An old GIANT puppet that I found

photos of and I helped to build. The client eventually changed their mind and they had to redo the entire thing. But it was fun to help build and set up. I even have a funny story about it. I got a bruise on my thumb from all the cardboard I had to cut to help build it. The scissors I used had a really hard, non-ergonomic handle, that put repeated pressure on my thumb. When I asked the pharmacist if an arthritis finger pressure wrap would help, so that I could continue cutting on day two, she asked if I got the bruised thumb from texting. Ah, to still look so young!

Anyway, enjoy the photos as they show some of the fun we had in building and setting it up for shooting.

So this is how he stood at the end of the day, with the "3D" cardboard words the were going to be stop-frame animated with us as the "models". See those shingles. Hand cut, stapled and glued cardboard and fabric, made by yours truly.

First photo of the yeti being changed. They didn't like the shingles. Bah humbug.
as he stood after the "de-shingling". Cute right?
His arms are too long. Sorry yeti, need to amputate those arms.

His final phase. Framed by the paper set, with tissue water and ice. And here are the final clips:

Movistar Patinaje, Movistar Flamenco, and Movistar Cueva.

Remember me?

I started this puppet head over a year ago. She was meant for a body that had been made as practice and had sat forgotten. When I tried to put them together... they didn't work. So she sat aside forgotten as well. Today I started working on the torso figure, recently acquired, and saw her once again. I have decided to use her for lip-synch and facial expressions. So a proportional bust was made, and the third bobble on the back of her head removed. She should be closer to use, possibly tomorrow or soon after.

About the torso, a couple of technical issues have arisen. I will take tonight to think them over and start tackling her once I've figured them out.

I also noticed that I have no male puppets. I think I may need to correct that soon enough.

Either way, enjoy.

What you see in front of you:

Is madness! But also my next project. I was at Micheal's picking up paper for a framing project and I saw this pre-made form. Instantly I had an idea how she would move, the possibilities of the world she'd inhabit, and I knew I'd have to take her home. So tonight and tomorrow, I will give her arms, legs, and a more solid personality. And soon... soon you will see her LIVE!

Hidden Danger

A quick animation that I just did. Just trying to remind you that YES I still animate. On occasion. Enjoy.

Character Animation

I did this with a digital camera and no Stop Motion capturing software. In a way this was old school, like film, where I hoped that my timing was right as I was shooting it since I wouldn't know until after the fact. No onion skinning or toggle cheats for me. As you can see it's still really fast, but even with "mistakes" like this one I can learn a lot.

My latest animation

This is another quick animation that I did a couple of days ago. I used the only 2 puppets that I have finished (the others if you recall are in various stages of creation) and decided that having them fight wold be a lot of fun. Other than that though, I really had no set plan as to what exactly they would do. I love it when puppets decide on their own what they will do and truly come to life. I hope you enjoy it to!

Puppet Head Take 2

So I kept fiddling with the eyes and the head, and making small modifications to this that and whatever, and when I started making the clothe covering for her head, something kept nagging at me. It took me a week to figure out what that was. What was bothering me and making me feel like something was wrong? Take a look at the picture above and tell me if you can figure it out.

Did you figure it out?

The head is half the size of the body! It is huge and would be really difficult to animate as a full puppet. So I decided she will be my close-up head to practice lip synch. AND I've started on another head, more proportional than the original. Her features are off a little, but I like that. I have a personality already, so now it's more like a sculptor figuring out what the physical being looks like to match that personality. I'm having fun again (is that a requirement? Yes if it's your personal project I think) and it feels like she is really being born. Growing.

I have her first scene decided already in my head, just have to time it out, see where my accents hit and finish her. She will be interacting with the spider from the previous animation, so you can count on a cameo of him.

Oh, and if you say that the 2 heads look completely different its because they are. The bigger head will NOT be the CU of the smaller puppet: more puppets, more people to play with, don't you think?

The body and head con't

Here is the body that I started last year. The reason that that this particular puppet was put aside for so long was because of the way I had wanted to do her eyes. I and now building her hair and will be adding the eyes and eyelids soon. The funny thing is that I can't seem to find the sketchbook that I designed her in, so she is really in a way a redesign. All I remembered where her eyes, which I guess were very important to me. I think originally i was going to give her a movable mouth, but that has been scrapped. I like her being silent and really emoting with her eyes. Hopefully I'll have her finished soon, and you will all be able to see her act soon. Still no suggestions for names? So sad to see a person come to life without a name....