An Ambitious Project
An Ambitious Project is a stop motion animation completed in December 2025. This film is the final assignment for my Puppet Animation class I took in the Fall of the same year. It features an elderly turtle-man hybrid spending time in his workshop, laboring away at an unknown project.
Behind the Scenes
This film was completed over the course of the Fall 2025 semester. I did the puppet and set fabrication, animation, film editing, and all other aspects of this film by myself. Every bit of it, though a lot of effort, was a joy to work on. There were plenty of little details in the set and puppet that I found myself getting lost in.
Puppet Fabrication
Armature and Body
I used 14 gauge wire for the body and legs, and 11 gauge wire for the arms, both doubled up for strength. I put in KNS Brass connections in the hips and chest for fly rig attachments. I did not end up using a fly rig, but I am still happy I added them for the assurance.
After setting the eyes, I carefully stretched felt sheets over the head, gluing them tightly to the skin and creating eyelids. I did not like the look of just the single layer of felt, so I added eyebrows and spots to mimic scales and give him a more aged look. The holes in the pupils made it much easier to move them around when animating.
Hands
The hands were made in a similar way to the armature, with wire and sculpted palms as well as a KNS Brass connection to the arm. I wrapped the hands loosely with sports wrap to bulk them up. Then, I hand sewed fingers and a palm over them like a glove. This was a pretty painstaking process, but thoroughly worth it for the durability the stitches provide to the hands.
For this puppet, I was very committed to giving him a turtleneck (because he’s a turtle! Haha, get it?). I had never crochet before, and so this was a very long, very painstaking process. In the end, I am happy I went through the effort. The sweater adds a softness to the turtle that balances out with the shell, and gives him an older grandpa vibe.
Head
I began this film set to create a head with animate-able facial features. I started with a prototype made of a mess of wires, as seen above. It did technically work, but unfortunately I could not pursue it due to the workload of my other classes. So, I sculpted the head out of Sculpey. I was able to give the eyes movement by creating large hollow eye sockets.
Clothing
The pants were by far my favorite part of this puppet’s process. I added a bunch of little details to these pants, including a sculpted button for one of the pockets, a knee patch, and lining to the pockets at the waist. I did every stitch of these pants by hand because I did not have access to a machine at the time. Even if I did, I do prefer sewing by hand on this small of a scale because of the precision it provides.
Set Fabrication
Props
I wanted this set to feel cluttered and lived in, which meant having a lot of tools and props. I made many of them out of Sculpey and cardboard, others were more unconventional. My favorite technique was cutting up and partially melting hot glue sticks to create perfect little candles.
Set Construction
The set is crafted out of foam core with embellishments in craft foam, popsicle sticks, and Sculpey. My favorite piece to work on was probably the floor. I cut out individual ‘bricks’ out of craft foam, glued them in place, then spread a mixture of sand and glue over top to create grout. This have a realistic look to the floor that I was very happy with.
