See Life

It took a few days to unpack and figure out where each fish puppet wanted to live and rig them up. What little gag did they want to act out? How did they want to swim and move? What action might show them off best?

The pipe rigging should be able to clean plate out and I may even leave in the 34g wire rigging to further a homemade movie impression.

Thought you might like to see how each critter looks in their setting. Credits for each fish creation will be recorded on a torn piece of paper lowered down next to the puppet as if on a fish hook. The scene is short but your contributions will be in there like a star cameo in a Hollywood movie. Thank you again for sharing these wonders.

I wrote how I was so uplifted and delighted by each and every puppet in this scene. I felt every ounce of effort and time that had been poured into each wonderful creation and had to stay in the excitement so as not to sob over it. Y'all are just so talented and kind. (Cool accident: the jellyfish, middle/left above, was gorgeously illuminated with a UV flashlight!)

Once all the inhabitants were in place, I layered tinted plastic over the set's handy openings to diffuse and filter. I made a wet media polyester acetate lens for the front of the set and blurred out a round shape with paint wash in case I want to obscure the frame's edges before the close ups.

The rock on the left is on it's own turn table and can rotate to reveal a few different characters, especially one who is a bit of a Broadway-style show stopper. (hint: he's seen just beneath the "Piano Tuna" in the montage of fish photos above)

The largest rock got painted black and then lined with felt and painted again to reach a blacker than black concave surface that can serve as a key should I want to capture small puppets on their own to drop into the scene in post.

More on the deep sea effect tomorrow...