Brief: Design and build an original stop frame animatable character that could easily inhabit the world of Aardman’s ‘Shaun the Sheep’.
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Wendy and Graham enjoying a spot of golf in Mossy Bottom. Male puppet created by Jennifer Dingwall and images edited onto Aardman's Mossy Bottom set.
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To create this puppet, I spent a lot of time working on the character design. Using my digital tablet, I created many designs for Wendy and made a character profile of what traits and quirks I wanted this little character to have.
Using a scale drawing I had drawn, I then made a 3D maquette of Wendy in plasticine. This was crucial in helping me visualise her body in 3D form.
The next step was to create a mould of her hands, legs, and head from the plasticine maquette. These items would then be cast out in silicon (hands and legs) or fibreglass (head).
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Every part of the puppet-making process has to be carefully thought out in regards to the puppet's movement and durability.
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Other techniques demonstrated:
-Animatable magnetic eyes
Airbrush and silicon painting
-Creating Balsa wood grip blocks
-Snip Foam fabrication
-Pattern and costume making