Rebecca Heath – Page 3 – Character Animation

Body Acting

I re-shot the stop motion sequence adding in a magnet to keep the puppet from moving and allowing more movement in the tail.

The sequence is a little longer which gives more time to each action and makes for a smoother animation. The next step would be to look into adding in a background in After Effects.

Test animation.
First issue I found with animating the mermaid was the lack of magnets in the puppet which meant she wobbled about quite a lot while filming. It would also have been nice to get more movement in the neck and eyes but that’s another thing I’ll have to consider in the next puppet construction. The sequence itself is a little quick, there needs to be a better rhythm to the movements but I do think the actions are playful and convey a nice sense of character.
For my first go I’m pretty happy and excited with what can be created with stop-motion .

Mermaid Puppet Process: Part Four Costume

I wanted to give her a witchy costume, but mostly she ended up with big Stevie Nicks vibes.

Mermaid Puppet Process:Part Two Head Sculpting

Sculpting the head seemed the most daunting as it’s not something I’ve done before and will be the focal point of the puppet so I wanted to make sure it looked sufficiently eerie.

Head is made from foam and doll eyes.