Tales Of A Farm

Starting Out

“Tales of a Farm” was started back in October of 2010, but at the time was nothing more than a final project for my 11 Grade English class. The assignment was to write a script for a video we wanted to make, film it, and then present the video to the class. We were given approximately 3 weeks to do the assignment before the end of the school year. Cameras and editing software were provided by the school, but I opted to use my own since I'd been into video making since late 2006. In addition to that, I felt that using my own filming equipment and editing software would help to further move production along on a project I knew was going to be quite elaborate and complex to do.

When it came to deciding what my video would be about, I knew I wanted to do something with live action models. I chose to write a story set on present day Thompson Farms and center it around the machines that work there. Inspiration for this came from the British television series "Tugs" which was created by Robert D. Cardona and David Mitton back in 1989. Since I was into collecting 1:64 scale farm toys, I had quite a bit of props that I could use, but no set to film anything on. This is where I was faced with the dilemma of finding materials to build a set in a short amount of time and on a budget.

Finding a table was easy since I had an old 4'x8' train table sitting in the back of my garage from my days of model railroading. The table had nothing on it other than a grass mat, and this would make it a suitable base for which I could build a 1:64 scale replica of the farm. The only downside to this was that many of the buildings I had looked nothing like the real ones. All were produced by the ERTL Company and could be found in many farm sets they made during the 1990's. Despite their lack of resemblance, I chose to use them and made slight alterations wherever I could.

Construction of the original 4' x 8' set used for the series.

Building of the set took only a week to complete, and was made to scale by taking actual measurements of the real farm. I used paper bags and roofing felt for the roads and driveways, although I feel that sand would have been more realistic and looked better. Gray construction paper was used for parts of the set that were concrete such as the floors inside the sheds and barn. One change I did make to one of the structures was using the sides from an ERTL machine shed and building a roof to make a replica of the red pole barn on the property. This also required lengthening one corner of the table another 1 1/2', but with that modification the set was done.

When it came to the characters, I started out with the farms 4 main tractors and the 2 main trucks. Scoop (based off a Case 1845c skid loader), C (based off a McCormick Farmall C tractor), 1086 (based off an International 1086 tractor), 1466 (based off an International 1466 Turbo tractor), John (based off a 1998 Ford F-350 pickup), and lastly Katie (based off of a 1994 GMC dully extended cab pickup). Although the models I used for some of the characters didn't resemble their real life counterparts, I did this again for the reason being I was short on time and didn't have much money to work with. In the end I was attempting to use what I had that was close enough to the original machines.

When it finally came time to make the video, I filmed everything over the course of 1 week. During this time I also had friends busy recording lines for the characters. Several of these people had worked with me on similar projects in the past, which is why I asked for their help with voices. Editing the footage took time as the faces on the characters had to be done one at a time in MS Paint. Although this may not have been the best option, I still think the results were passable.

Editing all the footage together was a headache as I used Windows Movie Maker 2.6 to do so. I will say right now that this is the worst possible program you can use to edit videos. Yes the layout is simple and easy to learn, but it's too basic. You can only add 1 audio track to a project, which lead to me publishing the video several times in order to add multiple audio tracks just for one scene. WMM has also had numerous other problems which is why I abandoned the program in later years.

Examples of the most worthless video editing program which is Windows Movie Maker...
(Editing of Episode 4 - Quarantine)

So after 3 weeks of writing, filming, and editing I had finally completed the project and was ready to present it. When I presented the video to the class, everyone was impressed with many aspects of it. Some wanted to know how I had managed to put together such an elaborate video in just 3 weeks, and others wanted to know my method behind using live action models. My teacher on the other hand didn't have this same positive attitude towards my project like the rest of the class did. She felt that the project could have been better and therefore gave me a C-, stating that I could have been more creative. I was honestly put down by this, as I felt all my hard work had been for nothing.

Although I was crushed by what my teacher had told me, I did upload the video to YouTube, which a lot of people enjoyed and it prompted me to continue doing videos for the series. During my Senior year of high school, I produced another 2 episodes, up until I left YouTube in 2012 after numerous issues involving the site. An Episode 4 (titled Quarantine) was filmed, but never edited together as I had several cast members who never sent in lines. Sadly due to system failure, much of the project was lost and only a few still images, clips, and audio files remain of the episode.

Mac and Mike want to buy C for scrap.

C breaks down and causes an accident.

1206 and Alexandria make fun of C.

Princess removes her quarantine flag to get out of the field.

After 2012 the series went to sleep, but I had still been working on things in the background. It's not that I felt the series wasn't already good, but there were a few things about it I wanted to improve on such as set design, the characters themselves, and of course my editing method. When it came to the characters, I wanted to go back to basics and make their models resemble their real life counterparts. This meant tracking down new models such as a Case 1840 for Scoop, another Farmall C for C, an International 986 for 1086, and an International 666 for 1466. Characters such a Katie, John, and Dodge (who never even had a basis to begin with) remained the same.

The real life basis' for Scoop, C, 1086, and 1466.

Tracking down models has been a bit of a challenge as not all the models I need exist in the 1:64 scale line. Some have to be custom built from exiting models, while others just require new decals. Aside from models however, I've also made an effort to replicate proper 1:64 scale buildings of those on the real farm, and I have to admit that they look far better than what I was using originally. A permanent set for the series is yet to be built, so at this time I am still using temporary sets which are heavily altered for various scenes.

When it came to animation for the series, the only major change I wanted to make was to the characters faces. I wanted to give the characters colored eyes, but my first couple attempts just didn't look right. A friend of mine suggested trying out Anime style eyes, and needless to say I was quite pleased with the results. Some people have been very critical over this however, stating that the Anime eyes look stupid and that I should go back to the original eyes the characters had. Unfortunately, as with anything you can't please everyone. I personally like this change as in my opinion it gives the characters more character.

The original look of the character's eyes.

A second attempt at new eyes. Still not quite right...

Adding color to the character's eyes and reshaping them.

Final attempt and exactly what I wanted.

(Big thinks to Robert Anderson.)

The last change I wanted to make was some of the characters names. Because characters such as 1086 and 1466 were no longer tractors of which their names (or numbers if you prefer) were based on, the names had to be changed. 1466 became known as Cyrus, and 1086's name is still yet to be decided. There was also the discussion to change Scoop's name as well, but in the end it was decided to leave it as is. Despite the change of models and names, all the characters still remain the same as they were before in terms of personality.

In 2018, plans to bring the series back were underway, and starting in December of that year I began writing the script for an Episode called "Past to Present". The story centered around a 1971 International 756 tractor named Clint who after working on a farm for over a decade, was replaced by newer tractors and sold for scrap by his original owner. The episode took almost 9 months to make and on September 7, 2019 finally aired on YouTube. The success of the series' return prompted a Halloween Special to be released later in the year. Plans for other TOAF videos and episodes are in the works at this time.

Promotional image for "Past to Present".

Clint recalls his past and how he was replaced.

C asks Dave when she can return to work.

C, Katie, and Rod in the Halloween Special "Don't Touch a Man's Tractor".

It's hard to believe that almost a decade has gone by since this series was created. Despite a negative review from my unappreciative English teacher, the series has proved its popularity over the years, and continues to do so. Today Tales of a Farm airs again on YouTube on the Plow Bender Studios channel. Although some changes have been made over the years, there's nothing wrong with the series improving on what it was originally. It's something I myself am very proud of and consider one of my better works.

-Corrie Thompson