Leo Puppet construction notes - size matters

photos taken by greg dykstra. sculpt by jerome ranft

First step in making a stop motion puppet - decide how big to make it. This is a huge decision since all the sets and everything will have to be to scale to this size. After some back and forth and consultation with Tim Hittle,  we are going with 8 3/8" which is consistent with what I have read about Aardman's puppets and Tim felt this size was "welcoming to an animator, approachable." This is encouraging since it is also the size of the sculpt Jerome Ranft made for 'Leonardo' . 

Next up Kamela Portuges at Images in Motion will create some test legs. Our big issue is the knee joint. Which is roughly as thin as Jack Skelington's from Nightmare Before Christmas.  Can we keep the current silhouette of the legs? Will we need to beef them up a bit to allow for the armature joint? 

New Leonardo Short in the works!

Bandello character design by Matt Jones

Wow haven't posted to the blog in awhile. But I come to you with big news. There is a new Leonardo short in the works. I have currently scripted it and I am now in the process of storyboarding the film. Tentatively titled Leonardo and the Last Supper - this one centers around Leonardo and the painting of... well... the Last Supper as viewed by one of Leonardo da Vinci's chroniclers Matteo Bandello who was a boy at the time and had an interesting life himself, penning many stories that one William Shakespeare would later turn into plays. The short will be a mixture of stop-motion and drawn animation. Leonardo, himself, and Bandello will be stop motion puppets. Once again I will endeavor to bring you updates and provide a window into the making of the film. I hope to be a bit more regular about it but please don't hold me to it.