Responsible for Head Fabrication, Hair/Fur, Facial Features (Magnetic Registration), Armature
Responsible for Head Fabrication, Body and Hear Fur, Facial Features (Initial Design)
Heads - Research
Early head tests were done to get the head's initial scale, shape, fur texture, and design from the 2D mechanical model to the form in space. Fur was then applied to those 'clay skulls' to ensure the fur followed the head's form and curves while remaining readable in camera.
Jul 2024 - Oct 2024
First Pass
Close to FInal
Within each pass, the under-sculpt of the heads were altered, looking specifically at silouhettes and profiles. Also keeping account of the fur and it's scale to the head.
From first sculpts that are clay draped in fabric to the close to final heads that are molded in silicone, casted in plastic, and then covered in fur Clint's head process led to a more beilievable character in camera which showcases his personality in the head design itself.
Humphrey's head follows a similiar clay to molding and casting head process as Clint's.
Humprhey's main challenge was his side profile and his graphically shaped hair style. Due to his laid back nature it was difficult to capture his personality in his resting design. Eventually discovering that pushing his nose forward and widening his eyes in the sculpt created the readability from the inital sketches that he was missing.
First Pass
Close to FInal
From hair wax, silicone, to epoxy, various methods of styling the beaver's fur were tested to guarantee the look and visual feel of the fur.
Different lengths were also tested at this time, keeping in mind the faux fur's limitations to finalize the proportions and scale of the beavers to aid in readability in camera on the final puppets.
Jun 2024 - Aug 2024
Heads - Fabrication
Clint's head required mechanical elements for animation due to his fur to limit chatter and boil.
Eyebrows and ears are rigged with steel wire for durability and plug into the head through a brass tube system.
The eyes are stationary in the head, getting all eye direction from vacu-formed pupils and eyelids that rest on the eyeballs with museum wax.
The nose and mouths follow a magnetic system for dialogue. The nose needed to be removable for design purposes for the graphic mouth overlap
Through several tests and fur swatches. I found that Faux Fur had the design and texture in camera and was used for both beavers fur. But due to its thick factory backing it was too rigid to fit the beavers complex head core.
The fur was cut into strips, backed with pros-aide to create wefts that are then attached to the plastic head with more pros-aide contact cement style.
Fur was then cut and styled with a water based gel to obtain the beavers fur texture as well as give the flexibility to re-wet the fur for shot based styling.
Body - Armature
Clint's armature was first drawn out mechanically to plan out is rigging, mass distribution, and ensuring he can hit specific poses. His larger body size and keeping in mind the weight of amount of silicone, balsa wood cores were machined and sanded to keep him as light as possible. Lastly a void filled with poly-fil was attached to keep the silicone resistance around high movement areas down.
Body - Silicone
Doctoring - Tail Rig Install
A tail rig needed to be added to a previous casted Clint body for some upcoming shots.
Silicone first needed to be removed down to the pelvis in the armature to make room for the new rig while keeping the surface in tact.
A polycarbonate block rigged to receive a set screw to tension during animation was then attached directly to the pelvis in the armature using epoxy.
Doctoring - Silicone Cutting
Due to Clint's heavy body and silicone bulk, silicone had to be removed from specific movement heavy locations. Getting rid of his mass on his shoulders, torso, and hips allowed for cleaner posing and less resistance during animation.
