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My Research Question: "How can I utilize tehniques both in Adobe Illustrator and lasercutting to create a functoinal stop-motion ready puppet for a short film?"
The personal project was something I was excited about but also unsure about. Whenever I am left with a mildly vauge task for a project, I tend to freeze up with all kinds of ideas and no real organization. However, I was able to get help from my other classes for inspiration. The most important being my Capstone. These characters are going to be in that short, so I might as well utilize their characters for something that is creatively driven and productive to my future endevors.
The concept phase
The concept phase
My concept "phase" was circling long before the personal projects were due for proposal. Rouge, the small tadpole, is the main character of the film as a baby. They were being taken care of by their sibling, Relotov, before he left to chase glory. The first scene in the film focuses on their backstory, showing the insiting incident for this story.
When designing these puppets, I was very inspired by Wayang Kulit, or Indonesian shadow puppets. Although their designs are not nearly as complicatedly cut out, their clear silhouettes and aesthetic as a whole, pulls lots of inspiration from those shadow puppeting techniques. I also pulled inspiration from more 3D puppets like the characters from the Muppets. I wanted them to be able to be articulate not just in their arms. I wanted their whole bodies to feel alive and although childish-ly designed intentionally, to feel kiddie and nostalgic.
Here are some inspiration photos:
Here are some inspiration photos:
The actual production
The actual production
The first thing I did was create all the individual shapes in Adobe Illustrator. At first, I outlined everything to the height I would have wanted each figure to be. Then, I added holes in each area where a joint would be able to move. I then separated all the pieces for cutting. Since Relotov's puppet is quite a bit bigger than Rouge's, I had to use two prints for it (since I was laser cutting and did not want one side to be burned from the heat).
After making my vectors, I took them to the laser-cutters in the Makerspace. However, due to complications in both the machine and my original vector sheets, I ran out of time over there to finish my puppets. However, I was able to go to HeatSynch later that night to finish the cuts. However, since I was not "trained enough" to use the laser-cutters over there, I got help from one of the volunteers to get my cuts figured out. And to make her life easier, I removed the small details on the models in order to keep the cutting process relatively quick.
While I was waiting for my papers to be cut up, I was messing around with the other paper-cutting technology in the workshop. The one I enjoyed messing with the most was the Silhouette Cameo, which I was told was related to Circut. I decided to make some extra cuts of my pieces using Silhouette, so that is the templates below. (I also changed the outlines to be black for the machine's clarity.)
Relotov's Right Facing Layout
Rouge's Puppet Layout
Relotov's Left Facing Layout
(I know we were never taugt Circut or Silhouette in class, but it was still a fun machine to work with regardless of it was lazer-cutting or not. I just felt like I'd bring it up to prove I could adapt to different softwares on my own.)
Some Assembly Required
Some Assembly Required
The actual "building" of the puppet pieces after cutting them out was tedious but relatively easy. After spreading them out, I matched each piece (each joint had four total cutouts), glued the construction paper to the cardstock to make two separate thicker pieces, then I taped them together to package up for later. All of that took around two hours with all the small details, but the organization definitely helped with the third part of the project.
(I want to mention here that I did this incredibly late at night, which is why the photo is so glassy. Thankfully, the kind volunteers at HeatSynch let me work past closing to finish this assignment, and I had my friend with me as well for moral support and occasional assistance in fetching equipment for me while I worked.)
Stringing Things Together
Stringing Things Together
This part was probably the most annoying after having to make sure my cuts did not fly away into the recycling bin while laser printing. For this, I had to do layering on my puppets to make sure they could move freely while also being the same on both sides of the puppet. It took a lot of time, fighting with my yarn, and redoing joints over and over, but I eventually figured out Rouge. The struggle with them made Relotov way easier to construct.
The final puppets
The final puppets
This photo was taken on my pool deck. I wanted to showcase the contrast of the paperwork against the white textures around them.
I loved how Rouge's final puppet came out! Although they are slightly less mobile than I wanted, but they are way cuter because of how compact and small they are. Thankfully their arms can raise and fall just enough for the short. I am very happy that are able to move enough to the point where they can be expressive while also representing a reserved and worried kid who keeps to themselves most of the time.
Relotov came out wonderfully! He was just as fluid and mobile as I had hoped. Their tail is posable and fun to tweak, his head is very expressive, and all his limbs are easy to move in a very excitable way. I think this puppet really captured his energy as an ambitious wannabe adventurer who only looks out for the final goal over the journey to get there.
And below are the shots of a more "3D" side profile of the puppets. They were insanely layered and way thicker than I thought, which is really good for me since I am planning on making a stop-motion animation with them anyways. I am very happy wth the puppet dextarity and the hardiness of them. I am very excited to move to the next part of my capstone using these dolls.
For my closing thoughts on this project, it taught me how to find ways around the hurdles in my way. It was such a hastle making sure all the vectors worked for the joints, finding the time and places to cut out my puppets, and dealing with pleanty of reassemblies on my end regarding tieing the joints. However, the fustrations and stuggles were worth it to me. I love how they turned out, and I am very thankful to have learned how to lasercut things (and use Shillouete Cameo on the side) while pushing my creativity outside of just digital world concepts!
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