Thursday, 10. June 2010
Tales from the Crypt
Sometimes I don't even notice how quick time is running by. It's been two weeks since my last post, and I've been working on the film every minute I could spare. Else, I talked to my music composer Felipe who is going to develop a soundtrack for my film and we discussed the details and issues. I planned my film as a silent movie, so the music will be nearly as important as the visuals.
Now, this is going to be grave… (oh, and what a pun!)
I'm going to complete the cemetery soon. The graveyard's missing just a few single elements and they'll be finished soon. The last two weeks I spent working on graves and crypts, the entry to the underworld and the final scale of the setting.
Yesterday I put the finishing touches on the graves and a small crypt for the background. For testing purposes I assembled all the single pieces so far and I was stunned – it looks pretty convincing… It's a completely stylized world, but it's definitely working as a whole. Next I need some new table boards because the set is going to be much bigger than I expected it to be. I'll provide you a shot of the set directly after I brought all the props together.
Like all the other props before, these graves are made of different layers of cardboard covered with sandwich paper and colors. This bigger ones are approx. 12 cm high, the small ones about 5 cm.
I use a lot of varying colors: acrylics, watercolors, pastels, China ink, pencils… Most of the time I combine several of them to induce the impression of texture.
The crypt is lit by a single ballon LED which is a great device because those little thingies don't need cables and stuff (hat tip to Shelley, Queen of Halfland)… I covered the building with aluminum foil from its inside to reflect as much light as possible. At the same time I covered the door with semi-transparent tracing paper to achieve a more indirect or spread light.
Now I still have to build the grave of Eurydice and the landscape, finish the entry to the underworld and then it's done. Some more puppet making and I could begin with the first animation, although there are three more sets to build or finish… Wow, that feels crazy (and weird and frightening and cracking good at the same time)… The film now is like a butterfly waiting for its transformation from idea to reality…
This is one thing I love most about art and even more so about animation (and I guess I told it you before): giving birth to something which is artificial but then real, and which influences reality eventually. I stand here watching in unbelieving amazement what we human beings are capable of to create… Sorry for being that pathetic…
Comments
Shelley Noble wrote on Thursday, 10. June 2010 at 23:05:
Pathetic!? If that amazement you so perfectly describe is pathetic then I say let's run away together to live on a FABULOUS pathetic island where we marvel at the divine process of creating everyday! yay. I have the same thoughts, Jessica. Awe and wonder and astonishment and elation at the very act of making something meaningful with the human hand. Surely creativity is a quality of nature and divinity?
But to your post! Wow, convincing indeed! Truly beautiful sensitive work! I especially appreciate how you are using simple available materials for your art.
Keep going!!! Yes, it does absolutely feel "crazy and weird and frightening and cracking good at the same time"
I love this line of yours; "The film now is like a butterfly waiting for its transformation from idea to reality…" Feeling similarly here!
Jessica Koppe wrote on Friday, 11. June 2010 at 07:12:
Nils, thank you! You're compliments will always mean something very special to me... Well, but, I guess I won't use fog in this setting. Sorry! ;)
Shelley, it doesn't feel pathetic but I had the feeling that it may sound so. But if not: horray!
It was funny because I had the same feeling about your production while I was reading your latest posts. Creativity really is a gift to us humans. I'm so excited about the film that I have butterflies like anticipating a first date...
Leo wrote on Friday, 11. June 2010 at 21:19:
Love the mood. It's very... reassuring that you put emphasis on so many details, like the tombstone cracks. This will surely emphasize the paper-cut look of your puppets, showing that you could have made them in a different way, but deliberately let them look like this.
Four more cents: Two spent on the topic of fog – I doubt you would get real, stationary-looking fog in frame-based animation. (If there is a kludge, I would be impressed to know how... (: )
The other two go to the translation of the German word "pathetisch", which goes more along the lines of "emotional". "Pathetic", on the other hand, would be "lächerlich" or "erbärmlich": Nothing I would attribute to your impressive work. Even emotions are in the right place in context of a graveyard scene.
Go on! Make more progress, it does you good! (had ~35 pages on Tuesday myself, things seem more relaxed at the moment – though substantial work still needs to be done, and I still have no overview of things done and to-be-done...)
And say hello to Felipe. Haven't seen him for quite a long time. BTW, is it too early to plan a huge Release Party in Porta?
Jessica Koppe wrote on Saturday, 12. June 2010 at 08:59:
Leo, hi! It's a pleasure to have you around! And thank you for your encouraging words and the vocabulary hint... I'm always grateful for corrections since English simply isn't my mother tongue.
You could do fog with very thin layer of wadding (absorbant cotton) which you move around carefully. It's possible to make it look great (I recently saw a well-done example at the Animation Festival Stuttgart).
Hm, a release party... That would be great, wouldn't it? It's definitely an idea to think about... I'll keep you updated!
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Nils wrote on Thursday, 10. June 2010 at 11:56:
The gravestones are amazing - I love the patina look! Do you have an idea how to create fog in your animation ... I mean - fog ... graveyard ... it's so obvious. ;)