Category Archives: Studio

Working with the Seasons

This past weekend, my mom and her partner, John, came by to insulate the garage / studio where I’m doing all this work on the film.  The studio walls are insulated, but the garage door wasn’t — it had huge gaps all around its edges, and the door itself is very thin.  I noticed during the summer that, at a certain time of day when the sun hits it, the door acts as a heater.  It’s painted black on the outside, and since it’s so poorly insulated, the heat just pours right through it.

Soon, it’ll be winter.  I’m a little excited to think of how well the type of work I’m doing is fitting in with the change of seasons, and how it will feel to be in a dark room animating while it’s cold and snowy outside.  Spring and summer were for building and creating things, coming up with ideas and designs, and growing the film.   Now it’s fall, the air is getting chilly, and it seems like time to withdraw into a (hopefully) warm cocoon.

Mom & John with work in progress, then the final curtain.

First, the 2x4s and fibreglass go up…  The last of the door windows is closed in… and then the whole thing is covered by plastic, tape, and finally a heavy purple curtain.  What’s behind the curtain — no wizard, just these pink guts of glass…

I put up the newly framed James Jean poster in the corner of the studio, for inspiration.  The image even has cabbages in it!  I saw him give a talk with Paul Pope at a Beguiling-sponsored comic event last year.  (Beguiling is a popular local comic store…  here is the poster, close up.)  Love his work.

Yesterday was the first day in the studio since the garage wall has been insulated…  what a difference!  Not that it’s that cold yet, but the soundproofing provided by that 6″ thick, R20 candy floss is pretty amazing.  The space is totally cocoon-like now.  Ready for winter…  almost ready for shooting, too.

Some Mysterious Studio Portraits

I tidied up my studio today, and had to take some pictures of the occasion.  It won’t stay this organized for long!

It was hard to decide which pictures to show here, though.  I really don’t want to give too much away about the film yet.  So, here are some studio shots, with just the right amount of closeups and blurriness to keep things mysterious…  No set in sight, and you can only see puppets from the Puppet Morgue.

reference area

the view outside

some important references... 70s eatons catalogues!

the innards of the footlights

some very important, very borrowed gear

urethane foam components and armature wire

danger magnets

lighting grid above the set

i've always wanted a mitre saw -- they're so handy!

references...

oooh, part of the set!

where i paint stuff

the studio just wouldn't be right without francis bacon watching over it

part of the puppet morgue