Working with the Seasons

This past weekend, my mom and her partner, John, came by to insulate the garage / studio where I’m doing all this work on the film.  The studio walls are insulated, but the garage door wasn’t — it had huge gaps all around its edges, and the door itself is very thin.  I noticed during the summer that, at a certain time of day when the sun hits it, the door acts as a heater.  It’s painted black on the outside, and since it’s so poorly insulated, the heat just pours right through it.

Soon, it’ll be winter.  I’m a little excited to think of how well the type of work I’m doing is fitting in with the change of seasons, and how it will feel to be in a dark room animating while it’s cold and snowy outside.  Spring and summer were for building and creating things, coming up with ideas and designs, and growing the film.   Now it’s fall, the air is getting chilly, and it seems like time to withdraw into a (hopefully) warm cocoon.

Mom & John with work in progress, then the final curtain.

First, the 2x4s and fibreglass go up…  The last of the door windows is closed in… and then the whole thing is covered by plastic, tape, and finally a heavy purple curtain.  What’s behind the curtain — no wizard, just these pink guts of glass…

I put up the newly framed James Jean poster in the corner of the studio, for inspiration.  The image even has cabbages in it!  I saw him give a talk with Paul Pope at a Beguiling-sponsored comic event last year.  (Beguiling is a popular local comic store…  here is the poster, close up.)  Love his work.

Yesterday was the first day in the studio since the garage wall has been insulated…  what a difference!  Not that it’s that cold yet, but the soundproofing provided by that 6″ thick, R20 candy floss is pretty amazing.  The space is totally cocoon-like now.  Ready for winter…  almost ready for shooting, too.

0 thoughts on “Working with the Seasons

  1. stephanie dudley

    Thanks Shelley! 🙂
    It just struck me recently that this is all working out fairly well, season-wise. It wasn’t planned that way or anything… originally I was imagining shooting in the summer, which would have been pretty hellish under the hot lights. (It was a hot summer in that garage!)

    Reply

Leave a Reply to stephanie dudley Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *