How does someone decide to create a stop motion animation all alone from scratch? Well I guess when you have no idea what goes through the process of a stop motion animation, its easy to make this decision.
In the second semester of my first year at uni, I developed a huge obsession over stop motion movies and I thought to myself, hey, why not make one by myself?
This is how I entered the huge whirlwind that is stop motion. I entered head first, not knowing a thing about it.
Thank god about this guy who no matter how many questions I would ask per second, he would always help me and take his time to show me the tips and tricks of the trade.
It was a great adventure and it required to come out of my comfort zone on a daily basis. But looking back to those hours spent in the 3D workshop building rooms and the animation studio where the puppets were coming to life in my hands, it was totally worth it.
The planning
The first step of the journey was read this big pile of stop motion books.
Then once I got a basic idea of how things are made, I started sketching my characters.
The story that I was going to use for the storyboard was quite grim, but I wanted the puppets to carry a sense of humor, so I can avoid the story from becoming too dark.
Sketching the storyboard was quite fun and I felt like one of those guys in the big studios.
Its all fun and laughs, but one always comes to the puppet making.
The puppet making
Thats when the real deal happens. Julian gave me a basic sketch of the puppet anatomy and I started building.
But before I created anything, I had to experiment with the materials.
I went crazy in the one pound shop and bought some "extras" like this fiery hairstyle for my girl.
You see the eyes? These are knife shaved headache pills.
Who knows how many wolves videos I watched. At the end, the head still looks like a crocodile's.
Trying different hairstyles. This one is too cute and neat for the main character.
Adding the stuffing from dish sponges bought at the pound shop.
The fashion moments
A real private diva moment! I got to design the clothes of the girl!
At first she looked like a fashion icon, but the I remembered the setting is a cold winter night, and she should be dressed appropriately.
She got a new set of eyes that Julian got for me, which can turn in different directions.
And a new latex skin layer, which was a fail, because by the time I started shooting, she was all wrinkled and looked like a grandma more than a little girl.
The hairy wolf is stealing the spotlight.
And then some action.
Have you seen a werewolf with a bra? I guess now you have.
The prop making
This is when I had to learn how to drill, cut and glue wood.
Luckily the 3D technician was there to help me, otherwise I would still be at this stage.
How about a wooden floor from ice cream sticks?
Designing the bedroom was so much fun! I made the bed from laser cut wood and I even sewed a little quilt.
I assumed werewolf really like birds, so I put some in the room.
And for the dining room I made little Bavarian chairs with the laser cutter.
And biscuits from foam paper.
I also painted an icon as the centre of the room. I like how religion and magic mix together.
Just having a casual chat with grandma.
For the intro shot, I created a laser cut forest and a little cottage house for the girl.
It was a blast having to search for the perfect materials. The roof is made from the inside of a big cardboard box.
I even designed the shapes of the trees.
But those trees were a bit more difficult to make.
I could use real tree twigs, but for some reason I decided to make my life difficult and create the trees from scratch.
I covered the wood sticks with aluminium foil to get the gritty texture of the tree skin.
And covered all that in plaster.
A mandatory shot with the model.
A creepy one.
And then paint everything black.
I added some snow with stretched cotton balls.
The filming
If making the props was challenging, the filming was a whole new world for me. I had to learn how to use the software (Dragonframe),
how to make the puppet move naturally (I didn't always succeed)
how to set the camera
And adjust the light. I used transparent color plastic paper on top of the lamps, to adjust the temperature of the shots.
Any resemblance is completely accidental.
