Friday, February 6, 2009

Coraline Maquettes Over At Damon Bard's Website

With Coraline coming out today, Damon Bard has put up loads of pictures of all his Maquettes he did for the film. I was able to ask Damon a few questions about his work on Coraline (see below the pics). To view more of Damons work, go to his website at http://www.bardsculpturestudio.com.

Damon how many sculptures did you do for Coraline?

I did quite a few sculptures for the film. I don't remember how many, but a big chunk of it is on my site, it was alot though. I was involved with the project for about 3 years on and off.

The delicate shapes in those characters are amazing. Was it a challenge creating some of the sculptures?

Part of the challenge is the delicate shapes. Also, getting in tune with Henry Selick (or any director) can be challenging as he is very demanding when it comes to what he wants. Another challenge is the engineering of the sculptures for the puppet fabrication, making them functional for the animators to animate, and easy to maintain and replace parts that blow out during shooting. Basically, every character in a stop-motion film has its own unique set of problem solving challenges that need to be met in order to make a functional puppet. And all that is just with the characters, the sets and environments are a whole other animal. They also require demanding creative approaches that will impact the puppets once they get on stage. The biggest challenge in a film of this magnitude, with so many physical objects being made that have to work together, with literally tens of thousands of engineered parts, is that it all has to be planned out to go as smoothly as it can go. That as a whole is a tremendous challenge for every department, and everyone has to work together. Personally, I love that kind of a challenge. Stop-motion films are one of my most favorite types of projects to work on and it's fun to have to figure it all out.

Is this your first time stop motion animated film?

No. I have worked with Henry on many things since James and the Giant Peach and on various television commercials that require stop-motion puppets. It is a very comfortable medium for me to work in.

Did you approach your work any differently because of it being stop motion?

Yes, as I mentioned above stop-motion puppets require a huge amount of work, time, and planning to come to fruition. The sculpting process is the same but the foundation of the character/puppet building process is the maquette, that is the beginning. You have to know how the puppet will work once it is finished, even before it has been made. After that, a puppet sculpt is done based on the maquette and is engineered so it can function properly as a puppet and pave the way for the rest of puppet fabrication processes. It's like working in the present and in the future at the same time. The way I approach it deviates almost immediately from the start.

Damon, what do they do with all your sculptures once the film is done?

The original clay sculptures are destroyed in the mold process but the casts of the maquettes are either stored, on display at the studio, or go on tour. The same goes with the finished puppets. Sometimes puppets, parts, or sets are given to a few lucky people at the end of a film too. I have been fortunate enough over the years to receive a few special things from past projects. :)

http://www.bardsculpturestudio.com.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

David Colman's Doodles Volume 2

Hi everyone.... I want to let everyone know about David Colman's new book.


Below is some information from David about his new book.









David Colman’s Doodles Volume 2 is here!! Volume 1 was a big hit and is sold out, but Volume 2 is even bigger, in full color and a hardcover. Over 100 pages of my animal sketches, character designs, paintings and even production work from my time at Sony, Cartoon Network and many other studios. This book is now available for pre-order. All pre-orders made through the davidsdoodles.com store will receive a signed copy of the book with a personal sketch from the artist. Order it today to get this one time offer…… Once February hits the personal sketch offer is off the table.

All preorders will ship 2nd week of February but your patience will be rewarded…I am very proud of the quality of this book and kept my price @ only $20 so many more can enjoy it….. and @over 100 pages it is definitely worth it for all my dedicated fans.

My next several postings are samples pages of the book….check it out…..

PLUS, my new site has launched…containing tons of new work and I am very proud of it… It now has a professional look and I want to know what you all think…..there may be a few changes over next week or two but its set to go…Plus, my shirt line is now available on the site, previously only available @ conventions. The only thing still exclusive to the conventions are the limited edition signed prints….

www.davidsdoodles.com

enjoy!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

The Art of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

With the fabulous feedback I received from creating a video for The Art of Kung Fu Panda book, I decided to do one for The Art of Madagascar and continue to do it for other "Art of" books that I think may be worth getting. The Art of Madagascar has 160 pages with a lot of good character design art inside. I bought mine for $29.70 at Amazon here The Art of Madagascar . In the stores your going to have to pay $45.


Anyway I hope you like the video... Remember, this is just a fraction of what is in this book.





Click on the link here... The Art of Madagascar