So remember that blog post where I said I'd be making a short stop-motion film? Well, that...uh, happened. Since the process (or at least, my part of the process) mostly involved sculpting, I decided to write about it over on the sculpting blog instead. If you want to read through the archives, start here and go forward until October 24. Or, for the other 99% of you, here are some highlights.
On October 1, my collaborator Merci and I moved into a studio at ActivSpace. If you live in one of the cities where they operate, I really recommend checking them out. The location in San Francisco is literally six blocks from my house, and it was perfect for what we needed: a big, empty room where I could make a huge mess and, incidentally, some puppets. I could go on and on about how neat it was to be down the hall from a recording studio, a crystal healer, and two barber shops, but that's not why you're here (why are you here, exactly?).
Right, puppets. Anyway. So I spent about three weeks making puppets, which went according to the following timeline:
Week one: Relaxed. Headed over to the studio when I felt like it, made about one mold (which wasn't even usable), and felt pretty good about my progress.
Week two: Concerned. Made an effort to go on both Saturday and Sunday, pushed myself to stay an extra hour, and started to worry about my total lack of progress. And of puppets.
Week three: ABSOLUTE PANIC. The last week and a half, I was literally in the studio until 4am every night (and up for work at 7am), and even with the slave labor voluntary assistance I got from Dayna and Sean, I was seriously afraid that I wouldn't finish on time. How could I have underestimated the effort involved so severely? Well, how long would you assume that it takes to make nine tiny puppets (all under a foot high)? I bet it wasn't A MILLION HOURS, which is exactly how long it takes. To make one puppet, you have to:
- Sculpt the body in Super Sculpey
- Cover one half in clay and pour cement on the other
- Three hours later, flip it over and repeat
- Pry the halves apart and cover in mold release
- Mix a batch of liquid latex
- Construct a wire armature and set into the mold
- Pour the latex into the mold, over the armature, and bake for three hours
- Peel the body out and trim off the excess
- Paint the body with a mixture of acrylic paint and Pros-Aide (4-8 coats)
- Dust with cornstarch and dress in doll clothes
- Sculpt a head out of Super Sculpey, then bake and paint it
- Attach the head, glue in the eyes, and attach the wig
AND THEN DO THAT NINE TIMES. And that's the abridged version, if you can believe it. Plus, try accounting for total ineptitude and inexperience and you've got yourself several months of work, easy.
Fortunately, all things eventually come to an end, so eventually the puppets were finished. As the wiffle ball slogan goes, "three or four of (them) are actually pretty good." So then it was time for shooting.
Last weekend, I boxed up the tiny people and took them to Merci's house, where I met Sara and Jamie, who kindly drove up from Los Angeles with four pit bulls and a Canon 5D Mark II. They are incredibly talented, and they made everything look very pretty. That's about as technical as I can get about their contribution because it was so far over my head.
The film is in post right now (nope, I never get tired of saying that), and the final product has a deadline of December 1, so it won't be long before I can share the finished film with you. So excited! Naturally, after swearing off puppets forever, I picked up two more film projects and a theater piece, all due in November.
(Go Giants!)
No comments.