Action Plan - Week Beginning 27th October

This week we are finishing the roof shots and preparing for the last week of shooting. I will need to do a few more wigs, possibly some more casting and we are waiting on some more costumes from the costume designer. There is a lot to do at this point and I think it will be pretty non stop until the 7th of Nov to make sure we get everything in time. 

Monday 

• Prepare Manny for shot by rigging him at 45˚ angle to camera using a magic arm
• Discuss shots for the week with Simon
• List what casting and puppet maintenance is required for this week and the next
• Puppeteer Manny for rooftop shot 

Tuesday

• Make some more central rods in preparation for wWednesdays shoot 
• Assemble puppets with rods once received from costume designer
• Design and plan the making of the two headed puppet and embryo with Simon
• Begin making mini people for perspective shots on Friday
• Inspect costumes to make sure they're ready for filming and make any alterations/repairs necessary

Wednesday

• Finish rodding up puppets 
• Puppeteering with Hedley 
• Be on standby for repairs and maintenance to puppets 
• help Simon rig puppets into shot 
• make any changes that may be required for the shot such as wig alterations and changing heads
• discuss moulds, casting and wigs with Simon

Thursday

• Cast and wig making
• Create miniature puppets using magnets as a base and work along side art Department to create necessary elements required
• Help in setting up Friday's shot, rigging puppet, breaking down new costume Elements to match continuity
• Attach glens hands to leaflet

Friday

• Help rig puppet in place
• Puppeteer
• Rig leaflet to fall
• Arrange mini puppets 
• Dress blood and body into shot
• Be on standby for repairs and maintenance to puppets

Week 20th - 24th October

Over the weekend I discussed with Simon how we would make the peeing mechanism for Manny. For the shot, he will be standing on the edge of the building with his back to the camera, and a stream of pee will be visible between his legs as the sun is rising. We decided that making a tube run up the front of his leg and to the crotch area was best, with a bottle attached at the other end filled with apple juice. We got some aquarium tubing, an empty bottle and a garden watering spike that attaches onto bottles. 

When I arrived Monday morning I started straight away with rigging the peeing mech for Manny. I pinned the tube up his left leg using bent pins to make them like staples. I also took the main rod out of Manny and put two long pieces of piano wire up through his legs so that I could later stick those into the set and Manny would stand free without a rod and a puppeteer holding him up. Once I had done this I took it through to the Old Library and Simon and I tested it out. We found that the stream of pee didn't look very natural, so I put a chunk of polystyrene that was on the floor into the tube to break the stream up a bit. I also cut a small slit in the end of the tube. This looked a lot better.

Once the set had been finished I rigged Glenn into place for the wide shot. I had to cut a small channel in the polystyrene wall to make room for his rod so that he sat properly on the wall and didn't just float. After lunch I puppeteered Glenn's arms, Hedley was puppeteering Glenns head. 

Sara our production designer being Godzilla.. and also applying some moss to the set!

Once this shot had finished I took Glenn out and rigged Manny into place. I attached a cup to the set to catch the 'pee'. I also pinned his arms into place and stuck two more pieces of piano wire into his body to puppeteer him with. The only action he was going to do is swaying slightly.

When I'd finished rigging Manny in place, I puppeteered his body while Vicky squeezed the bottle of 'pee' to come out of the tube... much to her disgust!  

On Tuesday I de rigged Manny and then helped strike the set. Afterwards, I had to take the rods out of all of the puppets apart from Manny and Glenn. We had to give them to Lex, our costume designer so that she could put them all in their new costumes ready for the final scenes of the film! After lunch I went through the animatic with Simon and discussed how many more heads and wigs I need to make. Priority was doing a new Manny wig for Wednesday, but to save time I casted a new head first and then while that was setting I did Manny's wig. Once the wig was finished I demoulded the head and powdered it with talc to make it matte. Before I left I had time to put the main rod back into Manny and prep Glenn for Wednesday's shoot. 

Wednesday morning there was a lot of time spent on getting the angle right with the wall and rigging the puppets into place, but once that was done I was puppeteering with Hedley and Simon. Thursday I changed he heads on both Manny and Glenn for the next shot so that they were showing a different expression. I was puppeteering with Hedley and Simon again, and over lunch I casted a new pair of arms for Glenn. Friday was much the same, but I did some wigs over lunch instead of casting! 

We didn't manage to get the last shot that was scheduled for this week, which is just Manny on his own looking down. He will need to be rigged on a magic arm at an angle. We will be able to do this very quickly on Monday morning before the next set up. 

Action Plan - Week Beginning 20th October

This week we begin some of the final shots for the film. The hotel roof scene requires quite complicated set ups, because we need to make it look like a sun rise between two buildings in the distance. Frosted gel will be used between the set and the buildings to look like haze and create more distance. 

Monday 

• Rig pee mechanism for Manny - he will be standing on the roof of a building and peeing off the top. I need to secure a tube in place up his leg so that it is not visible in camera, and allows us to flow fake urine through.
• I need to take Manny's main rod out and put piano wire in legs so that he can free stand in shot without the central rod blocking the flow of urine. 
• Rig Glen in place for the wide shot. May have to cut into the polystyrene set to allow him to sit in place properly. 
• Prep Glen for the shot - tidy wig up, adjust costume, tension rod. 
• I will be puppeteering Glen for the wide shot of him sat on the edge of the roof. 
• Be on standby for on the spot maintenance or repairs on Glen 
• Take Glen out of shot, rig Manny in place 
• Puppeteer Manny 
• If I get time I will do a new Manny wig ready for Wednesdays shots. 

Tuesday

• De-rod puppets for return to costume maker 
• Go through animatic with Simon to assess if new heads or puppet parts are needed for remaining shots 
• Remove peeing mech from Manny
• Put main rod back in Manny
• Prep Glen and Manny for Wednesday's shoot - tidy up wigs and costumes

Wednesday

• Puppeteering with Hedley and Simon
• Standby for puppets repairs and maintenance 

Thursday 

• Prep puppets for the days shots, including changing heads and rods depending on what is required 
• Cast any extra puppet parts required for upcoming shots during set up 
• Puppeteering with Hedley and Simon
• Discuss with Simon and make spitting mechanism for Fridays shoot 

Friday 

• Puppeteering with Simon and Hedley
• Standby for puppets 

Week 13th - 17th October

Over the weekend I did three wigs for Mandy. Lex did another amazing costume, Simon asked me to do a 60s beehive hairdo for Mandy. As I was at home I was able to do it on the sofa, which was a relaxing change from the office! 

I put makeup on each face with psycho paint when I arrived on Monday morning. I also re-tensioned Manny's rod and put a rod into Mandy with her new costume on. We had a pickup that needed to be done from Friday so that was done while I did the puppet bits. I rigged the puppets into place and we started shooting. There were quite a few shots to get so we had to work efficiently with our time. I was doing the light again while shooting, but I had to do it in the opposite direction because the camera is now looking at the other side of the train carriage. We got everything we needed by the end of the day and did the set strike before we left. 

Tuesday was a prelight day so I spent most of it in the office working on puppets. I pinned the crow bar that I made in the summer into Manny's hands, and the cricket bat into Glenns hands. They had to be really secure as they'd be doing a lot of action with the props. I just used a lot of pins and wire, threading it into his hands. I also cleaned up the puppets and tidied up the Old Library. It's such a small space and gets in such a mess so easily when there are so many people working in there. I've never seen so many empty tea and coffee cups in my life. 

There were some big issues with the set for the car smashing scene. The car wasn't finished and it wasn't looking great because it had been passed from person to person without anyone actually finishing it. The schedule got changed to shooting on Thursday rather than Wednesday, so that Katie had more time to finish the car. 

On Wednesday I helped with the set up for the car smash scene. The car wasn't finished until after lunch but we put it in place in the morning and then taped some acetate sheets to the monitors and drew around where the car would be so we could see its place in the camera and so that Katie could take it away and finish it while the rest of us put the set together. Once we had finished setting up with the car in place Steve was able to light it all. Vicky and I added some LED lights into the buildings in the background and also helped with the street lamp. 

The back of the car would never be seen so it wasn't made! This also made much more room to rig Manny in place, as he needed to stand on top of the roof. 

Thursday we rigged the puppets in place and started shooting straight away. I was puppeteering Glenn's arms with Simon on the head and body. Hedley and Terry were puppeteering Manny. Terry was having problems with the angle of the rod so I had to do a bit of fiddling about to get it into a position where she could comfortably puppeteer him. Luckily the crow bar and cricket bat stayed in the hands for all of the takes! We did quite a few takes because it was quite difficult to puppeteer. Glenn starts facing the camera and then turns around, which means that I have to swap hands with the rods I'm holding so they don't twist and also give a smooth movement to Glenn. This was a bit of a pain and I tried a new way of sitting under the set with every take. We got there in the end, with me having to sit backwards and cross my own arms first and untwist myself instead of Glenn's rods when he turns around! After we'd finished shooting I helped strike the set and cleaned up. 

Friday I sat with Simon and discussed what needs to be casted for the rest of the film and what wigs I will need to make. There are a lot of puppets in the end scenes and each need different expressions. I mostly need to cast heads and make wigs but we also decided I should do some more arms because we only have a few left that haven't been ruined by the rods. I made a start on the casting for the rest of the day while the next set up was being done. I did need to go back to the Old Library a few times to hold Glenn in place so Steve and Simon could line up the shot correctly. 

 

Drawing onto acetate to decide where the buildings would go. This shot will be on the roof of a hotel at sunrise with Glenn looking out at the city.