Learn about model-making and animation materials by exploring some of your favourite CHF characters in 3D. We’ve connected photogrammetry scans with oral histories from CHF specialists.
Explore our first three 3D models to find out more about how they were made, or visit our Sketchfab page.
The Wind in the Willows
The Wind in the Willows was a 1983 film by Cosgrove Hall Films, based on Kenneth Grahame’s children’s classic. The book was adapted by Rosemary Anne Sisson who wrote the script. The film was very successful, leading to a television series which aired on Thames Television between 1984-1990.
Our Motive
Photogrammetry is a valuable tool for recording and capturing the detail of stop motion models, because this enables us to capture the texture of the puppet skins before they degrade and also monitor any degradation over time.
Peter Saunders (Mackinnon & Saunders, model-maker at CHF) talking through the model-making process with a casting mould of Badger’s head. Image: Jason Lock
In the future, these photogrammetry scans could allow us to restore these assets (digitally or physically). We are preserving and sharing these assets digitally, because delicate materials such as foam latex and other plastics degrade over time. They are also sensitive to the environment, which means that exposure to ultra-violet radiation and constant temperature changes could speed up their degradation.
We want to strike a balance between sharing with our audiences, and preserving the original models. By giving insight about the model-making process we’d like to give audiences the chance to get up closer with the collection and learn directly from model-makers and animators.
A special thank you to Chelsea Hicks, Ursula Ackah, Peter Saunders, Brian Cosgrove, Jason Lock, Richard Evans, Steve Henderson, Damien Markey, Manchester Metropolitan University, Materials In Motion
Want to know more about animated materials?
We recently delivered a talk for Materials in Motion 2021 symposium, which took place online this year. Materials in Motion are a fantastic platform, bringing together international animation archives and specialists who work with animated materials. This micro-talk gave a quick overview of foam latex and covered some of the things we have observed about the material and how it degrades. If you are interested in the material, read our blog post on the MIM website to find out more. The talk was pre-recorded, so we will be sharing this in the coming weeks.