powerpig set-ups
A Snowy Walk
It usually doesn't take me long to come up with a concept for each item in the Lego City Advent Calendar. The idea of the dog knocking down the father as he entered the house came to mind almost immediately, for example.
Unfortunately, the axe and wood sled left me stumped. (Oh, that was a bad pun!) 2009's Lego City Advent Calendar presented us first with a lumberjack and then with a chainsaw; there was an obvious logical flow to the delivery of these items. 2010's calendar was a bit more obtuse, presenting us with the fireplace and then the wood sled. It of course seems natural that the father would be the one cutting the wood, but with the exception of Santa, none of the minifigs in this year's advent calendar were really dressed to be out in the snow.
The first concept I tried was a simple shot of the wood sled axe on its own, but it seemed rather uninspired. I had been alternating between simple shots and more complex set-ups in order to curtail lengthy production times, and at this stage in the calendar, I was due for something a little more compelling. The only other idea I had was of the father dragging the sled up and over a hill, but it just didn't make sense to have him out in a field of snow without a coat or hat. Rather reluctantly, I employed a trick from last year's calendar: treating the helmet as though it was a winter cap.
The set was simple. I took a piece of paper and made soft flowing rolls in it by pinning it down in different places. The sled tracks were added in Photoshop; normally, I'd try do something like this on the set, but due to false start with the simpler concept, I was already behind schedule and didn't want to mess around with glue and tiny strips of paper.
That said, this is now one of my favorite pictures from this year, even though I wish they'd included a proper winter cap with the calendar!
A Snowy Walk
It usually doesn't take me long to come up with a concept for each item in the Lego City Advent Calendar. The idea of the dog knocking down the father as he entered the house came to mind almost immediately, for example.
Unfortunately, the axe and wood sled left me stumped. (Oh, that was a bad pun!) 2009's Lego City Advent Calendar presented us first with a lumberjack and then with a chainsaw; there was an obvious logical flow to the delivery of these items. 2010's calendar was a bit more obtuse, presenting us with the fireplace and then the wood sled. It of course seems natural that the father would be the one cutting the wood, but with the exception of Santa, none of the minifigs in this year's advent calendar were really dressed to be out in the snow.
The first concept I tried was a simple shot of the wood sled axe on its own, but it seemed rather uninspired. I had been alternating between simple shots and more complex set-ups in order to curtail lengthy production times, and at this stage in the calendar, I was due for something a little more compelling. The only other idea I had was of the father dragging the sled up and over a hill, but it just didn't make sense to have him out in a field of snow without a coat or hat. Rather reluctantly, I employed a trick from last year's calendar: treating the helmet as though it was a winter cap.
The set was simple. I took a piece of paper and made soft flowing rolls in it by pinning it down in different places. The sled tracks were added in Photoshop; normally, I'd try do something like this on the set, but due to false start with the simpler concept, I was already behind schedule and didn't want to mess around with glue and tiny strips of paper.
That said, this is now one of my favorite pictures from this year, even though I wish they'd included a proper winter cap with the calendar!