the contributions to cinema by ray harryhausen

im doing an essay on the contributions to cinema by ray harryhausen the legendary , the one , the only
and if who ever see's this could find their way to filling out this survey i would be most greatful.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SQDLY39

Experimental animation Overview

Animation Debates Overview

My dislike of ball and socket armatures

Foam Latex casting

The Jabberwocky Overview

assistant animator Finale

assistant animator part 6

assistant animator part 5

assistant animator part 2

assistant animator part 4

assistant animator part 3

assistant animator part 1

The Video is Mightier than the Word

adventures in foam latexing.....step by step

i stole this step by step from the blog of Nicola and lily who's project i have worked on , mainly because its an accurate step by step and well laid out 

Kane Duncan one of our assistant second years, helped us greatly with this particular part of the project. Images mainly showing him completing the different aspects of creating the foam puppets. 

Step 1

Firstly apply a release agent to both halves of the mould, allow the solution to dry and then remove any excess bits from the mould. 

Step 2

Shake all the bottles before mixing, as the solution may have congealed and therefore may make the mixing process go wrong. 

Step 3

Measure exactly 12 grams of Gelling agent, into a separate container (this solution will be added later on)

Step 4

Add 150g of High solid latex (the base of the entire solution) into the mixing bowl.

Then add 30g of foaming agent, and then 15 g of curing agent all into the same bowl. Ensuring you have all the correct measurements for each compound. 

Step 5

For 30 seconds gradually increase the mixers speed to maximum, leave at this level for about 3 minitues. Need to make sure the timing for each aspect is correct, again so the mixture doesn't go wrong. 

Step 6

When 3 minutes of mixing is complete now reduce the mixing speed to the lowest gage, and leave for about 4 minutes. 

Step 7

Once the 4 minutes is complete add the 12g of gel agent to the mixing bowl, over a 30 second period time.

Step 8

Once complete remove the whisk and scoop around the bowl to ensure you have all the mixture in the middle. 

WARNING: Do not scoop the mixture excessively as adding vast amounts of air will create large air bubbles. Creating gaps in the foam latex puppet in the end.

Step 9

Now apply the foam mixture into both halves of the mould, ensuring there is enough mixture in all the different areas. Now place your armature into the mixture, ensuring all the limbs and more importantly the finger joints are in the correct place.

Step 10

Now place the two halves of the mould together, applying some pressure to make sure the halves  meet correctly. Don't be alarmed if some of the mixture seeps from the sides, this suggest there was enough foam solution.

Step 11

Now place the moulds into a pre-heated over (160F) and leave to cook for about 2 1/2 hours to 3 hours, if your mould is particularly large leave in for about 3-4 hours.

Step 12

Once the time has past, take out the moulds and leave until they are at a comfortable heat to handle. Once cooled down, generally try to prise the two halves apart. Once open your puppet show look something like the image above.

Step 13

Now carefully peal the foam away from the moulds, the end result will look something like the image above. 

Tommy latex

after the completion of the moulds that went perfectly and took us about two days to complete all 3 moulds and then took about 3 days for them to dry in the drying racks , after which i was set to cast all three in foam latex. this job was left to me as im the one that is mainly interested in pre-production stuff like this , that and i have had the most experience with using foam latex . if i'm quite honest the images below are the images of the 2nd attempt at the tommy mould as the first time the plaster mould hadn't dried properly and the water left in the mould effects and ruins the latex mixture ....we have now learnt this from experience,

on better news , the old man and the the small version of the tommy came out perfectly the first time so there was no need to re-cast them. now all they need is to be washed, painted, and clothes added and then they will be ready to animate.

Plaster Moulds

Below is a photographic representation of a rather therapeutic ( in my mind anyway ) exercise which is the making of the plaster moulds for stop motion animation puppets in preparation for them to be cast in foam latex.

this is a quite simple , repetitive but rather relaxing things to do .

firstly you have your newly sculpted figure that you want to make into a two part mould, firstly place it down on a layer of clay , then you slowly  build this layer up to cover up half of what you have sculpted.

after this is completed to a satisfactory level you then box it up on all 4 sides and cover any crack that could leak with clay ,then you will be able to make the first part of your mould .

for our moulds when we made them we found that we needed around 6 pound of plaster per side of the mould , as it is best to make the sides quite thick otherwise you will have more issues and possibility of  of breaking after being used, which isnt great especially if you want to reuse it.

after the plaster has been stirred , poured and then has set after about 20 minutes to half an hour  all you have to do is turn the mould over and repeat the process but prior to this put on then remove 3 layers of this soap substance which will mean the two layers wont stick together forever.

then after you have done this and made the 2nd part of the mould and if it has worked successfully  take it apart and stick it in the drying racks for a couple of days to get rid of any moisture ...give a extra day or so if the mould is massive 

Puppets

With the puppets that we have to make for our jabberwocky animation we have access to some new ball and socket armatures that the animation department have got their hands on , which we personally had to put together following the instructions and using thread lock to secure certain joints.

within our animation we will need two of these armatures and then a simple wire armature which is proportionally smaller than the other two for some long shot we've planned.

after the ball and socket joints are assembled to help with the proportions of the armature an to make sure it fits into their individual moulds we will firstly sculpt over these armatures with Newplast  and then proceed to make the moulds ect....