Tell us about your latest project
A Matter of Loaf and Death, a return to the half-hour animated format for Aardman, in which Wallace and Gromit launch a bakery and become embroiled in a murder-mystery. It premieres in BBC1's Christmas schedule.
What was new about it?
We shot it all digitally for the first time and did all the effects work in-house. It's mostly painting out rigs - we found it a lot quicker to animate our claymation puppets on rigs and remove them later.
How was it made?
It was shot in our studio near Bristol using traditional claymation techniques. It's like a miniature Hollywood here - more than 100 staff working on sets using digital stills cameras - 18 Canon EOS-1D Mark IIIs. We have sets partitioned off to speed things up, but our animators can only manage four to six seconds a day - it's slow going.
How have you kept the look consistent over the years?
What's important is that Wallace and Gromit's distinctive look - cosy, nostalgic and warm - remains. Initially I was dubious about whether shooting digitally instead of on film would remove that warmth.
Why not HD?
We did a Creature Comforts shoot in HD once and found it difficult to keep it looking right. It doesn't do model animation any favours having images too sharp.
What's the future for this kind of model animation?
We have more features in the pipeline thanks to our deal with Sony. The big question is how to speed up production without losing that crafted look. Wallace and Gromit should always have - as Nick Park says - “that thumby look”.
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