Appealer

Travel LOG

2005-09-08T16:22:00.000+10:00

Man, has it really been that long since i last wrote in this blog? I almost can't login, forgot the password.
Half a year has passed and my film has taken a life of it's own, sometimes I thought it's a bit surreal to have your film screened at places you have never even set foot in, but exciting at the same time ^_^.
I must say I haven't been very productive ever since, now that "Appeal" is finished, I should've start a new one.... but geez, it's so hard to get back in the mood, before at AIM you have so much motivation just being in a class environment where everyone is busy doing their own project while ecouraging each other, now... I have to walk alone. How lonely...sigh. I'm just being pathetic. I gotta wake up and start doing something (aside from my current job anyway) before my brain got seriously numb.

Enough chit chat, the purpose of this blog today is a full report on Appeal's travel log:
Date of Birth, first step:

- 25th November 2004, AIM Graduate Screening 2004, RMIT.
---> Won Award of Excellence for Best Concept in any Genre 2004 by Global Vision Media

Followed by:

- Anifest 2005, Corona, Czech Republic

- ANIMA 05, Cordoba, Argentina

- Annecy 2005, France: In panorama screening

- Cortoons 2005, Rome, Italy

- Anima Mundi 2005, Brazil: In panorama screening

- Melbourne International Film Festifal 2005, Australia, where i won my second award (YAY!! jumping around shouting)
---> won Nova Cinemas Award for Creative Excellence in Australian Short Film 2005.

- Dokfestival 2005, Leipzig, Germany (October 3-9)

- Tindirindis 2005, Vilnius, Lithuania (October 25-27)

- CINANIMA 2005, Espinho, Portugal

- Siena International Short Film Festival
10th edition, Siena, Italy (18 - 26 November 2005)

- Animadrid 2005, Madrid, Spain (25th november - 2nd of December)

- IndieLisboa 2006, Lisbon, Portugal(April 20th - 30th): observatory & Indie Junior.

- Animafest 2006, Zagreb, Croatia (12 - 17 June): student film competition.

Live @ Harvest

2005-08-13T10:27:00.000+10:00

Yo! Appeal will be having a fun screening for;
LIVE @ HARVEST at the VINEYARD restaurant in St. Kilda
this Monday August 15

Will have some small talk about the film too....er...
(i always have a talent for dull conversation, so don't expect anything big)

Well for those who care, feel free to come, its a free screening ^_^

After AIM

2004-11-19T22:49:00.000+11:00

was sitting in the Lounge drinking coffee and yawning...blank face, bored, wondering why until Lily said "life after AIM is aimless", sad but true. Altho still got few things to take care of for the screening, still, the routine that has been going for almost half a year was finally broken, the switch has been turned off the moment i dropped that BETA tape into the submission box, am officially in a shut down mode and its gonna take a while to start it up again.

Last few days been keeping myself busy fixing up my film, and doing small things for the screening...while thinking of a new project, which involves lots of playing, eating and sleeping...
anyway, will have to finish all this bits and pieces by Sunday for DVD submission...

dunno what else to do with the blog, guess this post might be the last one, or maybe not...we'll see

FINISH!!...or at least

2004-11-13T01:35:00.000+11:00

FINALLY!!! have submitted my film at 10.30 pm Friday 12 of November, which was tonite.
Still need to make few changes that i've just noticed during the dubbing session (printing film to betacam tape);
- fix the sound level - up the quieter volume in the film
- fix footstep sounds and add breaking bones
- re- render some shot with speed frame blending (coz it just doesn't look good on tv screen)
- vertical blur on small types for credit roll (tv screen got a thing with close gap horizontal lines, it's just bad, a vertical blur should help- said Jeremy)

The changes to be made for the screening version, which would be on the 25th of November, RMIT Storey Hall ^_^

Anyway...time to relax and get a good nite sleep. heh heh heh.

almost there

2004-11-09T23:31:00.000+11:00

Musics in, sounds / foleys in, dialogues in, and scene 1, 2 and 3 is done, well done Jeremy!! One last scene to go ^^ hip hip hurray.

Did the soundtrack on Monday, started since 5 to 10 pm, no rest, food or drink, poor Nicolas, he had a really rough day and under a lot of stress, and still need to finish my music, but he did it ^^ . Two thumbs up fo Nic.

Hopefully i can finish everything by tomorrow, and spent the last day for tweaking the sounds, had a discussion with Al today, the sound guy, got a very sharp hearing, just can't cheat my way around, everything has to be precise to the last detail, because you can't fool the audience with sound,
"coz everyone is an expert in sound"
and also putting some more visual effects for scene 1 and 4, just a simple TV flicker
(easy stuff =P ).

Smooth Editing

2004-11-06T23:41:00.000+11:00

Today finishing all the xtra shots needed for scene 3. Also i did really crappy title and credit too, i completely forgot all about it and quickly made one on last minute (definitely gonna redo it someday). Don't think i need to do any more shooting now.

Jeremy been doing my editing for me coz the one i did was really bad and very sloooow, finished the 1st scene today, he managed to cut it down 40 sec shorter (woaahh), and things look so much smoother, it looks much much better, Jeremy had to do a lot of animating on editing too coz there's a lot of unecessary frame in my shots. Anyway, i'm starting to like my film now ^^, very happy happy. I'm amazed how editing could do so much for a film.

will be very busy concentrating on my sound starting...tomorrow. Also did the recording again last Friday, so funny, spent almost half of the session recording gasps and oh and hmm because my character hardly say a word during the entire 1st scene.

Music

2004-11-04T21:14:00.000+11:00

met my composer today, spent about 2 hours discussing what i wanted, ...don't really know what i wanted, don't really know much about music, and can't communicate very well, we managed to get an idea in the end, it's still work in progress though. He won't be able to compose a soundtrack until i got my edit finalised, will try to finish everything before Monday so i can focus on my sound and music.

Had Jeremy check my editing today, must redo one shot (the hard bit X-O ), and add more extra shots for scene 3, i thought about deleting the entire scene out of the film but he seemed to be okay with it, so im keeping it. Anyway, Jeremy's gonna help me with editing, especially since im having trouble putting all the shots together for scene 3, so... yay ^_^.
Still need to do a lot of digital compositing on After Fx, and still waiting for a consultation with John Power...

Halfway putting all the sounds/foleys in, somehow they all sound so crappy, so flat, and i don't know how to put more depth and dimension into it, tried manipulating the pan and level, but it still crap, probably because all my sounds are mono, but then again i don't really understand. }=-(

Gosh 1 week to go. must finish. must finish. must finish. must finish. must finish. must finish....MUST FINISH!!!

Post-production

2004-11-03T21:51:00.000+11:00

Have started my post on Monday, and been busy doing editing on Final Cut, still having problems with the software, just wont let me do any transition, keep messing up my edits, and can't even do time remap, almost smashed my computer out of frustration but resist the temptation since i realize how expensive it is and its the stoopid software's fault not the computer.

Today was busy doing sound hunting, must go through every CD sound library at school, trying to find suitable sound, hopefully they work, if not then i must record it myself...then again i don't have any special sound, it's pretty much general common sounds, so should be alright.

Anyway, will be meeting with Nicolas, my music composer, tomorrow. Still don't have any idea for the music, i thought i have, but i lost it during production stage, after looking at the nature of my character and the look of the film...hmm...im not so sure anymore.

Can't wa...ait to finish this project, gotten so sick of it. I think im losing all interest of it. Hopefully once i managed to make it look better, or at least close to what i had imagined, i would love it.
Tho in most cases, i always ended up hating all my works, took me a while to eventually appreciate and except it as it is.

Daylight savings

2004-10-30T22:39:00.000+10:00

...WHAT a bloOdy Rip off!!!
gimme back my 1 hour sleep!!

yesterday and today was a disaster, only managed to finish 2 shots today, yesterday was even worst...one. Tomorrow is definitely the last day!! must start my post on Monday..., i might do an all niter if i have to...hmm...nah, sleep is very important for me, so i just have to finish! period. no more excuses. self discipline. perseverance. DETERMINATION!!!!

6 more...

2004-10-28T21:39:00.000+10:00

6 more shots to go....almost there, could see the light, so close and yet so far, and my tunnel goes vertical ,have to climb up, not a very good climber too...

Left only the hardest bits to do...
might not gonna use the Close Up version of Edith, too big, gonna be hard pushing all the plasticine around her face, tho i could get better detail and much smoother lookin face, but we'll see...
did some of the CU already using the normal version, seems to be working just fine, but need lots of cleaning up of Photoshop, can see all the nail and fingermarks sticking out of the face.

Just wanna finish soon!!! }x-O

i either finish a very badly animated film, or don't finish a pretty good animation...it's more likely i ended up with the 1st one, its not really an option, just hope the story is still workin.

humpty dumty

2004-10-26T21:49:00.000+10:00

My fat Edith broke her leg, then her head fell off, then her insides cracking and falling apart, she didn't even have to fell of a wall to break... all before the shooting had even begun...Also she now has patches of "fungus" like colour smudges around her body, which i don't mind since it fits her well with the now super-dirty run down apartment, tho my only concerns was that the audience might not be able to tell her apart from the background...

Anyway..it's only to be expected, the fat model was the first model i made, which is like more than a months old, while the other ones are fairly new. and i have used the fat model during test shooting, bent her around too much, she'd been thru rough times....no wonder she commited suicide.

Well, luckily i only have like 2 shots which i have to show her whole body, i just fixed the leg back to the body with epoxy putty, since i don't need to be able to bent her around, a stiff leg would do just fine. Started my 1st scene yesterday....its been progressing pretty well, finished 6 shots so far....tho i still had 19 more to go...
so basically i have to finish 5 shots a day...gasps.......breath in....breath...out.

Digital Compositing

2004-10-23T19:29:00.000+10:00

Okay...
I'm gonna try to explain what exactly i'm doing with digital compositing.
These are just a sample of one of my shot from the 3rd scene, i just do it in steps, basically;

1. I took a shot of the complete stage with all the right lighting.
2. Took only the skins (layed out in acetate sheet) on the stage. (the reason i did it directly on the stage is so i can get all the right lighting reflections on the skins)

Then in Photoshop;
3. Made a clipping mask of the cat and the table so i can put them on the foreground.
4. Cleaned up the skins, layed them out evenly on the screen, copied and multiplied them, put on a bigger canvas size than the PAL DV (720x576 pixel), like 740x1300 pixel.

(hmm...all those photoshop clipping mask, adjustment layer, alpha channels stuff we learnt in 1st semester is indeed very usefull)

In After Effects;
5. Bring all photoshop files as composition
6. Arrange all the images; Kitty and table on the foreground, skin layers in the middle and kitchen in the background. (still need to add adjustment layer to make shadows tho, did it in photoshop but it doesn't seem to work on After Effects)

7. Then just animate the skin layer up and down like falling rain, i had 3 layers of skins with different skin size to add more depth.

It's only a test but so far it seems to be working well, and quite believable, didn't even need a green screen (can't be bothered), and the process is quite simple and fast (took only half a day). But don't compare it to those high end visual fx seen on movies, this is just student amateur work, dodgy stuff u know, hey, at least it works.

One more to go

2004-10-22T22:40:00.000+10:00

Finish animating my 4th scene, which is my last scene, so i will only have my 1st scene left to do ^^.
Hopefully i can finish it by next week, which means i only have 2 (1 1/2) week to do my post-production; music, sound, digital compositing, final editing... i also have to record my dialogues again.

Nicolas, who is doing my music, is a professional music composer and seems to be able to work very fast, so i don't worry much about it ^_^, tho i hope i could show him some of my film by next week so he have something to start with, if i had time that is. I was also thinking of asking someone to do my sound, because a good sound could really make a huge difference for my 'dodgey' animation, but i don't think i'll have any money to hire any pro, so like my minor, i had to do it myself, tho i can't guarantee the quality T_T.
what i meant with "sound" is sound effects/foleys, not dialogues, u need to put sound on every detail to specify and draw attention to certain area on the screen, you can explain a great deal with only a sound without actually showing any visuals.

Digital compositing: mainly is only for my 3rd scene, almost all the shots in it requires a digital compositing, because it has the most intensive flying sequences off all entire film, it got all the skins falling like snow, or floating and swirling down in the air. Basically all the flying skins will be animated later in computer instead of straight on camera, using photoshop and After effect, i think i got pretty much a good idea of how to do it, just not sure if it's gonna work or not.

Editing: My Final Cut pro has been such a pain!! it's doing stupid things, or not doing any thing! all these software problems are just adding frustration. The editing i did the first time now has gone completely haywire, i just couldn't be bothered on fixing it, so i just make a whole new project and start from scratch again, which i think is a lot more easier then trying to fix something you don't really know what to fix.

Highlight of the day: Glen Hunwick from GlenArt studio came to visit AIM today ^_^. Nice guy. He was giving us some moral support, had a quick chat with him, it was very encouraging. I had been having problems with my flickering lights, and he told me there's a software that i could use to balance all the lights together...just have to find out which...

btw...usually you get much quicker and more skillfull in animating your character after a week, but it seems i only get lazier and clumsier in it. I wonder why. I really think that the animation i did on the 1st week was a lot better, when i still feel less pressured. A hurried work is never good.

good lighting

2004-10-17T21:33:00.001+10:00

Fill light, back light, window ligth, blue filter fluorescent light (rim light). name it all. I also use a wide angle lense, it gives more depth and perspective to the set.

bad lighting

2004-10-17T21:33:00.000+10:00

This is a screen capture i took during test, it's a very bad lighting and a poor angle shot, all the lights are coming from one direction and the camera was way far from the set.

BACK UP!!

2004-10-14T23:27:00.000+10:00

Today i finished decorating my 4th wall, i added shadows, switch board, painted window and add some lighting with the small 12 v lightbulbs on the wall, the lamp shades looks pretty gay but i don't want to spent to much time on it =P.

ALAS, im gettin there, almost finished 1 scene, which is my 2nd scene (i'm shooting my shots according to staging and lighting set-ups, because my 1st scene has a very dirty lookin stage, it has to be done last, after scene 3 and 4), i was about to celebrate thinking i only need 2 more shots to finish it, until i realize i lost one of my shot file when i was doing my editing...o.O NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! I have made a back up but stupidly not fast enough, i copied everything on my DVD after i cleaned up my trash bin, and i accidentally delete 1 important shot, luckily Final Cut has cache folder with all the rendered files in it, i found the rendered file of the shot i lost, it's not original and the format is different but at least it's better than nothing... anyway...that was quite a scary accident...better be carefull next time =P.

Yes, im editing while animating, usually editing is done during post-production, but i learnt it's also easier for me to do it as i go, so everytime i finished a shot, i would put it together in final cut and see how it goes with the other shots i've done, sometimes there is a weird angle or the action doesn't work, then i know straight away which one has to be reshoot, it'll be too late if i noticed it during post-production. ^_^

final word: ALWAYS BACK UP!!! i did but not fast enough. My bad habit of deleting files is alot faster.

animating

2004-10-12T21:41:00.000+10:00

Lighting was quite fun today, since everything was setup, all i need to do is do little adjustment, also Sal lend me her light dimmer (whatever it's called, basically u plug your lights to the box and you can control the brightness of each light with a switch), quite usefull. Also bought extra little 12 v light bulbs for my kitchen cabinet (again, thx to David for setting it up for me)...now i have light strip above my stove ^_^

Setting up camera tho, was so troublesome, have to keep changing the tripod everytime i need to do a close up and handling the tripod's legs admist all the messy sensitive cables lying about on the floor is not fun, (and i was lucky enough that Simon lend me his really nice tripod...much easier to use than the school's one) not to mention the camera is always in the way between my character and me, considering that i am a clumsy, accident prone person, this is a very big deal, i have to do a lot of re-shoot because my hand touch the camera, and it shifted by a 1/4 of a mili, and so is the entire background, and it's very obvious on the screen. After animating the entire day, felt like i've just gone hiking, my legs are sore...i just realize that when ure animating you have to do a lot of squating while trying to be still and steady. Over all, today was FUN when you finally see the result on the computer, even if it's only 5 or 10 seconds, still "it moves, it moves!!!"

Action!!

2004-10-12T01:08:00.000+10:00

bah...can't sleep, this morning coffee was too strong, figured id waste my time updating my lousy blog

Monday: came in bout 7.30, busy decorating my set and finally set up my lights around 11, well David did all the works, i just stand there looking dumb, since i don't understand anything, tried to study the camera's manual again...didn't make much progress there.
Finally i started shooting around 2 pm, and goes on until 10 pm, my hands all sweaty and hot, working under so many lights really feels like being in an oven, especially since today 's weather was pretty hot, not to mention my plasticine all melty and sticky, Kate suggest putting them on the fridge everytime before shooting.

I'm shooting on a widescreen format (16:9), because it looks good, and i can get a large scope of background in one screen (^^, well it's such a waste to be showing just a bit of the background since i spent almost 2 weeks makin it...that's one of the reason at least) plus, there's more space for me to put colours and light in the background, it really makes the screen looks lively and dynamic ^_^, it also looks cinematic...in a way...well i just like the format really...

I have 4 lights for my stage;
fill light (reflected from the silver umbrella thingi...i think thats a fill...isnt it?),
background light (well it's in the background behind my stage)- just to give more definition for my character, i don't have a key light tho...coz it's too bright and i lost all the nice shadows.
there's also a window light (it's a light with a die-cut of a window)--it's a very nice effect, simple but effective, it really looks like there's a window on the other side of the wall, which in fact there aint any... I also use a tube fluorocent light as a rim light (what is that?) from the below the character, it gives a cooler shadow and more definition, since the other 3 lights is a yellow light.

Well, can't really explain much on that, since i just started learning today.

My camp

2004-10-09T16:12:00.003+10:00

Too lazy to write anything, thought just put happy snapshots i took yesterday morning... when i came about 8 o'clock and left bout 8 pm,
it's quite amazing how i could waste the entire 12 hours being busy doing so many things but at the same time not producing anything at all, the whole day was a complete waste of time....i felt like i was walking backwards...
im in that period where you startin to feel crap about everything in your project, hear voices coming in and out your brain saying "this project is doomed to failure, run away now while you still can", i'm in the verge of burning everything down, blow their ashes in the wind, ditch AIM, book a plane ticket to neverland, and be completely brain dead...

phew...that was fun, now that i had everything cleared out, felt so much better, gotta go back to work...on my next project. (kiddin)

anyway...
David will be helping me with lighting on Monday, so the real filming wont start until next week....shoot o.O
After watching 'All Ears' (a claymation short film from AIM), i realize i have to put more shadings and texture on my set, and put in more props (little things, decoration) to make it look lively. I still haven't got around on testing the falling skins and close ups, gosh.

Hello neighbour

2004-10-09T16:12:00.002+10:00

happy snapshots

2004-10-09T16:12:00.000+10:00

Into the dark...

2004-10-07T21:47:00.000+10:00

I moved in to Sal's corner yesterday, since she finished shooting her clay animation and continuing with her hand-drawn animation. It's a perfect corner in our lecture studio, covered entirely with black cloth, very secluded, quiet and comfortable ^^, not too mention it is pretty close to pitch black, feels like camping, my only neighbour is Simon who is doing a cut-out animation, who is also my camera and lighting consultant...(grin).
At last, i am working with full set lighting and camera (before i am only using one light and a betacam for quick testing). I got 4 lights, which I thought was too many, since i don't know how to do lighting and just working with one is confusing enough, and a DV camera, which i don't really know how to operate. So basically today i pretty much still adjusting myself with all these equipment, reading manuals, switching cables, and experimenting with lights. By the end of the day, i figured out that i sucks at lighting, the colours and shadows all wrong and the light flickers all the time, so sometime i got a blue or yellow shot ... gotta really ask the expert tomorrow, so frustrating when you don't know what you're doin, especially when you're suppose to start shooting and you are stuck on reading manuals and "how to" book.

Testing 1 2 3

2004-10-05T19:42:00.000+10:00

Been doin some test shooting for the last couple of days, testing on angle shots, close ups and character movement. The fat edith seems to work just fine when i tried different expression on her, i don't really have to change any facial muscles or anything, my character got really huge eyes that take up most of her face so i only have to concentrate on animating the eyes and the mouth.

Haven't been animating for 3 months...i find it really hard now to do good timing, pauses and everything, just lost the feeling, so i've been using the testing stage for practice too. I tend to move my character around too much, i just cant resist the temptation of moving it every 2 frames, it feels so weird to shoot a still (pause) for like 2-3 seconds or even one which is like 25 frames....I really need to put more stills and pause in my movements.

Tried to do a walk cycle, i didn't even show the feet but it still so damn hard!!! guess the easiest is still just get rid of the feet and move the character up and down as she 'walks', instead of really moving the feet, it is even harder to do walk cycle with a 4 legged animal, my cat.
Thanks for the testing, i have to redo my cat 3 times until i can make it work, it's still not working that well but i can animate it much better now, i just have to use a much lighter and thinner wires for the armature than the one i use for Edith, i ended up using a thin cable. I also redid the armature for 'slim' edith like 3 times too, first i made it too tall, then i made it too short, then i broke the feet and so on, one disaster after another. When you start breaking things, it's a sign that you should take a break, so i did ... before i wrecked the whole set. I took a day off yesterday, didn't really do much good, but at least i didn't break anything today.

tomorrow... i promise!

2004-09-29T22:22:00.000+10:00

i will start shooting tomorrow (just testing tho)...i know i said i start today but im still doing my armature.
Thanks to Jielin's passing comments about my other 2 armature being taller than the door really makes my day gloomy since now i have to fix them again. (sidenote: i have 3 full body armature for edith, fat, slim, and skinny version, 2 armature for the cat, skinny and super fat, and 1 close up/big of Edith) Add to that, as i was fixing my skinny version, cutting the legs shorter, i attached the wrong feet, now the left leg got the right feet and vice versa....
Im thinking of making a trivia quiz for my movie, like: each armature got different eye colour, the skinny version apart from having reverse feet also have it in different colour and size and material, the close up version of Edith got hands that glow in the dark...HUH?!!...yes, glow in the dark, i bought the wrong fimo to cover the palms, i just realize that fimo got 'night-glow' product range too, i have only realize it as i was walking out of my room to the kitchen in the dark...and they were glOwing....(hopefully it doesn't show on the film.
I managed to make my stage walls stand and steady, i fixed the main wall (the one that is always in the shot) by screwing it into a big wood panel floor which i put under my metal floor, so i learnt how to drill and screw a hole, thanks big time to Paul who kindly teach me how to do it all ^^. Now i know how to choose which drill bits and which screw to use, also know which one for wood and which aren't.

something smells...

2004-09-27T21:14:00.000+10:00

NOOOOOOOO
i burnt my sculpey! as i was updating my blog this morning, i forgot i was baking my sculpeys, by the time i realize due to a funny burnt smell in the air, its already too late, my hands, feet, nose, ears and glass all burnt to amber and black.
The glass is okay, the burnt colour looks pretty nice, but the feet got magnets underneath, somehow the heat kinda destroy...weakens the magnet a great deal. AGAIN, another day wasted remaking them and i had to go and buy the magnets again, which is bothersome, because i bought them in AussieMagnets and they are located in suburb, hartwell station, i had to take 2 trains to get there.

I still have another model to make, the close up version (big version) of Edith, which is twice the current size, tho only shoulder up. Really really NEED to finish everything by tomorrow!!! can't afford to lose another day for shooting.
Oh...i forgot about my walls, i'm having trouble making them stand steadily too, they are so easily knocked over, tried to put a stander on the back, was gonna nail them but got no carpentry knowledge at all, don't even know where to put the nails in T_T (pathetic), so i just glued them together (it actually works, the glue is quite strong). It didn't help much tho.

Sets and props

2004-09-27T08:11:00.002+10:00

Finally, more photos, my page is getting boring, thought i should put in back the colours =P.

I know...it's a very small set, but she's suppose to be living in a small cramped apartment, but maybe i should've made it bigger, it looks even smaller in photo and the kitchen cabinet looks very...yucky red, it's actually bright orange...bah. think have to make that table darker.

Justin's version

2004-09-27T08:11:00.001+10:00

Above is justin's version of Edith, gettin high, smokin mary jane. LOL

Wobbly dodgy table

2004-09-26T23:55:00.000+10:00

Finished all my furnitures! all painted and shaded, done with the walls too, i ended up printing my wallpaper (which took me 3 hours since my printer is getting old). Originally i wanted a yellow wallpaper but i liked the washed lime colour of the current one so im happy.

Took me an extra one day of what suppose to be a week for sets and props, i might still be doing my props tomorrow, thx for my stupid 4 legged table. I had a dining table which has a pretty big role in the story, simply because everything happens on top, under and all around it. It turns out that making a sturdy stable 4 leg table isn't an easy task at all, spend whole day making it and it's not working, so i have to make a second one. The first one i make was using balsawood legs and foamboard table, BAD IDEA, it's very wobbly and too light, i've even put wires inside the legs that attached to the table but they didnt do much good, so for a second one, i made a special trip to Bunnings and bought a wood stick/rod (it's very long, carrying it all the way to school felt like going fishing) for the table legs, for the table i used 3 thick cardboards glued together, it's quite strong actually, like a triplex.

Some of the props i use, i bought from Workshop It at Chapel St. I was actually going to Handworks, but it is further down the street, so i decided to spend like half hour browsing thru the shop, found several stuff, cheap stuff, but what i really love is the flower miniatures, so lovely and nice, i also found a mirror with the right size and extra decoration ^^ ( i got a lil bit carried away).

First time painting with acrylics, nice paint, very solid and thick, having trouble on painting a flat colour tho, but finding it very easy to make old wood texture, I also used spray paint ( glossy enamel paint) for my fridge and floor, got a really toxic smell, made me feel dizzy, next time must wear a mask.

... will continue after this break...zzzzzzzz

its a drill

2004-09-22T01:25:00.000+10:00

Today (i meant yesterday, like 9 hours ago...) for the first time in my life, i learn how to use a drill, i find it extremely usefull, i was a bit scared at first (i have a wild imagination of 100 ways to kill myself with it, wether intentional or unintentional), but once u get the hang of it suddenly u get a rush of excitement to just drill anything you can find, drill drill drill...

In the end i did do a little drilling for making my furnitures, i found out that i dont really need those drilling needles thingi (i dunno what its called), i just replace it with a firm twisted wire and drill, ...why would i do this? i couldnt find a small enuf needle, off course i was just drilling thick cardboards, so the wire still works.
But i use the drill mostly to make twisted wires, it was where the fun part is, at home i have to twists them by hand which takes ages, sore fingers, and ugly results...with the drill it only takes seconds!! ^_^
Thx to Sal tho for teaching me how to use it even tho she's busy with her own project, but she's always available to help ^_^

I had a chat with John Power about painting my sets...it turns out to be more complicated than i thought, u see, if i were to do it, i just simply painted them with guache or somthin and use it as it is, but i learnt that for stage painting, the sets also have to be theatrical, i have to create highlights and shadow into the objects by painting some parts darker or lighter, creating extra depths that doesnt exist, emphasizing some parts, put textures by mixing your paints with dirt or grains, even if it not visible, you still see the difference once you have lights on your set. It's all very new for me, John said it's like putting on make up, i guess if you want to put it that way it sounds pretty simple huh.

So ive been busy building my furnitures today (still..), and have created a decent amount of space for my little workshop at school, i basically overtake Shy's and Lily's space =-P, Aimee should really guard her space if she doesn't want me to steal it too. Working at school is nice in a way that you get to meet ur classmates and easy to buy things u need in the city, plus i get to use all the tools too, but once come nightime i have to stop working and go home before the last tram...at home i usually just go on till morning ='(
Why isn't there a 24 hour tram?

Rome wasn't built in a day...

2004-09-20T22:52:00.000+10:00

Today...
busy busy busy, running around looking for materials, mainly: WOOD.
-Went walking around my neighbourhood in the morning looking for scraps, since a friend of mine suggested me to steal someone elses old fences, didn't have any luck tho, they all fairly new and firmly stuck to the ground }=-(
-Went to home furniture shops hoping theyll have some leftovers i can take...there aren't many around, so...no luck there too
-My last option was to go to Bunnings and buy one. Unfortunately they don't do any wood cutting service whatsoever, and i dont have anything to cut them, by this point...my face has grown several extra wrinkles.
-Went to art shops, melbourne artist supplies and eckersley...nope, none, nada. Im desperate

But as i went walking towards school while figuring out how to get rid of all these ugly wrinkles in my face, i walked pass RMIT's Industrial and Architecture workshop thingi, the first thing i saw was...a whole building of people cutting woods and wood panels everywhere. The next minute i found myself wandering into the building, and there i met Paul, a teacher supervising the workshop, he was extremely busy with students chasing him around (im one of them). Somehow amidst all those havoc, i managed to talk to him, and he was surprisingly helpfull, while still running around helping students he kindly gave me free wood and cut them for me, i was so happy happy happy....
and remember i still have lots to do.
Went to order a metal plate at Robot Trading (as recommended by Kate), they were also very friendly and helpfull, but on my way there, again i walk pass this shop selling custom made masks, so beautiful, i just couldn't help it and checked it out on my way back. There i met Anita Sinclair, apparently she also made puppets, she has helped previous AIM student as well by teaching puppet making, she does all kinds of puppet including latex one. How interesting...if only i met her sooner.
Anyway check her website www.AnitaSinclair.com

Well thats all for today folks. Still a long way to go till my set is finish, like i said, Rome ain't built in a day,
Ill be hitting for the bed now, have to start early tomorrow since i will be relocating my home studio to school.

MOVE IT!!

2004-09-19T21:51:00.001+10:00

8 weeks left to finish this project, Ill be officially in production by monday.
So ill be busting my a$$ for the rest of the week building my sets and props and models...i need sum kinda miracle to finish everything in one week if i want to start shooting as scheduled on 27th sept.
Currently organizing my production schedule in a very detail manner, shot by shot, must work on the dope sheet too.
Setting up tasks to do (and buy) everyday (including coffees and energy drinks). And trying not to jump off from the roof (Inspired by Kate)...oh..since i dun have any, a balcony should do..oh wait..that wont do, im in the first floor.

anyway...pray this wont be the last post!

ps: anyone knows or can do wood working, carpenting? or prop making? camera, lighting set ups, sound engineering....ect i'd luv to have an extra help (better make that plural, 'helps')

ouch ouch ouch

2004-09-17T15:25:00.000+10:00

speakin of wakin up on the wrong side of the bed, i didnt even wake up on my bed, more like under it. Got really bad back and neck pain, couldn't sit in front of the computer for a long time, so i have to get up and walk around every half hour.
And i think my feet are swollen...they look bigger than usual...either that of i just gained weight O.O

Anyway...guess the animatik wouldn't b finished as soon as i planned it to b.

Glen Art

2004-09-16T11:13:00.000+10:00

Booyah ^^

Ive just visited Glen Art today, and had a little chat...actually more like a discussion with Glen Hunwick. He is a very experienced animator specializing in clay animation, so I had a lot of helpfull feedback from him (also got sum free wire too =P, for a poor student like myself, thats like...yippeee..money saving...boy im cheap...). I decided to rewrite my script again and redo my animatik, which is better for me, coz im basically cutting almost 2 minutes off my story (phew...), and try not to give too much of the story right from the begining of the film, keep the audience guessing (let em figure it all themselves).
I didn't change much of the storyline but i did change the character for Kitty the cat, since toward the end of the story i made her grows greedier and greedier, Glen suggested that i should introduce Kitty as a very greedy cat since the start, therefore the audience wouldn't feel sad when misfortune befalls Kitty.

If all goes well, i should be ready to build my sets and props by next week ^^...
gosh i need sum sleep, i'm starting to see in triples, and i drank 2 cuppa coffee today too, which is like 2 cups extra from my usual coffee intake.
GODSPEED!

My limitations

2004-09-14T15:16:00.000+10:00

As much as i'd like to admit...YOU ARE a newbie (i am) so
DONT MAKE IT HARD!!
-no walking with feet (it'll only look bad anyway), limit to just standing.
-Bigger hands please (with soft wires) or they'd stuck together
-Bigger feet would help
-limit to one character in each frame, avoid confusion of animating 2 characters at the same time
-simple repeated movement/cycles-less thinking
-do key poses on animatik (more detail of movement for reference)--dope sheet??
-experiment with lighting effect for moods and less animating
-Shilouettes/shadows? good dramatic effect, can just use cut out, or 2d post compositing
-Don't use too many different angles= too much lighting and camera adjustments
-NO camera movements! just very simple one; zoom in or out.
-Make at least 2 scale model-too much a bother but it'll help a lot for close ups.
-probably Close ups that fill the whole screen, doesn't show the background, very minimal...like plain wall (coz only have 1 scale of sets and props, except the peeler)

looking sad...

Impossible

2004-09-14T11:50:00.000+10:00

woo...this is bad..
ive just finished my 3rd animatik, thought i finally got it right, and last nite i realize that some of the most important scene in my story is just impossible. On the first part there's a scene where Kitty jumps to Edith's lap and appear in the middle of the table and Edith, then jumps again to the table, which cause Edith accidently grazed herself with the peeler...
Now... looking at how fat Edith is, there is no way that Kitty could squizee herself in between, let alone sitting on her lap, she would be competing with Edith's belly for a space...
Plus, the model i made, the arms too short, or shes too fat, both hand couldn't reach each other...how is she suppose to shave her hand then?

I was thinking of just making Kitty jump straight to the table...but then i thought why not just forget the whole first introductary part. I think ill just skip it and start with Edith and Kitty watching the beauty program in awe...i would probably add a little dialogue between Edith and Kitty (just one sentece, of Edith wishfull thinking)...no more milk spilling too...Edith is simply going to the fridge to get something to drink or eat (or more apple, potato, whatever) and saw her own reflection on the mirror. The thing is, where do i put the incident of Edith's first cut with the peeler:
a. Edith is watching TV and Kitty out of nowhere jump to the table knocking Edith's hand
b. Both on the table, edith is peeling apple, kitty is so greedy she pulled the apple off edith's hand, and there goes the cut.
c. Edith so engrossed with the TV she doesn't realize what she's doing and cut herself...

lame...lame...lame...

At least i got one good news. Talked to my music composer yesterday, Nicolas Lyon (very nice guy ^^), so far so good, sounds promising, i just hope the animation lives up to the music...i still got a loooooOng way to go...
(I gave my self a little excursion around the town, to northcote, actually further more, in the rain, and got a little lost, but it's quite fun, never been there before...maybe i should do this more often, just get myself lost somewhere and see new sceneries...=P)

btw: i was just kidding with the previous post, theres no blood just gore...=P

More Gore

2004-09-11T23:59:00.000+10:00

hear hear,
for those who may not know, I have just recently been in touch with my darkest inner self, and found it rather pleasant and entertaining. so i decided that i shall now do a horror movie instead.
look forward to it! I guarantee lots of squishy BloOD and GORE, SLASHing and Cutting, Cannibalism and psychotic behaviours,,,
YEAH!! I LUV IT so YOU'LL LUV IT ^_^

recording

2004-09-08T23:55:00.000+10:00

wohoooo....over and done with..(for now)
i just feel so intimidated with the sound studio...brrr...

finally i did my recording session today. got 3 peeps to do my voices, man...it sure makes a lot of difference when ure working with pros ^^....im sooo happy with the result. THX guys (catherine, susan n Rudi) ^_^!!
took quite sum time, since im so clumsy and awkward with all the technical stuff.

duh...i might have to do it again if there are changes made...
Oh well,
back to animatik then, gotta meet "the boss" tomorrow.

NooO!...im naked...

2004-09-08T03:02:00.000+10:00

YAYYY!!! she stands, she stands!! WOHOOO!! ^_^
well, not exactly the right proportion (feet too long, head too big, hand so skinny) but at least it works! The hair looks yucky, but im gonna repaint it...and my magnet on the right foot is doing funny stuff. it keeps falling apart, even though i've baked it with the feet, so i have to glued it everytime, but otherwise, IT STANDS!! It does other poses too, but my stupid camera ran out of battery...

k. enough with the excitement...
My model is still naked!! gotta make the dress, and still 3 more to go...not to mention sets and props (head falls over)...back to reality (knock knock brain!).

hmm...i just realize this recently, my blog doesn't seem to work on my explorer, its all over the place...it looks just fine on safari tho...???

2nd Armature in progress

2004-09-08T02:54:00.000+10:00

wohoo...this is my drawing plan for my armature ^^, the real thing next to it is so not like the drawing, but at least i still keep the material as planned. Stereofoam body and head, crayola clay (luv this stuff, looks so yummy like marshmellow..mmm... very light, like foam) to cover most part of the hand, and paper mache for the feet.
didn't have a thicker aluminium wire, so i just use my thinner one. I have to twist them together, for the feet i even twist it 3 times with iron wiretoo....hopefully its strong enough...(man..its sad to be so poor and stingy...) T_T

lightweight armature

2004-09-05T13:59:00.000+10:00

OK. Im back to armature, i ve been working back and forth between making my animatik and making my models, and i still haven't started doing my sets and props (i don't have any tools to work with anyway...). Looking at the slow progress im making, most likely i will be wa......ay behind my schedule (o yeah...i got a production schedule, a very flexible one).

After many errors and failures, i consulted with David about making an armature that works for my character, the ones i researched earlies are not suitable for a fat, heavy character such as mine. I options are either having a rig stucks to my model or if i could make it very light i might be able to use a magnetized feet. So now I am trying to make my armature as light as possible, and use minimum plasticine. I am now using stereofoam balls for the head and the body. For the feet i use heavier material like air hardening clay (tried to keep the heaviest part of the body the closest to the ground). So far it's pretty much looking like a naked chicken (i wonder why...), hopefully itll look more human after i put plasticine and a dress on it.
After this i still have a cat, and 4 version of edith to make...

Oh. and i finnaly schedules my voice recording session on wednesday at 3. Hopefully all will go well.

simplified

2004-08-26T01:13:00.000+10:00

...Still in the process of refining my animatik. I did a few changes to my storyboard and dialogues, especially on the first scene during the introduction of character and environment, and the trigger of the whole story.
YAY ! ^_^ i finally had 2 people to do the voices, so i really really need to finalised my dialogue by the end of this week. Hopefully i can start recording by next week.

As i said, i was goin to simplify my character. Well above is as simple as i can go... this time i just make her hair tied up, so i could still make it out of plasticine but less to animate.

Animatik discussion

2004-08-22T15:48:00.000+10:00

Notes after meeting with Kate and jeremy on my animatik, there will be a lot of changes on the storyboard and adjustification on sounds/dialogues.

CHANGES TO BE MADE
- reduce camera movements, use only for stills
- use cuts, cross and dissolves for a change
- reuseable shots (where camera and lighting placement can be used several times without having to change them all the time)
- focus on character acting
- reduce unnecessary actions & shots
- Sound/ dialogue in the background to interact with the characters actions (Edith in the mirror and the voice from the TV)
- Characteristic/distinctive sound to replace a repeating action (during transition-Edith's routine, eg: scratching sound for peeling action or edith's humming whenever she peels)
- Settings, staging to be more practical. where's the TV located, give indications.

ACTING
- Edith's act of desperation; why she decided to peel herself? an accidental discovery of potato peeler and her skin?
- Her response to her own reflection? not surprised, disgusted, desperate
- Her character as a dirty lazy person to act over a milk spill is too exagerated...
- unclear on how the peeler got in her hand.

Too fat to bend

2004-08-08T19:42:00.000+10:00

yupp...too fat to bend, indeed. After applying meat to the bone, it appears the bone was too skinny for the fat.
When i tried to bend my puppet, the joints break, and because of the force i used to bend them, other parts get smudged and distorted, so...i guess it's back to square 1... T_T

(and its not even as fat as i wanted it, wrong proportion and i originally wanted her to be more rounded, like a violin or a pear...)

amature armature

2004-08-08T19:36:00.000+10:00

-0.90mm wire
-hobby wire (for craft)
-Glue gun
-hardening clay

My sad looking armature...it looks dodgy, i know... but thats like the best i can do. I spent a lot of time just twisting the wires together, and i still couldn't make them the same length...my hands grew numb after a while.
I covered part of the arms that i don't want to move with glue gun (im just using what i have around), and used hardening clay (coudnt find epoxy putty) for lower parts of the body because i want them to be heavier at the bottom of the body.

i also bought a thick cable, very flexible, im thinking of doin something with it, ill probably use it to make a bigger model, coz the one i made before is just about 15 cm height

Bad hairdo

2004-08-08T19:33:00.000+10:00

O...okay,
i don seem 2 b doin much these week, but im actually been busy buying materials, browsing, and research...shopping.
And again tried to do more experiments modelling with clay/plasticine. The picture above, doesn't have quite the right shape, its lookin pretty scary actually...but i was trying to make a lightweight head by using sterofoam ball inside and then covered everything with a thin layer of clay, the thickest clay part of the head is only the face. I tried to use wool for the hair, but it just doesnt look right, and its too light, i want it to be heavier and thin. I also tried to add a bit of color in the face...since i only have a white plasticine so i just colored it by mixing it with oil pastels...(it's a last minute thing) it kinda work tho.

im thinking about using diff. material for other part of the face that i dont want to change, use something more permanent, like real clay, or sculpey or...dunno... but i definitely need to find material for the eyes, and the eyeball.

Finally, im also in the middle of redesigning my character for both the cat and Edith, i have to make them simpler (less realistic) for my sake, because i want to keep my story as it is, i will have to change my sets n props to be more efficient and less time consuming....AAAAAAAArrrgghhhhhh.... i have to do all this while doin my sound and my animatik too, time oh time please move real slowly...

'bout armatures

2004-08-07T01:36:00.000+10:00

how to sites for armatures:
professional like
Ball & Socket Puppet Armatures for animation

very simple beginners armature
animateclay.com how to page
which most likely be the one im making... i cant make anything more complex than that...(sad...but true...)

some other related sites about stop motion animation....
Stopmotionanimation.com
stopmotionworks.com
more armature
At Last, Foam Puppet Fabrication Explained! (article)

END of story

2004-07-30T03:25:00.001+10:00

er...
I'm havin doubts about the end of my story... should i make this story ends happily or sad and tragic.
I've just recently watch a movie with no ending, it sorta hang there with no resolution, the movie keeps getting gloomier and gloomier, after it ends, i kinda feel sad and discontent...
Honestly i don't mind a tragic end as long it gives me an end, so im wondering wether my story actually have and end or not. Some say not having an end can leave more space for the audience to fill in the rest, i like the idea, but im a simple, regular audience who doesn't like to be left hanging in the middle of nowhere with no absolute answer... hmm...im probably going nowhere with this. But one thing for sure, I don't want to make my audience feeling empty and discontent after watching my film, that is just dreadfull... so where does my story stands?

I have been spending my time in front of the computer with a watchfull head starring at me, with cheery plumpy face, while i'm writing about the destruction of that same cheerie face... (i feel bad...T_T)
either i go with a tearfull tragic drama or a black comedy...sadly i dont have much humour to spare...

sketches

2004-07-23T22:38:00.001+10:00

Above is a sketch plan i made for the stage, its an apartment. there is suppose to b a window on the left side with no walls, above the rubbish bin, possibly lookin up to other dodgy downtown buildings and neon signs.

Above is Edith, but im still working on it, coz the feet is actually pretty small so im not sure itll b able to support the body if it were a clay. For edith; i want her to be sweet but desperate and lonely too
...hmm...currently im trying to draw the fuffly cat, but since i cant draw animals, its takin me a lot longer than i thought, i need to do more research... ooohh how m i goin to make the models for the cat??? too furrrryyy....

muzukashi desu ne.... ^_^!

story synopsis

2004-07-23T17:16:00.000+10:00

thought i should probably explain more about the project im doin before i ramble even further (and no one knows what im talking about...)

I have always planned to do a claymation for my major so i thought up a story for the medium and think about the possibilities i can do with clay--manipulation, disfigure, morph.... and i wanted to use my useful all time favorite potato peeler in the story. So here s what i came up with:

Its about a woman (Edith), single, unpopular, fat and ugly (to her opinion), lives only with a cat (fluffy white ones). Sick and tired of her condition she decided to take matters in to her own hand and does an X-treme Makeover by herself using the potato peeler. And so the story goes as she transform her life and looks by shaving (sculpt-carve) herself into the perfect figure she wants,
in the end she becomes so obssesed about peeling herself off untill she has nothing left in her body to peel anymore.

the prototype ^^

2004-07-23T17:11:00.000+10:00

here's the nicer one, closer to the original drawings..but this one is too complicated to make, so ill try make a simpler one...someday

Photos

2004-07-23T16:43:00.000+10:00

So heres the pict i promised about. The next one will be up soon ^^

clay modeling

2004-07-23T01:40:00.000+10:00

Oka...ay... since this is my 2nd post, guess i should really start writing something worthwhile, so here it goes:

For the first time, been spending this last 3 days experimenting with clay....just bought 3 kilos of clay, cost me alot of money too ]=-(
so i tried to make the head for my character based on my drawings, n realize...its so damn hard!!! i just couldnt seem to shape it right, after several try i finally managed to make something decent, but still have a long way to go.
Yesterday i start all over again, n this time i wasn't really concentrating much on doin it, coz i was busy doin research on the internet (u see my dial up connection is slow as hell...so i always need something else to keep me busy). To my surprise, the clay actually ends up better lookin, i got so excited and spend whole nite finishing it, i even make every strands of hair (which isn't a good idea at all!!) i've just gone a little overboard.

so anyway....i'm currently lookin for a way to make a hair that isn't clay but i can animate, and have a similar look to the clay one, probably better.
i thought bout wools, but wools are a to light, i want something heavier/solid n stable, latex? how am i gonna make that? desperately need some sugestion and inspiration...

Now put that aside. got a new problem...how to make the body and the neck, and the feet...im not there yet. but ill be starting soon.
(i don't even know what size im suppose to be working on). The head that ive made is roughly 10 cm tall.

I want to upload pictures but i dont know how to do it yet. i couldnt open the help site from bloger....i wonder why that is.
but ill figure it out sooner or later. I wanna customize my page too...but seems to b too complicated for me, so i changed my mind =-P

My first blog

2004-07-21T11:57:00.000+10:00

hmmm.....i should write something for a start, shoudn't i?

there u go...one sentence! oh 2 including this one. Man that was tough. I think it's enough for today.