Shaun the Sheep - Forum - Series 3 - A Scary Bull!

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1. By Richard Haynes (Animator) Aug 20th 2012

   Hi Sheep Fans,
   
   I'm a day late (sorry), but I just wanted to share my experience of the end of last week, when I was working with a huge bull, almost made entirely out of plastacine.
   
   Animating something this big usually doesn't require a lot of detail, as is the case here. The bull just had to look very angry, and most of the action in this shot took place with the other characters, and in particular Bitzer, who is scared-stiff of him! The bull has an armature connecting his head to his body, so thanks to the neck joint I was able to move his head up and down. To turn his head in an extreme direction, however, I had to carve out chunks of the plastacine around his neck, in order to make space for his head to reach around. This all obviously needs to be smoothed out before the frame is taken. You can see me doing this in the last of the follwing photos.
   
   In the others you can see that Bitzer has collapsed (seated in his deckchair) with fear. In this type of action getting the sence of gravity is very important and, in true cartoon-fashion, I had Bitzer rise up, defy gravity momentarily, before naturally falling to the ground. 

2. By Richard Haynes (Animator) Aug 20th 2012

   Here's photo 1, showing the full set up.

   
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3. By Richard Haynes (Animator) Aug 20th 2012

   Photo 2 shows Bitzer and the bull - not a scenario Bitzer would want to find himself in again, I'm sure!
    

   
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4. By Richard Haynes (Animator) Aug 20th 2012

   Photo 3 shows a different angle, with Shaun and Timmy trying to escape from the bull. Shaun has to carry a big basket, and so this had to be rigged to his back. I had to get the sense that he was tip-toeing, but as quickly as he could. This is achieved by animating him 'lighlty' on the ground, and maintaining a snappy pace in the animation.

   
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5. By Richard Haynes (Animator) Aug 20th 2012

   And finally, Photo 4 shows me sculpting the bull's neck. More to come soon...

   
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6. By still dizzy Aug 26th 2012

   Look`s great, nice to see the bull has also returned as well.

7. By Random Person Oct 24th 2012

   How do you keep the characters in the air when you have to take pictures of them because they're jumping?

8. By Richard Haynes (Animator) Jan 5th 2013

   Hi Random Person!
   
   Really sorry for the late reply! We use special rigs that are painted out later in post production. We have our own rigging department at Aardman who make these for us. 

9. By DisneySheep Apr 4th 2013

   Love it!

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