Soldering Armatures

Earlier in the mouth I got to try out soldering a ball and socket armature. Using the armature parts from AnimationToolkit I cleaned them all up with nail polish remover to remove the dirt and grease so they can fuse together perfectly. Using the silver solder and flux kit and a chefs gas torch I started heating up and soldering away

It took me a just under 3 hours to compete the full Armature, I found soldering the ball and bar sections to be relatively easy. The joint sections took a longer time to heat up and a bit tricky to apply the solder to at times. The most tricky parts I found for me were the feet plates because of the size and shape of them. 

Once all the parts were soldered together I cleaned them up in vinegar to get the burnt scorch marks off and built up the armature itself. I have to say that soldering an armature is brilliant it feels so solid and much more professional, I will be doing this with all my armatures from now on and I cannot wait to get animating this fella!! 

Piper screenings

Good news! My graduation film The Piper has been selected to play at 2 screening events in March. 

The first screening is overseas at the Montreal Nuit Blanche on the 1st of march 1st. This is a one off screening of selected highlights from the Stop MoMontreal festival, that The Piper was screen at last October. More information on this festival check out the site here! 

The second screening is the 2014 Animation Showcase Chester International Film Festival on 6-15 of March. This is the first time that the Chester International Festival has had an animation section and I’m very proud to be apart of it! For More information on this festival check out the site here! 

If you get a chance to go to any of these events and see The Piper please do get in-touch as I would love to here your feedback. 

Working on Compost Corner

Over the last 2 years I have been lucky enough to do 3 weeks’ worth of work at CITV working on the Stop Motion Shorts Compost Corner. If you have not seen Compost Corner before check some out below.

TWEET ME from weswood on Vimeo.

CONKER DASH from weswood on Vimeo.
Compost Corner - 'Speed Date' from weswood on Vimeo.
INCY WINCY CLAUDE from weswood on Vimeo.
DO THE WORM from weswood on Vimeo.
BIRD TABLE TFOR TWO from weswood on Vimeo.

I’ve worked on the shorts for a week at a time over 3 sets of 12, 30 second episodes, in the May - November of 2012 and in the November of 2013. My main job role was making the new props for the episodes, this can be anything from making conkers, snails eyestalks, bunches of cherries, corn on the cob and even a Chinese style gong. I also helped out with the setting up of the new shots, set dressing, placing props to look the best on camera and assisting the animator with shots when I'm needed.

Behind the scenes photos of what I got up to taken by myself. 

In the last year Compost Corner has been nominated for a BAFTA, screened at the Bradford Animation festival and most recently nominated for not one but two British Animation Awards known as the BAA's. I'd like to say now a big thank you the Wes for letting me be a very small part of it all and a massive congrats to him and all the team involved, it grate to see a small production getting recognised and I have my fingers crossed for you!

The second time I was at CITV I was asked to animate a little short for them called Roswell. This was for a workshop they did with a bunch of kids where they spent the day creating a storyboard for a short story. The puppet, props, and set had already been made and was all set up for animating. I spent the afternoon animating the puppet on set with a green screen background, although I had to follow the storyboards I was allowed to come up with my own ideas within the boundaries.

Once I finished animating I gave the image files to the CG guys and in 3 mouth I got sent over the final file with grate 3D FX and brilliant sound FX added the just brings it all to life. Check out the final Roswell below and as all ways your comments and feedback are very welcome.