Camera Move Test - And Eugene International Film Fest

Hey guys,

been on my first week of vacation from work and I finished the last of the Dober Replacement Heads for our Film . These heads dont look like much now but they will Run the entire Expression range when required on Film. The Eyebrows , ears , jowls and so on are all soft clay ready to be manipulated.
I will be cutting the heads off and placeing new heads on where needed....then re blending the clay into the neck in animation.

These heads like Gerald's - Were sculpted with all the expression required for the acting....Most of the Time -Dober- is Angry or Suprised .... so not nearly as many heads are required....also Gerald had a nice collar to hide the seams unlike Dober....so Ill have to pay more mind to that Throughout filming.

After experimenting with Flea and his replacement heads I've decided to just use his Foam Latex Sculpt and expression giving armature in his eyes and Jaw instead of replacements. His design specifically the Jaw was just to much of a pain in the ass to work with.

We had the Lighting Done this last week as well.....Alia Houser

came out and gave us a couple of hours for getting the ligts set up for the begining of shooting. She Will be back this week for lighting touchups next week.

A couple of last touches added to the set.... and some More Props for the Film - I finally managed to get a Camera Animation test.....



This was VERY exciting!! I learned alot during this test and know I can do it better next time....Its amazing how much more real the Tiny world becomes when the camera starts moving through it.
This is the GAP i worked in during the test - This Gapp was hidden through a Low camera Angle......and some small risers on the side of the set Near the ships.

It all started with My very first 2 Drilled holes in the set and Ship!!..Yikes!!! a bit scarry.This is somthing we plan to do alot of in this Film.

The big issue is the tiny shakes and uneveness of the camera......we have ideas on making the moves less shakey and well try it on the next try. This camera move was done by hand and just nudged along bit by bit.....with a Measuring tape as my guide.

In Festival NEWS - We just came home to Los Angeles from {Eugene International Film Fest}It was the first time we had ever been to Oregon......

The festival set us up at The Valley River Inn which was right across the street from the Theatre. We arrived very late Friday night and crashed out ready for tomorrows Movies and our Showing at 1 pm.

We grabbed breakfast and picked up our Festival passes......It was at the Regal Cinemas in a local Mall...

We watched some Short Films then readied ourselves for the Animation Family Block. We were the first film that played and the audience was really feeling it....

after the showing we did our Q and A which was fun and always informative to audiences . Most people have very little idea how Stopmotion films are even made....and definitly dont understand the TIME required.

We then enjoyed the entire day watching movies ......eating and talking about them .
Sunday was more of the same except for a Nice walk in the Park along the River and some Swingset Fun.

after all the shows -we went to the Awards Cerimony where we Enjoyed Lots of Conversation with the Local Volenteers and Filmakers. Incrededibly Super Ultra nice people..

We also Ended up Winning the "BEST ANIMATED SHORT Award" .....Awesome!!!
It was really cool because after the awards ....they played clips of all the films that Won or films requested for people that had'nt seen them. Ours got played in FULL and it recieved a nice big applause in viewing. Really cool......

It continues to amaze me how much people have responded to our film and how even now its thrilling to watch it with an audience. EVERY TIME!!! Ha!

Everyone that Ran the festival was INCREDIBLY NICE.......And really open to us.....this was the best experiance with the individual People we have had on our festival Tour. I cant wait to send them our new film in 2 years for consideration.

NEXT WEEK - We start Principal Photography. KIK OFF!!!!

jriggity-justin