BLOG 14
Inspired by fragility
Or:
Why I made a film in which my puppet kept breaking
In March 2017 I was about to make a short film in my spare time… ready for the Manchester Animation Festival deadline in June. I had the puppet, the set, and had tested it using a rig and composites (for the first time). I had a storyboard (of sorts) which planned out the sequences and interludes. The story would be set on a worktop in a shed and star a little dog made from toolbox junk - Bitz the Whippet.
The story would be split into 4 main parts; Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer. Each part would begin with Bitz asleep on her shelf, being awoken by something, then engaging with the object. During this interaction, she would become damaged and then fixed before the next sequence.
My thinking behind the ‘breaking’ sequences was based on a couple of ideas:
1) First, simply, my puppets actually do break during filming. I thought it would be funny (and a bit meta/self-referential) to include staged versions of this in the actual film.
2) I tried to introduce/develop the idea of frailty… but a frailty that can be fixed. This is the case with puppets but not with real dogs. Real dogs break or get sick, and can sometimes be fixed… however that is not always the case and eventually we do lose them.
I wanted to develop the idea that began with the original Bitz Puppet - the idea of using a puppet as a ‘tribute’ - celebrating my love and appreciation of dogs through my work. So, the narrative of this film was to allude to the fact that the fictional ‘creator’ made Bitz after the loss of his own real dog. Heartbroken and unable to get another real dog, Bitz became the dog that he could repair and would always have with him. I thought a lot about how to get this across, and whether it was even something I wanted to include. These ideas raise loads of philosophical ideas, and I didn’t want to try to get too existential in such a short film… I decided not to get too deep, and to just put in a few simple elements to allude to this thinking;
One of the props was a little plant pot which said ‘Our Park’ on it. Inside was a patch of grass which grew over the course of the film. This was meant to be a bit of grass from the park that ‘the creator’ and his real dog used to walk in. This grass was a little memorial on his windowsill, and the shed that Bitz played in a substitute for the real park.
What Bitz does in the film are all things a real dog would do, and some of these things are interacting with the off screen ‘creator’, mimicking the relationship they had. Bitz chases a spider, plays with a ball, shakes a christmas cracker, and drags her blanket into a sunny spot.
At the beginning, Bitz dreams of running but in the end, on her blanket, Bitz dreams of where she is at that very moment - sleeping in the sun. At the end, Bitz is lifted up to rest on her shelf, and although she is actually asleep (and hasn’t died) this is supposed to mirror what may have happened to the real dog - she went to ‘sleep’ happily, in the arms of her owner.
On the shelf, we see a photo of a real dog - the one the ‘Creator’ lost. The photo of the real dog fades out to reveal an outline, showing how they memory of the real dog lives on… the outline is superimposed over the shed, making the connection between the real dog and Bitz.
In the last scene, Bitz wakes up again… as puppet dogs can always do. She is woken by the arrival of Bobz, a new metal dog ready to cause new chaos. The whole film up to this point has a melancholy feel, the perceived loneliness of Bitz in the shed, mirroring the emotions of the creator. The arrival of Bobz, a new dog, is supposed to lift the mood, showing that maybe the creator is ready to move on. The film has also gone back to Autumn, and the grass has been cut, showing that life has gone full circle and is moving on.
All that being said, I didn’t want to hammer any of this home too much. In fact you can watch the film and not have any idea that these were my thoughts behind it. It can just play as a ‘lonely metal dog who gets a friend in the end.’
When I shared the film online, the social media reaction was interesting… generally everyone believed Bitz was alive and recognised the whippet/dog characteristics… which was great! But it also meant that when she broke, was damaged or seemed lonely it genuinely upset people…! I had comments from people worrying about a dog being left alone in a shed and finding it distressing to see her break etc. I also had comments from people who had lost their dogs and found the film resonated with them. I think some of the reactions showed that these themes did come through in some subtle way, even if it was a bit tonally confused.
Why not give the film another watch, see if you notice any of the little details mentioned above.
Despite how I might’ve been feeling about the finished film, I entered it into the Manchester Animation Festival, along with some other festivals around the world…. I’ll share my experience of entering festivals in my next blog.
Thanks for reading
Best Wishes
James
CURRENT WORK
* FILM PRODUCTION* *MERCHANDISE/FUNDRAISING* Thanks to you all! Rox reached her target, the minimum needed to make her animation. I will leave the merch on the shop, so if you still want to get involved with badges and supporters packs please do! Every little extra helps. The raffle however is now closed. Thanks to you all who bought tickets, it got an amazing support and was the major factor in reaching the funding targer. The winning number was 132, and Mory is off to his new home tomorrow.
I have started some sketches and ideas for Rox’s film and will share more in the forthcoming blogs. I have some new challenges planned for this film and I am looking forward to getting stuck in.
*MODEL MAKING* I am have designed the prototype for an all black (with a little grey and white) whibbit called ‘Tux’ (His name comes from tuxedo). This one is for me to hopefully animate with (eventually), with 5 more available to pre-order. There are 4 left, so if you want to give Tux a forever home you can order one from my shop page.
