All photographs and content is copyright of Scope Animation

Hi guys

This is my first weekly post since setting up the blog so they should be slightly shorter than the first 2 posts.

This week I was only expecting to finish the house set for the opening scene this week, but I have also managed to start work on the box machine.
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Here you can see the finished house for the opening scene of the film. I have added the guttering and the windows. I am very happy with the overall look and I can sign it off as finished.

Building the outside of this house has taken almost 3 weeks to complete. Its a lot of work for what will only be 10 seconds of film!!! This is why Christmas is a likely deadline for the whole film.

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Below are pictures of inside the house set, where a mysterious dog will be working hard at his office desk.
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The box machine is probably one of the biggest and most intricate sets i'll have to build. I built the outside wall off the machine from MDF wood. This will be painted using hammered metal paint. Then I will wipe the shine off it and add brown boot polish to give the aged and rustic look in certain areas.
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I think all of next week will be taken up finishing the machine, then there is moving conveyor belts inside and out to build.

Keep posted next week, I will add more pictures of the machine taking shape.

Thanks for your continued support

Pete

Getting you up to date - Jan & Feb

Lets get you up to date!!!

The past 2 months have been very hectic. For over 2 years I have been producing a lot of prototypes for the Dogs, how I feel they should look and how I can make them easy to animate.

Mid January saw the very first finished model of Norman. It was a big moment in the development of my film after many years of research and trial and error.

His body and head are made from Fimo (a hardening clay that is baked in the oven) giving him a strong body and head that can be held or moved without the fear of squashing them.

The arms, mouth and ears are kept to traditional plastercine that anyone can buy from an art supplier. I use "Fred Aldous" in Manchester.

The little suit was made by a friend of mine. Barbara Botham, who designed and stitched it with her own hands.

My many prototypes were made to try and work out a way of making Norman walk. If I had a big budget I would have taken my designs to a local company called "Mckinnon and Saunders" who made the models for Tim Burton's "Corpse Bride". They would design and build ball and socket joints for him (known as armatures). With limited money I had to try other ways from wire to wood armatures. Eventually I found a way!!! I will post a step by step blog on how I create a full model from start to finish very soon.

End of January saw another model made! With the excitement of Norman being completed and working well I got straight to work on Big Dean. He has been designed in exactly the same way as Norman.

While I was busy creating Norman and Dean I was also organising script read throughs with many different actors. I had 2 different sessions listening to over 8 different actors. It was very important I had a good variation of voices to listen to.

I was happy to announce that a good friend of mine, Thomas Latham, put pen to paper and agreed to voice the character Norman.

With Dean Steers already cast as Big Dean I only needed 4 more characters to cast!!!
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February saw the first set being constructed. This house set will be the opening scene in "Factory Dogs" below you can see a few pictures of the house being constructed.










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The main structure is just made from thin sheets of MDF










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I scored the brickwork using a Dremel, mixed sand into the paint and coloured the cement with a grey Pencil crayon. The slate is individual pieces of card painted in different coloured grey.










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My workshop/studio isn't the biggest so I am only able to work on one model/set at a time.










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The desk is also made out of MDF and card painted in normal acrylic paint.

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Well there you have it! You are now up to speed with January and February. Although I didn't mention the work I have done on the storyboard and music, I hope you can see the amount of work that is going into this film. I am getting more excited every day!!!

From now on I will do weekly blogs which wont be as long as this post

Thank you for your continued support

Pete

Welcome to "Factory Dogs" very own blog

Hi guys. Welcome to "Factory Dogs" very own blog

I have recently set up my own animation company called "Scope Animation" specialising in Stop-Motion short films.

The process is similar to "Wallace and Gromit". Each second of film consists of 24 individual photographs of the model. The model is moved slightly by the animator, so that when it is played back in sequence, it gives the effect of live movement.


I have set up this blog to give everyone an insight into the long process that goes into making an animated film. Stop-Motion animation isn't like any normal film you will see in the pictures, you have to create the characters, sets and props before you begin filming. This may not be too much of a problem for the big companies like Aardman Animation and local company Cosgrove Hall to do, because they have a big budget and a company to make their models, sets and props for them.

As for "Scope Animation"... its just ME! I design and create all the characters, sets and props right down to the most minuscule detail. It is a very long and drawn out process and it can only be achieved by hard work and dedication.

So... please enjoy reading my blogs and keeping up to date with my film. I certainly hope I can break the mold and prove that it isn't just the big companies like Aardman who can produce a good quality family animated adventure!

Thank you for your continued support

Pete