Finally! I knew if I put my brain to it I would find something that worked. It is still a teensy bit shakey, but I will use it anyway. After several false starts, this is the apparatus I ended up with:

Yes...that is balsa wood square doweling, the first attempt at the bookcase the other day, rubber shelf webbing and a packing peanut. I feel like fucking McGyver right now.  One of these days I will have the money for tools so I can build more permanent solutions to these problems. For now.....it's McGyvering.

So here is how it turned out:

Not perfect, but good enough to use. :) Now on to scene 2. That one will be simple for camera angles...I can just place it on the set floor...but it will be a bear to figure out how to get them to move how I want.

For now, bed. Work early in the morning.

Grrr! God damn it. For some reason I am having difficulty getting the camera to stay in one spot. I have shot this whole scene 4 TIMES! Each time it ends up looking like shakey cam or stuff is moving that shouldn't. I thought I had worked past that shit. Unfortunately what I am trying to do won't work with just placing my camera on the set itself and I can't get my tripod close enough to shoot from it. *DEEP BREATH* I am not stupid. This is just a skill set I have yet to grasp fully. Skill sets can be learned. I am stepping back for tonight and letting my brain stew over it for a bit. If you wanna see the crazy humiliating results, here they are:

I am glad I have more time to work on this one. Though I do need votes to get it even reviewed by the panel. The sooner I have it up the longer I have to get votes. I realize I am letting myself get frustrated over something I don't even have to do. But isn't that the time to work through the frustrating bits? If I let myself struggle now I will be able to just do it later. At least that is the current theory. I really do enjoy doing this. I just hate that my imagination is light years ahead of my abilities. I think that is my biggest frustration.

So...off to beddy bye for now. When I have it figured out I will post the results.

True...and explains a lot. :) Here are the bookcases I made today. The one on the left is the second one I did. The one on the right is the first one I did. HUGE difference! I don't think I did anything differently, but they look like one was made by and a adult and one was made by a preschooler.

Suppose it's, er, rustic. Either way, I now have a workable book shelf. I also have the backdrops for each of the scenes, the set pieces for most of the scenes, and now I only have a few props left. I was going to do some test shots, but as I am on a roll I will finish with the sets and props then I will start doing test shoots. Now that I have been successful at a bookcase I am feeling more accomplished. That failure was really making me doubt I could pull this off. At least I have a few months to get it all done.

So next....

Apron
scrolls
rocks
towel

Then I mean to set up each of the sets and take a picture of each to see how they look in front of the camera. Will post pictures when I have them.

I have been busy. I am still looking for a better job. And I have been working on the Douglas Adams video. I know what I am doing now. I broke down the script line by line and brainstormed and decided what I wanted to do. Then I figured out what was realistic to do. Then I made a list of props and set pieces I wanted. In a minute I am going to do a test scene. Here is a pic of some of the set pieces and props. If you can tell what everything is supposed to be I will love you forever. :)

Now to work on more of the tricky bits. Still trying to make a workable bookshelf. If I can get some workable test sequences done I will post em.
sigh

I've been working on set pieces for the new video. While I am waiting for the glue to dry I decided to experiment with getting the movement down. It looks pretty funny. Almost like break dancing. Here are the results:

Pretty comical. I guess it is back to the old drawing board. I went and got myself some wire today to start playing with building armatures. Maybe my next project should be a movement gage.

So my new magnets arrived in the mail today. They are perfect!! They fit perfectly in the feet of the little soldier guys.

The image on the left shows both magnets in the slots I intended them for. It will no longer look like they are walking in platform shoes. Yeay! I am really excited. I also stopped by the hobby shop on the way home from work and grabbed some balsa wood. Handy stuff that. So I am in for a night of constructing and gluing. Time to load the old Last of the Summer Wine and relax. :)

I am so glad I am on Twitter. I learned about a video animation contest. Involving DOUGLAS ADAMS. One of my FAVORITE authors of all time. And it specifies animation. So I fell face first in the Eddie Izzard contest. I only had a week to do it though. This one has a deadline of April 15th. But this sounds awesome. And the list of judges?? STEPHEN FUCKIN FRY!! *Deep breath* It was tweeted by Neil Gaiman. I think my head is going to explode.

OK...so other video shoved to the back of the line. This is going to happen. This will be fun. I am freaked out and excited and everything all at once.  I can do this. I hope. Heh heh.

Step 1: Downloading the audio and listening to it.
Step 2: Brainstorm

Wish me luck.

So.....I started shooting another video. Then I stopped. I have a very underdeveloped idea of what I want the finished product to be. I want to add dialog to this one. It is my second attempt at words and my first attempt at making the dialog for the video. I am petrified. I know I am still learning, and really it can't be any worse than anything else I have posted thus far. I have a few decisions to make. Do I want to write a strict script and try to make the video work to it? Or do I want to make a basic storyline, shoot what I can and then let the voice actors improvise depending on what will work with the movement in the video. As I do not have the sophisticated rendering programs that would allow me to time it precisely, it might be easier to shoot it and render it first, then write a dialog that will match the movement. I have all afternoon and evening off tomorrow, which would work for doing continuous shooting. Though it is not required, it is easier to get a good continuity going if I shoot all the parts of one scene at once.

I have been thinking of taking a page fromthe Jonathan Coulton school of artificial creativity boosting and making myself produce one video a week. I don't know if I can make myself do it. However, it may facilitate making myself push past the insecurities that tend to paralyze me and keep me from completing anything. I am aware that I am the only one standing in my own way.  On the other hand, no one reads this, so there would be no one to hold me accountable. I could very easily just let myself off the hook. I think this idea requires more consideration.

The other day I was playing around the interwebs and I found a site that sells magnets. Just magnets. Magnets of all shapes and sizes. Even itty bitty ones. Even ones that are 4mm by 2mm, which just happens to be the size of the little hollow spot on those soldiers feet. I think. I am not very good with precise measurements. And this site offers them for fairly cheap. I ordered 121 (well, actually 300 but they didn't have 300 to ship me) for $13.00, including shipping.  Now that the dollar store no longer have the office magnets in plastic that I have been using, this should be a viable alternative.

I have decided that if I am going to use these guys, I need to find a way to distinguish between the sexes. They all look male to me. I also have orange soldiers and green Ork-looking guys. I have decided that the silver/grey guys will be, well, guys and the orange soldiers will represent the females.

Ok. So final decision made: go get dinner, then spend the evening listening to BBC radio and writing a loose script. By loose I mean a basic story board, rough ideas of how many scenes I want, how long I want each of them to be, and what the subject will be of each scene will be. Tomorrow I will shoot and assemble, and by Saturday I propose to have the dialog done and a new video to post.

I have been working more on furniture. I know, I know....I need to decide on my next storyline first. But I have been feeling a bit lonely and depressed lately so it has been hard to think of something that wasn't sad and depressing. So I made a new sofa. And a new end table. And a new coffee table. I think I like the sofa better than the old one. For one thing, the seat cushion is integrated, taking away a lot of the problems I had with cushion movement with the other one. I still see the flaws in it, but I think it will work. I will keep playing with it. I did a 12 second video to test out the new look. I used my old wall with the window and the old carpet. I also decided while I was experimenting I would try to play with how the guy moves. The last one he looked like he was skating. I don't know. As his legs are not articulated it may be hard to do anything better. He looks a bit fluttery here to me.

So here is the result of my little test:

I think it worked ok. I am noticing the curtain movement and the floor movement, which is new. I have to work this afternoon, so when I get home I will see why it bubbled like that. If you have any suggestions about the movement they will be heartily welcomed. Unless it is to tell me it is shit, in which case fuck off I don't want to hear it.

Yeah. I have been working on these flipping chairs for days. They are ok. They will probably work. I just see all the flaws in them. I also printed out some hardwood flooring and took a test run with it all together. I am not sure I like it yet.

I didn't bother lighting it. Maybe should have. I dunno.

It was fun to do. I have decided that what I need to do is finish the storyline then only make the things I need, not what strikes me at the time. I have no idea what I would do with any of this. I had fun making the playing cards. I am a gamer, so it is cool to have dice and cards. Well, I guess I am getting better at it as I go along. I just need to plan better. So...tonight work on writing up a script and a list of sets and props. I plan to try adding dialog to this next one.