#ax1111

[jenifern]

A small slide show showing the end result of my model. Unfortunately, I’ve lost all my progress pictures 😡😡 but I’m really happy with the result. What worried me the most was hoping that my model could stand on its own, but luckily it does. My strategy was to stuff the shoes to add weight to them and it works! The whole process was challenging, especially doing extra work at home, because of the lack of tools, I had to use my paper scissors to the wire, so metal was flying everywhere. The skirt was supposed to be a paper cup, but I decided to make it out of scrap fabric and elastic. From my previous times making clothes for my dolls, making the skirt was easy to do and I had lots of fun making the head as well because it’s a mini TV. This is definitely a great way to begin model making using recyclable material and I enjoyed it.

[georgiaejlittle]

Environment

The puppet lives on an island. To further consolidate their personality I thought this shot of her watching the tide come in/out would convey the tranquillity in which she spends the majority of her days. She is sitting on her tail feathers. She would collect things that washed up on her shore, shown by the pinecones being present in the water.

I love the idea of the character living on a moving island of unused materials like the garbage mound in the pacific ocean. If I were to develop the idea to be broadcastable, I would create an episodic show with a similar format to the clangers, where the bird would pull something from the ocean and search to give it a proper home/recycle it. Because the island is floating, it could explore different environments and cultures.

The ocean is denim taken from old pairs of pants. the shoreline is a picked apart cork and cut-up plastic chocolate tray. The white in the scene is polystyrene and ripped up receipts. The far-right is cardboard.

I would like to bring the shot in further to stop the end of the denim and the top of the tree from being visible.

[georgiaejlittle]

Lifting and Stacking

This is the most fun. This was the first animation I did with the puppet and I think it is the one that displays the most personality. The flexing of the fingers and hyper-fixated stare in preparation, the curiosity as she lifts and places the first block, the primal and animal-like instinct to grab all the cubes as they go past, and the logical way she holds one with her tail to stop it from running away. Finally, the completionist's desire to grab the last block and the deflation of the tail feathers when she falls convey disappointment are all conveyed clearly.

My initial idea of their personality was that she loves order, and is calm when everything is in order but will fix anything that isn't. I think this and the pot plant video convey this. If boxes aren't stacked or if there is a stray branch on her tree, she will remove it. She is incredibly focused and enjoys her home being orderly. I think this attitude and the muscular build make for a very intimidating character.

If I were to revisit this, I would decrease the number of frames in the initial grab and increase the amount of frames in the tail deflating.

[georgiaejlittle]

Pulling a Plantpot

This is my second and favourite of the recorded pieces. I feel I have very effectively portrayed the force behind the puppet's movements and actions. I also feel the timing works well. My only concern is it appears after the fourth yank on the rope, I walked in front of the camera and am only just noticing this as I'm typing. If I had more time I would correct this.

The leaf stitch used on the arms, whilst looking like feathers, also bulges while the arms move like muscles. It works well with this particular recording because of the strain as he pulls.

I also think the animation of the plant pot's movement worked well. No plants were harmed in the making of this film. The limb of the plant fell off naturally and was sat on the plant while filming. This made the ripping far easier.

[georgiaejlittle]

This is the third animation done with my puppet. The purpose of doing the walk cycle later in the process is to get to know the puppet and put some personality into the walk. Despite this, I feel like the walk I chose for the character was fitting. It is simple because from the beginning the character was meant to be poised yet powerful. One change is that the original concept for the character was incredibly stoic. Through the process, I learn it was more fitting for her to be chipper and curious, hence the slight sway in the upper body to convey she is content (in hindsight, I would have liked this to be more prominent, addressing both the subtlety and the fact she only sways left and not right). If the waist were sturdier, I would have lowered her body and raised her face to make her look more primal and focused.

It was useful to do this later in the process because I learned the right leg was problematic, with both the hip and ankle joint being loose. The waist joint was also loosened over the course of the animating. For some of the poses, I couldn't put weight onto this leg without the puppet's pose being compromised in some way. Therefore, I used the middle tail feather piece as an anchor which stayed still during the process. It meant the puppet could stand more effectively and maintain its posture. Having 3 tail pieces had the added benefit of still having movement as the other 2 pieces swayed with the body.

I like the elbow joints being non-existent so they can function as both hands and an additional layer for the tail but if I were to revisit this activity, I would have added bounce to the 'fingers' so they appear less stagnant. Also, I would have liked to experiment with the idea the puppet can also function as a quadruped due to its long arms.

[georgiaejlittle]

Making the Puppet

I started with the armature. I sculpted the head, chest, hips, feet and toes out of a foam block. I joined the head, chest, and hips using doubled-up wire and quadrupled-up wire as appropriate. Then, I cut wire, 3 pieces for each leg, and attached the feet, creating the 2 leg joints and ankle. I added the toes using wire and Araldite.

I then added the cardboard to create the layered texture of the skin. I used toilet roll holders for the existing curve. On the legs, I used A thicker cling film holder to make the puppet bottom heavy. The beak and face are one piece I folded over itself and cut to chape. For the eyebrows, cheekbones, and feet I cut the cardboard repeatedly to create the appearance of feathers and shape the cardboard more effectively. I also added teeth to the beak. I added the bouncy balls before I attached the facepiece it so it could sit on top. The eyes are bulging but are also set into the face.

For the next part, I added the waistcoat and collar which I knitted using leaf stitch and loop stitch respectively. Then created lots of pompoms out of the scrap wool I had. I added them in a circle around the face, around the collar, then around the crotch and thighs, and down the legs. I left the inside and the front of the legs free.

It was at this point I realised that the doll-like ball joint and layered neck effect in the to-scale design were unrealistic and would limit mobility so abandoned the idea, deciding to cover the joints with the fluff and feathers. I thought the chest was looking baron so I added small origami triangles made from Starburst wrappers. To continue this throughout the design I used it around the front of the legs and around the eyes. I thought the vibrancy of the colour paired well with the scraps of wool used in the fluff but the transition in texture on the chest and face was too jarring so I added some stuffing.

I then cut up the feathers. I used multi-coloured plastic bags, used sudoku puzzles, a map, sheet music, etc.

I began layering them on the thigh's head, and tail but realised the tail (which was added after the pompom was added in that area)should be fluffier than the flat cardboard base. I used some mesh material taken from an old skirt in between layers to puff it up slightly and make it look softer. I then took the feathers up the leg, back, and more on the head. before shaping them.

I wasn't keen on the idea of the hands dangling limply at the side of the puppet anymore. I decided, after knitting the arms using the same techniques, I would attach them with a wire-shaped to have 5 'fingers'. This way, the arms were malleable and had hands so the bird wasn't reliant on just its beak to pick stuff up. The lack of solid joints also meant the arms are flexible enough to bend anywhere in any direction if it were required. The hands and fingers are also very large and malleable so would have a sturdy grip on anything they needed to. They are wrapped in white material and the mesh and then the top of the fingers were layered with the plastic/paper feathers. I added more mesh to some of the joints to keep its use consistently throughout the whole design.

[georgiaejlittle]

Character Design Sketches

I wanted to create a humanoid bird puppet. My top priority was the structure and joints. I wanted to make sure the puppet would be functional before I started designing more intricate details. Two ideas prompted this sketch:

1)The Beak- Initially, I thought That the beak would work as a hinge. The top half of the beak would stay still. The bottom would be threaded onto a piece of wire and then be threaded under the top. When I asked my tutor, he suggested, that instead of this, I use 2 pieces of wire attached to either side of the beak inserted into the head instead. This is sturdier and more appropriate for animation.

2)The Legs- I moved the joint further down the leg than they appear in my reference images to more closely emulate human legs. However, I still wanted the bird-like appearance so I used 2 joints to emulate the high ankles in bird legs. When I asked how to execute this, my tutor suggested using a piece of metal tube to maintain the joints. Pieces of the metal tube would keep the covered aspects still whilst allowing the uncovered parts of wire to bend at the joint.

I was contemplating trying to create more realistic legs but I learned that this would require moulding which I felt went against the found materials brief so I decided to use the toilet roll and cling film holders I had collected to create the leg structure.

The next sketch focused on facial structure:

I was still unsure about the beak. At this point, I knew I was using bouncy balls as eyes so the beak had to suit a face with large eyes. Both of these were inappropriate, the one on the left being to extreme for my desired (though I did like the teeth which I added later) face structure and the one on the left being too small to manipulate during animating.

At this point during the process I decided it was time to create the first concept:

In this initial design, the head is completely bald like the flightless birds I used as references. I made the digits longer and, instead of the legs being bald, I made the feathers mimic pants, ending at the digits. The head is small, also like the flightless birds and the beak is hooked. I knew I wanted a knitted aspect so she is wearing a jumper. It has a large collar because I felt like it replicated the breast of the birds I used as a reference. I knew I didn't want wings. My idea at this stage was to have the beak do the lifting, pulling, etc. Therefore, the arms were unnecessary. I decided I wanted the sleeves of the jumper loosely hanging by the puppet's arms and dragging behind her when walking.

I liked this design but felt it was lacking intricacy. One of my favourite things about the Tasmanian Native Hen and the Ostrich was their tailfeathers so I experimented with adding a tail and more feathers to the end of the sleeves. I intended this as a cape/tailcoat for the character (hence the gem at the base of the spine) but the feathers were so effective and provided so much possibility for material/texture experimentation, I decided to add them throughout the design, initially focusing on the head, attempting to echo native american war bonnets:

This was also the point where I finalized the beak, adding a hook and additional teeth to a Tasmanian Native Hen's beak. It created an s-like curve in the side view of the face when paired with the head feathers. The next sketch was finalizing concepts in my mind before I started the to-scale drawings:

I decided I wanted the puppet to be a walking collage, with the feathers made out of all the interesting materials I could find. Due to the addition of feathers on the arms and head, I decided to remove them from the legs so the puppet wasn't an eyesore. I also opened the front of the jumper and removed the collar, revealing the character's chest and continuing the exposed layered cardboard throughout the entire design, starting at the beak and ending at the toes. The feathers would surround this, going down the back and thighs as well as going down the tail and expanding at the end of the arms.

It was also at this point that I considered creating a baby puppet for the larger one to interact with.

[georgiaejlittle]

Flightless Bird Research

Key findings from this research were that flightless birds have long legs with either thin long digits or thick short digits. The larger the bird, the thicker the legs due to their stride being larger so they can afford to be heavier (smaller birds need to be lightweight to cover more ground with their long legs). The exception to this is webbed feet which are adapted for swimming instead of speed, like penguins and Kakapo which have legs meant for climbing. The feet I decided to base my puppet on were the thicker ones with shorter digits, like Emu's, Ostriches, Cassowaries, and Greater Rhea's. They are long, sturdy, and perfect for an animation puppet due to these traits.

These large birds also raised the issue of the texture of feathers. I knew I wanted to use the leftover wool from previous projects, both scraps, and larger pieces because the texture is an aspect I put a lot of importance on. Other things I was thinking of using were plastic bags and scrap paper/card. The Greater Rhea is an example of large individual feathers which I could knit wool into feather shape, cut from plastic/paper/card, or some combination of both:

The Emu is an example of a long, ropey texture which I would replicate with either individual strands of wool or pompoms made with multiple strands:

The Cassowary has a fluffy texture which I would replicate with stuffing or shredded wool:

Another bird I wanted to look into was the Kakapo, the only flightless parrot:

It is a bright colour with multiple textures (it has a fluffy face and individual patterned feathers elsewhere). The beak has upturned nostrils and its appearance is adorable. I wanted to emulate the fluffy feather-covered appearance. I was unsure about beak shape but I knew I either wanted to emulate the smaller beak of the Kakapo or the Tasmanian Native Hen, the hooked beak of the Flightless Cormorant or the Greater Rhea, or some combination of the two. It's face is reminiscent of an owl.