Making Underwater critters

Since the majority of my short takes place underwater, I wanted to make sure that I created a lot of hand-made elements to fill the sea as Klimtina falls to the bottom. Although I will be compositing live action effects like fog and particles with After Effects, I want to make sure that the sea environment feels like a true mixed media surrounding for the puppet because she is made of foam and sheet copper.

Rice paper is probably my new favorite thing. What a way to stretch a budget. I used it to make almost everything.

The first thing I made was some seaweed. I did this by painting rice paper with watercolor, then ripping it into strips while wet. I used a reddish orange color because I knew I would have to shoot them against green screen.

Next, I brushed on a little bit of watered down Elmer's glue and twisted them onto strips of armature wire. The watercolor allowed for a nice variety of color.

The second thing I made with rice paper was some fish. I drew lightly the shapes of fish I wanted, then colored them with oil pastels. Then I wet the rice paper and tore a frayed edge around each fish. Here is how they looked against live water footage with some particles.

The third thing I made from rice paper was a papier mache jellyfish. Cameo from my cat, stage left. He probably is plotting destruction as we speak.  

Other than rice paper, I found some artist's sponges and other textures to add to really create an underwater world that fits my puppet. More to come!