Zoe Huddleston
Stop Motion Fabricator
Freeway Man
Freeway Man is a SCAD senior film directed by Paige Herd about a monster that lives under an over-pass and feeds on the fear of it's victims. As a young boy passes by, however, the story changes. I made the boy puppet start to finish for this film as well as doing some scenic set painting. This puppet pushed me but in the end, I am proud of what I was able to learn on this project.
Nash (Main Character)
Nash's head required a two-part silicone mold with venting at the tips of his hair. I also made his frontmost bang detachable so the eyebrows are free to move under it.
Paint Station for Heads
Hand Process
Starting with armatured sculpts, I then made two-part silicone molds. I mixed a tinted silicone with "UFC" (a fast curing silicone activator) and painted it in to the molds, giving warmth to the fingernails, palms and knuckles. I used a cotton threaded 24 guage wire to create the new armatures and after registration, I injected the molds with more silicone to finish the casting process. After a little seam cleanup, they were good to go!
Clay Up!
The Nash puppet body was a foam cast so it needed these clay voids in the mold for the foam to expand into.
The Armature
The armature is made with regular 1/8" gauge wire. It has square brass tubing at the wrists to receive the replaceable hands as well as a polycarbonate ribcage and pelvis. Both the ribcage and pelvis have been tapped to receive fly-rigs. The knees often get lost or "go noodley" on wire puppets so for this one, I took small brass tubing and bent it to register at the knee-caps. I then lashed it coming off of the mid-thigh bone area of the leg wire. At the end of the brass tube I attached some propoxy (plumber's putty) and actually pressed it against the mold on the other side, allowing it to take the form of the knee-cap. This process allows for the knees to remain rigid while the animator moves the puppet.
The Bookbag
First I mocked up the book bag in foam to get an idea for the shape and size, then sculpted in in chavant clay. After that, I made a silicone mold of it so I could later make armatured foam casts to be upholstered. Since, there would be the possibility of two identical puppets, I made two identical book bags.
Set Painting
After the overpass set was mostly fabricated for the film, I went in with acrylic, mediums, and house paint and painted the entire set. I used dry brushing to create weathering and dirt build up on the houses, sidewalk, streetlights, and road. I also painted graffiti on the overpass and relevant houses to give a realistic "lived-in" feeling to the set. Set painting is one of my favorite things and I hope to do more of it in the future.