Blog | Mikayla Hotton

PROP MAKING- Staining

Choosing the right stain for my ply and pine wood furniture was a rather long process. It was very tricky trying to work out what colour...

MikAnimate

Oct 12, 20201 min read

Set Building- Part 1

Tunnel Earlier this year, around May, I started to build my first prop, a woven tunnel made from vine branches. I had never woven...

MikAnimate

Sep 21, 20201 min read

PROP MAKING- Plastic Flowers and Book Spines

Plastic Flowers I started making these as a filler plant (something to just fill the space) but they turned out quite nice. I cut some...

MikAnimate

Sep 18, 20201 min read

PROP MAKING- Flowers

I had two strict goals for myself when making my flowers 1. They had to light up under blacklight and 2. They had to be malleable enough...

MikAnimate

Sep 3, 20202 min read

LIGHTING TESTS- Bookbinding Workshop

Overall I was over the moon with these lighting tests the warm tone of the Hugh's workshop is portrayed perfectly through the inviting...

MikAnimate

Aug 21, 20201 min read

PROP MAKING- Bookbinding workshop

Where to begin? My thoughts exactly. I started with the creation of a single book that way I could determine the scale of all the...

MikAnimate

Aug 21, 20203 min read

PUPPET BUILDING- HUGH

The first thing that I decided this year in my pre- production planning was that I was going to cast my main character, Hugh, in...

MikAnimate

Jul 17, 20207 min read

EXPERIMENTAL- Flower Tests

Leo's world inside of the book consists of a forest populated with flora that all lights up, literally. As Leo walks through the forest...

MikAnimate

May 28, 20202 min read

UV/Blacklight Research and Buying Options

Ok so I need some uv/black light to light up my flowers in the book world (Leo's World). I've tried using glow sticks and glow in the...

MikAnimate

May 9, 20203 min read

ANIMATION TESTS- Fire

In my film I have 3 different fire stop motion effects: fire breath, candle flame and a fire. Fire Breath Lets start off with the...

MikAnimate

Apr 15, 20203 min read

WORLD BUILDING- Design and Scale of Hugh's Bookbinding Workshop

Hugh's workshop reflects his character its simple, orderly and extremely functional. Everything Hugh needs is all in his workshop and is...

MikAnimate

Apr 6, 20202 min read

EXPERIMENTING- Hair and Candle

HAIR By using the technique of punching real hair, synthetic hair and felt into silicone I am creating a wig for my puppet. This...

MikAnimate

Mar 22, 20201 min read

ANIMATION TESTS- Characters

LEO Playing around with morphing Leo out of plasticine. Things to think about: -How to erase the rigg better? HUGH Testing out an Aardman...

MikAnimate

Mar 22, 20201 min read

WORLD BUILDING- Mock ups

BOOKBINDING WORKSHOP Hugh's workshop where he spends every waking minute creating new books from scratch. Props include a fireplace,...

MikAnimate

Mar 22, 20201 min read

CONCEPT ART- Characters

LEO Leo is a little lizard like creature who has a curious nature and a habit of getting into trouble. He has a fierce determination but...

MikAnimate

Mar 22, 20201 min read

CONCEPT- The First Thought...

Hi there my name is Mikayla Hotton and welcome to the very FIRST post! woo! My bog posts for this year (2020) will mostly revolve around...

MikAnimate

Mar 22, 20204 min read