Making Realistic Faces

[muppetfan89]

let's say I wanted to make a puppet that's meant to have a realistic looking face, how do I go about doing that? Do I make a rubber mask put it on the head?

 

[Dagger Claws]

Well that depends . . .

What kind of puppet are you looking to build?

 

[muppetfan89]

an animatronic creature

 

[Dagger Claws]

If it's for an animatronic puppet, yes, making a mask is what you want. For film, a head is sculpted in clay and then a mold is made of the sculpture. To create a realistic, flexible skin, foam rubber or silicoln is often used to fill the mold and create the flexible face for all of the puppet's facial movements. I'm giving a very abbreviated version of the over all provess, but if you go online and look around I'm sure you'll find websites that will help you out.

 

[muppetfan89]

thank you, also how is the head of animatronic puppet made, I don't mean the rubber mask, but the actually "skull" of the puppet.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

You should search out some of the DVDs/training videos that are available on this subject. There are also some really helpful tutorials online like this one. Mechanics for SPFX Make-up and Mechanical Puppetry is a good video to learn from, but I am not sure whether or not it's available anymore.

 

[muppetfan89]

You should search out some of the DVDs/training videos that are available on this subject. There are also some really helpful tutorials online like this one. Mechanics for SPFX Make-up and Mechanical Puppetry is a good video to learn from, but I am not sure whether or not it's available anymore.

that lion puppet in the link is cool, but is there any way to make an animatronic, wuthout using electronics, like maybe using wood, wires, etc.

 

[muppetfan89]

bump.........

 

[Buck-Beaver]

The video I mentioned explains how to make cable controls, which are mechanical and not electronic.

 

[muppetinsider]

Even the simplest mechanics in a ventriloquist dummy like moving eyes, eyebrows or upper lip snare are all under more of what you have in mind. I would also check out building Vent figures as they probably have some very easy to follow illustrations and instructions on how to design your own rigs for these movements.