The original sketches of the Goody Goblin.
Oddly enough, I built the character before I even started writing the story board. The first step was to make the armature. To help maintain the size and consistency of the head during the animation process, I used a head cast from resin for the skull. This was from the same mold I used from the fur ball in The Pet Rock. Next I drilled some holes in a cardboard egg and used it as a torso. I twisted metal wire for the arms and legs and fed them through metal tubing. Unlike the other characters that have rubber hose arms, I wanted him to be more rigid to make him less appealing. The neck is a metal tube wired around a plate. The plate is screwed onto the torso as well as the other limbs. The head as a metal dowel attached to stick inside the neck. The ears are made from a smaller gauge of wire to be more flexible. Masking tape was used as a from of mesh. Blue beads were glued into the head for eyes. Finally, the clay was applied.
The Goblin's Armature
The finished puppet.
When the puppet was finished, I did some test animation. The results reflect how the story would be written. As I did the animation, I wrote the story board. In animation, the visual should be regarded with the most importance. Instead of writing a script with words, I use drawings to create inventive visual gags. I use a sheet with a sequence of boxes to keep all the ideas organized. If I make a mistake or if I want to make changes, I cut and paste (tape) the old fashion way until the story is finished.
First page of storyboard.
When developing the story, I realized I needed at least one more character for the bake sale. Since all the other characters are male, I changed it up once again and created a girl character. Her armature is similar to Mr. Weebee's, a typical skeleton. She also has a skull from a resin cast. It was originally a mistake. When I mixed and poured the liquid plastic, I waited to long for the chemical reaction to take place. I was filling up the fur ball head mold when all of a sudden the plastic solidified. Due to the flatness of this head, I decided to model this character in a more gingerbread man style. The final model made sense since the character was to be a baker.
Final model of the girl baker.
Once finished with the modeling, I did a simple animation test. It turned out satisfactory, so it was the last test necessary before entering production. I am happy with the results so far. The Bake Sale Thief will follow Mr. Weebee as he attempts to help out with a charity bake sale. However, trouble begins when he discovers someone is snatching all the baked goods. As he unravels the mystery, he not only discovers the culprit, but also the motive.
I honestly can't tell when I'll have this finished. I'm in my last semester of college. I'll see how much time and energy I can muster to work on this along with my candle movie project, school work, work, church, job search, and so on... Only God knows. I plan to start production on 1/23/15.
Thanks for reading and may God bless you!
