now with 2019 in full swing, I'm back into it. Yesterday I started off with some lighting tests on the miniature jungle set, using one desk lamp (only one I have at the moment), which seems to be good for night time lighting, but I think another one or two will really help. Right now the dino is in silhouette, as I have the lighting coming from behind the trees. If I move it anywhere else, the shadow of the foreground/midground objects is cast on the background painting, which obviously is something you want to avoid. I'm still learning about lighting and the different types you can use, but right now these lamps seem to be doing the trick. The lense I am using is a standard 18-55mm kit lense, fitted to my Canon 700D DSLR. This lense is great for this shot, as it has a wide angle and gets a lot of the scene within frame. Again I am not the biggest expert on buying lenses and I ay have to look into other types for close-up shots.

First lighting test photo from Dec, 2018.

B&W '1933 style' photo test from Nov, 2018.

Below are two photos taken during the first animation test, from 9th Dec, 2018. I'm really happy how these turned out and the sense of depth in the miniature set. I'm not an electrician, but I've had a bit of problems with the power in the garage. I can't have too many things running at once, power wise, so the main lights/heater have to be turned off whilst animating. I have a laptop (run from the mains) running Dragonframe stop motion software, which is hooked up to my DSLR (also hooked up the mains, so I never lose battery power) and finally the one desk lamp. Hopefully I can get away with running one or two more lamps!

Closer look at the setup, with the DSLR on the left of the photo (Dec, 2018).

Another angle (Dec, 2018).

Positioning the dinosaur puppet during the animation process (Dec, 2018).

And finally, here are the finished tests with the model within the set. From these tests, I have come to the conclusion that the dinosaur puppet may need to be rebuilt. The legs are not holding up to animating walk cycles and are becoming lose at the hips and ankles. It may be an idea to go with a ball and socket frame, which would solve the problem, however costing is very high on bespoke armatures. The warm and positive feedback I have got on social media (as of now, 4 likes away from 500 on my Facebook page) and YouTube, regarding these tests is very motivating and I'd like to thank everyone for the continued support!

Stop motion tests from Dec 2018-Jan 2019.

I would also like to thank Scottish Films & Filmmaking News, who kindly asked me to feature on their website. It was a great opportunity to answer questions on my background, interests and career plans (and also saves me writing about it on here). If you would like to read the interview, here is a link to the page.

Interview with Scottish Films & Filmmaking News

Until then, stay tuned!