STRINGS

The official blog for 'Strings', a stop motion student film at Sheridan College.

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Sometimes when the restraints of every day life can become too much to bear, we must break free. In ‘Strings’, Mary-Annette, a brave puppet, rebels against her Puppeteer, taking her strings into her own hands.

A film created by Melissa Gabric, Jacquelyn Meadows, and Sarah Stefanon. Mentored by Chris Walsh, James Caswell, and Dave Quesnelle Music composed by Aaron Corbett Sound Design by Steve Roberts Supported by Corus Entertainment and Sheridan College

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Some preview shots of our film

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The Studio

Melissa Gabric running some animation tests.

It is not uncommon to find an animator lurking in the study after hours.

Animation is done, time to catch up on sleep. 

Things can get a little chaotic in the studio when production is in full swing.

Animation

The puppeteer became the puppet when we began using a type of animation called pixilation for the climax of our film.

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Puppet Making

Puppet Creation

Melissa Gabric

Having three animators working with Mary daily, we knew she would go through a lot of wear and tear. With the supplies given to us we decided to make Mary quickly and easily repairable, making her with a block armature skeleton.

I cut out and used aluminum blocks for Mary’s body, drilling holes for her arms, legs, and spine to fit into. These drilled holes were then tapped into so that we can use set screws to fasten the body parts into place (as seen above).

After measuring out Mary’s limbs, I sculpted out her arms and legs, giving it a stylized wood texture and worn out, and dirty paint job.

I then bulked up her figure using a sponge like foam and trimming it down to the shape we wanted.

I proceeded to patterning out and sewing the costume.

The bottom of her skirt was cinched together by hand stitching.

The gold trim and embellishments on her overcoat were painted on. To keep a clean crisp look we masked off the parts of the coat we wanted to stay blue with tape.

Our final puppet front and back as seen above. After more masking and painting, stitching together and assembling the loose parts, Mary is about complete and ready for animation.

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Prop Design

Prop Fabrication Constructed & decorated by: Sarah Stefanon Puppet pieces by: Melissa Gabric

The Puppet Graveyard

Made with cardboard and balsa wood.

The discarded puppets made by Jacquelyn. Made from paper and lace.

Tree & Bushes

Tree and bushes designed and fabricated by Sarah Stefanon. Made from thin foam core and construction paper.

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Set and Prop Design

Set & Prop Creation Constructed by: Sarah Stefanon Decorated by: Jacquelyn Meadows

Background wall of ‘Strings’ set.

The Puppeteers used foam core for the background wall and covered it with black cloth as a base. Then a variety of different blue fabrics were draped over to create the different shades of the midnight sky. Stars and a crescent moon hang on strings to complete the look.

Set Framework and Curtains Constructed by: Sarah Stefanon Decorated by: Jacquelyn Meadows

Since we wanted the film to have a collage feel to its visuals we opted to use paper craft. We used pink foam for a the base structure and used hand cut paper design for the stages facade.

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Visual Development

Set & Puppet Designs

Strings was developed over the course of 8 weeks during the summer of 2016. During this time the crew developed and pitched several story ideas before settling on the tale of the little puppet that could do anything.

Once we had our story, we set to work designing and constructing the character and the world that they would inhabit.

Set Background Designs: Jacquelyn Meadows

Initially, we wanted the set of Strings to have a collage sort of feel to the visuals. We played around with the idea of patchwork fabric before settling on the starry sky drapery in the finished product.

Set Stage Framework Design:

Concept sketch for the puppet theatre.

Puppet: Mary-Annette Designed by: Jacquelyn Meadows

[threepuppeteers]

Strings is an animated short film that tells the story of one brave puppet’s quest to be free from her puppeteer.

Produced by a trio of Sheridan students, Strings was created for the Sheridan Summer co-op.