Sean Fixes Tiger Up!

For the second series of Swazzle Workshop videos, we changed the format a bit. In this new format, we'll have guest "appearances" by other Swazzle puppet characters. Here, Sean is putting a cowboy hat and neckerchief on Tiger in preparation for his "visit" with Prairie Dog Pete.

Swazzle Workshop (2nd Shoot) pt.2

More photos from the Swazzle Workshop shoot!

Discussion on Set.

Sean and Patrick consult the script and discuss the first shot.

Rehearsal

Tim (Sweeney), Sean (Johnson), and Victoria (Johnson) run through lines and work out blocking.

Getting Ready for a Take!

My homemade version of a clapboard--to try and keep us organized. Of course, whenever we were ALL in a shot...we couldn't use the board...drat!

More to come! Hope to see you all tomorrow at B.A.R.K. the Robot Dog at the NoHo Arts Center! Remember, there has been a time change and we're only doing ONE show at ONE O'Clock (1PM). See ya there!

Swazzle Workshop (2nd Shoot)

And so we begin with photos from the 2nd shoot for the Swazzle Workshop!

Here's where I hang my hat while we were shooting the puppet video.

The Safari Inn was cool AND close to the studio! YAY! On my last night there, I finally snapped a pic of their AMAZING sign! Also, I loved my room. Very spacious! The restaurant however...eh.

Here Sean and Patrick are hanging the Swazzle sign.

We tore down the set for the "Get a Clue" Rex and Boots shoot and put this one up the same day! It must have been the sugar rush!

The Prop Table

We piled just about everything on or near this table! We had to keep a pretty good watch over it--it was too, too easy to set something down and then NOT be able to find it later!

More to come!

Last of the 1st Swazzle Workshop Shoot Photos!

Here are the last of my photos from the set of the First series of Swazzle Workshop segments!

Sean with Tiger

Sean is shooting Tiger's close-ups. I love the action blur! It makes everything look dynamic!


Patrick with B.A.R.K

Patrick rehearsing with B.A.R.K. Patrick has been the director for our Swazzle Workshop shoots, which can make shooting himself with a puppet tricky (especially if we're all in the shot!). Luckily, for this particular part, I could keep an eye on the camera for him! In this shot, he's running through the motion required and mentally setting his marks. It's always a good idea to run through the action required before you start putting it on tape.


Anita with Polly

Here's me with Polly Polar bear for the upcoming December segment of the Swazzle Workshop (Sean, I believe, snapped this pic). Now, if you look at my face in the pic, you'll notice that I am NOT looking at the monitor. Why? You ask. Simple, in the actual shot, Sean and Victoria will be in the frame and I must enter from offscreen. We only had one monitor on set and my view would be blocked during my entrance. Once I was in my final position, I would be able to see the monitor perfectly...so what I'm doing is checking my height in relation to the table in order to make sure my entrance looks smmooooooth (since I'll be doing it 'blind')--I'll use the table as my reference throughout the entrance and then *poof* back to the monitor! Neat, huh?!

Enjoy!

Swazzle Workshop Photos (1st shoot)

Here are a few more of my remaining Swazzle Workshop photos.


Tiger (Sean)and Mousedeer (Victoria) work on their puppet craft, while Rivet (Tim) looks for his Robot Dog, B.A.R.K


The Swazzle Workshop set gets covered in Toilet Paper for the B.A.R.K the Robot Dog segment. You can view the finished segment here

Enjoy!

Tomorrow, the remaining 1st shoot photos and then it's on to the second series of Swazzle Workshop photos!

Holiday Puppet ideas

I know it's early to start shopping but, I saw these at Restoration Hardware and thought they were too cute! The hand puppets come with a little stage (velvet curtains included!) and are priced at $59.00 for the whole kit and caboodle. The finger puppets are $18.00 I believe. The link above is for the Hand puppets. The regular website is here. You can type "Puppets" in the search and be directed to both.

Check 'em out below.

The Hand puppets w/stage.



The Finger puppets


Enjoy!

Tomorrow, I'll post the remainder of the FIRST Swazzle Workshop photos and then we'll start on the SECOND Swazzle Workshop shoot! Keep checking in! And let me know what you think of the shoot pics!

Last of the CLA photos

Here are the last of my CLA photos. You can check out ALL of my photos on Flickr!


Sean checks his position in the monitor. Tim is on arm rods. They'll be smushing themselves down just a little to make the shot work. I snapped this pic as they were rehearsing the movements for the shot, as they were pretty specific.


Here's Sean and myself, performing Rex (Sean) and Boots (me). Patrick is behind the camera--doing the actual shooting. Tim snapped this pic 'cause I rarely get pics of myself on set. This scene was a over-the-shoulder shot of Rex for a close-up. This was the first project we really moved the camera around on...and I have to say that I LOVED doing that! I'm hoping we do more stuff like this!


Rex lying on the floor between takes. I just thought this was a fun pic to include.

That's in for the CLA pics! Tomorrow I'll post some more Swazzle Workshop shots.

Additional CLA photos

Here we are getting some great lighting help from Chris Warren. He was at the Chiodo Brother's that day and offered to help (TIP: When someone who knows what they're doing offers you some help...say yes! And then thank them too!)


Here the lighting is finaled and we've got the puppets in place to check the lighting for hot spots and that they look good in the shot (of course!)


Patrick adjusts Rex's paws, so he can hold his magnifying glass in the shot.

And so we begin filming!

More photos after the weekend. Plus I have tons of photos from our recent Swazzle Workshop shoot (and come to think of it, I STILL have to finish posting pics from our LAST SW shoot...better snap to it!)

Enjoy!

Swazzle's CLA spot

We shot a video spot for the California Library Assoc. to show in a presentation of NEXT year's Summer Reading Program theme. Here are some photos from that shoot.


Patrick (and Tim) set up Boots' chair. Rex's table is in position.


Rex's table gets messy. Patrick adds the "mess" to Rex's side of the set.


Sean adds photos to the walls to really make the set look complete.


Tim and Sean check Rex's position in relation to the set and props.

I'll add more photos from this shoot tomorrow! We have the lighting set up and then some shots of the shoot!