Another Bathtub!

Dear Reader,

Reviewing the bathtub built the other day with help from Alien Two, it was unanimously deemed to be "in need of a lip". Affixing a lip however, turns out to be no easy task!

In the end it seemed that that bathtub offered a superb mould for another, built with chicken wire and papier mache, two of our favorite formative materials!

Behold the new tub :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Inspiration from Cardboard Monkeys

Dear Reader,

Some of the chief ingredients behind The Squirrel King aesthetic include simplicity of construction, whimsical design, and scale. Any art piece involving all three of these elements is sure to pique our interest.

James Grashow makes a lot of this sort of art :) His monkey project, a collection of whimsical life-sized cardboard monkeys, is a classic such piece!


Have a flick through his website, there's lots of wonderful inspiration there!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Three Cheers for the Catburglar!

Dear Reader,

Yesterday was a big day!

Firstly, it was the last day of shooting for our esteemed Catburglar, Tony Doupe! Tony, big thanks, you are awesome!! You performance is always amazing and you are a gem to work with. Thanks again :)

Secondly, our location scouting mission (which started before 5am yesterday as I piled the last pieces into the back of the car - see left) was a complete success! The final episode will now end with magnificent scope, befitting all the hard work that has gone into the rest of the series. A huge relief to me, and simply a magnificent result for the production.

Superb scouting, Justus!!

Finally, doesn't Bob's bathtub look awesome in situ :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Bathtub Round Two ...

Dear Reader,

A little measurement of the trunk of my car revealed the first iteration of the bathtub to be in need of a size reduction (given our need unexpected need to pair today's second ashes scout with a little shooting - we're losing our beloved Catburglar early).

To keep the bathtub "round 2" identifiable as a bathtub though, I stylized a little. I'm pleased to report that I'm super happy with the new lines. The final product has a nice trim on the lip of which I promise to post a pic tomorrow, in situ, after today's scout and shoot!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Scouting in the Ashes

Dear Reader,

Finding the smoldering landscape around Nesting is proving more difficult than I expected. Who would have thought how many different versions of burnt out exist!

So far we've found brush fires which leave no stumps and fires from yesteryear, leaving burnt trunks, but under which new grass has already returned.

Fear not though, tomorrow we enlist the Catburglar's help as we scout a new area!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

And then there was a Bathtub!

Dear Reader,

In the wake of burning down the miniature of Nesting a few days back, we now turn to the job of filming the aftermath. To do that though, we'll need ... a bathtub!

Fortunately, Alien Two was very enthused to help out!
Stay tuned, location scouting today!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Nesting Burns!

Dear Reader,

After last weekend's big Catburglar shoot, Justus, the Aliens and the Trouble and Strife helped me out on Monday with the big job of burning the township and surrounding landscape.

The much anticipated event took longer than I'd expected with shots carefully choreographed in order to wring the most out of our five pieces of interlocking quilled landscape.

Hope you like the before and after shots here, unfortunately I have no production stills on hand of the actual burn as my hands were well occupied running the camera until the flames got too high!!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Our Complex Catburglars

Dear Reader,

Here's a couple more pics from the weekend's work with our Catburglars. On the right, at home, meditatively lounging in a hanging basket.

And below, in front of Robin's house, with a surprised Robin.

Photos of the big burn still to come :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Bob Strikes with the Cucumber

Dear Reader,

The last few of days were a big weekend for The Squirrel King, culminating in the big burn yesterday! I promise to share some stills over the next couple of days.

On Saturday we captured some wonderful images including two scenes of Bob at work on the Catburglar's cucumber covering :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

PS. We're going to make an effort to link to some stills posted on Facebook, so don't forget to "like" us if you haven't yet, it'll help you find more fun images like the one on the right.

Hand-Painted Walls ... take 1

Dear Reader,

Yesterday the Nail Salon walls got off to a bright start when the Aliens and a friend started on the hand-printed pattern. And the colors look fantastic!
It's just that the Trouble and Strife has reservations about the sophistication of the design and whether that works for a nail salon ...

Stay tuned for the verdict.

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

PS The Taco stand is coming together :)

Telescope and Taco Stand

Dear Reader,

In preparation for the next big shoot - this weekend's attempt to more or less wrap up the Catburglar - there are a few props that still need constructing.

To navigate the most expeditious route through this production design dilemma, Alien One took hold of the first half-made prop, the Catburglar's telescope, and with it she found the beginnings of a Taco stand.

Later today, we're going to hand-paint the walls of the Nail Salon :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Feet From the Fish Pedicure

Dear Reader,

Just a couple more images from the weekend's fish pedicure insert shoot.

Firstly, a couple of our professional fish take a well earned break.

And secondly, a few of us behind the camera enjoying the show!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

The Gypsies Arrive

Dear Reader,

Last weekend we shot the fish, but on Friday and Monday we also shot some of our (not yet flaming) flammable landscape. Specifically, among other things, we witnessed the gypsies' covered wagons pulling into town.

It was a truly delightful sight, even if the wind did wreak terror on our paper, pipe-cleaner and cork wagons!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

School of Fish

Dear Reader,

What a fantastic weekend!

The fish pedicure shoot was, simply put, a magnificent gala affair with an entire school of fish.

Here's just a few of the happy aquatic revelers who nibbled on the Catburglar's feet.

Huge thanks to everyone who participated!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Water for Fish

Dear Reader,

What is a fish pedicure without water? Who knows, but it's not a problem we're going to face as Alien One helped sequin some sheer fabric to be slashed into liquid strips. Oh, it's going to be good!!

Tomorrow we shoot the fish nibbling on those oversized feet!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Squirrely Diversion

Dear Reader,

Enjoying a little summer fun yesterday picking apples on a friend's farm, we found the perfect place to stage squirrels tossing oversized acorns. Alien One and a good friend helped operate said squirrels :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Gypsy Wagon Train

Dear Reader,

Success! In fitting gypsy fashion - which is curiously close to The Squirrel King aesthetic - covered wagons coalesced from the remnants of champagne bottle corks and wire, toothpicks, a pipe-cleaner or two, and some colorful paper scraps!

A little stop motion and we should have the arrival of the gypsy train :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Mending Fences Opens New Ideas

Dear Reader,

With the forests planted, the time came to mend just a few broken fences before we transport our landscape to the venue of the controlled burn :)

As I was working, however, I realized that there are a couple of extra wide scenes we

should shoot before the burn, gypsy wagons among them.

So while the Aliens adorned our houses I set to work on miniature wagons and attendant horses!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

The Olympics

Dear Reader,

I have always loved the Olympics for it's sporting prowess, but also because every story there starts with a whim!

How appropriate it felt then, the other day, to find the following "Olympic Report", a delightful mix of Olympic spirit and Squirrel King aesthetic:


I hope this put the same smile on your face that it did on mine :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Alien Cargo Train

Dear Reader,

Sometimes you've just got to take a moment out, grab a cardboard box, some masking tape, a skipping rope and make a "cargo train".

The Aliens are very much enjoying the summer :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Houses for the Landscape

Dear Reader,

Looking through the trees, I've found some houses! Our flammable landscape keeps growing in scope.

Stay tuned.

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Olivier Grossetete: Balloon Bridge

Dear Reader,

Searching the web for images of a "balloon bridge" I came across this wonderfully whimsical construction from the french artist Olivier Grossetete for Tatton Park (check out the slideshow).

Curious, I delved a little further and happily found that he, like us at The Squirrel King, thoroughly enjoys both scale and cardboard boxes!

I hope this puts a smile on your face too :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims