Audi Stop-motion Commercial

I've been meaning to archive this project for some time. These are stills from an online stop motion advertisement created for the car company Audi, in conjunction with 'Claynation' animator Max Martin. My job was to design and create the sets and fully articulated puppets involved. The time scale for completion was fairly quick meaning there where a lot of evenings spent over mount board, but overall incredibly fun due to the free reign over the art style. Max did a great job animating as you can see in the finished video, available to watch here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AKOA3NRQ1c

Game Of Thrones Inspired Comic

Pistol Shrimp Cover

This was an EP cover design for the digital music artist 'Pistol Shrimp' which was released on i-tunes. The design incorporates circuitry within a heart shape playing on the theme of the track Cyborg. The artist logo is a custom made font created especially for use on this cover.

First Ever GIF!

As a little experiment to get back into animation I thought I would attempt making my first ever GIF. The images where created individually in a vector program and then sequenced to form a simple loop.

Goat Puppets

Earlier in the year I was tasked by St Mary's theater group to design and make a pair of life size goat puppets, to be used for the lonely goat herd scene in a production of The Sound Of Music (pictured above in rehearsals). The budget was incredibly tight which was a bit of a challenge, so apart from the exterior material everything was created out of re-cycled material. The scene involved a lot of choreography so the rods where attached to the frame rather than limbs so as to be simply operated. The limbs where pleated at the joints to still retain the illusion of movement. 

Kasa-obake

Recently came across an interesting Japanese folk lore. Kasa-obake is the name given to old and used umbrellas that after time become haunted by spirits! I thought I would have a go at creating my own version for today's post.

Vector Art

Midday Doodle "Out on a limb"

Boxtrolls

 Finally managed to get around to watching the latest Laika stop-motion film Boxtrolls. Not only is it a brilliantly crafted film but it got me thinking about the medium and the sheer amount of effort involved. The amount of planningt is enormous, from props to lighting to direction. There is a seemingly endless list. It's for this reason I have the utmost respect for people working in this medium (a medium I hope to one-day further work in).

When you look at the incredibly detailed backgrounds and props, that aren't even the focus of the shot you realise that it is a labour of love and that people choose to keep the stop-motion process alive not because it's easy but because it's challenging, yet all the more rewarding.

There is a great scene at the end of the credits shown below which throws into focus the brilliant and often absurd nature of choosing to animate in stop-motion.

Scotness Monster

A friend of mine has recently moved to Inverness in the highlands of Scotland, and as a leaving present I've been diligently sewing for what seems to be (quite literally) an age and made her a "Scotness Monster".

Full credit for the template go's to the people at
http://www.welivedhappilyeverafter.com/2013/11/lochnessmonsterstuffedanimal.html
There are many other great ideas on there which I would highly recommend.

The scale is reduced to 50% of the original.

Hopefully it will go down well and for future reference, I shall be promptly investing in a sewing machine!