Animating the trailer

Hi everyone

I thought I should show you how I got on with animating the teaser trailer for "Factory Dogs"

It was a 10 week filming period, animating on a good day around 2-3 seconds.

This is a production shot from the opening scene in the trailer.
It was a fun shot to shoot as I had to change focus from Dermot in the foreground to Big Dean in the background. As you can see the wall was a print photographed at a carpet factory. Quite fitting as my production is "Factory Dogs"

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This is the keypad used to speed up the animation process. the shortcuts for Stop Motion Pro 7 are added to the pad. I then add my designed icons to make it easier to remember which buttons to press. Its also a wireless mouse so I can move it anywhere and not need to go back and forth to my computer.

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Stop Motion Pro has become an integral part to my filming. With added features like "Rig removal" in Studio 7. I am able to make any character or object fly and just rub out the rig in post production right from SMP. I can then export the movie with or without the rig. Visit their site for more details http://www.stopmotionpro.com/

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This is a production shot of me animating Norman filing his nails. Quite a tricky shot as the camera was being moved from left to right on a dolly, Being moved very slightly for every shot.

In the background you might just be able to make out a tiny bit of the storyboard. This is the blueprint before I start animating and shows me exactly what I am trying to achieve in the shot.

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Thanks for tuning in. I will post many more production pictures and maybe a few videos in my next post. Hope you found it interesting and please sign up to Factory Dogs website

http://www.factorydogs.com/

Bye for now

Pete

News Feed - Animateclay.com

Thanks to Marc Spess I have been given a lovely news feed on his Animation site. www.animateclay.com

I would like to thank everyone who has commented on the newsfeed. It makes me feel like i'm doing something right

Pete

Factory Dogs - Teaser trailer

Ok, so here is an update on Factory Dogs, I am in full production of the teaser trailer.

This is purely to get the characters out there and make people aware that there is a new stop motion film on its way.

Last week I managed to film 5 shots of the trailer. There are 22 shots in all so I have a way to go yet.


This is the animatic for one of the shots I have filmed. It's 2 seconds long and required a lot of dialogue to work out and animate.

The shot is a replica from a scene in Reservoir Dogs. I am making
a comedy reference to the film.

The dogs are arguing about what colour they are being named.

Below is the finished shot animated with dialogue.

I act out the shot before animating it so I can use it as a reference. Below you will see me acting out the video reference for Bernards walk and next to it, the animated video of the same shot.

More pictures and videos will be coming quick and fast so keep checking back to this blog

Pete Ellis

Scope Animation

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

Recording Dean Steers aka Big Dean

Another recording done today, the animatic is looking fab with all the voices pieced in. Definitely giving me a great visual of how the film is going to look. My best friend Deano recorded his voice for Big Dean, yes... Big Dean had been modelled on Deano himself! He's such a big character and he only has to enter a room to brighten it up. He voice is perfect for animated films.

So only one more to do. Howard who plays Bernard. Probs won't happen for a few weeks so I'm looking into making a publicity shot for the film.

I might even give you guys a sneaky peak at part of the animatic. Keep checking the blog



Here's Deano with his counterpart. He's only missing a pair of dog ears! Haha

Please keep spreading the word of Factory Dogs

Pete

Pete@factorydogs.com
http://www.factorydogs.com

Location:Alresford Rd,Salford,United Kingdom