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I'm about to embark on a very special side project. I've decided, after years of threats, to actually create a full stop motion animation. I've come up with a very short little story to tell. I don't want to go TOO big my first time out. This one is a simple scene involving the Spirit of the Forest walking about on a moonlit night and finding something he cherishes.
I've wanted to do stop motion animation since I was 11 years old. That was 1993 and I stumbled across 'Wallace and Gromit: The wrong Trousers' on PBS. That short film changed everything. I desperately wanted to start sculpting. I consider it to this day to be a perfect short film. Two years later, they would release 'A Close Shave'. I'd have another injection of inspiration and a second film to add to my 'perfect' list. Not only were the characters and storytelling amazing, the sets and the lighting were incredible in both of those. I strive to match that level of lighting in my work. If you go to my website (www.sculptwerks.com) and look at my sculptural illustrations, you'll see that aspiration in everything I do.
What I'd like to do is show you every step of the way in starting a stop motion film through this blog. I have little to no experience in this so you'll have the advantage of seeing me stumble and fall time and time again. I'll continue posting my other projects of course. I have a list of builds I have no intention of stopping. Besides, variety is the spice of life!
And of course, stop motion is anything but fast. So bear with me. This might take a few years!
The images above are the preliminary character sketches of the main character, The Spirit of the Forest. I'll probably name him or her properly later. Between the first set and the second set Maria was kind enough to do a sketch which, as you can see, completely guided me in a new and better direction. Sorry they aren't good quality scans. I didn't really think about posting these when I drew them!
The wing is broken up into three pieces. I finally have the 2/3 outer wings ready for rivets! Once I order more rivets and apply them, then these are simply ready for paint! As you can see, I finished the mechanical struts that raise and lower the pontoons. I also went the extra mile and made the navigation lights function! The pontoons, sadly, are static. I
I've scratch built my own pontoons. The first photo shows the pontoons that came with the plane. Eww. They're cartoon y and huge. I'm sure since this is an RC plane and you CAN actually land on water, those monstrosities were necessary, but mine is a static display. The wooden structure in the top image is the actual wingtip the plane had. This was actually a very good shape, but I had to build my own because they needed to be 1/3 wider and symmetrical. The little silver eye hooks on both sides are the tie downs for the actual plane. The rivets are resin printed water slide decals from Archer. Now all the wing tip needs is the mechanism that raises and lowers the pontoons!!! That will be fun and make it look beautiful!!! The last photo shows the pontoon strut, cavity for the strut and semi-accurate white detailing of the panels of the wing tip itself.
Well, let's be clear, it's ready for paint. Once it's painted, I still need to install all the glass and make two little windshield wipers. THEN it's all done! The next step for this piece is creating the ceiling mechanics, like the throttle and the cables to the engines. I've read that the engine throttle you had to put all your strength into pulling or pushing because the engines were so far away and the cable had to negotiate so many 90 degree angles to get to them.
Here's my first attempt to animate something on the newly christened animation disk. I'm not posting this one to Facebook. Maybe when I get a little fancier with this stuff.
I finally saved enough freelance money to get myself a high quality animation disk for the old table. Will I ever use it? I hope so. It's really nice. In fact, it's literally the nicest one available online. It has a tempered glass center, real brass fittings and everything else is very clean black plexiglass. We bought both sets of pegs, so we can go either standard Disney paper or the other layout. I really do intend to screw around with some light animation. I've been wanting to get back into it for years.
My god, it really makes this table look good!
So I've added some of the docking equipment to the PBY. The post by the turret is a retractable docking thing apparently. The white hatch on the side is the door for the anchor! I LOVE this plane!!
I also added the white stripe behind the cockpit because all the photos of PBYs I've seen have shown this plate of metal sticking out from the hull slightly. Reinforcment? Does it help subdue vibration from the propellers? The props are about right there pretty close to the hull, so it must have something to do with that. I've also finally figured out the turret, which will not only be perfectly level, but will also rotate freely!!
Most importantly, I found the PERFECT sized wheels at Colonial Photo and Hobby. They fit the wheel wells perfectly, have the right style of tire tred and wheel hub and they're real rubber! Only $7 and it saves me from having to sculpt them from scratch!
