Inspired by strangers

or:

**Why I wasn’t scared to fail but really needed to improve**

It was 2015. I had a puppet of sorts (I challenged myself to make it from the bits & Bobs in my toolbox) and I had made a 360° animation showing Bitz, the stuff she was made from and a very simple head and tail movement. After doing this first animation without a suitable camera or proper software, I did some research and found Dragonframe. Dragonframe is awesome. Truly. It is industry standard software (used to make several full-length motion picture films from studios such as Disney, Laika and Aardman…) but it only costs about £200. It was developed by two brothers while working as professional animators with the aim of addressing the limitations of current programs. Dragonframe is accessible enough for beginners (in functionality and price) but has the capability to be as advanced and intricate as needed. I don’t use it anywhere near it’s capability, but it really works for me. Check ‘em out here WWW.DRAGONFRAME.COM… *Advert over*

So I had some software and a cheap camera from ebay (I remember the guy I bought it from - a nice retired man who made model railways. He was really happy that I ‘made things’ and his camera was going to a creative home. I still use that camera today). Despite better equipment, my Bitz puppet was very hard to animate. She was so heavy and the joints I invented were being tested as I went along. I also decided not to use any rigs (rigs are articulated arms that attach to the puppet, taking the weight and aiding movement). If I used a rig I would need to learn to edit it out in post production, so I decided that doing everything ‘in-camera’ would fit nicely with the ethos I used to make the puppet… So I made a platform from corkboard with a frame above it. This meant I could use pins and wires to hold the puppet in place and I planned to leave these in view on the final films - all adding to the effect! A nice idea, but the reality meant Bitz spent a lot of the time laying in a disappointed heap of metal and broken wires.

Original Bitz on her little stage- Cork base and frame to hang wires from.

Me and Bitz 2015. (I’m actually 35 here but look 15, lol.)

This Lo-fi set up made sense at the time and it gave me something to hide behind. I could blame the inadequacies in my skills and knowledge on this unconventional DIY approach. As I mentioned in my last post, I wanted to experiment, learn and develop, alongside producing some actual finished content, so I set arbitrary deadlines aiming to make a specific idea and share whatever resulted. To deliberately share work that is underdeveloped and generally pretty naive is a mixed experience. It is quite liberating but you also need to accept some self-deprecation - both of these feelings motivate me to keep producing and learning. But a huge motivation for this project came from the support of strangers on the internet. People like YOU!

I used my new Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram to share my progress, initially making 12 animation loops in the first few months. Facebook worked best for my approach so I tried to build a page audience, sharing my posts on whippet, sighthound and animation groups, pages and forums. This was how I met people like you! I was chuffed that ‘dog’ people really got behind my efforts - they (you) seemed to appreciate the love I had for the subject, that I was trying something different and putting a lot of effort in to something so ‘unique’. I reached 600 page followers in 2 months, and it felt really nice/terrifying to know that when I made something it would actually be seen by an audience.

My supporters very kindly gave me messages of support and shared my work. You talked about Bitz like she was alive, and this meant so much. The ONE thing I absolutely wanted to achieve was to create a character that felt alive, despite all the inevitable challenges, missteps and failures of an experimental project like this. Thanks to you, that first Bitz puppet lived- she actually moved when she could’ve easily fell at the first hurdle, laying in a disappointed heap of metal and broken wires.

My next post will talk about what I learned from the first Bitz project and how I got inspired and motivated by some well timed events in my home city… Leading to a none dog puppet and unachievable dreams!

Thanks for reading!

James

Update on my current work

*Model Making* I finished the three in-progress models (Cora, Otto and Mory) And they are now off to their forever homes. I have begun a bit of work on the next two (Rox and Cora) that will be sent out in the new year… But I as my studio is small and functions as a workshop and filming space I have had to clear up a lot of tools to make room for the animation process. Making Mory’s film will be my focus for the next Month, After which I will get back to making the next two models.

*Film Production* Finding blocks of time to work on Mory’s film has been tricky due to life commitments and my day job. I need solid blocks of 6ish hours to work on the animation as It’s about getting in the right mindset and focussing as a lot of the tasks need completing in one session, so an hour or two at a time is no good. I’ve been doing as much as I can and I’ve taken a few days holiday to work on it more intensely. I’ll keep doing my best to move forward with it over the next month.

This week I have done a few tests of the initial effects shots (water, brush and cloth interacting with the puppet), and I think my approach will work for the desired effect (I’ll talk more about my approach to effects in a future blog) I have also begun the photo animatic. This is when I translate the drawn storyboard into a series of still photographs which are used to further plan the actual animation. I have done about 1/3 of the animatic, along side which I am writing a production/filming schedule to help plan my time.

Mory with his painty cloth. I have made multiples of this in some key shapes. Here you can also see the replacement top for the blue water.

The water pot. This hase replacement tops and has taken some time to develop a technique to hide the join. The brush complicates things further.

*Merchandise* There are now 6 Connie badges left to pre-order. Like my other badges the sale of 25 of these will fund the production of the badges. After that they will be taken off sale till I make a film with the Connie puppet. This is the 5th in the set of ‘Whibbit Run’ metal and enamel badges an I’m really looking forward to getting them into production to complete the set!

I have put all the remaining Otto merchandise into an ‘Otto Supporters Pack’ (Limited edition Gold foil print, sheet music, badge, and pencil sketch). There are 7 available.

5 of the original Whibbit Supporters Pack are also still on sale (Bag, notebook, classic badge, stickers, pencil, print…)

There is only one of the Whibbit storyboards for the promo film left. These are hand drawn and are limited edition of 10 - So this is the last chance to get one!

Visit my shop page if you want to order any merchandise.