Let the concept art begin!!

I am just starting the character design for my film. I thought I had a character ready but after studying it more I need to re-design his head as it's not too suitable for a stop motion puppet.

These are just quick fiddles

Animatic and much needed help

I have pretty much finished my animatic. I'm just stuck on the very end. I could really do with some help from people. Let me know what you think and any constructive criticism would be most appreciated. Also please note that I was not going for the best illustrations ever in the animatic, I know there awful!

Rough Animatic from ben whitehouse on Vimeo.

Hair

Last night I had a quick play around with how I can do the hair for my main character. I tried to do it like I have drawn in the concept art but couldn't get what I wanted. I will just have to wait until I have finished the character design and play about more. At least I know to try and keep it simple when it comes to the design.

Foam latex

After days and days of researching which foam latex to buy and the whole process of doing it, I have finally ordered myself some Polyurethane Flexible Expanding Foam. I have opted for this as it is self setting (Cold foam) where as the most commonly used foam latex's need baking and I do not have the facility to do this. I have also ordered some plaster for the mold making. Things are going to start getting messy!

I have also ordered Kathi Zung's "Do It Yourself! Foam Latex Puppetmaking 101" DVD (Found here)
This will probably take a while to get to me, maybe even after I have finished the puppet fabrication but it will still be very useful.

Rough animatic

Heres a really rough animatic for the first half of the film. The timing needs tweaking and the angles changing a bit, I'll get there eventually...hopefully

concept art

Here's an illustration I did to help me visualize the mood and setting of the film. I am very pleased with how this came out and it will help when design the rest of the film.

Click to see full resolution

Phoenix From Flames

'Phoenix From Flames'


A short film about a boy who is woken up by a bright light at his window. the light disappears in to a forest. The boy grabs his camera and follows in pursuit of the mysterious light. After a few close encounters and failed pictures he finally catches up with the light.

New idea summary

After talking about my first idea, I found that it was going to be quite complicated to do within the time we have. I have given myself a set amount of sets and characters too have in my film to enable me too spend time on them and make them look as professional as possible. At first I looked at adapting a children's story but after a lot of looking and reading, I couldn't find anything that would stick to my set criteria.

After talking with one of my class mates, he suggested I turned one of my songs in to an animation. This sparked a light in my head and I instantly thought of a song I wrote in 2004 called 'Phoenix from flames' The song was written for my grandad who taught me all about birds and got me into ornithology and wildlife. This film will also be dedicated to him as he sadly passed away in april 2007. The song can be heard HERE
The lyrics are:

" A walk in the woods should be easier than this, but were on a mission to find the phoenix, I'm armed with the secret of where it may be. You've got the camera, the films loaded and read.

Chorus= Please rise from the ashes and become those beautiful flames and show us how its done and burn the fear in our eyes or we'll fade out to black out again.

When we get there too that secret place we found that someone was watching whispering our names. and there it was down by the creak in betweeen the dark old oak trees, a grave of ashes. Letting the pattern repeat.

Chorus= Please rise from the ashes and become those beautiful flames and show us how its done and burn the fear in our eyes or we'll fade out to black out again.

So take out camera and get in frame. And keep that trigger finger ready cus it's time for our phoenix to rise from it's flames.
And we've seen it with our own eyes, they say that cameras dont lie. Please let the development go alright so our picture will turn out just fine "

The lyrics seem a bit cheesy and inconsistent looking back at them after five years have passed but I feel there is a good idea in there.

I have turned this into a story called 'Phoenix from flames' Slightly based from my song. It wont be an animated music video but a short film.

Aim

My aim is to make a children's stop motion animation. The film will be based on song written by me over four years ago. The film will be titled ’Phoenix from flames’

The animation will be fun and exciting. The target audience will be aimed at children aged 4-10.

As stop motion is my specialized study I will get to put all of my knowledge into practice and also try to utilize it accordingly.

I will also send clips of the film as it’s being shot, to professional stop motion animators to get their opinion and critic. These contacts will also be used for research as well as using the stop motion community on the Internet.

I am doing a children’s story, as there is more work for stop motion in children’s television than film. A strategic method.
Also this story has no speaking parts in so it could easily be viewed in all countries.


I will try to achieve the look of the film to have professional sets and puppets with the limited resources I have and will be unique and fairly stylised.