So, what’s this all about then?
Welcome to the Stitched Puppet Studio Patreon. My name is John, and I studied animation at university, worked in the independent film industry in South Wales for a while, and ended up sculpting and casting miniatures for tabletop games for over a decade after that. The pull to create animated stories has always been there though and I find myself back here, with a script in my head and characters on paper. This drive is what has brought me to create Stitched Puppet Studio as a solo venture, and alongside my full-time job, with the sole purpose of making stories.
Project Snowblind
For the first several months the first project I’m working on, project Snowblind, was vague at best. There were lots of ideas, but nothing sat quite right with me. This would happen several times with a couple of false starts. One was a space station-based story, another was an underground adventure (which still has a place in my head). However, I just couldn’t focus on the right idea to hold my attention for the time I knew it would take to complete it. While sat down doodling an old character of mine the idea hit me.
I had been playing around with a story for many years and always kept it as a practice project. It just made sense. The location is still the same, the protagonist (though younger) hasn’t changed. There are some new creatures, additional characters and the world has generally been expanded upon allowing for a more solid story to be written. I had a narrative that spoke to me, and this could be the start of a project that could last more long-term. Something that I would be looking forward to making. Something that I hope at least one or two of you reading this post could enjoy, too.
Expectations
The expectation of Snowblind is to create an animated short film based in the Breaching the Rift universe that I’ve been developing for many years now. Drawing upon the creatures and the lore I want to create a snippet of the protagonists’ life as a representation of the universe. I want to share with you my progress on this rather daunting journey (as I haven’t undertaken something quite like this for some time) giving you a behind the scenes look at making this come to life, as well as sharing some of the final animated sequences with you.
I make no guarantees that this will be finished in the next year, or two. This is a long-term project that I will be working on in my spare time. The dream would be to be able to work on it full-time. However, I have to be a realist and go with what I have.
A new Studio
Stitched Puppet isn’t just a new animation studio, but it will also be a literal new studio space. Right now, I am working out of the spare room in my house, but I am also converting the garage into a new workshop/studio space with one third of it being given over to a new purpose made space where I can have my draughting and animation desks set up permanently. This will be something I am no doubt going to share with you all, too, as time goes by. So, expect to see random posts about its progress as well.
Let’s get this going
I’m aware that this is a lot to put up for a first post on this new endeavour. I may waffle on, and I will be trying to give a bi-weekly update for those of you that have subscribed to my tiers. It’s going to be a fun process, and if you’re still here I’m glad you’re considering joining me on this journey.
If you like what you’re hearing then share the project with your friends, on your socials and follow all the projects socials in the about section. I’m looking forward to making this a reality, and I look forward to reading your comments.
Speak to you all, soon!
John