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...You see, didn't I just say recently that I know there's a way to make stopmo films that's easier than what I'm doing and looks better? Well here it is! And this guy is a complete newbie... he's been into stopmo for a few months! Makes me want to just quit. He whipped this up the other day because he "just wanted to animate something". Bastard. I'm stuck in realistic mode.... I labored so long and hard on Buster, and I tried to make him really cartoony looking... I thought he WAS.... but looking at him now compared to Nola, he's realistic with the proportions somewhat altered. That's all. The animation I've done with him isn't funny, it isn't all that entertaining. And it was a lot of damn hard work! ....And just wait till you see what I'm getting ready to tackle next!
Silicone research
I've been looking into ways to make the bodies for the Radke puppets, and I've settled on silicone. Hey, if it's good enough for Corpse Bride.....
There are a lot of great special effects silicones and products to alter them for making prosthetics and puppet skins, but it's a bewildering maze trying to figure it all out. There are weird lapses of key information on all the websites... you almost have to be involved in special effects to get an "in". But I did some mind-numbing research (and my secret weapon was Toxic Papa Ralph Cordero at the Scululptor's Forum, who has forgotten more about silicones than most people will ever know) and what I'm leaning toward now is Dragonskin with Dick Smith's Theatrical Deadener added, which reduces the viscosity to a soft gel. This stuff was designed to impart a realistic (there's that word agian!) fleshlike consistency to silicone... in fact it's used for medical prosthetics as well as makeup effects. The way it works is kind of like silly-cone boobs.... you make a skin of slightly softened rubber and inside that you fill with super-softened stuff. It creates a skin that moves like real flesh, it doesn't wrinkle too much the way foam latex tends to do. And Dragon Skin is a lot easier to work with than foam latex, no precise measuring and scientific foaming schedules... you just eyeball it and measure out equal amounts.
I won't bore you with technical details... if anyone is interested I've detailed most of my research on this thread.
Grant Cross Gallery
Here's my latest discovery, which I stumbled across in my silicone research quest, believe it or not! Grant Stockton Cross is a California artist who draws and paints these crazy little things he calles Hobnobs. He's got loads of 'em, and they're AWESOME!! Very much in the same vein as Scott Radke. Man, would I love to have this guy do some concept art and then turn it into animation!
13 comments:
:blush: :D
Thanks man, really....I never thought I'd be so honored to have someone hate me ;)
But let me just say, you ain't seen nothin' yet...
And don't be so hard on poor little Buster...I actually think Nola is a little TOO cartoony, given the realistic nature of the sets that I've built so far and now the new Jenny...was going to make her a little more like Buster, maybe even with a solid head and replacement mouths to go with her replacement eyes...will deal with that after Jenny's done...
Hey Mike,
thanks for the post on the Hobnob site. I really love the character design sense there. Interesting that a lot of his other stuff is on his main site is really into the heavy metal sensibility.
PS it doesn't seem like we can leave comments on some of your later posts? Its that turned off somehow?
Jeffrey, I'm glad you understood. I know you've been through the art school thing, and I was sure you'd recognize the highest praise one student can bestow on another! I wrote all this a few days ago, when I was really conflicted about whether to finish the Buster movie or move ahead, and I was frozen in angst (but I hoped my joking tone would come across). Nick said something that freed me... something ike "You've done a good running demo, does it need to be anything more?"... and I realized it doesn't. So now I feel better again. But I still hate you man! ; )
Mark, it's the way I posted this stuff. It looks like three different posts, but it's all really just one, divided into three sections. Things are a bit strange right now because I had originally written all that to post on my "old" blog, but couldn't connect through my FTP, so I just stuck it in here. I had to re-work a lot of code first, and just sort of plopped it all down. It should get better after this, and I might even actually find a picture host site!
Hey, I wanna hate Jeffrey too! Can we form an "I hate Jeffrey Roche" club? I'll bet if we're real mean to him, he might even make us limited-edition wood-cut membership pins.
Maybe we can silk-screen some T-shirts: "death too good for Jeffrey Roche". And we can cannibalize the whole "who shot J.R.?" thang from the 80s -- retro is very in, yeah?
We shall burn him in effigy. Cast him into the volcano. And not share any of our cookies.
Why? Because... Jeffrey Roche: He's a bad, bad, bad, bad man.
;-)
(And don't even get me started on this STRIDER dude who I keep reading about...!!!)
......but........cookies....
I don't mind the fire so much, volcano either, but.....cookies...
...screw you guys, I'm going home....
:P
*sppllft!!*
(Hey, these cookies have anchovies in them! Phew... Good thing we didn't give any to Jeffrey, eh? That'd just be mean.)
It's right to HATE Jeffery Roche. He clearly has the natural talent and wit to make entertaining films. Blech bla bechk. Plus, he's really nice! This is toooo much.
Let's not harm him tho, let's lock him in a comfortable studio and force him to create animations.
That'll teach 'em!
can I have cookies tho?
Strider, In all seriousness, hee, I think we, who tend to think a lot about everything, can often get snagged and awfully tangled in the minutia of a project. I know I sure do! It's is the joy of doing, like Jefferys', that gives the most reward. Could action, without much hesitation, be the secret?
Well, (since ya hadda go an' get all SERIOUS on us!) I think it's like I mentioned, he's just messing around, doing the fun stuff, which is always easier. Like my ahab tests etc. The big diff is that now I'm at a point where I'm pushing to reach more serious levels. You have to do both I think, unless you're just gonna be playing and don't plan to go farther.
Earlier I mentioned just making pointless Youtube style "videos" (as opposed to movies). I want to do some of that stuff now and then in between the more brain-pounding projects.
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