Production...

The place that I am working in is an old staircase which is blocked off at the top. There is a landing half way up so the stairs continue in the other direction. I am mostly working on the landing though because of where it is blocked off there's not quite enough room to stand, so I have to crouch or sit. I'm OK at negotiating small spaces so the lack of vertical space isn't too much of a problem.

Good things about the space:

• It has the perfect look, cracked walls, chipped paint & dirt.
• The stairs themselves are handy for standing small lights etc.
• It's cold in there but is a small space so it heats up quickly with the help of a small, portable radiator.

Problems:

• The wooden floor is to hard to get the pins in for pinning models etc.
• It is a bit cramped.
• There's no power points so I have to run an extension lead in there for power.

Not being able to pin the models has been the most inconvenient thing about the shoot. I've had to use very close shots so that I can actually hold or gaffa tape the models out of shot. I've even had to use bluetack in places! I have considered changing Elizabeth's feet so that they have short spikes built into the bottom as the pin-wheel seemed to have spikes of the right depth to go into the floor. It seemed like a lot of effort to go to though when I might only use them for 1 scene. It's been very hard to fix anything to the floor though, so the final scene will have to be set up carefully to avoid any of the models 'floating' around.

Production images...

First and only 'teaser' video.

I'm not going to keep updating this blog with bits of animation but I will throw this out there. It was just a test to see how the creature would function and how the set looked but I think it acts as a nice teaser for the final animation:

LINK

Progress, progress progress...

For the last 2 months I have been looking for a good place to film and have been making lots of props and creatures. I scaled back on my initial narrative-based idea as my location is too small for a set. I have focussed on the characters and their nuances in the hope that they will help to convey the themes within the song.

I have kept the main sources of inspiration that I took from the song. The clinical setting, violation, desperate anticipation, sexuality, vileness & impending uncertainty.

Clinical setting
I had planned on the whole animation being staged in a corridor much like This. However, due to the size of the models that I am using I would need to make a set that was about 6 feet long, as the doors would have to open into rooms I would require depth beyond just the focal length of the camera. I still clung to the idea of a corridor right until the last possible minute when I had to concede defeat and admit that I couldn't find a location that could accommodate that scale of production. Instead I concentrated on finding props and adding a clinical feel to the characters. The Spider (Neith) and the caterpillar (Morag) are wrapped in bandages. Elizabeth has a hospital gown. I found an old syringe (originally used for culinary purposes but looks medical), forceps and a pin wheel (used for measuring sensory perception). Hopefully this will give an institutional feel.

Violation & Sexuality.
The creature that I made from fox bones & various other bones is to have a long tongue made from meat (possibly a bit of steak). The connotations are obvious so I don't feel I have to offer an explanation for that. I'm building up to animating that scene and it will probably be the last bit that I animate as it will be messy and expressive. I need to mentally prepare for it.

Vileness
Elizabeth will be bleeding through her hospital gown and will have hooks attached to her wooden body which are in turn attached to her burden. The 'set' is old and stained, with cracks in the walls and peeling paint. I will be using meat. There are worms depicted on one of the clock-faces. The bones that I have used have been painted so that they look aged and decrepit. I also have some beetles that will scurry around.

Desperate anticipation and impending uncertainty
There will be some very obvious devices used to convey a sense of passing time. Clocks and a sand-timer. The pace of the animation will increase as the 'event' nears, this gives Elizabeth a chance to express her desperation during the final third of the track. The outro is about 1:30 which I think is a good amount of time to unleash the visual action. As the outro is repetitive the viewer will have the chance to fully appreciate any visuals without much narrative suggestion coming from the lyrics.