I talk about some of these things in-depth on my blog, but I wanted to separate out my work on this so interested parties can easily see it gathered together, if they wish. This is some of the pre-production/development work I did on "Grandpa", my most recent short stop-motion work in progress. This required a lot of research on my part, as it was/is the first time I am working with ball-and-socket, silicone-based pro level puppets. A sense of realism is important to the project. If you are interested, the animatic/story reel can be viewed under "Animatics and Storyboards" in my Portfolio. Also note that the Issuu embeds of certain items are Flash-based, so if you don't see anything in that spot, that's probably why.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/ab040bc7f4314a7d60dd897b334da810/d8aecbd8130561f78ffd57de_rw_1920.jpg?h=9f4ae8d5ab07f781e1da45776e3dabad)
One of my first concept drawings of the Boy character. A fundamental idea of how he will look and what he will wear.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/ab040bc7f4314a7d60dd897b334da810/e9cfd132e961f307bb85816a_rw_1920.jpg?h=c21100863be1245879744d9d5d36b57f)
Another early concept drawing of the Grandpa character. Fundamentals of appearance and character.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/ab040bc7f4314a7d60dd897b334da810/35f2ba7327c3a14bf78936ee_rw_1200.jpg?h=5312a4893150c9bc2e522d434c8371ed)
A simple CG model of the Grandpa character. I wanted to examine proportions and movement.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/ab040bc7f4314a7d60dd897b334da810/7661d4b42caeb3edf64be60b_rw_1200.jpg?h=342bdc6847d401bda39e49853101dba9)
A basic CG model done in Maya of the coffin to explore the shape and possibly use for build reference (most likely from plywood and other light materials) later.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/ab040bc7f4314a7d60dd897b334da810/204f34cfaa9148f0ba122650_rw_1200.jpg?h=76a85b883c837c08e8d9cfa6b1df08ad)
Since I had them both, I decided to recreate the shot in the animatic with Grandpa lying in the coffin with the CG models to further examine my scales and shot placement.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/ab040bc7f4314a7d60dd897b334da810/d8c239b417e98fdec7329cb5_rw_1920.jpg?h=01242fe1af52ef000b634ec7cee56507)
A lighting/color style frame with a basic Boy character CG model in Maya. This is being explored as a choice for the opening scene.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/ab040bc7f4314a7d60dd897b334da810/2a7676623da60a4eb5c328ca_rw_1920.jpg?h=d43a8193365ac1c5e98ff7d8d21a1747)
Another style frame for lighting/color in Maya of the bench scene.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/ab040bc7f4314a7d60dd897b334da810/ff2c3dd878c9d3a078491245_rw_600.jpg?h=29c99ab081f1825cf2b73de5e061c520)
I have chosen to go with ball-and-socket armatures to have the best possible quality and durability in my characters. However, I do not currently have access to a machine shop, so I had to decide on part kits that I could both afford and that would give me the results I want. I chose these Animation Supplies kits. They come as a little bag of hardware bits, so I still get to do all of the basic machining, cutting, gluing and assembling to my own proportions.