Industry Roles Continued
Props and Set Designer:
Over the summer I attended a lot of The BFI Southbank Stop Motion season events which helped me start to think about my possible place in the industry. It was very interesting to hear about all of the different processes involved in making Stop Motion Feature Films and the hours of work it takes.
My photographs from the BFI Stop Motion Season talks and events
The Laika Frame X Frame exhibition was very inspiring. I loved seeing all of the props and puppets, as well as watching the behind the scenes processes. I went three times and discovered something new each time. I particularly loved looking at the miniature props in the draws. Every single piece was highly decorated and I liked how you could still see the makers marks. It would be amazing to know that something you had made, no matter how small, had ended up in the final film. These are often the Easter Eggs that animation fans look out for, referencing previous productions the company has made, or shedding more light on the characters. It is such an important part of the world building that I feel is sometimes undervalued. When I am watching an animation I am often drawn to all of the small details first!
I found it a bit harder to find a clear career path into prop making and set design. I need to so some more research over the Christmas holiday.
My photographs from The Laika Frame X Frame Exhibition, including close ups of props and set design.
I also enjoyed The Barbie Exhibition at The Design Museum and looking at all of the props and accessories over the years. Those were the parts that I used to love playing with the most.
My photographs from The Barbie Exhibition at The Design Museum.
Puppet Maker:
I love creating puppets and models, but I struggle to make the same thing twice. I think that this wouldn’t be such a problem if I was working on my own film, but if I was working for someone else I would feel less confident. However, a lot of it is about practice.
I attended an online weekend puppet making workshop, led by Jen Kidd from ‘Scale Model Studios’ in London. This was very helpful as it showed me that I don’t think I want to specialise in puppet making. It is such a precise job that requires a lot of skill and accuracy to make multiple pieces that are exactly the same. You also have to be quick and I know that I would be quite slow!
However, I would still like to explore this route and I am researching puppet making companies such as Arch Model Studio and Puppets Magic Studio.
Work from the two day puppet making course. Making puppets is a very time consuming job, no-one was able to finish their puppet in the allocated time! The most helpful thing from this course was learning how to use KNS and because there was not much time, there was no time to think, which was very refreshing for me.