Wallace and Gromit in Dundee

Wallace and Gromit Exhibition, Sensation Science Centre Dundee

Sensation Science Centre in Dundee currently has an exhibition on featuring the Characters Wallace and Gromit created by British animator Nick Park.  The Exhibition focuses on the latest film which is Wallace and Gromit – The Curse of The Were Rabbit.  They  have appeared in a number of films, such as, A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers, A Matter of Loaf and Death and The curse of the Were Rabbit.

All of the film and other things they appear in are made using a method called stop gap animation, which involves taking sequential images of the characters, moving each slightly between each frame.  It can take anywhere between 24 and 30 frames to make 1 second of footage.  When finished these frames and put together in software which when run as a video makes it look like they are actually moving.

My eldest son, who is a fan of the characters and films was eager to go and see them.  I was already in contact with the manager of the centre so I asked him if ti was ok to photograph the displays, and he agreed.

Off we went to see the exhibition, it was interesting to see how they make the models.  They have skeletons, to make it easier to move the different part. These skeletons are then covered in clay to make the characters recognisable.  On display were a number of different characters in varying stages of construction from bare skeletons to full characters.

The level of detail on the sets, which were used in the film, is outstanding.  It is evident a lot of care has gone into creating the details, most of which would be missed on the screen, but if not there then the films would not look so good.  The sets were encased in glass to prevent damage, this posed a problem for me relating to photography.  If I was not careful I would get reflections of the glass which would make the photographs look horrible.

I had not thought to take a polarising filter with me, so had to be very careful of the angles I used when taking the shots.  I have added some of the shots I took on the day below and as you can see I managed to get away without too many reflections spoiling the images.

Information on Dundee Science Centre, Sensation can be found here

Wallace and Gromit
Wallace and Gromit
Wallace and Gromit
Wallace and Gromit
Wallace and Gromit
Wallace and Gromit

Gareth Williams LSWPP – Portrait Photographer, Dundee.
All photography and text on this page © 2009 – 2012 Photography by Gareth Williams
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