Stockton Flyer

Behind this door is the home of the Stockton Flyer. It rises out of the top of this small building in the middle of the high street every day at 1pm and the sound of a steam engine can be heard across Stockton.

I love this rusty door; its textures, shapes, and colours are beautiful. It's just a small hint at the magnificent structure that emerges from the top.

The design was inspired by George Stephenson's Locomotive No. 1 which ran on the Stockton - Darlington line. It's a very crazy steampunk looking automaton by Rob Higgs and Keith Newstead.

Photo - Google Images

'One Night' - Script Breakdown

'One Night' is a film about two girls who become unlikely friends after one of them is raped outside of the strip club they worked in. Over the course of one night, they get very drunk and come up with crazy ideas to seek revenge. The influences for this film include My Own Private Idaho (1991) and Buffalo '66 (1998).

Initially, I emailed this group in a panic because 'Sweet Changeling' hadn't emailed me back for almost a week to tell me whether I made the team or not and I feared I would be jobless. I told them I'd happily work on graphics but I'm also happy to do any other art department jobs as I'd like a variety. A friend of mine from the film course was working on this film and had co-written the script so he helped get me a place on the team as he knows I'm a hard worker, I'm very grateful for him as otherwise, I think they'd have turned me away.

SCRIPT BREAKDOWN

I went through the script highlighting elements that would need graphics much like I had done with the previous script.

'Under the White Sun' - Script Breakdown

I did a quick script breakdown to help me figure out which scenes needed graphics and what they would be. This first look at the script made me think about things such as money (credits) and how that might look in the context of this world. The LCC students hadn't considered this yet so that would be a job for the graphics department.

Winter Wonderland Photoshoot

I was asked by a second year costume student to model a jacket she had made. This isn't something I would normally volunteer for but I thought it could be fun. I offered Natalia the use of my DSLR as she wasn't sure her friend could lend her one. We went to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. I already felt self-conscious just thinking about wearing the costume here with so many people around to see.

I had never modelled for anything before so I felt a bit silly and also suddenly very conscious of where my limbs were and my facial expression. This made it hard to 'act natural'.

This last photo came out with an interesting dreamy haze. My lens was getting a lot of condensation build up because it had just come from the freezing cold ice sculpture room. I think I like this photo the best, to me it feels like it could be from a fairytale and I think that is the look Natalia had wanted to create.

Sketch Up Animated GIF

'One Night' - Initial Meeting

The job I had been assigned to on this film was graphics but also making a colour model. This was an unusual request, in their script a building is set on fire and as they obviously couldn't do this full scale and getting permission to use smoke machines and other effects would be a health and safety nightmare we decided a scale model of the building was worth a shot.

Francis Boyle was very helpful in coming up with solutions for filming the model and he suggested burning gels and lighter fluid for creating a small controlled fire. He told us to practice but obviously to be very cautious and do this outside.

'Sweet Changeling' - Initial Meeting / Script Breakdown

'Sweet Changeling' was the first LCC group I emailed. I really liked their moodboards and overall aesthetic for the film (as seen below). The film has a 1950's through to 80's style. The story follows a young ex-pageant winner named Mary Beth who loses her child prematurely and has to deal with this loss as well as with her family.

SCRIPT BREAKDOWN
We were put in charge of the dining room set and making the washing machine so I analysed these sections of the script.

INITIAL MEETING
Francis again helped us with tricks and solutions that would help us reduce the number of necessary props and dressing. 10 sets seemed incredibly ambitious especially with such a small art department from Wimbledon.