I've been attaching tie downs to all parts of my set so none of it can sneakily move about whilst I'm shooting.
On both the chair and the bookcase I attached L shaped plates with a glue gun which I can screw down to the table. I attached a screw to each of the ladders legs so that it slots straight into the table and I can secure it from underneath.
I need to animate book pages to look like they are turning by themselves so I have sandwiched aluminium gauze between two pages a number of times so that I can animate part of the page and it will keep it's shape and position. I used spray mount to attach the gauze so the paper wouldn't wrinkle of deform like it might with glue.
There is a scene in the film where a tree grows out of a book. To make the animation process easier I am going to shoot it backwards so I don't have to build a tree as I animate. This means I start with a full tree which then curls in upon itself and is cut away so I am left with nothing.
I started by twisted fine wire around thicker wire to create a knobbly surface. I made three of these and then papier mache'd book pages onto them. Once dry I twisted the wire together to create a tree trunk with individual strands at one end for roots and at the other for branches.
I then added addition wire onto the roots and branches and papier mache'd it all. Lastly I added normal shaped leaves and 'Z' shaped leaves which were aluminium gauze sandwich between two pieces of book page.
I've now stitched on the final fabric layer to the chair, it wasn't the easiest material to work with (quite a stiff cord) but it looks great so it was worth it. I cut individual panels of fabric for each section of the chair and stitched these on seperately so it is all securely fixed.
I also added the finished chair legs which I painted with gouache paint and secured with Araldite. I brushed a layer of Talcum powder over the whole surface to create a worn look alike to the bookcase.
I've finished adding the foam to the chair and it's now ready for the final fabric layer:
I've started to carve the front chair legs out of balsa wood. Here's the prgress so far...
I've finished the bookcase! All books are in, painted and I added the final touch - a dusting of talcum powder to make them look old, worn and dusty.
| | I also twisted up a wire ladder which I then covered in mod roc (see left). This is now also painted up and ready to star in a film!
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I've started to add foam onto the hard board base of the chair. I used Araldite to glue it in place where it sat flat against the wood but stitched areas where foam met foam, I was also able to manipulate the stitch to give shape to the foam.
| | I left the underside of the chair exposed hard board so that the tie down holes are still accessible and I can glue the front legs onto a hard flat surface.
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| | I decided not to use the foam I had said I would previously as it was hard to work with and too lightweight.
I knew the blocks that I had cut out previously were at the right height for the puppet to be sitting in a comfortable position so I used these as a basis to draw out the shapes I wanted for the basis of the chair knowing that they would be the right size.
I then transferred these onto hardboard, cut them out and glued it together with araldite. I also had the holes drilled in the base where the puppet will sit so I can tie him down.
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There are no front legs yet because my current plan is to carve some ornate looking individual legs out of balsa wood. Next step is to cover the whole lot in foam and shape appropriately.
I painted on top of the mod roc in a single shade of brown acrylic but because of the texture it produced nice varying shades and tones:
I tested painting a strip of cardboard with goauche paints and this worked really well in terms of what I wanted the books to look like as it dries semi-shiney and has a bit of a washed out quality.
For some of the books a glued string to the cardboard and painted over this also to give a ridged cover effect.
For the rest of them, I cut out individual books, covered the edges with masking tape to disguise the ridges in the cardboard and then painted these with goauche paints. Once dried I glued lots of cut up book pages inside to give the impression of mini little books!
Getting there!
Books!
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