Walkies... and going Walkabout

I've been taking Myrtle's pet snail Noggy for walkies over the past few days. Walkies through temporary sets, green-screens and Maya. For the time being he's tied to the kitchen chair so he doesn't wander off.

As for my walkabout (assuming this term applies to New Zealand as well as Australia) - I'll be packing up my workshop and heading out of Wellington into the Kiwi countryside for a little trip to see some real New Zealand beauty. Just less than a week to go and I will be flying outta here and braving the 30 hour flight back to Good old Blighty. Five weeks after that I'm flitting off back to Los Angeles (yay!)

So commissions are rapidly being finished off, orders rushed out to the post office and editorial deadlines quickly wrapped up. Incidentally, I am a cover girl again this month - I'll fill you in with my latest magazine feature and post photos here of my miniatures and miniature sets which were used for the front cover and featured inside. ;)

Here are some snaps of Noggy the snail from my short film 'Myrtle the Witch'. If you're interested in knowing more about this project and following it as I get going on it full-time, then don't forget to follow this blog and bookmark my Tall Tales Productions website!

Potted!

...Because you can't have a roundhouse witch's abode in the thick of a copse without potted toadstools on the kitchen windowsill.
It would be like a hipster apartment minus ironically bad art, a 'Keep Calm and Carry On' sign and vintage movie posters.




As well as pots of toadstools to complete a section of the kitchen, I've also finished off those bats (previously blogged about here). I needed about 30 to line Myrtle's bat tower but stupidly parted with a few too many to private miniature collectors, and now need to make more.
Don't forget that all that you see is in one inch scale which means it is 12 times smaller than real life.

Stay tuned for more 'Myrtle the Witch' updates. ;)

miniature bats, Tall Tales Productions animated short film, stop-motion animation, Los Angeles based miniatures, scale miniature sets, claymation 

Halloween Weta Style!

All Hallow's Eve..... the warmth from the ending summer still hangs in the air... there's an Autumn chill blowing in... red and orange leaves crunch underfoot.... people's fences are lined with carved Jack o' Lanterns and their flickering candles light up the spooky evening.... children run amok dressed as fairies, witches and superheros collecting candy door to door. Halloween....

.... unless you live in New Zealand. 

My first Halloween spent in Wellington, NZ was a culture shock similar to the one I experience now as Christmas trees are erected decorated with summer fruits, and cooking magazines provide Christmas BBQ recipes on the beach and cakes decorated with summer raspberries.

There were no Jack o' Lanterns, no children trick-or-treating, no crisp orange leaves on the ground, no bare skeletal trees. But just as Danny Elfman's lyrics sprang to mind:-

"the monsters are all missing,
and the nightmares can't be found"

- I arrived at the Weta Halloween party and 500 zombies honed into view. Okay, phew - Kiwis do Halloween afterall. It's just.... different!

Here are some pictures from the night. I'm the pirate wench. ;)

I leave New Zealand and am bound for Great Blighty later this month (Nov 20th)... can't wait to catch up with friends in London and then I'm orf again - back to LA in Jan / Feb where I'll be able to set up Myrtle in a proper studio space and work so much faster!

Note: You can contact me on my NZ mobile until Nov 20th and then best just to email me until I'm back in the states.