This is a bunch of test shots we have done, some just to see how well the characters animate and to test their mobility, and others to test out actual shots for the film. Also to test out camera angles and lighting tests.

We have completely finished our final puppets and set!

For the lighting we decided to have one large light covered with an orange and red gels covering it to give a low level dark orange wash to the scene. This gives the set a warm glow that emphasises the firelight. We also have two small spotlights that we can use to pick out the characters and counter the intensity of the orange on the characters, making them more visible. We also have a desk lamp that shines through the hole in the fireplace to give the illusion of flames. When filming we move the bendy wire of the desk lamp slightly to give the effect of a flickering fire.

This is the final look of our characters. We have kept the costumes quite minimalistic and simple, enough to give indication to their characters yet simple enough to give us the mobility needed to animate. The colours are kept to suit the aesthetics of the rest of the set, so kept as shades of brown earthy tones as to not clash too much with their background. We used an old shirt that had been tea dyed for the Hare’s gown and the Fox’s shirt. The trousers from an old pair of brown trousers tailored to the Fox and his tail. For the Fox’s braces we used seamed edges of a brown piece of cloth and sewed it to the trousers of the Fox to keep them in place. We also used pins for the buttons of the shirt to hold it all together, also to ensure that we can take it off easily in case the arms fall off again.

We have completely finished developing our sets and armatures and have started the production and filming of our film.

The set walls have been painted beige with streaks going down to fit into the rest of the set as our props are all dark furniture and we didn’t want them to blend in too much, and also to make sure they were given a run-down aesthetic.

The walls are removable, we have glued separate pieces of scrap woods to the edges and have then screwed (the walls) together. This will allow us to easily remove them as they are held together with some tie downs. We will then have better access to various camera angles and will give us an easier way to film around the set without any hassle.

We also have a tracking shot of the hallway which will be our opening scene and it has portraits of our characters growing old together to establish their relationship. These portraits have been painted by hand using gouache paints and framed using the foam boards which have been painted a dark brown to fit in with the rest of the furniture. We have also added a door which is only seen slightly in shot when the Fox walks through the door into the Hare’s bedroom.

The fire place has been put together using foam boards as the mantle; painted dark brown again to fit the rest of the furniture (and dry brushed with a lighter brown to make it stand out on camera. We have also used twisted wires to hold up the tea kettle that will be over the fire. We also carved firewood out of styrofoam and painted it brown and black to look slightly charred. To create the illusion of a fire, we have cut up pieces of coloured acetate; yellow, orange and red. We have also cut a small hole in the wall where the fireplace will be as we have a small desk lamp to shine some light on the “fire” and reflect off of the colours. The fire place is separate from the walls, as we want to have some shots from behind the fireplace.

The tea cups and kettle are made from milliput and the handle was made using wire. We then painted them.

The chairs have now been covered with a red velvet material, and to make sure that no light would reflect off of them we decided to make it appear more worn out and rustic by using pastels and watered down black and brown paint. We also did the same with the curtains that we then gathered and glued to the wall using a hot glue gun. We also decided to do the same with the tea cups and plate as they were too bright. As well as adding a book as a prop for the Fox to read while he is looking after the Hare.

In addition, we did the same with the bed, the pillows, the duvet, the blanket and the Hare’s gown. We had to “dirty” it and stain it a bit using tea to make sure the materials weren’t too bright and so that no light would reflect off of it.

We also added shading around the eyes of the hare to make them appear a lot older and to add more definition.

As well as finishing the Hare, we had made progress with completing the Fox as well. We used the same methods as the Hare in terms of “fur”, as we had to do separate colours for the Fox using white and orange. We had experimented with the colouring, using pastels and paint, we had decided to go for the pastels as it made the Fox look less menacing and added a much softer tone to his appearance, making him look more innocent so that it would become more of an unexpected shock to the audience when the Fox attacks the Hare towards the end of the film.

1- wool with paint
2- wool with pastels

For the hands we decided to use felt wrapped around wire. as for the feet we shaped them out of styrofoam and used milliput as a base underneath it to make sure the characters would hold up on their own as it also adds weight and stability. We painted them and also added “fur”. We also added magnets into the milliput so that the characters would stick to the magnetic table. However, this was unsuccessful as they aren’t that strong and don’t hold our characters up too well, therefore resulted in us using blue tack and masking tape to hold them in place instead. The Fox was slightly out of balance so we created a rig for it out of wire that would sit around his waist and the end would be blue tacked to the floor behind his leg or at least out of shot.

However, we have encountered some trouble with the armatures, especially with the Fox. One of the arms fell off from the shoulder and then snapped at the wire joint, however we were able to find a quick and reliable solution by using milliput to hold the arm in place a lot stronger.