I have stated a few times before that I work at Laika, the stop motion studio that did Coraline and Boxtrolls. Well, as of October 31st, I will be taking on a new position as a junior fabricator in the rapid prototyping department. This is a significant promotion from my face sanding position I currently hold. It is difficult to put into words how excited I am, as I will be tasked with building the heads of the stop motion puppets! I will be calling on all of my experience in engineering and sculpting to assemble and create the most emotive part of the character! Gahhhhh!
We won an academy award for the the techniques I'll be utilizing to make these characters come to life. Below is a featurette from Paranorman showcasing the puppet fabrication process we used in that film. We now use a different type of 3D printer to make the faces, but elsewise, it is pretty much the same. It's cool having seen this video 4 years ago, and now I'll be working for Morgan Hay and Kingman Gallagher directly. Then below that is an animation depicting Norman coming together in an artful time lapse. The portion of assembly I will be responsible for is at the :49 mark.
While I am really interested in eventually running the 3D printers we use to make the puppet faces and armatures, getting to dive into the assembly process and actually see how these printed parts (and laser cut, and cast and machined parts) are used, and where things might be optimized or redesigned for future puppets. Someday perhaps. Though considering the fast pace at which we adapt new technologies into our process, I wouldn't be surprised if we are onto some new fabrication tech by the time our current production finishes.
I continue to find myself blown away by the amazing work my coworkers do, and never take for granted how lucky I am to be here. It will be a fun day when I can finally show you some of the work I specifically am doing when we officially announce our next project. Until then, go grab Kubo and the Two Strings on DVD November 22nd!
