Video Project - Kickstarter Page.

More info about our video puppet production here --- Check it out, and pass it on.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1941888570/boxcar-fair-a-puppet-production

Images of the anglerfish coming real soon..............

"Dreamtime" - 2011

I actually built this piece earlier this year - it's taken me a while to post it here. It was featured this Spring at the Boston Cyberarts Festival in Boston, Mass. After completing "Return to Dreamland", I wanted to explore further the idea of a kinetic figure interacting with sand. I wanted to make a figure combing through the sand, so I decided to have her sitting on a rotating platform. This piece is sold. I didn't take as many in-progress pictures this time, but here are the ones I have....... Her rake-like hand.   

 Her arm carved and ready for paint.

 

 Her body in-progress. I think this is the first time I've done a figure in this position. I've done a few figure sitting before, but not sitting on the ground like this.

 

Her head.

                             

Her body right before I assemble and dress her.

                     

The background for the piece is actually a couple of 'paint-by-numbers' landscape paintings that I tore up and decoupaged back together. I then painted over the whole thing with washes of color.

Photo by Gregory Campbell.

   

The movie.... watch full screen. 

  

A close-up of her hand moving through the sand.

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Thanks for looking!

tom

Video Project with Little Tybee - Phase IV

The next figure is the High-Diver.

There are actually 2 marionettes needed for this, one a diver and one a swimmer. I wanted to create the diver to do just that, dive and nothing else, very rigid and exacting. The swimming version is much more fluid and loosely jointed, she'll be "underwater". The high-diver will dive into a small pool and as the camera follows her down, we end up in a magical underwater world. We will switch to the swimmer puppet down below.

The Diver's body cut out. She raises her arms over her head and pivots at her waist as she starts her dive. The controller for her is going to be a little unusual as she goes from a standing position to a full dive.

Her body again, showing her legs and feet. I'll put opposing magnets in her feet, and at the end of her legs, so she points her toes automatically when she dives off the platform.

This is the swimming version. I made ball and socket joints at her shoulders to make it easy to move her arms in all directions.

Hands in-progress.

The two versions. You can see the magnets in the feet here.

The original head (diver) on the right and the copy, which cracked in the oven, on the left. It took a while to patch her back together, but she is fine now.

Parts ready to be painted.

Four hands.

Ready to be assembled. With 2 marionettes I could be specific when making the bodies. The diver version only pivots at the shoulders, waist and ankles and the swimmer pivots at all her joints except the ankles and wrists.

Dressed and ready for strings. You can see the diver's feet automatically point when she is not standing.

The two heads - the one on the left is the diver and the other is the swimming version, who is looking towards the angler fish (next puppet to be made).

On to making the controllers and stringing them up.

The angler fish is next on the list.

Video Project with Little Tybee - Phase Tres

The next character created for our story is the Fortune Teller.

Halfway through the video, the Wanderer walks into the Fortune Teller's tent and appears to have taken a seat next to him. Actually we will see the seated version of the Wanderer inside the tent. It's a bit of visual trickery.


His body in-progress. I used another wood, instead of basswood, for his torso, upper arms and thighs. Not sure what kind of wood it is - it carves as easy as basswood but has a coarser grain.



In the middle of carving the hands - challenging, but very rewarding work.



Finished carving..... and filing... and sanding. These probably took about 4 hours to make.



His head after sculpting and baking. I'm pretty happy the way he turned out.
When sculpting heads, I don't have a lot of confidence in my abilities, and consider most heads I've done "happy accidents". Though pleased with the results, I'm always pleasantly surprised by the personalities that emerge.



His body, ready for painting.



Ready to be dressed. I create, and age, the clothes before I paint the figure, so at this point he is ready to be assembled.



Detail of his hands. I used a darker skin color to suggest a Middle Eastern/Moroccan heritage.



His super-fancy shoes.



His finished head. He'll be wearing a hat/headpiece by the way, so pay no attention to his hairline.



His distinctive profile came out a bit like Baron von Munchausen. I rarely use visual references, so his appearance came from deep inside my brain. (I will say it's one of my favorite movies.)



The many, many hats I considered for him. This is a sign that I do indeed have enough found objects to pull from. Each hat or headdress certainly lends a different feel to his character.



My choice for his hat - it goes so well with his outfit and has the perfect feel to it. It's actually a small round wooden picture frame with a small metal cup on top.



He'll sit before a crystal ball of sorts, and his arms will be manipulated by rods from underneath the set.



Another view.



Our two characters as they will be sitting. I'll be building a table for this scene, and the crystal ball and stand are yet to be designed and created. The one in the pic is just a stand-in.



Next the High-Diver..............

Video Project with Little Tybee - Phase Deux

I finished "The Wanderer" and thought I would post some in-progress pics.

This is the first of 6 figures I will be making for this project. I'm pretty happy the way it turned out and I love to see the how the marionette moves with all those strings.....

His hands - one's carved and one's just started.


I'm actually making 2 copies of our hero - one is a full marionette and the other is a seated figure whose arms will move via rods from underneath. I "cast" the front of the head, (using more polymer clay), so they would be identical.


All the arms, legs, boots, and heads - painted and aged - ready to be assembled.


Dressing the seated figure.
Sometimes it seems like assembling a puzzle; they have to be put together in a specific order. I've learned this order after making a few frustrating mistakes in the past. Luckily, on these two figures, the vests can be slipped on from the back, which is not always the case.


The marionettes' body ready to be dressed. His socks are felt.


His boots are ready to go on after his pants are on.


Adding the strings to the the marionette - 12 in all.


His head showing the 3 strings that control the movement.


Stringing up the marionette. He seems a little dejected without his head.


All finished! except for maybe a little tweaking for functionality. He is approx. 18" tall.


His back, showing his awesome European shoulder bag.


More to come. Next is the Fortune Teller............

Video Project with Little Tybee - Phase 1

I'm excited to be teaming up with the wonderful band Little Tybee on their next music video. Brock Scott, lead man extraordinaire, and I have come up with an interesting, and very challenging concept. I'm creating 6 marionette characters for the piece, and will be art directing and creating the miniature sets too. If we can pull it off, it's going to be amazing.

Here is my progress so far on the main character, The Wanderer.


My sketch for The Wanderer. He will be approx. 18" tall and be operated by 10 strings.


His torso, ready to be carved.


Legs are cut, ready to be carved.


I'm making ball and socket joints at the shoulders to maximize his movements.


His head from polymer clay.


His body so far.


I hollowed out his head so I could insert his neck. There is a pivot at his neck so he can look up.


His boots cut out and ready to be carved.


Done.


Much more to come - stay tuned, I'll try to post my progress regularly.
And in the mean time be sure to check out Little Tybee.