THIRD ENTRY - EARLY ARMATURES

It must be accepted that one of the wonderful things about stop-motion animation is that there isn't really a right and wrong way of doing things. There are only better ways than others, and none of us ever cease to learn.

It also must be said that the head of the animation department at Edinburgh College of Art, Professor Donald Holwill, said of me that I paint the undersides of boxes.... This was in 2005. More recently he added that I not only paint the undersides of boxes, but also the insides of screw holes.

Frankly I can't help it, and it is important to bare this in mind whilst reading this blog.

In 2005, when I started work for Solo Duets, I began by attempting alternatives to steel ball and socket joints.

At one point I was sculpting hard body parts, like dolls, with wire, and with model airplane hinges. I was hoping that the hinge would make the

joint bend correctly, and the wire take care of the tension. The problem with wire armatures, apart from breakage, is that it doesn't allow for sharp bends, such as elbows and knees.

I abandoned this method, as it.... failed.

The final Solo Duets puppets had hard body parts sculpted in wax, cast in polyurithane foam, and milliputted to the Andy Simmons armature. Heads were liquid latex. There are more images of Solo Duets in the independent film section of my website www.feltibus.com.

These are images from the making of Solo Duets, 2005, © Joseph Feltus.