FACTORY Visit

This week I took the opportunity to go to Manchester and visit the FACTORY stop-motion studio. I had never been to a stop-motion studio before and I had only ever watched footage of the 'behind the scenes', so this was an amazing experience to actually get to see it for myself.

The day began by visiting FACTORY, where we first went round the first studio where we were showed around by Phil Chalk, the managing director of FACTORY. (Below)



As they had just got over a massive production, there wasn't really anyone about to talk to, however we still got to see the amazing sets and props they had made for a new production. Next, we went into a sound studio, where they showed us the mixing desks ect. This was really cool as the studio actually made all their own foley sounds, which isn't that common!

On the last part of the factory tour, which was my favourite part, we got to have a tour round the production of the new Clangers! It was so cute, but I couldn't take any pictures because the episodes hadn't been released yet. The backgrounds of the set were blue gradient backgrounds with stars, so I asked how they created it and they said that the stars were just holes punched in the material and light shining through. It made a really lovely effect.



We also went up to the art department where they were making props and where the puppets were stored and I got to hold a Clanger puppet, the soup dragon and the metal chicken. The puppets were so well made and they had the most smooth joints, a big contrast to our wire puppets!



Whilst we were in the art room, we also got a chance to talk to Chris Tichborne, who has worked on Corpse Bride, Fantastic Mr Fox and Coraline. He gave us some great advice about showreels where he said it's good practice to download walk cycles from YouTube and break them down and just copy them until you get a hang of it, so that you can start to understand it a little more in your own head. Walk cycles for me personally are something I do struggle with, so hearing this advice has inspired me to work on them as one day I aspire to be a stop-motion animator.



After visiting this studio, I loved the atmosphere so much and it really opened my eyes to a studio that is not too far from my hometown. Factory would definitely be somewhere I would love to do some work experience or even further, and I didn't even know it was so close by! This visit also gave me the confidence in becoming a stop-motion animator as a lot of people say that there's no future in it or that there isn't a lot of work, however the other side to this is that there aren't a mass amount of stop-motion animators in comparison to 3D, which means less competition!