Small Sacrifices

The Official Website

2011-06-10T07:58:00.001-07:00

The official website for Small Sacrifices is now live!

Click here to go to the site, and enjoy a little expedition around the world of Otto Von Louse and his Flea Sherpas.

Official Website

Trailerpalooza!

2011-06-05T05:23:00.000-07:00

We now have two new trailers for Small Sacrifices.

The first is in the style of a 1922 movie, reflecting the period fell we have achieved in the film.

The second is the official HD trailer.

The trailers feature animation by Keenan, Roberta, Bill and Neil and sound design by Karen. I have used temp music tracks on both, each one by royalty-free composer Kevin MacLeod.

The Props of Small Sacrifices

2011-05-12T10:04:00.000-07:00

Small Sacrifices takes place in a universe that is at once familiar and totally alien.

In realizing this vision, Neil and his designers drew upon many different inspirations for the look of the main props that would be used by the Louse and his Sherpa Flea team.

At the back of their minds, a period feel, dating back to the turn of the 20th Century combined with modern interpretations of steam-punk design, seemed most appropriate to the story, and with this in mind, the main items were fabricated.

The louse's Alpine Horn was designed by Neil and Phil using sculpy and acrylic paint. Phil also sculpted a lightweight version from dense Styrofoam for use on the flea Sherpa.

The cabin was initially designed by Phil, then made as a 3D computer model by George, who then built this intricate wooden version, complete with wild walls and working door and windows.

The Louse's chair was designed and built by Phil, sculpted from dense Styrofoam and painted with acrylics. Notice one of Phil's bug pin-ups on the wall of the cabin behind the chair.

The gramophone was designed and built by Neil and features a rotating turntable and hinged amplifiers for that true, turn of the century stereo sound.

Neil designed the telescope and George built a tiny working model, complete with lenses and true telescoping action.

The Louse's camera is a true hybrid of design, incorporating turn of the century aesthetics with Polaroid technology! Only the best for our Louse! George built the amazing model complete with working flash, extendable lens and opening case.

SPOILER ALERT! Some of the fleas might come to a sticky end.
That said, here is the prop for the poor frozen flea. This was made using cellophane wrap, glue sticks and varnish. Neil built the original, and Keenan and Roberta improved upon it.

Finally, here is one of the Sherpas with his baggage platform in place. The luggage was mostly made from Styrofoam plus some objects found in hobby shops and laying around in the workshop. Phil made some terrific little wooden platforms and Neil made some rubber straps to hold the whole construction in place.

We hope you enjoy watching the cast of Small Sacrifices use and abuse these props when the film is released to festivals worldwide in 2011.

Official Poster

2011-05-11T11:15:00.001-07:00

Allow me to present the official poster for Small Sacrifices!

Huge thanks to Phil who turned in an amazing bit of artwork. Now to get some big ol' 27"x40" prints made...

Old School Meets New Age

2011-03-08T07:34:00.001-08:00

It's no secret that most of our crew are huge fans of old school effects and movies, such as Harryhausen productions, or the original Star Wars saga - so the opportunity to insert old-school matte paintings into our digital stop-motion was too good to pass up - especially when I have such talented folks on the team.

With that in mind, we tested the effect on a shot that involves the first doomed flea hanging down a perilous crevice.

Here is an original frame from the shot, animated by Keenan.

Then, the director submitted a staggering masterpiece of a concept sketch to Phil, our matte painter...

Phil then expanded on the existing set, adding depth and light effects,

And here is the final shot with the flea reintroduced and a temporary sky in place. Note, this is NOT a final shot, as the sky needs changing, focal effects need to be added, and the snow is missing - but you get the idea!

Cool, eh?

production photo

2011-02-18T13:24:00.001-08:00

Evolution of a shot

2011-02-10T13:38:00.001-08:00

Here are the first three steps in a single shot's progression - bear in mind that this is still NOT the final shot as there are more elements to add, tweaking to be done, the temporary 'cracks' to be replaced and full colour correction needed - but it is a good indication of the work going into our project.

Firstly, here is the raw footage complete with green screen and 'breakaway' crevice.

Next is a first pass at cleaning up the shot, removing the rigging, animating a new rope at the end and creating a constant foreground.

Now we see a version with more elements composited into the shot, including a new shadow for the flea, temporary background plates, rear fog elements, a live action 'snow splash' a CG snow test and some colour tweaks.

When the shot is complete, I will post it here so that you can see the final result.

Phil's Infamous Chair

2010-11-22T11:37:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to share this quick shot today.

This has become one of my favorite shots lately. George's set looks amazing and Phil's awesome chair deserved a proper reveal. All the elements came together. The animation is simple. I think this one shot says so much about this film.

Here we see one of the Sherpas unwrapping Otto Von Louse's arm chair in the cabin halfway up the mountain.

Getting Creative with the Sets

2010-11-16T17:23:00.000-08:00

Starting off on this film we had but a few sets: Some flat planes, a cabin, and of course our massive miniature mountain. Though simple, the flat planes have become the most effective. Forming canyons and ridges, they have served to create more interesting shapes as our team's accent steepens.

We rose the set to desired incline.

Shooting on green screen means more complex backgrounds may be added in post. Extra rocks break up the flat horizon.

We make sure the set is locked in place; They won't be going anywhere between frames.

The sets have proven most loyal. With all the lock downs we have pierced through them, their undersides look like pin cushions. Swiss cheese or not, they are still doing the job quite expertly.

110%

2010-07-17T22:28:00.000-07:00

So I set up this shot, telling Keenan it should only be an eight second shot at the most and, egged on by Roberta, he turns in a shot just shy of 20 seconds!
I can't complain though :)

Scene 3 Shot 2 from Neil Baker on Vimeo.

Some more old footage.

2010-07-10T19:15:00.001-07:00

Scene 3 begins. from Neil Baker on Vimeo.

Another quick composite

2010-07-10T00:30:00.000-07:00

Obviously not as good as Jon could do, but it gives us a good idea of how scales can be affected.

Walk Comp Test from Neil Baker on Vimeo.

The Long Walk

2010-06-30T23:49:00.001-07:00

Six hours of animation = 3.4 seconds of walking footage. It's like that sometimes...

The set up

The remaining sherpas

The long walk

The real director

Keenan animates, captured on Monkey Jam, surrounded by the cameras capturing the scene and him, and... ooh, I've gone cross-eyed.

The rig

The director directs

Jump Test

2010-06-24T16:53:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd take Roberta's flea jump and see how well Premiere handles some basic compositing.
I painted out the rigging, added a background, and voila - a quick bit of compositing!

Jump Test from Neil Baker on Vimeo.

How a shot evolves

2010-06-23T21:10:00.000-07:00

Some of you may recall my grand plans for the bridge scene. The shot move changed due to time and equipment constraints - so I split the shot into three parts. Here is the final part which told Keenan should only be a quick, three second shot with some Maya augmentation.
It turned into a 14+ second shot - LOL

Here is a horribly compressed version of the shot.

Our Animation staff in Real Time

2010-06-04T10:33:00.000-07:00

Well real stop motion time that is.

Here is a sped up view of us working on the set of Small Sacrifices today.

Images from the Small Sacrifices Set

2010-06-03T23:24:00.000-07:00

Here we see director, Neil giving this flea a physical exam before a shoot. Each actor must go through strict tests before we allow them on camera.

Juan does his best Eraserhead impression.

And Otto Klaus Von Louse has the power!

Enjoy.

360 shots of bugs for digital modeling.

2010-03-19T19:08:00.001-07:00

Go HERE to see and download the images if you are on the Maya team.
New images will be uploaded very soon (some models are on set so they are unavailable)

Storyboards

2010-03-05T00:13:00.000-08:00

Due to some ridiculous PDF meltdown by my twitchy computer, I haven't been able to send you all formatted copies of the boards - so I created a new blog for them.

Click HERE to go to the boards blog - and view them there, or print at your leisure.

Cheers, Neil.

Flea Apocalypse!

2010-01-28T23:34:00.000-08:00

Here are some images of the fleas and louse in their current states.
Clothing is needed!

Animatic: Scene 1 - Spotting the cabin.

2010-01-27T14:17:00.000-08:00

I will start posting scenes as they are completed - please bear in mind that these are extremely crude - I won't be winning any storyboarding prizes just yet - but what I am looking for is timing issues and to open up suggestions for shot choices.

Small Sacrifices: Rough Animatic - Scene 1 from Neil Baker on Vimeo.

Camera test 2

2009-12-12T15:13:00.001-08:00

Camera test 2 from Jon on Vimeo.

Tech Geek Out

2009-12-08T23:26:00.000-08:00

Just in case any of our blog followers are tech-heads, here are some juicy photos of our camera set-up.
We are using a Nikon D-90 connected to a Kuper motion control system which was built and re-rigged for us by Tim Taylor.

Here is a close-up of the camera plus all the gearings needed to control the zoom and focus.

And here is the camera ready to shoot approx 200 frames for an 8 second tracking shot through the front door of the cabin.

If the shot works when we shoot it on Thursday, we'll post the results here.

Clear skies!

Ruff Test Shot

2009-12-06T18:26:00.000-08:00

Motion control test from Jon on Vimeo.

motion control test today lighting too!

2009-12-01T00:01:00.001-08:00

We acquainted ourselves with the motion control camera and tested some lighting tonight. the test came out really great. I had a lot of fun trying to keep the prototype flea from falling apart.

Here is the shot I took of our lighting setup.

Hopefully Jon will have the test up later.

Can't wait to get my hands on those new puppets. I'll be gentle Neil.

Second test lighting night shot

-Keenan

Cabin raising

2009-11-25T10:19:00.000-08:00

Things are moving along nicely and we are almost ready for our first camera test.

As you can see, the louse and a couple of fleas are in production and will be ready soon, but more impressive is the progress made on the cabin. Thanks to George, Phil and Jon for their hard work on this little set.

Naturally the following pictures are not properly lit nor staged, but they give a you an idea of what the set will look like. Note the intrusion of the louse's chair in the final shot!

Cheers, Neil.

Where we at?

2009-10-23T14:45:00.000-07:00

Greetings all,

Time for a quick update regarding the film.

Due to scheduling conflicts and other work issues, progress has limped along - but finally there is light at the end of the tunnel.

The camera has been rebuilt and Jon and I had a comprehensive chat with Tim Taylor about the running of said beast. If nothing else, this film is going to look amazing.

The puppet building is progressing despite a couple of hiccups along the way - hopefully we will have a whole team of these bugs before too long.

If we were making the whole film out of paper and card we would be laughing right now...

As it is, we are making headway with the props for George's marvellous cabin, sculpting everything from high density styrofoam and then sealing them before the paint jobs to come.

I recently did a complete timing of the film as it stands (on paper) and the running time comes to 5 mins 5 secs without credits.
I'll be sending you all a breakdown of the script and timing very soon.

Thanks, y'all.

Quick Flea Test

2009-05-30T22:57:00.000-07:00

Jon and I shot a quick test to see if we could animate using a still camera, capturing JPEGs at a high resolution. We actually shot this as a 2K test which is rather extreme, but fun. The result was sharp and lovely, but obviously impractical for compositing (loads of memory needed).

This video is the compressed version, so the quality isn't as shiny. The puppet looks nice under the camera, but I don't like the range of movement in this 'proto-flea', so he will become the flea that ends up bridging the crevice. I'm working on giving the others more mobility.

Neil

Designing the cabin

2009-05-30T10:46:00.000-07:00

Using Phil's initial concept art as a guideline, George stepped up and offered to build the cabin for a series of key scenes in the middle of the film.

He began by building a basic model of the dimesions using CG, and then after my approval, he put together a more finished version. This is instrumental in helping figure out how the actual cabin is going to look on set. The following video is made up from a series of his images.

The next stage is a cardboard mock-up. This will help me place it on the set, and figure out the best angles to shoot it at and how well the dimensions will work with the puppets - once all this is finalized, George will go ahead and build the final, wooden version.

Progress

2009-05-20T08:32:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

Things slowed down briefly while I tried to complete some other projects - but now we can ramp up again.

I have placed an album over on FaceBook showing the progression of the mountain and fleas - figured that was a good way to get some immediate feedback.

George is making headway with the cabin, and Jon and I are about to run some tests with the camera - come and join us if you are free.

More updates as they happen,

cheers, Neil.

ruff fog pass test

2009-05-10T15:56:00.000-07:00

Hey every one
thought id post an environmental fog pass that i was working on today, if you have any comments, ideas, and/or a way you think the fog should look please do share.

More marvellous mountain.

2009-05-10T13:38:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots of the mountain set in its semi-finished state. Just needs a coat of titanium white to get it looking crispy.

Jon diligently adds snow as a flea begins an impromptu ascent.

The final peak.

We had a great session with Tim Taylor (motion control guru from 'Coraline') on Saturday who taught us all we needed to know to get the camera up and running. We are going to shoot some test footage soon which I may actually cut into a rough version for timing purposes. We are also looking into replacing the current camera with a Nikon D90 with an 18-200 mm lens for a beautiful HD picture.

My next priority is to get the proto-fleas finished so that we can test them - and then I'll be calling for prop-makers once we have their scale nailed down.

Thanks everyone!

Creating a rough prototype--wind sounds, part 2

2009-05-04T14:41:00.000-07:00

So I've edited a few tastes of the rough sketch for the particle sounds. There's a lot of background noise because it's a nice day outside, and I wanted to test the first run outside where I can let the particles scatter all over and make a nice mess for the squirrels to clean up!

Now that I've narrowed down possibilities, I can do some re-takes in a quieter environment.

Here's a few compressed samples:

Flax seed on cardboard with the U87 & 702T
Flax seed on tent with the H4 stereo mic/recorder
Sesame seed on tent with the H4 stereo mic/recorder
Sesame seed on cardboard with the U87 & 702T

Have a listen-- You'll have to imagine the results of an indoor session when the mic can be a little farther back from the surface.

I also still have to figure out a way to have a somewhat regular dispersal of the material onto the surface--dropping it from my hand is too irregular and risks clumping sounds. Any ideas? Unfortunately a fan makes too much noise. I'm thinking a funnel might work....

Creating the wind sounds

2009-05-04T09:30:00.000-07:00

I've been working on the prototypes for the wind sound. I've got some straight samples of standard wind noises, but I wanted some detail particle sounds for snow/ice hitting the hikers. I think of the wind as broad brush strokes, and the particles as the details.

I set up my mics (see image 1). For this prototype run, I've got a Neumann U87, a Rode stereo mic (the NT4), an EV (RE50), an AKG perception 100, and a Sennheiser MD 421. And my built-in stereo mics on the Zoom H4, an amazing little portable recorder. I've got a few shockmounts, my recorders (the H4 and a Sound Devices 702T), my DPA windpac, and a few different pre-amps.

Phew! So then I set up my "foley pit" in my backyard. I've got some ideas of what to use for the sound, so I've got some surfaces (see image 2): glass, metal, wood, cardboard, a vinyl mat and a tent surface.

I've got a number of different "particles" to try: salt, large-grain sugar, ground flax seed and sesame seeds.

Stay tuned for the results! Once I get a good demo sound, I'll re-record in a quieter setting (dang squirrels, birds, and construction!)

Welcome to The Rock

2009-04-23T22:05:00.001-07:00

I started laying the snow on today - a mixture of water, glue and baking soda.
Here is one of the rocks from the opening scene with a sky comped in for fun.
I wanted to show the potential of this set (bear in mind this is under VERY flat lighting).

The Tension is Mountain

2009-04-22T17:00:00.000-07:00

Well, the clay is all on - just needs a bit of smoothing - and I am now experimenting with different snow pastes to use for a final covering.

Below is the mountain almost finished - the brown paths are the routes that the characters will take, and therefore more clay will be put there to add stabilization and create footprints.

I performed a couple of quick snow tests - the top one is stevia (sugar substitute) and the bottom is salt - neither will work as there is a dissolving issue at hand. I have decided to go with either marble dust or ground glass.

Despite my lack of tripod (I'll take a better picture soon) I just wanted to get a sense of the shadows that are possible - this looks pretty dynamic I think.

Finally, here is the fully coated mountain shot under a blue gel. Interesting effect eh? I'm looking forward to doing some lighting tests once the sparkly snow is in place.

Onwards and upwards!

Mountain Men

2009-04-09T18:01:00.000-07:00

We are making steady progress on the first mountain set.
Here is a selection of images from the first week's building. It included another layer of paper, rock painting and application of white clay.
Once the mountain is covered, it will be smoothed (hairdrier on clay) and then the texture will be added (salt, stevia).

Some concept art for the Cabin

2009-04-05T18:17:00.000-07:00

Here are some ideas sketches for the Louse's cabin.

2009-04-03T12:32:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of Neil, Jon and I putting on a second layer of paper over the mountain, now named, "Nevercrest".

Reference clips from the program 'Let it Snow'

2009-04-02T13:31:00.000-07:00

Some useful stuff in here.

A tangled web of metal and glue

2009-04-01T23:07:00.000-07:00

Neil, Jon and I got to work building Mt. *INSERT NAME HERE* today. Apart from a few head-scratching situations (getting a massive set through a tiny door, using goopy paper mache on a set that's supposed to be in the motion-rig cage, etc) things went pretty well. The framework is there, and we'll continue to add mache layers and definition to different portions to the set in the coming days. As it sits now, there is wood framework, chicken wire for bulk, and paper mache over that (still drying).

Sample some cell-phone pictographs of our radical handiwork.

End of Quarter Review

2009-03-24T08:37:00.000-07:00

Greetings all,

Firstly, my apologies for the recent slow down in activity, but the pressing needs to pass algebra and find a way to stay in the country have diverted my attention.
All being well, we should be able to get up and running fairly soon.
I want to take this opportunity to welcome Karen into the fold - Karen might be able to work on the sound design for the film, which would be an enormous boost to its production value.
If any of you are thinking about game development for a future career, you might want to check out Karen's new book, Game Sound, which is on sale now.

Our tentative crew as it stands right now is myself (director), Keenan, Jake, Robinson (animators), Jon (compositor), Phil (concept design) and Karen (sound design). Obviously there will be some cross-pollination too :-)
Marty is still enthused about stationing us in the motion control camera cage for the rest of the year, and will be inviting us in to discuss the running of the equipment soon.

I'll keep you all updated with emails and on this site as the work progresses, but until then, thanks again for coming onboard - and here's to big festival wins!

2009-03-17T15:07:00.000-07:00

Here is a front and side view of the Louse...

Early flea sculpt stages

2009-03-09T17:44:00.000-07:00

The first 45 seconds in storyboard form

2009-03-04T21:45:00.001-08:00

SHOT 1 - The wind howls across a bare mountain side, sending flurries of fresh snow into the air. A boot crashes down, swiftly followed by four more. We pull back and around as the owner of the boots (a flea) leaps out of frame, closely followed by another flea. We continue to pull out and the whole party is revealed, ascending the mountain in their haphazard jumping manner. Fresh swirls of snow blow in, obscuring our view of the climbers.

SHOT 2 - The Louse pauses, looking at his surroundings with indifference. We crane down his bloated body as he removes his pipe from his mouth and taps it on his cane. We continue to crane down, following the detritus from the pipe as it soils the virgin snow.

SHOT 3 - The Louse pulls sharply on the guide line.

SHOT 4 - The flea ahead of him is yanked back and stands still.

SHOT 5 - The Louse packs a fresh wad of tobacco into his pipe with one arm as he retrieves his telescope with another arm. He holds the scope to his eye.

SHOT 6 - Louse POV - he scans the mountain face until he sees a tiny wooden cabin - his refuge for the night.

2009-03-02T17:11:00.000-08:00

Concept Art. Thanks everyone for your encouragement in Neil's Message! Here is a couple more sketches and I'm planning on a Turnaround for the Louse and the Flea's backside. I'd also like to do some color sketches if time allows.

Reference Video

2009-02-25T20:40:00.000-08:00

I'll be adding more as I find them.

2009-02-24T16:34:00.001-08:00

Hello All!
I rendered some concept sketches for "Small Sacrifices" based off of Neil’s original sketches. I’ll try to post new images as regularly as ideas develop. I don’t think anything is set in concrete yet, so please give us your thoughts and ideas. Thanks.

Storyline and first concept drawings.

2009-02-09T10:31:00.000-08:00

Original Concept

While Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay undertake their extraordinary mission to conquer Mount Everest, little do they know that another, equally epic struggle is taking place on the surface of Hillary's snow hat.
Edmund Hopper and Teensy Norgay, two intrepid fleas, are attempting to scale the lofty peaks of Hillary's ice-encrusted hat, and their struggles reflect the adventures of the two humans.
The film will depict the heroic attempts of both the humans and fleas as parallel stories, highlighting the pitfalls of sudden avalanches, unstable rocks and cracking crevices, along with extreme exhaustion and loyal teamwork.
Ultimately though, when both sets of heroes reach their respective summits, the fleas must decide who will first step foot on the top of the world, and as rivalry rears its head, the flea team must dig deep to remember that they are in it together, and not just for personal glory.

New Concept

Following discussions in the screenwriting class, the parallel storyline has been dropped and focus has shifted to the (expanded) mountaineering insect team. The sentiment is still the same, but the message delivery is less blatant.

The new storyline concerns the efforts of a team of flea Sherpas as they accompany a bloated, pompous louse in his efforts to conquer a snowy peak. There are five Sherpas in all, two scouts and three porters who are laden down with unnecessary equipment. They are all tethered together with the louse in the middle behind the two scouts. As the climb progresses, the team encounters many hazards along the way. The first casualty is one of the scouts who disappears down a hidden crevice. One of the porters is used to bridge the gap, and is left dangling there as the climbing party moves on. The first night on the mountain is bitterly cold, although the louse is perfectly comfortable in his tent and leather reading chair. Outside the fleas shiver. The next morning reveals another of the porters has frozen to death. The reduced party (the louse, one over-laden porter and one scout) continues the ascent and is nearing the summit when the louse makes a sudden noise, which causes a small avalanche, sweeping the last porter away (tethers are hastily cut during this). The remaining scout leads the louse to the summit, where he is pushed to one side so that the louse can claim the glory. He is forced to take several triumphant photographs of the louse even though he is on his last legs, then the scout finally gives up the ghost and flips over, close to death. The louse ponders his predicament for a second – how will he get down from the mountain? Then he looks at the dying flea. The final scene shows the louse riding the feeble flea scout down the mountainside at breakneck speed like a toboggan. They flash past the scenes of previous carnage, and over the flea still bridging the crevice, before arriving at the base to the flash of camera bulbs. The final image is of the louse, resplendent in his triumph, posing with one foot on the carcass of his flea scout.

Spanning the crevice

Night on the mountain

Frozen flea

Avalanche

Triumphant louse