Applied Animation-Set 1 & Diggers- Week 13

 Set 1 & Diggers- 

Week 13

When building these sets, a worry has been about the set 2 size and the diggers that one of our members owns as the size is very important in making the set look authentic and correct. If they were too big, it would throw off the size of the trees and really underplay the forest size.

This is the first image she sent over, this was the largest of all of the diggers, and as you can see from the background, it would be far too big for the stop-motion set, this was worrying me because these diggers play a vital role in how humans are destroying the rainforest

Here are 4 more diggers she sent over, these seemed ok as she said they were palm sized, but later on I realised she meant the whole palm size, this meant they were about 8cm large, instead of maybe 3 that I needed for the size to work. This meant asking if she had even more in smaller sizes as this would make everything look larger within the forest, instead of normal smaller trees. This also has less of an impact.

Now these seemed to be a much better overall size. This was because they were about 3-4cm which would be perfect for the set, compared to something larger. They were also a great shade of yellow so they will stand out as an eye sore within the forest colours and nice rainforest location. This will further our cause and what we are trying to tell the audience.

As we only need 3 diggers this meant we had a lot to choose from, so I chose two of the diggers from the far left, and one larger digger that is used to push large amounts of dirt and clear away wood. This can help to immerse people into our setting and what our scene is showing and how they are destroying the forest around our orangutan.

When moving back to the first set, I needed to find a way to attach the tree branch across the front to draw peoples eyes into the scene. I managed to do this by making holes within either side of a sturdy thick poster tube. I then looped the wire through these holes. The wire is from the sides of the set that have been glued down, this is so the branch across the front can be held in place and stay in place becuase it is being tied to either end of the set, pulling in the sides to create more of an interesting shape. 

Here you can see the holes and how I have added wire into the ends to tie the two together, this let it go tight and not move.

To add in extra support, I then glued the tube down so it really couldn't be knocked with filming. I used UHU glue for this and weighed it down with a heavy item to it stays.

Here are the trees again, as the UHU glue was drying, I did another layer of paint over the trees to cover all of the foil left showing and deepens the colour so they look more like real trees. This also really shows their shape and how they look like they could make a  small forest together.

After the tube had dried. I started adding in the texture from the back and adding in some paper mache to the bottom of the set so it wasn't flat and could drift up, not have a straight cut to leaves.

I found this difficult as it just ripped and couldn't cover over the chicken wire as the glue and paper mache just went straight through, this meant I had to work very slowly to wait for it to defiantly take, and for it to stick to the wire.

This is a more textured base now, with more curved edges instead of straight lines, but with bedding and trees around the back sides, it will really fill in and look more full as a nest. After getting it dry, it is a lot harder and sturdy as a set so this will make it easier to have puppets move within it and not have it break apart.

Now to add natural texture and shape, I am covering the tube in two layers of foil.  This will really make the overall look seem like a branch going across the front. Here is the first layer and how it looks, I hot glue gun glued it to the tube as it is more secure this way.

It was at this point, the set looked too tall which was also dragging the shape wrong. So I decided to cut quite a bit off the top, this will let the set become lighter, the correct shape and still look deep enough for the puppets to move about it.

After getting the size correct, I started to add in the two back trees to corner off the back. This helps to take the square shape away from the set and smooths the overall appearance to make the nest more homely. 

I did this with balled up paper and news paper to give it structure and shape, before gluing them all together. This proved difficult, as you can see there is news paper behind the tree. I had to glue it to paper on the outside as it kept going through the mesh. So this was something I found difficult as it had to dry attached so it wont fall off and can stay held in when dry and to be painted.

This is from when both of the trees have been made, this fills out the scene more and gives it character. When they are paper mache'd and painted, they will really look like trees, as well as the branch across the front. So I will be able to have the illusion of the nest being within a tree. This is what I was trying to accomplish.

This is after I have paper mache'd them, they look a lot more like they should, this was really hard becuase the mix wouldn't stay and cover well, without going over the detail that I wanted to keep. I now needed it to dry before adding another layer to make the colour thicker and deeper, so I can add more texture and shading to the set.

Here is the set after its other layer, now again waiting for it to dry, to make sure everything is covered and cannot see any foil. I also need to pull off the paper from behind them as they have dried and are solidly attached to the wire now, but I found the wire to be very difficult to work with and would try to find a different medium next time.

These are the trees for each side, which I really like when I imagine them surrounded by leaves and nest material. Although I like the left one far more for its shape and the shading and highlights it picks up, but the one on the right will have more leaves on top of it so this will make it look like the branch is going past the nest and higher, furthering the illusion.

Here below is the set 1 from a high angle and the angle the camera would be at, this really shows how the branch comes in and draws the eye in and makes the nest look deeper. The branches in the back, then look bigger and more textured because of this. So I am very happy with how it has turned out and the overall effect that I have managed to create as it has been a real struggle to produce, not one set, but two. So this is something I think I have done well to combat and have taken the challenge.