Hand Sewn Pencil Case!

So after the trouser patches I made last week, I wanted to move on to creating a full sewn project. Which was one of two pencil cases I plan on making. I have a load of pens that need sorting out/ some I want to keep separate, plus I don’t actually have a case for any pens/ pencils to take around with me- they either come with me loose in my bag, or they don’t come with me at all. Mainly the latter. Which is why pretty much everything I draw is done with a single black biro! But I do like the idea of adding colour to my drawings, hence the desire to make a pencil case for this exact reason.

The first one I made was for my POSCA Paint Markers. I wanted to keep these separate from the rest of my pen selection, because these are slightly more premium and are also for different uses, as opposed to general felt tips or gel pens etc.

I’ve made a box style pencil case several years back and they are often what comes up as a good ‘beginner’ sewing project, when you search for such things. The one I made prior though, was all hand sewn, because I didn’t own a machine at that time. But obviously the idea of this project was to use the machine to give me experience, confidence and practise. And wow, using a machine is so much quicker isn’t it?! I’m really enjoying the capabilities of it thus far, so don’t mind going through a few of these ‘learning’ projects to get to the good bit, if you like. I said it in my last post about this, but I’ll say it again: I’m seriously excited about the prospect of being able to make my own garments!

I followed along to this tutorial on YouTube, because it was one where all the seams were hidden inside the lining, so there would be no visible seams on either the inside or the outside. So, this would be a total new challenge for me- I don’t think I’ve ever made a project where the seams have all been hidden.

I’m super proud of this piece (even though it is a little rough around the edges- don’t look too closely)! And there was a lot of challenging sections to get through in the creation of it. The whole thing was actually quite fiddly, with it being quite small, plus like I said, I was using techniques I’ve never previously used. I also decided to ad lib with the size of it, to suit my needs. Plus the style of zip: as illustrated in the photographs, I decided to go with a chunky one (as opposed to the more ‘regular’ style used in the tutorial).

WIP- sewing the zip

I saw an image online that someone had used a chunky zip similar to mine and I thought it had such a cool effect. But, the zip I originally bought for this was a concealed zip, because I thought it might look nicer. But after some practising sewing it, I thought it was better left for a project that suited it better (such as on some kind of clothing or alteration). So the concealed zip is now, urm, concealed in my haberdashery draw! A bit frustrated that I had wasted money on a zip, but I actually found that I had a couple chunky zips at home already- which I had saved from a couple of tops I discarded a few years ago. Always save your zips if you’re getting rid of worn out clothes! So ended up not feeling quite so bad about losing money on a zip (which will get used in a future project anyway).

concealed zip sewing practise

Another big mistake was me attempting to machine sew through said zip. Yeah, apparently machines can’t sew through chunky bits of metal like this and will result in a broken needle- I learned this the hard way! But, at least it meant that I now know how to change a needle on my sewing machine (it’s actually pretty easy).

I was a bit apprehensive using the chunky zip to begin with- and all the way through to be honest (until I turned it the right way out at the end), because I wasn’t sure how well it would hold it’s structure. But, as you can see from the pictures, it actually does so quite well. Yes, maybe a little interfacing inside the layers may have assisted, but I still think it holds a decent shape.

I also had to get over my fear of top stitching in a contrast thread using the sewing machine. The contrast thread was my choice, by the way, because I wanted to tie it in nicely with the zip. My machine sewing is slowly improving, but still no where near as neat as I quite want to be! But, practise makes perfect as they say. Or practice makes permanent- a phrase one of my old cricket coaches use to use, which I think is a better phrase than the original, because if you practise a lot, but practise wrong, then you’re going to make getting the stuff right harder. Anyway, phrases aside, I’ve still not quite finished analysing my latest sewing project!

I’m pleased with my achievements here anyway, despite the improvements I want to make the next time around. Oh, and before I forget, this was also the first project I had sewn where I pressed the seams. It makes it so much more crisper and also easier to sew, because the pressing does a lot of the work. So, from now on, I’m never not sewing with the iron out! I’ve done it again, haven’t I? I’ve written 1,000 words on a pencil case! Why do I always do this? Can’t I just make something and let it be?! I’ll try not to be so analytical with my next post. Maybe just pictures only? Let’s see..!

First bit of (actual) sewing in a while (not embroidery)!

Sew yeah- basically the title! Inspired by my brother having recently purchased a sewing machine, combined with the fact that I've neglected to use mine in I-don't-even-want-to-know how long, as well as having completed all the visual work on my animation (woop!) freeing up some time, I decided to get over my fear of the dreaded machine and get to work on a project.

I'm way more confident with hand sewing, because it feels much easier to control and there's less to learn- needle and thread, you're all set. Pretty much. But what good is the machine just sat there taking up valuable desk space? The only thing really stopping me using it at this point is myself. But, like with anything, the first step is usually the hardest and the more you do something, the easier it becomes. So I dusted it off (literally) and decided to really delve into learning it properly this time round. After a lot of practise and threading/ rethreading, I decided I was finally ready: with a clothing alteration.

I ripped my trousers skateboarding (quelle surprise) a week ago- pesky stones, causing me to fall! Knee has almost recovered- it's always the knees, I swear. Anyway, instead of patching over the hole like any normal person might, I decided to go full Flora Martyr and turn it into a project. Of course I did. Knees tend to be one of the points where the concrete is most attracted to when I fall, so I decided to turn this into an opportunity and create a 'double knee' style trouser, which is quite common on a lot of skate/ work wear. Picture below of the pretty small hole:

I thought it would just be a case of cutting out two large patches, hemming them and sewing them on. But nope, it wasn’t quite that simple.

After having cut and created the patches using the machine to hem them (see above pic), I presumed the next job would be a hand sewing task to attach them to the trousers. But, this was taking ages:

I estimated to sew on each patch it would take approximately 3-4 hours. Do I really have time for that? I can’t say I do, however much I like my trusty thread and needle. Plus it also meant there was no shying away from using the machine again. Though, turns out, without ripping the seams, it would have been almost impossible to attach them. Something I had no idea I’d need to do for this project. But, I do love a good learning opportunity, so the seam ripping prospect kind of excited me.

Ripping the seams was a genius plan. I was able to stitch the patches on in no time, after choosing the correct stitch length on the machine to match the sewing I had started by hand.

Voila- I now had two patches attached. Just need to sew back up the seams now, right?! Well, firstly, not quite that easy, because for some reason I had like zero black thread. Such a standard colour- how did I not own any?! Emergency trip to Hobbycraft ensued. Now just to sew the seams up then? Well, kind of: I managed one, but when it came to the other, urm I realised this had happened:

Yep, clumsily, I had mistakenly stitched one of the corners onto the underside of the material. So, I unpicked that, restitched it by hand, then it was time to complete the final seam. On both, I used a straight stitch and then as I don’t have an overlocker machine, I used a zig zag in place of that:

Turned them right sides out, and I am now the proud owner of some contrast double knee skate trousers!

I’m honestly so pleased with myself for having completed this project, because it made me look straight into my fear of the sewing machine (rather than the safety net of hand sewing) and complete a few tasks going into this project I didn’t expect myself to be doing, such as the seam ripping. It’s all a bit rough around the edges and I’m still getting to grips with creating neat lines with the machine, but nevertheless I am proud of my achievements here. I am actually really excited to continue sewing and getting to the point where I’m comfortable enough to make my own garments: I have loadsss of ideas! But, can’t get too carried away at this point or go too fast with it all- need to build my way up on small projects, before creating made to measure clothing. As always, watch this space, and stay creative xo

Embroidery: more moths!

Variation on a theme- trying out some more ideas and seeing what works if I were to do a lot (1000) of these. See previous posts on this topic for context!

Two are using backstitch with single colours only: I really like the black one. The other is satin stitch, with a dark blue outline. I do think it looks nice, but it's a lot more time consuming to sew. The black one is simple and effective. The pinky/ purply outline one is ok, but it doesn't look so 'clean' as the plain black one. I've a few ideas for some more, so to be continued...

Short film: clip!!

Not an official update post (sorry!) but I do have a new clip to share:

I cut this one from my film this morning. It just wasn't fitting well with the film unfortunately, so had to chop it. I say 'unfortunately' here, because I really like the aesthetics of it, especially the background. But, you can't (or shouldn't) keep a shot in, even if you enjoy how it looks, because the film will be weaker for it. Story over style, right?

I knew it had to be chopped a while back, but I was leaving it in to see if it would work, but it was there in the back of head for the whole time knowing it's got to go. Anyway, I feel I've pretty much reached a picture lock now (yay)- though I may have said that last time! The picture will be locked on the final export. Then I need to let it into the wild. A lot less tasks to complete now, exciting stuff! xo

Short Film: Update #37 almost there

The visuals for my film are now complete. See, I said this update would be a big one didn’t I?!

I am so proud of what I have achieved so far and so happy to have got my film to this point, after almost a year since starting the animation. It’s been quite the journey- though that will not be news to you if you’ve been following my updates over here!

It’s not finished yet- there are still several outstanding tasks on my to do list, but having got the film to this point is not a landmark to be ignored. I should take a few days to appreciate my achievements thus far (she says, simultaneously fine tuning the edit) and look back over the year and enjoy the fact that I have come out of the other side from the struggles that I’ve faced during the creation of this project. I do feel a little more relaxed, but as I’m quite aware of the fact it isn’t 100% complete, I don’t actually feel that much lighter, because I know there’s still a bit of a hill to climb.

To be honest though, I’m finding it pretty hard not to take my eye off the ball with it, because I’m so excited about all the other creative projects I’ve now got going on (embroidery, zine making [how have I only just discovered this amazing medium??], photography and more animation ideas/ feature film et al). I feel because I’ve been working almost singularly on my film since April 2024 (I’ve not really let myself work on anything other than the film), I’ve got a load of pent up creativity inside of me, and it feels like it’s all coming out now that I’ve kind of allowed it to, if that makes any sense?! Once the actual animation tasks were finished on this film, I’ve sort of gone full force into other bits and pieces, but that needs reigning in for the moment, or at least until I’ve completed my allotted tasks on this film. Which does still need to take priority if I want to hit my 22nd August deadline (which I do)!

Anyway, before I go on too much about all my big ideas, I’ve not yet said anything about the impending extras shoot I was been alluding to in these updates for some time, which was giving me a fair amount of stress. If you haven’t gathered from here, I honestly dislike the ‘producing’ side to filmmaking, such as arranging things like locations/ actors/ casting etc. I have always found it stressful and anxiety inducing, which was why I found myself gravitating towards the post production side of things, then towards animation. So to need to book a location, plus five other people to act as medical staff, alongside purchasing costumes, became somewhat of a challenge for me personally.

But, combining asking people I know (some actors, some filmmakers and some skaters) and a public call out (in which I only got one response- shout out to Najma who became one of the cast!), I secured all five. Who all showed up at the required location, on the required day and at the required time! I think I’ve been haunted by my student days of actors pulling out at short notice, which is likely why arranging this kind of thing is no good for my nerves. But, the shoot went super smoothly and was done in under an hour (without needing to rush anything) and I was extremely happy with the footage. I’ll stick a few pictures down below: the first is me alongside my cast (still in costume) celebrating the end of the shoot. Thanks to Ben for the photo (and also for helping me immensely on the day).

And, below is a grab from the final animation of it:

I also filmed and animated a couple of hand acting shots, both of which I feel strengthened the story a little more. I had delayed the filming of them for the longest time, because they didn’t feel especially important, plus felt like I could animate them really quick (and I did) once they were filmed. Honestly, I just wanted the medical staff shot out the way first (including the animation) before I started work on these. But having done them, I think they add a lot to the film: one being a more creative addition, whereas the other an enhancement of the narrative. Screen grabs below of the latter (off and on)!

I’m now in the process of casting for the third and final voice actor, alongside final tweaks on the edit, as well as about to embark on frame checks for the full film. I think I’ll do three rounds of that- you never know what you might find when going over everything at a painstaking rate! There will likely be another fairly big gap between this update and the next update, because in truth, it won’t make for an especially thrilling read! But hopefully that will be the one when I declare the film complete, and I’ll have a trailer to share. We shall see…

Before I go- amazing stuff from the Lionesses once again, retaining their European Championship crown! So many legends in that team, super inspirational. Hopefully they will leave a lasting legacy (and quite rightly), as well as a well needed injection into the women’s side of the game in this country (and Wales- they too made history in this tournament). There’s so much more I could talk about on this topic, but I appreciate you are here to read my animation musings and I should probably get back to the edit anyway! But first- f*ck the misogynists and the racists: there is no place for you in this game.

Peace and love xo

Embroidery: moth

Don't worry- the BIG short film update is in the works, but first, enjoy some more embroidery:

I finished this one yesterday- it's part of a larger body of experimentation. This is Posca paint markers on cotton (bed sheet), with a dark purple backstitch (single strand) outline. Moth design by me.

If you cast your mind back to March 2023, then you will remember me writing about a moth film. Despite having drawn the required 1000 moths for it, I am still to complete the thing- more on why etc in the linked post. Anyway, a mad idea came over me as they often do, to perhaps sew each drawn moth, so I'm currently in the process of figuring out what that might look like in terms of techniques. So I'll be experimenting with several styles of application over the next few weeks... The idea may or may not be too mad, but I'm going to explore it anyway!

Embroidery: band patch

Hello blog! It's been a while hasn't it?!? Film update hopefully mid next week (it's a big one), but first, some new embroidery:

My first hand sewn band patch, of one of my favourite bands The Mountain Goats. Would have been quicker to buy one, I know, but then where's the fun in that?! This was a super enjoyable project and was a relaxing piece of work to do in between animating. Definitely going to do more...

Short Film: Update #36 winding down

Hello hello! Being as this week I finished off pretty much all the visuals, I think I’ll put a pause on these weekly updates. Just feels that there won’t really be that much to write about and might pose a risk of ending up sounding all quite same-y. So from now on, I’ll write these as and when I see fit, rather than a fixed weekly update.

Apologies if you’re an avid reader here, but I don’t want to bore you: I probably do that enough as it is! And it’s not like I don’t have a load of other stuff to write about on here anyway. Being as the work on my film is significantly slowing, it actually gives me space to focus on my other creative ventures, so yes, you’ll hear less about my film, but more about my other stuff. Which for me is very exciting! I genuinely love and get such a thrill out of creating things and I have a load of fun project ideas to get to work on, so watch this space!

Anyway, rambling away as usual, so back to my film: I did another decent re-edit during the week and I really feel like it works as a solid story now. It was quite difficult to get the first couple of minutes down- and to balance the pace/ dramatic elements, but I think I finally figured it out (with the help of my boyfriend who gave me some very honest feedback about what was working or not). Editing is so hard to do alone sometimes (especially at the latter stages of a project) and is very useful to have someone to bounce ideas off and also keep you grounded.

I also had one of the voice recordings back from one of my voice actors, which was great. It was only one line, but it has already made an improvement to my film and makes it feel like it’s all coming together nicely. So thank you David Holt!

And lastly, on Friday I managed to get a load of other (film related) stuff done! These tasks were only down as ‘maybe’s’ on my to do list for this project, but I had a wave of enthusiasm/ inspiration/ whatever come over me enabling me to complete four leftover little tasks. I just went for it! And it made me feel so good and positive about the project. Plus it wasn’t like they were really easy things either- one was an After Effects shot and they were all a bit of a faff to be honest. So yeah, I’m mega happy about that, especially as I wasn’t sure if I was even going to bother doing them at all. But they’ve made such a difference to my film. It’s the little details like these. Picture of the Premiere timeline below, because I don’t have much else to illustrate this blog with today!!

Bet you’re all wondering how my skate progress is going as well, aren’t you?! Oh go on then. I Ollied my first stair set the other day- it was only a very small two stair, but it was a nice trick to have got done, because I’ve been trying for the longest time to get the commitment to land it. I’ve had the ability to do it for quite some time, but not the self belief/ confidence to stick the landing. I think if I believed more and had more confidence I’d progress at a much better rate. I need to stop telling myself I’m bad at things because I end up believing it. Same with animation/ creative stuff or life in general. There are so many skills in skateboarding that are transferable to real life… xo

Short Film: Update #35 a clip again- at last!

This one is a pretty short one this week, as there’s not all that much to report: I’ve predominantly been working on one shot. It was a shot full of extras walking across an airport walkway, essentially an establishing shot/ scene building shot towards the end of the film. I finished it yesterday and I really like how it turned out:

Ooh look, a moving picture! I appreciate I’ve hardly shared anything moving from this film and especially not recently, because to be honest I’ve not really had the time or headspace to stop and think about what to export out to share. But things are wrapping up on the visual side of things at the moment and this shot doesn’t exactly give any story away, so thought it would be nice to put something out there. Enjoy!

There were six characters in total, plus the background to create. Hopefully I’ve got all the times correct on the clocks! If not, some kind person please let me know before I export the final animation!! I also did the shadows for the characters, which I thought added a nice touch (and some depth to the shot).

Besides this, I’ve not done a lot else in terms of creativity this week- the other bits I’ve been doing have been more admin-y type things again. Stuff I’m not going to bore you with on here! Plus, the previous shot took 34 hours in total. So it wasn’t like I had loadsss of extra time anyway. Ok, think that’s enough now- see I said it would be a short one! See you in the next one on here, unless I see you in real life at Sheffield Doc Fest this weekend! xo

Recent-ish 35mm

Ooh look who finally got their 35mm film developed? That would be me... I've had this film in my camera since the deep, dark winter, but been using it fairly intermittently until finally finishing it off a couple of weeks ago. So it basically spans the first half of this year. I have another one currently in the camera, so with any luck that will be developed by Christmas!

There's quite a mix of stuff on here as you'll soon see- I think it might be my best roll in recent times. I absolutely love how the images of my favourite skate DIY came out. Anyway, I'll shut up now and post the photos! Most of these are unedited, but just for transparency I've cropped/ straightened a few and done some minor light/ colour adjustments in Photoshop.

Short Film: Update #34 back on it

Hello! How are you? It’s now June, so happy summer!! You may have guessed, but I was on holiday last week hence no post. Down in sunny south Wales, via Worcester.

Also got some decent skate clips in the interim- improving on my boardslides and landed my first Varial Kickflip on a flatbank. Definitely going to start filming myself more, as I think it’s imperative for progression, as you can easily see what you’re doing wrong/ how your form is. Basically looking at my tricks from an outside perspective. It also makes stuff less scary, as it takes you out of your head, too. Couple of pics down below:

But, me talking about my jolly’s is likely not the reason you’re reading this- am I right? It’s that all important film progress you’re after. I think. Though I can (and will) happily chat skateboarding all day if given the go ahead…

So how is my film going? Since returning from my week off, I’ve come back full force on this project. I finished a few more things off my to do list, plus did a load of admin-y type bits, such as booking the location to film the shot with the extras and writing up my sound design notes. I also did a slight restructure of the edit, which improved the pacing/ tightness. Sometimes it’s hard to cut the stuff you’ve spent a lot of time animating, but if it’s no longer right for the film, then it needs to go. I can always post the unused clips on my socials and on here, so it’s not like they’ll go to waste as they’ll still get seen if I want them to be. Down below is a grab from one of these outtakes. It is technically still being used in the film, but this was a duplicate shot earlier on in the narrative, but ended up cutting as it wasn’t necessary to have it in twice.

I also started animating one of the three big remaining shots, plus created some clouds for one of the scenes in After Effects from this tutorial. I must say it’s been really nice to be doing some more rotoscoping again, as it’s been a while. It is something I find extremely relaxing and rewarding, plus also means I get to catch up on all my podcasts and music I’ve been wanting to listen to, because when I’m doing the editing or anything like that, I much prefer to work in silence with little distraction.

The film is feeling the most complete it has done at this point and I’m so pleased with how it is turning out, in both narrative and style. The end finally feels like it’s in sight and that is mega exciting! All the hard work I’ve put in definitely is paying off. Right, that’s it from me, time to do some more animation! Oh, by the way almost forgot: I’m hanging out at Sheffield Doc Fest next week, so if you see me, come say hello!

Short Film: Update #33 picking back up

The first half of this week didn’t go especially well, if I’m being totally honest. The (brand new) SSD I purchased over the weekend (see last weeks post) ended up being faulty, so I had to take that back. Then I had to wait a few days for a new one. So, yeah, that was fun. Resulting in a bit of a delay in being able to crack on with my project.

But, I was able to do a little work while I was waiting, as I copied a few assets over from my backup drive to my Mac, enabling me to do some stuff, albeit in a slightly preoccupied manner. I picked a couple of things which were more ‘low key’/ parts that didn’t need the full Premiere project or anything like that. Meaning I was able to drop them in the project once that was all back up and running again.

One was this re-do of the ‘drink shot’, which will become a photograph the protagonist takes in the film. The old version is first, followed by the re-do:

As the first version took a while to create, I kind of convinced myself that I liked it or that it was good enough to stay in the project. But the more I watched the film through, I knew that my instinct was correct and that I’d need to re-do it. The second version, in my opinion, is much better and deserving of a place in the film. I’m not even sure what the first one is trying to be, to be honest! But anyway, I guess I don’t need to think about that one anymore!

And since the enforced break because of, well, the (hard drive) break, I have been very, very productive. I blazed through a load of my to do list, which included fixing some things that had been playing on my mind for quite a while. For some reason (probably because of having a bit of time off the project), a few trickier bits seemed to just come easier. Not that I’m complaining, mind. Meaning the visuals really are, nearly almost done! I think the fact that the new SSD is a lot faster than my poor old HDD, is making my time editing my project a whole lot smoother, because it’s actually running as it should in Premiere. This is even with several layers of PNG sequences all stacked on top of each other. Whereas when playing through on my previous drive, it would skip/ stall as it just couldn’t keep up, making editing extremely frustrating (and difficult). So maybe the fact that the hard drive broke was actually a good thing. And I’m not just trying to be positive for the sake of it either!

Despite wanting to share a few more of the bits I finished this week as I’m kind of excited about (and proud of) them (especially one shot), I haven’t decided if they’re parts I want to publish prior to finishing the film. I think it’s best not to give everything away beforehand, at least not publicly anyway. Maybe in the trailer, when that’s ready, but we shall see… I held back parts of my previous short, and I think that was the correct decision, so apologies for the teaser but I guess you’ll just have to wait! So on that note, I’ll leave this one at that. There won’t be one of these next week, so see you in two! xo

Embroidery: Variation on a Theme

I alluded to this in my last post about embroidery. Basically, I've loads of spare hospital gown fabric left over from my film as I used it as a prop in that, so now tying it in to some embroidery projects. Here's some flowers embroidered between the gaps in the original pattern on the gown:

The printed pattern made me think of flowers when I was wearing it to film in whilst shooting the reference material for my short. So I decided to take that and run with it and sew flowers in the gaps. Plus it is also in contrast to the negative/ unhappy connotations surrounding a hospital gown, so these flowers kind of cheer the whole thing up! And the fact that when recovering in hospital, flowers tend to be something you get sent. So yeah, that's basically what this one is about. Would be amazing to embroider the whole thing like this, but that would take for absolutely ever!

Short Film: Update #32 breaking things

This week has definitely had its ups and downs. The major ‘up’ I experienced was finishing off the backgrounds- well first pass anyway, I still have a few tweaks to do on some of them. But, that is very exciting news and a great position for my project to be in. It didn’t actually sink it straight away: I was mainly just pleased for having finished off background for shot 016, which was giving me a bit of trouble. Then later in the day after I had stopped working, I realised that 016 was the last one! Which was a nice thing to have realised, but I can’t feel too happy about it just yet, because there’s still a fair few tweaks to do like I said above. And I do have three shots left to animate (one of which I haven’t even filmed), so it’s not all fun and games just yet. There’s still plenty of work to do. And some of it a little daunting.

So that’s the ‘ups’ out the way, we’ll move on to the ‘downs’: the first one being a render issue I’m experiencing in Blender. Cue crying. I do have one or two contacts who maybe able to help, but if they can’t fix it, then I’m going to have to screen shot the video frame by frame and then rotoscope it in TVPaint. Something that I’m not wildly looking forward to doing, but it’s a last resort solution if I’m unable to get the breakthrough I need to get it to work. I experienced this at the beginning of the week, so it went from my euphoria of creating the shot in Blender (which I was quite proud of as 3D isn’t my thing), to then quite quickly the opposite end of the emotional spectrum when I came across the aforementioned issue. Anyway, to be continued…

And finally, the big one: my hard drive decided to break on me yesterday.

More crying. I do keep a backup drive which is pretty much a duplicate of the one which has given up, so I’m not in a panic about it as I have copies of everything. But I’m more frustrated, because 1) these drives haven’t exactly lasted very long and 2) it’s a hassle/ expense/ time sap I can’t really be bothered with right now. But anyway, the new one is on the way and hopefully I can collect it tomorrow or latest Tuesday and get back to working on my film as soon as possible. I’ve decided to go for an SSD this time, and still use the HDD I was using as a backup still as a backup, until that inevitably breaks as well. Then decide how best to store/ backup my work. Anyway, I realise these last few sentences are probably pretty boring! Right, see you in the next one and hopefully things are going a bit better by this time next week! xo

Short Film: Update #31 on a Blender

I’ve been working on this project for a little over a year now (started scripting it in April 2024) and it finally feels like it’s shaping up and becoming the film I want. I exported it for the first time in a while on Friday evening to see how (or if) all this extra work (fine tuning/ finishing off some of the harder backgrounds etc) I’ve been putting in over the last month or so is paying off. Long story short: the additional work has definitely been worth it- the film is miles better than any previous viewing, but there’s still a lot to do- in a good way, if that makes sense.

Because I’m pleased with where the project is currently at, the remaining tasks (including the additional things I keep adding to the ‘to-do’ list, which is now at least twice as long as when I created it!) don’t feel quite as daunting as maybe they should do, or how they might have felt a month or so back. I just want to keep going with the project and improve it/ ‘plus’ it as much as possible. I’m fully motivated to crack on with it, even the difficult sections, because I can now see at this point, that if I do the things that I need to, it’s going to turn out how I want it.

This week has been testament to that in a way, because I (for the second time in this film) worked in 3D software Blender (not my forte or specialism by any means), to create an asset for a shot that I felt lent itself to this treatment. I tried it in After Effects (a program I am familiar with) but it just looked bad, so needed to figure out an alternative and quickly. To be honest the prospect of Blender was pretty daunting, as like I said, it’s really not my thing, but needs must and I got the result I wanted. I used this tutorial as a guide, which intimidated me to begin with, especially as I also had to figure out how to link an armature with an animation on my own accord! It does need tweaking a bit, so I will be re-doing it, but it shows that I now have the skill set to create the asset I want and not compromise on it. And it’s also given me an idea for another section of the film that still needs doing- so hopefully I can achieve that next week.

It has actually been quite fun exploring Blender in this project and to be honest, what I’ve achieved with it has definitely exceeded my expectations. Perhaps I’m better at this sort of thing than I give myself credit for. More self confidence from you please, Flora! I’m thankful that I have Blender in my bag of skills now, because it gives me more options for future projects and perhaps even more for this one- we’ll see. I’m still very tutorial reliant with it at the moment, but I’m slowly understanding it a little more and it’s not quite as intimidating as it was a few months ago. And I very much doubt I’ll ever be fully shifting over to the dark side that is 3D animation, but it’s a useful skill to have to enhance my 2D work. If you know me well or have been reading this blog for a long enough period, then you’ll know that I love mixing both media and disciplines within the field of animation.

Below are a couple of pictures from my Blender work: the first is the wide shot of the flock of birds I created (birds were done in Blender). The second is the photograph she takes of the birds, again, created initially in Blender (moved the camera angle to below the flock, so would be a realistic angle of where she’s taking the photo from), but enhanced in TVPaint- added textures and motion blur, as well as the background.

Short Film: Update #30 backgrounds and costumes

I’ll try and keep this one quite short I think, or it’ll end up sounding quite the same-y as some of the previous ones. Or at least the ones where it’s been going well, because this week (you’ve guessed it) it HAS been going well!

I managed to cross off a fair few of the smaller, more frustrating/ annoying tasks from the list mentioned in last weeks post. Which felt really good, because they were definitely ones which I had kind of been putting off. Or shots which I attempted earlier and had not gone very well, so left for a later date, once I’ve gained more clarity how to tackle said tasks. I’ve definitely mentioned this before, but I’m a big advocate for taking a break with something you’re struggling with. Because you often find it easier once you come back to it, as your subconscious seems to work it out for you over the elapsed time and/ or you build up more skill/ processes over the time spent away. This could mean stepping back for just an hour or so to go on a walk, or a longer period of a few weeks.

I also managed to cross off a couple of big things too, which were backgrounds I had been stuck on. One came unnaturally easy for some reason- it just felt right! I’m not complaining! And the other was more of a struggle, but I got there in the end. I’ll stick the process down below actually, because then you can see the way I work. I often start with a reference photo (or a few), which I then create a rough sketch from to see if it works, with the character in situ. This sketch is usually in super whacky colours for some reason- don’t ask, it’s just my way of working! And then once I’m happy with it (sometimes ask peoples opinions to see if they think it looks right)- I go ahead and do it in ‘neat’. Often this becomes the final image, but sometimes I realise it hasn’t worked and need to go back to the drawing board with it, whether that means scrapping it altogether in the more drastic cases, or doing a few smaller tweaks/ alterations in the less drastic cases.

The example below is the background for the cafe scene, which I ended up doing twice. The first iteration just looked poor IMO, as well as there being no extras or atmosphere- it wasn’t clear where it was and I decided I wanted a more ‘beach’ kind of vibe to the shot, in keeping with the fact that she is on holiday. So I left this for a while and came back to it and ended up utilising one of the photographs I asked my boyfriends’ parents to take for me while they were on holiday in a similar resort I have my character go to in the film. I’ve never been to one of these kind of resorts myself, so I asked them to take me a load of photos for extra inspiration for location and they very kindly delivered!

I’ll put both versions below: the previous discarded background (with the process), followed by the one that is used in the film.

Old one above, new below:

ended up removing the parasol type things, as they just looked bad

And finally (I said I’d keep this one short didn’t I, but that’s clearly not gone to plan!), the remaining bits of costume arrived for the medical staff shot towards the end of the film, so I was able to test out whether my costume idea would work. I wasn’t going to shell out on scrubs for all the extras, but from the images I Googled, the shape of the tops was essentially a v-neck t-shirt. So I thought if I had everyone wear one of those, some loose fitting trousers, combined with blue gloves, a face mask and a hair net type thing (the latter three items were the only props I purchased), then once I’ve coloured them how I want to in the animation software, it should look like a medical professional.

My test is below:

And I feel it definitely worked- I’m in my pyjamas here as well! So I can now go in to casting for my extras with confidence. I’m actually really excited to film this shot now and have it come to life, especially after having had a taste of how it might look. This was one of the shots which was giving me a bit of anxiety to be honest, because I dislike the ‘producing’ parts to making a film such as arranging locations and actors, but I just need to take it step by step and I’ll get there.

Ok, right, this is definitely it now (guess there was much more to say that first imagined)! See you next time! xo