Hack O' Lantern Puppets

These stop motion puppets were created for my upcoming thesis film Hack O' Lantern. Hack O' Lantern is a stop motion animated short film about a young pumpkin girl, Squasha, who is chased by a killer intent on carving faces into his victims. There were three puppets created for this film, Squasha, the Killer, and Squasha's best friend, Jackie. They were made with an aluminum wire armature, foam polymer clay, mold making clay and fabric.

Squasha is the main character of Hack O' Lantern. She is a clumsy pumpkin girl trying to escape the clutches of The Killer. Her scarf and stem are both posable.

Breakout of Squasha's scarf with quilted stripes and fully poseable with an inset wire

Squasha's armature progress from wire, bulked with foam and covered with fabric.

Progress picture of patterning, fitting, and finishing Squasha's dress.

Animated example of Squasha's poseable scarf and stem as she pushes The Killer away from her.

The Killer is the antagonist. He is an emotionless killer who carves and steals the heads of his victims. He has several replacement heads as he switches his head for Jackie's in the film. Also, his back and neck are treated with balloon rubber to make his skin shiny and poseable.

Process of making a mold of one of The Killer's head sculpts and creating a copy of it with clay.

The Killer's armature process from wire, bulked with foam, then covered with balloon rubber.

Progress picture of patterning, fitting and sewing The Killer's tunic costume piece.

Animated example of The Killer's replacement heads switching out.

Jackie is Squasha's best friend. Her stem is also poseable.

Jackie's armature process from wire, bulked with foam, then covered with fabric.

Progress picture of patterning, fitting and finishing Jackie's jeans.

Caught Dead Puppets

These stop motion puppets were created for Caught Dead, my short film about a young girl getting revenge on a group of bullies with the help of a friendly ghost. There were five puppets featured in the film included Mel, the main character, Candy, the ghost, and the three bullies. They are made with an aluminum wire armature, foam, polymer clay and fabric with handmade costumes.

Mel is the main character of Caught Dead. She is dressed in a sheet ghost costume that is fully poseable made with black wrap.

Candy is the ghost that Mel meets in the cemetery. Her hair and clothes are fully poseable with imbedded chicken wire and her head has three replacement heads for her various scaring needs. One includes poseable popped-out eyes and the other has a hole so that she can pull her guts out of her mouth, both pieces poseable with wire.

Animated example of Candy's replacement head switching out as she pulls her guts out of her mouth.

There are three bullies that all torment Mel. They are foam and fabric puppets and heads made with polymer clay with fabric stretched over it. They all are underdressed for Halloween.

Final film

Miscellaneous

A collection of originally designed, handmade fabric dolls and plushies.

"Patch the Pumpkin" is a ceramic doll with a plush body. Her head, hands and feet are sculpted and fired ceramic and her body and limbs are fabric. She sports some autumnal overalls and a spooky glow in the dark ghost turtleneck underneath!

Poppy is a fabric stuffed animal I made as a visual reference for 2D animations of the same character. She has moveable arms and legs with button joints at the shoulders and hips as well as a mischievous expression embroidered onto her pink plush face.

Skelly Kelly is a plush doll with moveable joints. She has eight points of articulation at her arms, elbows, hips and knees made with button joints as well as posable fingers. She wears a pinafore and a big floppy hat, perfect for going flower picking in the cemetery!