Puppet Fabrication

I gained a bit of experience from an Experimental Animation class I took about a year ago where I built a puppet for a 30 second film. Fortunately, I was able to use the knowledge I learned in that class to build nicer and more durable puppets for my senior film.

I started by sculpting the heads of my characters using Super Sculpey Firm and I later baked them. The plan was to make a silicone mold in order to cast their heads in plastic. I anticipated that the possibility of me one day dropping my puppets on the floor would be relatively high so I figured that plastic would be the safest way to go. I also made a detachable wig for both characters and I cast those in plastic as well. I made sure to leave an empty eye socket since I planned on making my own eyeballs in the future. Also, I originally intended to use mouth replacements but that process required too much time so I ended up having to use a digital approach in the end.

I added a bit of color to my plastic mixture before casting the heads and it left me with the skin tone desired. Both characters have clay eyebrows for easy animating! :)

After sanding down as many of imperfections as possible, I used chalk pastel to add a bit of blush to the skin. I felt that it would fade away too quickly and with my hands it'd get a bit muddy so I ended up using really watered down acrylic paint to add some color and it worked much better.

I made the eyeballs by rolling a tiny ball of white epoxy putty and I later painted the pupil on. It took forever to sand them into a nice shape and they unfortunately were never able to completely rotate around the socket smoothly.

While I worked on the heads I managed to get my aunt who works in sewing to help me custom make my puppets clothing. She somehow managed to do it and I am so very thankful for her help because they came out beautiful!! I used the traditional wire armature approach to build the puppets body and I gave it shape and volume using foam. Thankfully my aunt was able to get the clothes fitted properly.

I thought that I would run into problems animating later on if I used the see through shawl I originally designed for my female character so I asked my aunt to make a brown cloak instead. It came out beautiful but I felt that it ultimately looked too overpowering on her and it took away from that gentle and feminine feel. I requested for her to pursue the original design instead while I continued my progress. I really wanted to follow the hair punching on silicone heads approach but I was already on week 3 of the semester and I was running out of time so I quickly used clay even though I wasn't completely satisfied.

Some classmates suggested for me to try needle felting to build a wig but I wasn't able to find some in stores and placing an order online would take too long. Fortunately, I found some thin yarn and was able to build a nice wig out of it for both of my characters. It took a few weeks to complete but it was definitely work it! While I built my wigs my aunt managed to make the shawl I requested and in my opinion it worked much better and looked closer to my original design!

By the way, I mixed a few Sculpey clay colors to match the skin tone and used it on her chest and arms and his hands. I crafted some boots for both characters following my original design as closely as possible. I used some leather which I bought from Michaels and I used a rubber jewelry thread I found at the store for her shoelaces.

Well here is the finished product! I worked hard on my puppets and although they didn't come out exactly like my design I'm pretty proud of them. I learned so much from this experience and I know that with practice I will get better! Hope you like them and have enjoyed reading my process.

DISCLAIMER: Please excuse the mess it was absolutely impossible to maintain a clean table.

Aileen

Well the semester is over and I'm officially a college graduate!

First, I must announce that I am now an official college graduate! I just earned my BFA in Animation from California State University, Long Beach and I couldn't be more excited. It has been a heck of a journey but I feel motivated to keep pushing forward and I'll be able to post regularly now. NO excuses!!

This semester was ridiculously busy and I never got around to post updates. Fret not! I have tons to show and I'm really excited to share. I made plenty of progress on my student film (I stuck with my last idea and I discussed it in full detail on a previous post). Unfortunately, I wasn't able to finish it completely but I've had about a week to refuel and I look forward to continuing and completing my film!  Building my set and puppets took much longer than I anticipated and I ran into a few obstacles while animating but I managed to prepare a trailer to show during my Animation Screening and it included 2 "finished" scenes.

In order to keep some sort of organization I'll be uploading my updates in different posts. I took plenty of pictures to record my progress and I'm more than happy to share my ups and downs with you all! It was definitely a learning experience for me and if my trial and errors can help anyone else on their films then I'd be really happy!

Here are my finalized character designs by the way!

Aileen

A Look into the Past

Even though I decided not to follow through with my previous story I still have plenty of work to show in case if anyone is interested in seeing the progress I had made.

The story is completely different compared to my newest one. It focuses on the story of Cupid and how he came to find his arrows of love and how learned to use them properly. While most people find Cupid to be sweet and adorable my research showed that he had selfish and prankster tendencies and that made him disliked amongst many. I cannot even tell you how many changes this story went through but it became much stronger in the end.

If you’d like to watch my Animatic without reading my synopsis you can go right ahead! I’m leaving a brief explanation in case if you have any problems following along.

Eros is the Greek name for Cupid, so I titled my film Eros de l'Amour. It’s supposed to take place in France during the 1950’s. The story focuses on a young couple having dinner at a French restaurant. Cupid is introduced as a cloaked stranger with shaggy hair and an unkempt look. He hasn’t gotten his angel wings yet because as we learn through a flashback he is unable to make couples fall in love unlike his fellow angels. When he notices that the man in the restaurant is unintentionally ignoring his partner Cupid sees it as an opportunity to strike. He attempts to make the couple fall in love by shooting a series of arrows throughout the film while being completely clueless as for which arrow is the correct one. Two of the arrows have severe consequences that trigger emotional responses out of Louis such as anger and sadness. Both of which are not love. When Cupid witnesses that Sophie is supportive throughout Louis outbursts he ends up find the right arrow and making them fall in love in a last effort to restore the chaos. This therefore gives the couple a happy ending.

After succeeding in making the couple fall in love Cupid is granted his wings and goes through a heavenly type of transformation that leaves him looking like the cliché chubby Cupid with curly hair as he happily flies off into the sunset.

*I’d like to mention that all of the music and sound that was used in my animatic was solely to give my professor and classmates a better idea of what type of sounds I planned on using. All music was found online and it respectfully belongs to its rightful owners!

Song1 by Maximilian Zwiener from “Rosalie Animated Short Film”

Song2 by Maurice Larcange, “Traditional Musette”

Here is a look at my final character designs along with my reference inspiration!

Since I was planning on making this film in stop motion I had begun sculpting maquettes’ for my characters. Although they are unfinished I may get back to them one day but for the time being this is as complete as they’ll get.

Hope you enjoy taking a look at my work!

Aileen

"From a small seed a mighty trunk may grow..." At least, I hope!

Remember how I said I would be posting in a few days? Well, that was 3 weeks ago! Boy does time fly. Luckily I've been using it to brainstorm ideas and I think I may have just found what I was looking for! I've been playing around with this idea for quite some time now. I tried to give myself enough time to brainstorm for alternatives but my focus kept reverting back to this particular idea so I'm just going to trust my gut and go for it! The story may not be completely developed yet but I'm hoping my "seed" idea will blossom soon enough.

This story is actually from one of the twenty ideas I was assigned to brainstorm at the start of last semester. While I was initially intrigued by the idea I felt that it portrayed a darker/melancholic mood that wasn't fit for animation and ultimately decided to go for a lighthearted story instead. I later came to realize that I unintentionally tried adding a darker element to my first story but it ended up not working out. It's ironic that I have come back to my darker story but perhaps it was always meant to be.

I've found that all of the short films I have created over the course of my schooling have revolved around a tragedy between a couple. There is a repeated theme throughout my stories and it can be described in one word. Love.

...Actually, make that the "not meant to be" type of love and this new story is no different.

In my notes I had written, " Incredibly beautiful woman lives alone in a forest. She destroys all that she touches. A man finds her and they fall in love but can never touch until one day they kiss. This kills him and leaves her alone again."

I spent some time researching folklore from different cultures and I was able to expand this idea a bit. I happened to stumble upon a photograph of an eerie looking forest located in Ireland and it gave me a flood of ideas. In Irish folklore there are plenty of stories of witches, fairies, nymphs and enchanted forests. Tales of scary monsters who destroy men. There are a vast range of stories but they are all for the most part told in the name of teaching people a moral lesson.

I'd like for my film to follow the core of my original idea. I envision a story that is depressing but enlightening at the same time. Here it is: A village nearby a forest has heard tales of a woman/fairy or nymph for many years who has lived in the enchanted forest. It is told that only the bravest of men can enter the forest because if they were to ever encounter her they would meet their doom. For centuries people have believed this folklore and given the woman a bad reputation when in actuality she is a loveless woman accused of being a killer of men. One day a rider strolls through the village and meets the lady in the forest. Cynical of the tales he has heard he continues to see her and they eventually fall in love. Knowing of her curse she refuses to touch him until one day he kisses her. For a moment nothing happens until suddenly he dies and she is left alone again...

I was thinking about how when we die we essentially become part of the Earth, so I had this idea that in the end of my film I could imply that in the exact spot where he died a new tree was born in the forest. I liked the idea, as depressing as it may be, that he is still with her but at the same time he isn't. I wanted to imply that maybe all of the trees surrounding her were her lovers at one point in time as well. I also thought that in the end another rider could show up in the forest indicating that it is a vicious circle.

The photograph of the Irish forest I mentioned earlier had branches that intertwined together to form tunnels. It was beautiful and eerie at the same time and I thought it would help to express the idea that she is trapped in this forest and create a tense and claustrophobic feel. Hopefully I can use this idea to my advantage!

I created some Inspiration Boards for my 2 characters as well as the setting. Hope it gives you a better feel for what I am going for.

The forest plays an important role in my story. I want it to reflect what the woman is thinking as the story progresses. I'd like for things to begin opposite to what most would assume. When the Rider enters the forest it will be gloomy, mysterious and claustrophobic but after he is gone the forest will be bright, alive and shining.

This is more or less what I envisioned when I thought of the Lady in the Forest and the Doomed Rider!

Alright, well that's about all I have for this post. I will be posting some rough character designs very soon!

Thanks for reading!

Aileen

Is there anybody out there?

Hello, my name is Aileen Contreras! I am an animation student at California State University, Long Beach. I am currently working on my senior film and I thought it'd be a good idea to document my progress in order to keep myself motivated. As an aspiring Stop Motion Animator I've decided to go all in and produce a stop motion film. This means I've got a LOT of work to do before I can even begin to animate.

I just finished the first half of my 2-part senior film course and was left with some pre-production related pieces as well as a completed Animatic. Feeling completely unsatisfied I've decided to scratch my current animatic and begin a new film idea. My goal is to complete a brand new animatic and have my characters/sets built and ready to shoot by the end of the summer. Crazy right? I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Well time is ticking so I will begin brainstorming and designing within the next few days. Feel free to follow me along my journey.


More to come soon!

Aileen