Some of the rework that was needed on the lion characters involved drilling eye sockets, as the eyes were protruding too much. This meant taking off the clay - again. I hadn't put cling-film on the heads, so the clay could be pressed firmer and thinner onto the spheres. I also added a few wire spikes to hold the mouths on more securely. As I had to drill holes for these it was useful to have the clay removed.

 

 

 

The hot-glue head for the buffalo has been connected using wire and glue.

 

Before I started to add clay to the buffalo I drilled holes in the base for the leg armatures

 

I covered the buffalo in clay by applying small flattened pieces until they eventually covered the entire surface. This resulted in a strange but interesting, though usable, texture.

 

 

In the images above I was attempting some overhead shots to capture a bird (clay) in flight. The idea was to place a green screen - on the floor in this case. Then a pane of glass is placed above this, to lay the clay figure on. I kept about 250mm between the screen and the glass. Then the camera is placed above this - around 400mm above the glass. With equipment being scarce I used two lengths of 2" x 1" timber to support the glass and a 6' spirit level across two chairs to support the camera. I have one of them 'spider' tripods with the bendable legs, so it could be wrapped around the level.After blocking the natural light from the window I lit the green screen with a lamp. After several attempts from different angles, I couldn't get a shot that didn't have light reflecting on the glass ay some point. It was also impossible to avoid the reflection of the camera.

 

I also discovered that my camera has some dust inside the lens - just what I need.

 

 

I had to make a frame to hold the green screen (Chroma paper)

 

I secured the paper to the frame with duct tape

 

The 'stage' consists of a piece of plywood laid across two chairs - necessity is the mother of invention here.

 

 

Just seeing how the grass might look

 

The buffalo character is finished, the ruler indicates the scale of it. It's really too big as now all the sets will have to be big to match it. I made the characters big, thinking it would be easier to manipulate their mouths, as there is a lot of dialogue, not realising that this would effect everything else. It also looks a bit better than the original poster buffalo - which looked a bit like a black bull.

 

 

The lions still are almost finished, I still have to make their mouths, but I wanted to see how they looked alongside the buffalo.

 

 

I spent several hours trying to organise lighting for some test shots. It can be fairly frustrating when you don't have the right equipment. Ideally I should have an overhead rail with at least one movable light, and a light at each side on adjustable stands. I could set these up, but not within this timeframe.

 

 

It took several attempts to try and reproduce the angle that Leroy would be looking at the buffalo from.

 

My natural light source is a Velux roof window. You can get blinds for them but they're very expensive. I use a piece of cardboard folded to the right size but removing and replacing it twenty or more times a day is annoying. I think I'll start saving for a blind.

 

 

I had to remove one of the fitted ceiling spotlights and fix it to a length of wood which was then secured to the green screen frame. This was the only way I could get the direction of overhead light that I wanted for the buffalo shots. (another half day lost)

 

I also had problems with the camera tripod moving. Luckily I had a few bags of sand lying around that were destined for the kids sandpit.

 

 

Building the set for the over-shoulder shot from behind the lionesses and establishing the landscape where Leroy is hiding in the long grass.

 

This took a lot of time just for one shot

 

After making an arch out of foam I gradually added twigs

 

This is pretty much the shot I had envisaged at the storyboard stage.

 

I took a few shots from the opposite side to see if this set would work for the next shot - when the lionesses are talking to each other. I don't think so.

 

 The opening shot has the camera tracking through the long grass, eventually thinning out to reveal the establishing shot of the second landscape - the clearing where the lionesses and cubs are. I'm hoping I can make this method work in after effects. They say you should never work with children or animals, I'd like to add grass to that list. I spend more time clearing bits of grass off everything than I can spare.

 

I experimented with shooting the flying bird sequence without using a glass pane. I set the camera up over the green screen and placed the clay figure directly onto the paper. I fixed some grass into a piece of foam and suspended it across two plastic bowls, so that the bird could start it's flight path from underneath (behind) the grass. I'll post the result when I get time to do some editing. I will be using this method for some other shots, where characters, or parts of characters (exploding buffalo), need to be airborne. There is a problem with using this method in that the paper gets traces of clay on it, I suppose that's the reason for the glass pane. I'll have to do a bit more research into how the professionals do this.

 

After deciding to build a new set for the 'lionesses talking' scene. They are relaxing in the shade of some trees. I had planned to use moss over chicken wire but the size of the figures meant that this looked too fake. I began by placing two pieces of aeroboard side by side and taping them together. I then started adding twigs that I had gathered from the garden, gradually building up a semi-circular shape.

 

Having the green screen behind this set allows me to add a background afterwards. It required several trips to gather enough twigs to create the right density of foliage.

 

You can see from this image that the sets have to be fairly big. I used some crumpled up brown paper for the ground and then added some stones that I'd gathered from the garden. God knows what I'd do if I lived in a flat.

 

When I was finished I placed the figures where they will be to gauge to scale. Now I just have to wait for some spare time to shoot this scene, hopefully before the leaves on the twigs start to decay, usually about a day, otherwise I might have to do it all again - great.