Prometheus: Character footage, movement and characterisation. from Lily Greenhalgh on Vimeo.

On location, using our environment to create characterisation and emphasised movements. We also played with depth of field, and took advantage of the pillars and structure of the room in order to create this effect.

Prometheus: Character movement exploration from Lily Greenhalgh on Vimeo.


Exploring the ways this character moves. On set in full costume with model and assistant photographer.

Final photos of Prometheus model.

 A giant maquette used for stop motion, this was inspired by the large models Laika studios use in their films. They're known for large scale and incredible technology in the stop motion industry. I wanted it to look other worldy, immortal, godlike or spiritual so I chose to use mixed media; deciding on textures, patterns and shapes that could represent this.
My project became an exploration of unconventional materials, as well as experimentation of how to fully realise a character through different mediums.
Whilst creating this model, I let the fabrics fall naturally, and simply anchored them in place to achieve a better natural flow. Overall I wanted a swirled, shadowy kind of vibe; something you wanted to reach out and touch, or appeared like it was moving. To help this, I tried to suit the materials to where they sat on the model, as well as making an attempt to hide most of the seams to make it a little neater.
A visiting animator informed me of the professional use of chicken wire, which is what gave me the confidence to use chicken wire for the base of this model.
Overall I'm happy with how this has turned out; there were definitely moments it looked too messy or not professional enough, but as a finished model, I'm actually quite pleased with how it's come together at the end. In the photo above, you can also see the little maquette I made beforehand as a practise!

Final photos of mask and theatre realised Prometheus.

Here are a collection of my favourite shots from the photoshoot! I'm so pleased with how these have turned out, the lighting of the cathedral we were in only lent itself to the airy, spiritual vibe I wanted to create. In using a cathedral as a setting, it was mimicking and assisting the religious imagery that I was focussed on with this realisation of the character. Even though a lot of my work this during this assignment has been based around stop motion, my love for theatre, costumes and prop-costume such as masks meant that I didn't want to pigeon hole myself entirely, as I really enjoy camera work of all types. Whether it's stop motion, film making or getting stills like these, I really enjoy realising the character through other mediums; I feel that this way we can learn more about the character. Through this practise I was able to explore how the character moves, sits, holds themself etc.
The model is Jack Taylor. Assistant photographer was Yasmine Lahouag.

Costume variation: Photoshoot preparation and sourcing

In exploring the characterisation of Prometheus as well as showcase my work in another light, I wanted to work on modelling in the medium of costume as well as simultaneously working on the maquettes I've been focused on. I feel this could add to the characterisation of the fox-spirit as well as give me an opportunity to work with camera; both in moving image and stills, which I think was one of my strong points in previous projects. I was lucky enough to have two models to choose from! I got all the outfits I had sourced and had them both wear them in order to see which I though suited the character better. Although I prefer the height of the model on the left, I think the tattoos and aesthetic of the model on the left work better with the themes and visuals I've been working on for this character! 

Final base coat

Image shows the final white spray paint base coat for the mask. Using this kind of high quality paint also left it with a smooth and shiny surface, which I was really happy with! I then left this to dry outside.

Ears update: sanding and painting

Once I had cut the ears to the correct size and sealed the three layers together, I used the heat gun to warp and shape the ears into the curved shape I wanted.
I then sanded the corners down so they were smoother, as the heat and forming the curves of the ears created slight rolls in the worbla. Once I was happy with the overall shape, I painted the ears to match the colour scheme of the mask.