BA3a Personal Showcase Evaluation
The project has been one of the intense processes I have completed at university to date, but also a project that I conducted the most research and experimentation for with a focus on expanding my knowledge of a variety of industry used techniques. Whilst, initially being disappointed to have to opt for faux fur fabric instead of a more industry used process when constructing my final puppet and struggling to accept his shape. It was just too time-consuming to finish to a high standard in the time allotted for this project. Now, I am pretty pleased and fond of my puppet, he was definitely worth all the hard work as I think he is a great representation of my visual style and what I am cable of in terms of fabrication skills.
Even though I struggled to fabricate my puppet in the right order and felt faint a lot of the time I was in the 3D Workshop, I now have a much better understanding of mould making, casting and silicone which is exactly what I set out to achieve. In terms of the actual animation, I am happy with the movement I have been able to animate, I think I can see a clear improvement in this since the first year. Even though I wasn’t perfectly happy with the short film as a whole, I think I have a clear, well thought out narrative. I would have liked to have improved the sound design, as based the tutor feedback it needed some reworking, but I had to prioritise my Research Report which I had not spent enough time on due to my focus on this project.
In terms of fabrication techniques, I still would really like to explore hair punching into silicone using a casting special effects silicone instead of the moulding silicone I acquired from the 3D Workshop. I would like to build a large theatrical puppet for use as a practical effect, to try my hand at fabricating on a larger scale for a non-animated production. A fabrication material that I haven’t fully explored yet is latex; I think it would be an interesting comparison to make against my recent work in silicone. Lastly, I would like to practice airbrushing which is a widely used method of painting creature effects. Overall, I am proud of what I was able to achieve in this project and excited to explore industry used fabrication techniques further in the future.