I am excited to announce the success of my recent Saskatchewan Arts Board Grant application! I’ve received funding for the production phase of my prairie paper puppet film, Len & His Spitfire.
Thank you Saskatchewan Arts Board!
Stay tuned for some behind the scenes blogposts later this summer!
Tag Archives: Len Duddridge
Len & His Spitfire – Test Shoot (Behind the Scenes)
As part of my Final Report package for my Saskatchewan Arts Board pre-production grant, I wanted to test out the functionality of some shots. This video gives a behind-the-scenes look at my process of assembling some sets for shooting. From this initial trial shoot I was able to test some puppets and sets, and in doing so figure out a lot of useful tips regarding scale, lighting, set-construction and puppeteering that will all come in handy when the actual production gets underway. 12 out of the film’s 85 shots were tested during this first trial shoot, all of which will be reshot once production begins.
Remembrance Day
Today I am filled with pride as I remember my Grandfather, Leonard Duddridge, who enlisted in WWII June 7th 1942 and fought in the R.C.A.F. & R.A.F. as a Spitfire Pilot. Unlike many of the brave souls who gave their lives to save our freedom, my Grandfather survived the war to return home to his community of Hanley, Saskatchewan.
I can’t begin to express my immense gratitude to the men and women who sacrificed so much for the protection of my freedom; But I can share a poem I wrote 10 years ago to mark the occasion of Remembrance Day.
My Grandpa Len returned home to marry my Grandma, Lillian Seebach. A short recap of their life together can be seen through her own memoirs and family photos throughout the years.
When I remember my Grandfather, I am filled with an overwhelming amount of pride. It blows my mind to think of the dangers he faced at the mere age of 22, five years younger than I am now. And today, I have the chance to pay my respects to him and to all the veterans, who did something that I can only hope me or my children or my children’s children will never have to repeat in our lifetimes.
Leonard, Gladys, Lewis
Len & His Spitfire – Part III
PART III: The Importance of Testing
Testing was a huge importance at this point in the process. Unfortunately, I ran into trouble when I found out that the paper that I used successfully on my last project was no longer being supplied by anyone in town. Thus began a province wide hunt for a suitable replacement paper. Eventually I found a new type of paper, which was subpar in comparison to the previous paper, but it would have to do! With the new paper we ran into a lot of new and unexpected problems; from printer feed malfunctions due to the slightly heavier weight of the paper, to fine detail issues with the top layer getting easily seperated. However, the alternative of purchasing a bulk order of the original paper straight from the manufacturer would have cost $5000 (plus shipping!), which was out of the question! So we went with the new paper, which coincidentally stopped being sold halfway through the project, leading to yet another city-wide search for a suitable replacement.
Fishing Line Joint Tests
Getting back to testing, Sarah and I were taught a new way of making paper puppet joints, which required a lot of practice and testing to get the technique just right. Previously we had been using brads and rivets to create joints, with this new technique we used fishing line instead. Testing was of the utmost importance with this new technique due to the fact that it involved the use of fire. we came up with this simple equation to simplify the problem at hand: PAPER PUPPET + FIRE = LOTS OF TESTING REQUIRED!
The very first test puppet that was created gave a lot of useful results. The most important lesson learned was that the digital designs would have to be brightened up exponentially in order for the detail to translate to paper. Test puppets give you a chance to play around with the design that you envisioned, without the worry of ruining the actual puppet. Once you have confidence in your design and you’ve figured out the tweaks that need to be made based on the test puppet, you can begin to make your good copy.
Until next time, here is some test footage of test puppets. Enjoy!
Len & His Spitfire – Part II
PART II: Beginning Pre-Production
Upon my return home from an exhaustingly fun weekend at the Yorkton Film Festival (Where Siberian Maneater and Coming Out: My Year Time Limit were nominated for Student Production, but lost to a fun film called Offline created by some talented Winnipeg filmmakers, Ian Bawa and Markus Henkel), I was greeted by an official looking Saskatchewan Arts Board envelope. For my reaction to the news that it contained, watch the video below.
Once the shock wore off, I began my long journey through the process of Pre-Production for Len & His Spitfire. This included first off doing more indepth research into my Grandpa Len’s story, along with capturing and logging all of his photography. Using a combination of family members’ stories, Len’s pilot’s Logbook, and his photography as a bases for the storyarch I was able to then write a script. After the script went through a few rewrites (based on critical feedback from colleagues) I went through each scene and created lists of photographic content that would be needed.
Script, Scene breakdown, and digitized photographs.
The way I chose to visually tell the story depended highly on my grandfather’s photographs. After familiarizing myself in-depth with all the photos, I had a good idea of what I had to work with and was able to draw the storyboards. With some completed storyboards I was able to begin the long and intensive process of digital design; which entailed separating the foreground, midground and background objects. For example, a photograph of Len in front of his plane would entail that I cut Len out and reconstruct the part of the plane that would then be missing.
once I had a complete panel of puppets designed I used my fancy new wide-format printer and FINALLY put Karen Elliott, the project’s Cut-Out Fabricator, to work! Karen would cut out the puppets and hand them over to Sarah Huber, the project’s Puppetizing Fabricator, who would go to work figuring out how to make the puppet function the way I had envisioned (not an easy task!). It’s at this point that TESTING became a very important step in the process of creating a finished puppet. My next post will go into more detail about why and how of testing. As for now I will leave you with an introduction to the Pre-Production Team for Len & His Spitfire.
Noelle Duddridge is working as a Programming Coordinator for the Saskatchewan Filmpool Cooperative; a non-profit artist-run centre which supports and assists independent visionary film and video production in Saskatchewan. She is currently wrapping up Pre-Production of her latest puppet film, Len & His Spitfire, and is searching out avenues of funding for the next stage of the process (Production).
Karen Elliott is currently working as a Television Programming Scheduler for Access Communications Cooperative. In her spare time she enjoys developing her puppet skills as a Cut-Out Fabricator and puppeteer by helping colleagues on their projects, such as Siberian Maneater, A Gentleman’s Quarrel, Waking Up, and most recently Len & His Spitfire. Karen has a diploma from SIAST in Media Arts Production as well as a Film Studies degree from the University of Regina.
Sarah Huber is a recent graduate of the University of Regina where she received her BFA in Film Production. While in school, Sarah had the opportunity to work with Chrystene Ells on her Artist in Residence project, This Big World. Working with Chrystene, Sarah discovered a passion for puppet filmmaking. She has since created 2 puppet films of her own. One of her films, Siberian Maneater, was nominated for best student production in the Yorkton Film Festival, 2013. She is currently working on her next puppet film entitled, The Gift, after receiving a grant from the Saskatchewan Filmpool Cooperative for it.
Stay tuned to learn about puppet testing in my next post!
-Noelle Duddridge
Len & His Spitfire – Part I
Len Duddridge
PART I: Developing The Idea & Writing The SAB Grant
It’s been a wild ride the past few months working on my latest puppet film, Len & His Spitfire. It all started with wanting to pay tribute to the memory of my Grandpa Len. My vision for Len & His Spitfire, was to create a personal historical Saskatchewan 2D paper puppet film, designed from my Grandfather’s WWII photography. I had grown up hearing stories of his time as a Spitfire pilot, and it only seemed natural for my development as an artist to take the next step and tell a story from my own personal family history. Once I knew what I wanted to do I began my journey by researching my Grandfather’s story. I had many long conversations with my Father about the stories he could remember, I read my Great Uncle’s book entitled “The Flying Duddridges of Hanley“, I went through my Grandfather’s pilot’s log book and photographs thoroughly, and I talked to other family members who were able to give me insight into his experiences as a Spitfire pilot. 
Len’s PhotoAlbum
Once I had a solid idea for the film, I began writing a Saskatchewan Arts Board grant application for Independent Artists Program – Media (Emerging Artist category). You can find out more about the programs this great organization offers by clicking HERE. I first found out about the Saskatchewan Arts Board in my 3rd year of the UofR Film program; we were required to write a SAB grant application for our 2nd semester film. I am grateful to have had the chance to practice writing grants and to have gotten the critical feedback of a professor which helped me prepare for the prospect of writing one in the real world! I am also grateful to the two professors who wrote letters of appraisal as part of my application.
The Saskatchewan Arts Board is such an important resource for Saskatchewan Artists. Without the grant money that I received from them for this project, I would have had to pay for all of my supplies out of pocket and my project would have suffered because of it. But because of the Saskatchewan Arts Board grant money, I was able to work in a stress free environment, not worrying about where I was going to get money for all of the paper, ink, building materials etc. I would need. The success of my SAB grant application made it possible for me to further my experience in the puppet art form, and therefore hone my skills in the medium, bettering myself as an artist.
Saskatchewan Arts Board – Independent (Media) Artists Program Application
I applied to the Saskatchewan Arts Board with the intention of creating a pre-production package for the 2D paper puppet film, Len & His Spitfire. 3 months of intensive work later and I have successfully completed the package of puppets (which couldn’t have happened without the help of my two assemblers, Karen Elliott and Sarah Huber). In those 3 months I have learnt so much and have advanced my knowledge and skills in the puppet medium exponentially. Through this project my digital design skills have greatly improved, and I have also had the chance to experiment with new puppet techniques which have further developed and improved my art form. None of this would have been possible without the success of my Saskatchewan Arts Board grant application. I can’t thank the Arts Board enough for the opportunity that they gave me, and for the confidence they instilled in me and my art through their support of my project. The Saskatchewan Arts Board is truly an invaluable resource to Saskatchewan Artists.
Over the next few weeks I will be creating posts explaining all that I have done in the process of creating a pre-production package for the 2D Paper Puppet film, Len & His Spitfire. So stay tuned for more puppet adventures!
-Noelle Duddridge
Noelle Duddridge 