Making The Protagonist Character and the Hands of the Wall People

I'm working on the protagonist character, which is based on the designs made by Harry. 

This week I made use of the woodwork area by carving the head of the main character from basswood. The first head I carved was too big and nose too flat. However this was easy to change. I went back to woodwork and made the head smaller, carving around the nose, so that it stuck out more. I'm pleased overall with how the head went - the eyes and ears have a lot of character, however some improvements would be that the head is still quite flat and it was hard to completely stick to the character turnaround when working with the wood. 

First head shape:

Final head shape:

What Went Well

• Expressive head the second time around
• Carving taught me to work in a different way, by taking away from the object rather than building it up
• Eye and mouth sockets will allow for plasticine features to go over the top
• I've learned I want to go down the avenue of woodwork in stop-motion

Criticism

• Carving took up most of the day, it required a lot of patience
• I couldn't afford to make any mistakes, if I carved too deep, I would have had to start again
• The first attempt carving the head wasn't so successful however it got me used to the process
• The wood would have been too fragile to have the jaw on a hinge so we changed this idea to putting plasticine over the top instead.
• It was hard keeping the carving to be an exact replica of Harry's designs

I then worked on the body, using Harry's turnaround as the reference. This involved using 3mm wire to make the armature, while missing out the head, hands and feet, which will be wooden. The joints were then put in place, using putty that solidifies after a few hours.

The next step involved blocking out the bone areas, to make the character act more like a human and prevent it from becoming floppy. This was achieved using modelling foam. 

After this, I wrapped tin foil around the foam to bulk out the body. I also added the wooden hands and feet, which were able to slot into the metal armature. 

Clothes also helped to bulk out the character and give it more form, which were made out of felt and had a lining of tin foil. 

The legs were made first, and then safety pins buttoned-up the shirt. Extra felt was put over the shoulders which is often a weak spot in the puppets.

Holes were put in the feet so the puppet can be clamped down, ready for shooting.

The character in his room:

His skin was painted white so that it will glow a blue colour when under the blue gel lighting.

Finally the hair and plasticine facial features were added. The eyes were made of milliput so that they stayed circular.

Once this character was complete, I made the hands of the wall people. I carved each thin, long bone of the hands.

I drilled the ends of every bone to allow for the wire to be slotted in, which will act as the joints. 

These were then painted white and the wire was glued in place.

What Went Well

• The puppet is able to stand up unassisted
• The felt and wood are much more durable materials to work with than the plasticine I used last year
• The tin foil on the clothing helped bulk out the character
• The plasticine will allow for the character to have a range of facial expressions

Criticism

• The foam was hard to carve with the carving knife, instead it needed an even thinner blade such as a Stanley knife. 
• The foam body was too flat so needed to be bulked up with tin foil
• Some of the tin foil (used below the clothes) and the screws for the feet will be visible on camera. Next time I'd leave a gap of a few millimetres between the felt and tin foil.
• The mitten-like hands of the protagonist are unable to move and could have been made with individual fingers in future, however this will not be crucial to the animation