Porter's End Sets
The magnificent sets in Porter's End were created by Roger Ferdinando.
The level of detail is exceptional as is the perfect capture of the period decor. All sets were made from MDF board and the walls were slotted into a base so that any wall (or roof ) could be removed to accommodate different camera angles. Sections of the floor could also be pulled out to enable the animator to work closer with the puppets.
The puppets were secured during animating using tie downs. Nowadays most animation uses strong magnets to secure puppets however we had difficulty in using that technique. You can see in some photos, holes drilled the floor, where the tie down would come through the floor into the puppet. A fair degree of contortion was required under the sets trying to get tie downs through holes and lined up with the characters feet.
Of course after the filming we met a fellow Melbourne animator Nick Hilligoss who showed us a far better system of tie down which I later used to good effect in both Street Entertainment and Metal World. You never stop learning!
Click on thumbnail images for larger pictures.
Bedroom
Kitchen
Shed
One of the main sets in the film and the detail is brilliant. Everything is covered including a lawnmower which took three days to make but actually only the handles were seen in the film. Here now it is revealed in all its shining glory!
Laundry
Lounge
Of course the perfect set needs great lighting to really do it justice. In addition to being a fantastic set maker. Roger Ferdinando was the director of photography and gave Porter's End a lovely warm feeling with his lighting.