engineering & auspices
Hope you all had a happy new year! It’s been a while between updates, something that we’re looking to change in twentyseventeen, but rest assured we’ve been busy in these last few months.
Building The Rig
One of the most exciting things has been the construction of our animation rig. Turning our plans into a functioning contraption has been a bit of an engineering challenge, but the resulting rig is even bigger and better than originally planned. It’s huge, standing 9 feet tall, and has five adjustable layers. Turns out there’s not a lot of information on how to build one of these things, so we had to figure out our own solutions along the way. Happily we have Brett Knott, lighting and rigging wizard, on our team. He loves a challenge, and can engineer a solution to any kind of rig.
Here’s a few quick snaps of the construction – and if anyone has detailed questions don’t hesitate to shoot through a message, I’m more than happy to share our hard won knowledge!
speed-rail connectors // brett puzzling out the math // all the pipes
We built the whole frame from ‘speed-rail’, an aluminium pipe and joint system that can be easily assembled with an allen key. We cut all it all with a pipe-cutter blade instead of a saw, for a nice smooth finish. We wanted this to be a joy to work with, no jagged edges.
pipe-cutter at work // silver nail polish takes a beating // first test assembly
Getting the math right took some time. Measure twice, cut once! And as everyone knows, it’s important that your nail polish matches your materials.
to-done list // installed in the studio, awaiting glass // not-so-secret plans
As you can see, it’s not small! While it stands 9 feet tall, we designed it to easily pack down and fit in the back of a car. The glass sits on the cross bars, and the height of each layer can be independently adjusted. Turns out for this kind of thing you need some very fancy ‘starfire’ glass, which takes a while to order in. It has to be tempered so that it’s strong, and low-iron, so that when you shoot through multiple layers it doesn’t make everything look green.
Controlling The Camera
The camera is going to be mounted at the top of the rig, pointed downward. It’s attached to a motion control slider, made by Ditogear, that allows us to program in the camera move in advance and it then advances automatically frame by frame as we animate. This amazing technology is going to speed up shooting significantly, and is the kind of thing made possible by the generosity of our backers. Thanks to our animator Josh for pointing us in the direction of this excellent piece of equipment.
Storyboard Revisions
As mentioned in the last update, one of my previous films was recently invited to the Animasyros animation festival in the Greek islands. The festival is amazing, well worth the trip. We were treated incredibly well, watched an endless parade of films, and were seduced by the magical island of Syros. I came back fired up from being surrounded by all that weird and wonderful animation, from every corner of the globe. Taking advantage of that inspiration, I’ve reworked our storyboards, solving several clunky moments that I’d been stuck on, and bringing a bit more strangeness to our interpretation.
storyboards on the studio walls & kim and I attending animasyros
As mentioned in the last update, one of my previous films was recently invited to the Animasyros animation festival in the Greek islands. The festival is amazing, well worth the trip. We were treated incredibly well, watched an endless parade of films, and were seduced by the magical island of Syros. I came back fired up from being surrounded by all that weird and wonderful animation, from every corner of the globe. Taking advantage of that inspiration, I’ve reworked our storyboards, solving several clunky moments that I’d been stuck on, and bringing a bit more strangeness to our interpretation.
Amanda Palmer Video
In tangentially related news, Kim Boekbinder and myself co-directed a music video for Amanda Palmer’s latest album. Full of art friends and family, chaos and dreams, it was shot in one long summer night ending with the rising sun. While Neil himself didn’t make it in, the film features baby Ash and a cameo from Maddy!
Let’s Have More Updates!
Moving forward into the new year, we intend to step up our game when it comes to keeping backers updated. We’ll be firing off an update at the end of each month, even if it’s just a quick hello and report on the state of play.
A Small Piece Of Iona
On new year’s day, my father showed me this beautiful stone that he had collected on the shores of Iona while visiting some years ago. Holding a small piece of the island itself, gazing at the layered depths within even this small pebble, felt like an auspicious start to the year.
magic