Figures in a Burn Zone

Here is some more brilliant moments from what I'm calling "Figures in a Burn Zone: The Hemet Shoots."


Here we see Rufus as close as he'll ever come to snake-wrangling, blissfully unaware that he's holding evidence of a much larger snake hiding nearby:

Below, Rufus and Liz take advantage of the epic setting by juxtaposing an intimate moment with the squirrel and its acorn:

Finally, the titular piece of the collection:

--justus

The Villain Gets Hands

Dear Reader,

As alluded to last week, the evil cork villain is now getting hands!

The first round of mirco-surgery has been completed now (and yes we've tested the inside diameter on the fingers with our esteemed puppeteer).

Stay tuned for more!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

More Canopies

Dear Reader,

As I alluded to a little while ago, I'm quilling more paper trees again.

And to my great joy, Alien Two, brimming with enthusiasm, has picked up the quilling needle and has now created copious canopies herself!

My only conundrum: which do I adore more, the squiggly green canopies, or the concentration on Alien Two's brow as she produces them?

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

PS. Don't you love the tongue of concentration above :)

More Gondry Whimsy!

Dear Reader,

I think I might be inspired to go even more whimsical when we get to the second season of The Squirrel King ...


And yes, yes, I hear you. We're still working hard on finishing the first season :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Painting Fish into Life

Dear Reader,

One of the joys of having now spent a solid chunk of time working on this wonderful project is that people are constantly reminding you of the fun both they and you have had.

The other day we had coffee with our wonderful stills photographer, and that finally prompted us to get the images from the old fish pedicure insert shoot.

What a crazy summer the Aliens had last year :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

The Evil Cork Villain!

Dear Reader,

As promised, here's the miniature we shot back last August of the Evil Cork Villain from Robin's dreams sitting atop the dam. Somehow an image never made it up onto the blog!

Once we add eyes and a mouth he'll be even more scary :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Two Works in Progress

Dear Reader,

Here's a quick image of two new works in progress. Yes, we're making more miniature houses ... but can you guess what all those corks are for?

I'll add a photo of the close up it's going to be for tomorrow :) We shot the miniature last year.

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Multimedia Inspiration

Dear Reader,

I've come across this image a few times and it always impresses me just how arresting it is. Definitely one of the best uses I've ever seen of multimedia. The fire is clearly a force from another dimension!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Why We Use Stunt Squirrels

Dear Reader,

People sometimes ask why we need mini stunt squirrels. And though part of the underpinning was miniature sets into which our normal stars had trouble fitting, the truth is we had an earlier accident ... (Yes, Shi Ne has a head in her hands).

Rest assured though, Gerald's head was later carefully reattached, and the mini squirrels are all certified stunt performers :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Who is The Squirrel King? ... Part I

Dear Reader,

People often ask: "who is the Squirrel King?"

Unfortunately, given that this is a chief plot point not revealed until the first season's finale, I'm not at liberty to to divulge the full answer.

What I can say however, is that despite the brave heroic quests of the mini stunt squirrels, they are not him.

Beyond that we shall reveal more hints in time :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Back From Down Under

Dear Reader,

It's surprising how quick three weeks can feel, but then that's often the nature of holidays.

In the end though we have returned from our sojourn, along with the stunt squirrels who accompanied us ... well most of them. Fred (the little red guy) decided to strike out on his own. Actually he's shacked up with Pancake, a local Sydney-sider who we met over coffee one morning.

The rest of the stunt squirrels bid him adieu, though we hope to hear from him from time to time :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

A Taste of the Aussie Bush

Dear Reader,

Back from the bush and a taste of all manner of wonderful foods (note the mini-stunt squirrels are more adventurous than us, in fact it's not clear those berries are even human-edible).

Hope everyone is well. Check back for another postcard in a couple of days!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims