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I decided to make minor adjustments to polish the design a bit. I made small differences in colour and shapes as well as the style.

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On the design aspect, although I didn't exactly put my research into use I am very satisfied with the design and believe it was successful at showing the characters personality. Looking at it now I could have incorporated historical aspects better with the hair and the costume. I am happy with the shapes and the general silhouette of the design.

With the armature I believe I was succesful. It is easy posable yet stable. I used my usual armature making process which I have grown content with. Although I am used to this kind of armature I would like to try making a puppet with proper metal rigs if possible in the future.

I have successfully made a posable animatable puppet. Although it is not as detailed as I'd like it to be I am happy with the functionality and the sculp of the puppet. I made some mistakes while making the puppet and am unhappy with some aspects such as the hands. The hands were quite fragile. I feel like newplast was too soft for making detailed parts of the puppets such as the fingers and ears. I believe replacable oven or air dried clay parts might have been more suitable for these parts. I learned how to shape and sculpt newplast. I now know when or what this material is useful for.

At the end of this project I feel confident with sculpting with ceramic and newplast. I believe I successfully translated my 2D design to a 3D form. Overall I am happy with the progress I made but I believe I could do more with the design aspect. In the future I'd like to move onto making silicone sculptures, I think it's the next step to improve my puppet making process.

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Screenshot of hand puppets from our film 'In the Moment'. Scene animated by Teddy Whitehouse

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How to make a puppet for stop motion animation, complete tutorial

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Wendy Torrence from The Shining Stop Motion Puppet!

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This is the first look I came up with

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For my other module for this semester, I made big hand puppets for a scene.

To make the armature I wrapped a bunch of 2mm aluminum wire around each other while making a big loop at the end. The loop is the hand. Then I wrapped more wire from the bottom going around the loop to make fingers. Afterwards I wrapped a layer of thinner wire around the whole armature so it is secure.

For the arms I wrapped wadding around the armature and tied it down with wool string. I used aluminum sheets and newplast. I only used aluminum sheets for the palm, I scrunched them in and around the loop so it has some filling under the newplast. I then covered the whole hand section with pink newplast.

At the end I put the jumper my colleague Eliza Calcraft knitted on the hand puppets.

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A portrait of a fairy (1869) by Sophie Gengembre Anderson

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1888 illustration by Luis Ricardo Falero of common modern depiction of a fairy with butterfly wings

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Peri detail from Peri holding a unique animal. 19th cent. Rajput style Bhopal museum (cropped)

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Peri miniature by Şahkulu mid-16th century. Freer Gallery of Art F1937.7

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Because I've never done sculpting I wanted to find references for the style and shape I'm going for. I found Seikoro Caramel figures on the internet and used them as inspiration. I like the bubbly look they have and think it would fit my character.

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With this design I knew I wanted to achieve something similar to Betty Boop personality vise. So I did some research on her design.

Betty Boop first appeared on a series named Talkartoon. She was created as a anthropomorphic French poodle. Although her creator, Max Fleisher, told his artist to take inspiration from Helen Kane, Clara Bow is usually credited as the characters inspiration. Eventually her design was switched for the current human one.

She is a caricature flappers. Flappers are western women from the 1920s who listened to jazz and wore short skirts which was at the time brash. They were seen improper for a variety of reasons such as wearing excessive makeup, drinking and rejecting social norms in general. They were icons of the the roaring twenties who strived for freedom.

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Flappers and Women's Fashion in 1920s West

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Flappers and Women's Fashion in 1920s West

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After research on Betty Boop I also decided to research the time period a bit. Betty Boop was modelled after flappers so I looked into that specifically.

There was a stop to the interest in fashion during the war. After 1919 it picked up again. With fashion gaining interest again a different silhouette was popularized. The flared skirts of the 1910s were replaced with 'barrel' line, which has a more tubular and masculine look to it. The bust were made to look boyish. The skirt lengths also shortened over time. Around mid 1920s there was a new ideal for women, which was an androgynous look. This new ideal also gave rise to the shingle hairstyle. Around 1927 the lengths reached maximum shortness until modern times.

Flappers are the result of the newly found independence of women in the 1920s. During World War I a large number of women entered the workforce. With that and the increasing amount of women's rights movements and the popularity of jazz a subculture was born among women. These women was known for to party a lot, consuming alcohol and smoking publicly which was unacceptable to some at the time. They also practiced sexual freedom.

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Before starting to develop the design I had in mind I wanted to do a bit of research on the folk tales and depictions of fairies and the origins of the concept. While doing so two origins of the mythological creature were particularly interesting to me, the European and the Persian.

The concept of a fairy differ in the west and east. They have slightly different looks and roles in folklore but have similar characteristics.

The western version of a fairy is a mythical creature in folklore. It originates from European cultures (such as Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English and French). They are often depicted as mischievous little humanoid creatures with wings. In some tales they are theorized to be demoted angels.

In many ways it is similar to the Persian depiction of a 'peri' which is a mythological creature from Persian folklore. In stories peris are also described as mischievous creatures with wings. In literature they are also said to be denied from heaven. With the spread of Islam in Persia peri was integrated to Islamic folklore and with Islamic folklore it was integrated to many other cultures.

Though the European and Persian versions of fairies are similar, some differences are still present. One of these differences being their looks. The European versions are often depicted with bug/butterfly wings yet in Persian tales the peri has wings similar to a bird's.

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I created this reference for any modelling purposes. I had to change the shapes of the limbs while doing so. I tried my best to translate the sketch I made to a form that's sculptable in real life. I also included a plan for the wire armature I'll be making.

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Before I start a design I like to draw the silhouettes first. it helps me figure out what shapes I'm going for. I believe it also helps with poses and composition since you can see the shapes clearly and can play around with it much easier.

At first these 2 silhouettes were meant to be different tries of the same character but I really enjoyed them both so I decided to make them into separate characters. For this project I'll be using the one on the right.

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I started by printing out the reference sheets considering what size I want the puppet to be. In this case I wanted the puppet to be approximately 27cm. It is easier to animate bigger puppets and from previous experiences I figured a stop motion puppet should at least be 25cm.

I started sculpting with the torso then moved on to the stomach and hips. Afterwards I formed the legs and arms. I left the head for last. I shaped the general form of the face then added the nose. I prepared small, twisted cuts of 0,5mm aluminum wire to put into the ears and pigtails since they have to be attached separately.

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The next step was to make an armature. I decided that making the armature out of wire was a better option due to the cost and availability of the metal rigs. Another problem with the metal rigs was that the ones accessible to me were not as customizable as the wire ones and might not have fit the sculpt.

I started by twisting some 2mm aluminum wire to make the legs and the torso. Then I wrapped some more wire on the torso make them into arms. After each limb was done I wrapped an extra layer of 2mm aluminum wire for support and stability. I wrapped extra wire to the shin to make them fuller. At the end I twisted a layer of 0,5 aluminum wire on the whole puppet so the whole thing would stay together and not move around, especially the torso since it has a lot of wire twisted around each other.

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Before starting a puppet I wanted to do a test to see if my design translates well into a 3D form. So I made a small ceramic sculpture for exercise and to see the overall form of the design i made.

I first altered and printed my reference sheet to the size I wanted. Then using the reference and some aluminum wire I made an armature so the thinner parts of the sculpture is well supported, this also gave me the oppurtunity to see if my plan for the armature worked properly. I sculpted each limb starting with the torso then moving to the legs and arms. I added extra clay if needed and at the end I used water to smooth out the surface. I sculpted the head, the hair and the ears separately. While sculpting the ears and the hair I put a small pieces of wire in them so I could attach them to the head without them falling off. After it all dried I sanded the surface a bit.

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After evaluating my circumstances I decided that a clay puppet would be a better fit for this project.

I've had difficulties gathering both silicone and rubber latex due to their cost and availability. I also had difficulty arranging the appropriate facilities to make the puppet. So I decided that a puppet made out of newplast might be the best and easiest option for me not only because of its availability but also because I haven't yet tried making a puppet for a claymation.

In the past I've experimented with using felt and fabric as materials for a puppet and I believe they were not the right choice since I wanted to try something new and gain experience.

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- Sherman, Josepha (2008). Storytelling: An Encyclopedia of Mythology and Folklore.

- Peter J. Claus, Sarah Diamond, Margaret Ann Mills South Asian Folklore: An Encyclopedia : Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka Taylor & Francis, 2003

- Pointer, Ray (2017) The Art and Inventions of Max Fleischer: American Animation Pioneer North Carolina: McFarland Books.

- Taylor, James D. Jr. (2017) Helen Kane and Betty Boop. On Stage and On Trial. New York: Algora Publishing.

- History.com Editors (2018). Flappers. [online] History. Available at: https://www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties/flappers.

- Laubner, E. (1996). Fashions of the roaring ’20s. Atglen, Pa.: Schiffer Publishing.

- De Castelbajac, Kate (1995). The Face of the Century: 100 Years of Makeup and Style. Rizzoli.

- Laver, J. (2020). FASHION : a concise history. S.L.: Thames & Hudson.

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I have decided on proceeding with idea 1, which is the pink fairy. It's simple yet allows me to try new ways to make puppets. I believe I can finish it in time. I could also use it in a film I have in mind that is separate from this module and more of a personal project.

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Another alternative for my puppet fabrication process is making the skin with rubber latex.

I could make a wire armature cover it with foam or sponge then brush layers of latex on to it. This also makes it easier to match the skin color to the concept art.

My only concern with this plan is the flexibility and thickness of the skin layer. I am worried that the skin will rip while animating. It is possible to fix it by brushing on more latex, but that might cause issues with color matching.

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This is a quick concept done for my third idea. A night elf design inspired by DnD.

This design is more complex and would be harder to make but I could have fun playing with shapes and proportions. The making of the hair would also be a new experience for me. The clothes are also quite intricate and could be slow to create. For now this idea doesn't seem plausible because of the time constraint and a short film I have on the side.

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My second idea is a cyber pixie with simple rounded shapes similar to my first idea. For this design I used the game Space Channel 5 as inspiration.

It has a simple body and clothes with minimal accessories. The clothes could be really fun to create.

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My first idea is a fairy character. I used Seikoro Caramel figures as an inspiration.

This design has simplistic and rounded shapes that can be easy to sculpt, mould and cast in the time I am given. It has minimal clothes and extra parts that completes the look but is also quick to make.

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I have came up with 3 concepts that will bring unique challenges of their own. My first idea is a rather simplistic fairy with a modern twist.  Second is a cyber pixie with simple shapes and colors which has a futuristic look. Third idea is a more complicated night elf design inspired by DnD. I will be going into detail with separate posts on here.

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I am planning to make the mould and puppet out of silicone. I will be using a seperating agent so the mould and puppet won't stick together. If it does not work I will try making plaster moulds.

For the head I am planning to either carve it out of wood or cast it with resin. I might also make a clay head.

For any fur or hair I will be using yarn, wires and glue.

If I can't make the silicone work I will be sculpting puppets with plasticine. So whatever happens I will have a functional posable puppet that can be animated.

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https://www.awn.com/animationworld/advanced-art-stop-motion-animation-building-puppets-part-3

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‘The Advanced Art of Stop-Motion Animation’: Building Puppets: Part 3

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In the latest excerpt from The Advanced Art of Stop-Motion Animation, Ken A. Priebe continues his lesson on building puppets, focusing on silicone and plastic casting.

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Hello my name is Deniz. I am a final year 2D animation and stop motion student at Teesside University. I've picked this course because I wanted to go into 2D animation but ended up loving stop motion, especially the puppet making and set design roles.

In previous student projects I've assumed the director, character designer, puppet maker and animator roles. I've always liked making characters and want to improve my research process. I also want to push my puppet making skills a bit further to better fit the industry pipeline.

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I have already worked on making puppets and designing charcters in the 2nd year of my course but I'd like to take it a bit further. I have mainly made felt puppets so far. This year I would like to research how to make latex or silicone puppets. If those materials are unaccesible to me I'd like to try making a wooden and foam base then cover it with fabric. I also want to take my character design process further with more detailed research and better referencing.

My aim with this project is to improve my character design and puppet making process to be more like the industry standard. I will mainly be researching how to sculpt a character.