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Mauldrix is based on my parents' original puppet play "The Ice King", written in 1966 and is my favorite of all of their original plays.
"Mauldrix is the assistant to the Ice King but harbors a terrible secret - he is the son of The Grand Evil Witch who was slain by the King twenty years ago. Having waited silently for decades, Mauldrix is finally plotting his revenge. Unfortunately, the King is oblivious, so it falls to Brython Megan Monro to gather a band of misfits to fight the return of great evil."
Initially I wanted to use animatronic puppets for close-up shots/mid shots with CGI for the wide shots but the cost/time of building animatronics was way out of my range, so I decided to focus on real time motion capture CGI, which I needed to do anyway.
I created a unique custom built multi computer and camera system for complete real time motion capture/feedback with assistance from Steve Rosenbluth's Concept Overdrive (www.conceptoverdrive.com) and Glenn Silver's Technology Playgroup.
It took me fifteen years of my own time and money to complete, and by the time I had finished the 85 minute movie (by myself) the technology looked old and dated.
Sadly, no-one would distribute it, but even so, I'm proud of completing a task so immense that everyone around me said it couldn't be done. It was truly an insane task. I created a full CGI motion capture movie by myself, often working for 16 hours a day, seven days a week, for months on end.
It isn't like other animation movies. I wanted to try something new. A unique style, which I love.
I made it as an homage to my parents to thank them for the best childhood I could have imagined. With my father's voice as "Ice King" and my mother's voice as "Mar-she" the film contains four generations of Barclays. The fact I actually completed it, was a miracle.
One day I hope to be able to release the film for everyone to see.
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