This week has been spent thinking, for the most part, especially about materials needed. I asked Mike if we have any in the department to save on cost, but it's likely if we do that they're out of date, so I will be getting my materials new.
For Replacement Animation:
Tin-cure Silicone for mould
Two-part liquid plastic for cast
Rigging
Magnets to snap the different parts into place
Non-sulphur based clay for the sculpt
Beads for the eyes
For Face-Armature:
Platinum-cure Silicone for cast
Plaster for mould
Non-sulphur based clay for the sculpt
Lego for mould barrier
KleanKlay to keep sculpt in place during mould-making
Aluminium plates, wire, epoxy putty for the 'skull'
Beads for the eyes
Mike has also suggested it could be worth attempting 3D digital sculpting and printing the heads of with a 3D printer, even though I have no experience with this, so I might download Blender and see what I can do. I would need to make a clay sculpt beforehand to reference it whilst making the digital one, so, once I get the beads in the post I'll know how big I should make the head, and be able to begin sculpting. If 3D printing faces works out, I'll probably ditch doing replacement animation with casts as it's pretty expensive.
Then there are the materials for hair and fur:
Wig samples
Felting wool
Latex
Tacky Wax
Hair product (hairspray, matte pomade)
I've been pointed towards a sight that you can purchase small wig samples by my flatmate, so have ordered five small tassels of different coloured wig samples. I've mainly gone for lighter colours so that I can see how each method looks clearly on camera, but have ordered a couple darker ones too so that I can see if any of the methods mess with the colours.
Another thing I've been having to consider is what my hypothesis/question of research is going to be. I know I want to improve how expressive my stop-motion animation can be, but I also want to work on hair and fur, which doesn't necessarily overlap with expression. My working title is: 'What Materials and Methods are Best for Expressive Puppet-Making?'
I have also been working on which audio I will be lip-syncing to by drawing out vague ideas for the expressions they would require.
I then put them to the audio to see what they would roughly look like.
I think the first audio could work if I put more expressions into the silences, but overall the other two are more fun, and I like that they both get to react to another character's dialogue. There are so things I would change in both of them, like eye movement and pushing more extremes but they're both a lot of fun. I'll ask others on their opinions of what is most interesting to watch.
For next week I'd like to have my final iteration of the question ready, and to have begun properly working no the project, starting with animating the audio I wish to lip-sync to in digital 2D. I'd also like to have all the materials needed for the hair and fur so that I can begin doing those tests, and hopefully I will have begun some scuplts too.
Comments