(Instruments of Walter Gloom)

Sneak Peak

"You may recognize this song, from another rather well known stop motion picture"



JJ.

forced-perspective

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TEST ANIMATIC

(SPOILER WARNING)



JJ.

Meet the Cast

"We could be so good together"



Introducing the awkwardly charming Walter Gloom, and Delightfully Voluptuous Edna Thorn

Walter Gloom (aka. Walt)

Each morning at 11am Walter Gloom would sit inside of the Charcoal Café Drinking his Double shot espresso and watching as the world and its people passed him by. A man of many years and many stories Walter never managed to find true love. And anytime he got close to a lady he found himself incredibly shy and nervous, the ladies at the time must have thought him to be rather odd indeed, never being able to finish a full sentence and often very clumsy. After awhile Walter just began to give up hope that he would ever find a woman to share his love, and life with.

Though one morning as he prepared to order his usual double shot espresso a new waitress he had never seen before approached him at his table in the corner of the café. Suddenly the warmth in his heart that had been hidden in the darkness like an abandoned factory, powered back up. All the bats turned to Butterflies, Cobwebs to Flowers.

Edna Thorn

When Edna was at school she was constantly bullied about being big.Since then she has always been very self conscious about her weight and as a result has spent most of her life alone within the walls of her lake side cottage reading books about romance that she thought she would never experience for herself.

Well after many months in isolation Edna decided to have one last shot at the world and took a job at a local coffee shop, and on her very first day she came across a shy, yet charming old man who never once seemed to pass judgment, he would later confess to Edna's disbelief that he thought her to be the most beautiful Enchantress he had ever seen, So much so that she made his coffee sweater just by serving it.

This man was Walter Gloom.

JJ.

Edna's Cottage

Above is a rough sketch of Edna's Cottage.

Since the beginning of this production Edna's Cottage has gone through many evolutionary steps. And as the weeks go by it seems to become more and more alive and fleshed out. Adding little things here and there I'm having a lot of fun watching it come together in front of my eyes. To give you an idea of the overall feeling I was going for when designing Edna's Cottage. It would be something improbable yet believable with twisted and bent angles, with an eerie yet cozy quality to it.

I will put some more sketches up in the following weeks. And a lot more info on all the things good, bad and other that have been taking place during these early stages of the film.Take care.

JJ.

The Animator

I am Ceri Watling, the other half of the team making Walter Gloom. I'm the person who takes all James' ideas, storyboards and drawings and turns them into stop-motion animation. I've just come back from London where James and I finally met up after weeks of discussing the film by email.

I'm 27 and I live in Bolton, near Manchester and I've been making stop-motion animations for just over a year. I discovered my calling in life a little late after many years of being rather lost. One day I hope to make my living producing independent animations, but for now I spend most of my time in my spare-bedroom/studio making animations just for the love of it.

My plan for this short film is to try to bring James' vision for Walter Gloom to life exactly as he has imagined, and challenge myself by making a film very different to the ones I usually make.

This blog will show our progress in making this film, and also provide a place for James and I to exchange ideas and pictures. Hope you all enjoy watching our progress!

The Director

"The Beginning"







Hello & Welcome!

My name is James Geard, I am 1 half of the team for the up and coming "Walter Gloom" Micro-short.

In this introduction I will let you know a little bit about myself, where I have come from, what my role on the film will be, and where I'd like to go in the future.

First off I'm 21 years of age;

I was born in Kent/England though left for Australia when I was just 6weeks of age. This is where I have lived the past 21 years of my life and it has been an absolute pleasure.
(I give Australia a lot of lip, mainly due to the extreme heat and bright sun on my pale skin, and frail eyeballs) But I love it there. Even if the small town community where I lived could sometimes feel a bit close minded and constrictive. Though this is just my personal view of the place. I'm sure it's quite lovely and all, I'm just a bit cynical and unfortunately haven't ever been too good at going along with something because it's what everyone else expects of you. This is very much appreciated in a smaller community.

I suppose in some ways for me it's like trying to blend Art with Commerciality.

Be yourself! Be Artistic!, but do it in a way that doesn't go outside of the lines.

I am now living in England once more, at a place called Guildford in Surry. I adore it here, it is close enough for me to get into London when I need, though far enough out that I can have my own peace and quite to think and work, it's very inspiring for me to have that.

So my roll on Walter Gloom is as the Director, Concept Artist, basically most things to do with look and feel of the movie, I also wrote the script originally 13minutes long (which I have now cut down into a 1minute piece) Which I would like to complete at a later date. I'm sure that there a few other thing's here and there that I'm doing but the ones I mentioned are the main things.

As for where Id like to go in the future, at this point in time I like to think my aspirations are quite modest. First and foremost complete Walter Gloom to the best of my ability, and find work within the film or television industry. I'm not phased where I start but in the long term at this point in time I would Love to Direct Films for a living.

So anyways thank you ever so much for dropping in.

Keep an eye out over the coming weeks and months as there shall be plenty of updates regarding the films production.

JJ.