you are here [x]: Scarlet Star Studios > the Scarlet Letters > making cobblestones at bent
<< before
artist's way open studio (july)
after >>
a toast to the happy couple
July 29, 2006
making cobblestones at bent
by sven at 11:59 pm
Wednesday (7/26) I finished my first job at Bent: casting plaster tiles that will represent cobblestones in a small town.
[Being conscientious about confidentiality, I only took these 4 photos -- ones that show my little project, and nothing else.]
Here's an empty mold that I made. The cobblestone pattern is vacuformed. Clay walls helped give the tiles a more "jig-saw"-like edge. The mold sits in a wooden box, but the box is protected by a sheet of plastic.
I'd fill the mold up with plaster (hydrostone), layering in a piece of burlap. Then I'd "scree" the excess off the top.
When I finally got the workflow down, I had four molds running at once, popping out four tiles per hour. To control the spread of particulates, mixing plaster and de-molding tiles needed to be done in the spray booth.
In order to help me keep track -- and make it easy for supervisors to see how far along I was -- I numbered the backs of the tiles. After de-molding, I stacked the tiles in piles. By the end of the job, I'd made 55 cobblestone tiles.
Working at Bent was wonderful! I was thrilled to discover that I was familiar with almost every material I came in contact with -- due to the intensive research of the past eight months. And yet, seeing these materials actually in use -- it gave me a much more visceral understanding of how they all come together to make an animation. It was a good low-stakes project for me to start out with, getting me oriented in the world of professional stopmo.
Bent hires folks on a per-job basis... And it sounds like they've got a lot of projects coming up. I'm really hoping to work with them again soon.
posted by sven | July 29, 2006 11:59 PM | comments (5) | categories: stopmo
Comments
I'm so jealous, that looks awesome...is this for something we may be able to see? A commercial or short or what? You'll keep us posted right? :)
Posted by: ubatuber at July 30, 2006 2:02 PM
I'm so jealous, that looks awesome...is this for something we may be able to see? A commercial or short or what? You'll keep us posted right? :)
Posted by: ubatuber at July 30, 2006 2:05 PM
Sven, this is simply great. You've hit the "cobblestones" running!!
Have a great trip, and we'll look forward to your next animation adventure...
Posted by: shelley Noble at July 31, 2006 12:15 AM
Thanks, you two!
The cobblestones are for a South American commercial. (Maybe Ale will see it??) ...My best hope is that when Bent finishes filming it, they'll put it up on their website. They have several of their previous commercials available there -- so it seems like a decent possibility.
Posted by: sven at July 31, 2006 2:39 PM
Wow, that was quick! It's all over already? How many days were you there?
Posted by: Darkstrider at August 1, 2006 5:52 PM