Underwater giant eel puppet. Advice welcome!
in Puppets
Hi,
I’m wanting to build an eel puppet to use underwater that will be filmed both underwater and from the surface. I’m thinking that a rod puppet could work, but it may be difficult to get convincing movement. An animatronic puppet might be doable, but getting it “swimming” right and keeping the whole thing watertight might be even more challenging. Suggestions on approach, materials, mechanisms, in fact anything helpful, would be appreciated.
I’m wanting to build an eel puppet to use underwater that will be filmed both underwater and from the surface. I’m thinking that a rod puppet could work, but it may be difficult to get convincing movement. An animatronic puppet might be doable, but getting it “swimming” right and keeping the whole thing watertight might be even more challenging. Suggestions on approach, materials, mechanisms, in fact anything helpful, would be appreciated.
Cheers,
1
Comments
Materials wise, I think silicone would be the best bet. I'm not experienced enough to suggest what specific type for this need, but consider what Shore hardness you'd need when researching different types. I know Psycho Paints are often used to paint silicones, though I can't attest to their durability in water.
For mechanism materials, if you have access to a 3D printer, you can design and print the mechanisms. Most plastics used aren't greatly affected by water and so should be long lasting, though keep them out of UV/sunlight when possible, just to be safe.
For the rods, you can get a lot of movement out of just 2 connection points, one by the head and one by the tail. By twisting the rods in opposite directions you can build that S-curve-style swimming motion.
I would suggest having rod attachment points along the top and along the bottom, so depending on the camera angle you can switch the rods around.
/Chris