Sketched in ballpoint pen in my sketchbook. First image is my first drawing of the character, and the next two are concepts for the environment/set.
Final character design. Drawn in pencil and brown ink, coloured with coloured pencils and markers.
My plan is to build a puppet on a wire armature, using a professional armature kit. I would then use foam to fill out the form of the character. The head would likely be cast in resin, with facial expression "masks" inspired by the technique Laika used when creating puppets for its stop motion film "Paranorman". They 3D printed the masks and painted them afterwards, which is my goal as well. I will be making several masks for the bottom of the face (to change the mouth), and a few more for the top of the face (to change the eyebrows). They will be attached to the head via tiny magnets. The eyes, which will be metal balls, will also be replaceable in order to allow the character to blink.
Below you can see my plan for creating the facial expression masks, as well as a link to a behind-the-scenes clip from Paranorman's creators, which provided the inspiration for my using this technique. I am also providing a link to a website which helped me to conceptualize and plan this idea even more.
Paranorman Featurette: Faces of Paranorman
Next, I will be considering:
• Set building
• Filming
• Editing digitally, and likely adding 3D elements such as water
• Getting a musical score done. One problem: I can't write or even play music. If you're interested in helping me out (if you're from Aalto ARTS Media Lab, you could probably get ECTS for this, at least if I do!) I would be SUPER grateful. You can contact me at my e-mail address: linda.vuorenvirta@aalto.fi. Thank you!
