When you think about creating CGI creatures, building a physical versions might seem slightly counterintuitive. After all, if the finished creature is going to be created digitally, why make a puppet that may never actually appear in the final shot?

The answer is that filmmaking still happens in a physical world. Actors need to know where a creature is. Cameras need to frame it. Performers may need to touch it, hold it or react to it. Lighting needs to behave convincingly around it. And sometimes an actor simply gives a better performance when there is another character standing in front of them rather than a marker at the end of a pole.

That is where VFX reference puppets come in.

Looking back, Lady Liberty remains one of our FAVORITES from Eric.

She wasn’t an overly complicated puppet mechanically. Instead, much of the character came from the combination of Poppy Kay’s original design, the sculptural forms, hand-dyed textiles, carefully mixed flock, graphic facial details and a handful of simple, well-chosen movements.

Add an illuminated torch and some fabulous eyelashes, and our little piece of New York was ready for her moment in the spotlight. She may only appear briefly in the finished show, but we think she deserves a little more time centre stage.

So here she is — Lady Liberty, in all her splendour.

Eric is now streaming on Netflix.

Character sketch artwork — Poppy Kay Illustration

Creature Effects & Puppets — Stitches and Glue

Summer 2019 saw the Stitches and Glue squad creating a couple of super-cute rodents for Sky One’s Christmas special, Cinderella: After Ever After, starring David Walliams, Sian Gibson, Celia Imrie and Tom Courtenay.

Meet Buttons

In 2018, Stitches and Glue were the official puppet designers and puppet consultants for Disney’s The Little Mermaid at Helsinki City Theatre (Helsingin Kaupunginteatteri), Finland.

Over the coming months, our Tales from the Archives: Puppets in Focus series will delve into individual puppets from this production and others in the Stitches and Glue archive — looking at how they were designed, engineered and made, and some of the practical problems we had to solve along the way.

For our first instalment, we’re returning to Helsinki and diving beneath the waves to look at Flotsam and Jetsam, Ursula’s sinister eel sidekicks, and the process of turning their character designs into large-scale puppets capable of swimming across a live stage.

For The Paddington Bear Experience, Stitches and Glue was given a particularly exciting challenge: to create a real-life Paddington puppet completely recognisable as the much-loved bear audiences know from the STUDIOCANAL films that could perform in sync with pre-recorded dialogue. Such a challenge to bring a largely CGI-created character to life in the real world — but of course, the team at Stitches and Glue embraced it!

What is Puppet Consultancy?

You may have a character, creature or puppet in mind, but how do you turn that idea into something that can actually be made and brought to life?

We help our clients problem-solve from concept to construction. Every job is unique and the process is tailored to each scenario.

Whether you need a prototype, a detailed prop component, a bespoke animatronic part or a mould-making master, 3D printing can provide a fast and accurate way to turn a digital design into a physical object.

The Final Ingredient for Convincing Digital Characters

Some exciting testing of Stitches and Glue’s quadruped motion-capture (mo-cap) puppets has been taking place.

Becky Johnson and Paul Vincett interviewed by Vin Burnham (Costume Designer) for her new follow up book to Get Into Costume, with more focus on the creature department and VFX puppets.

Stitches & Glue’s dragon puppets featured in Radio Times, with Tom Wilton highlighting the power of puppetry alongside VFX (Framestore) in How to Train Your Dragon.

Stitches & Glue’s creature puppets feature in ‘The Art and Making of Mickey 17,’ showcasing behind-the-scenes VFX collaboration on Bong Joon Ho’s sci-fi film.

Stitches & Glue built Baby Groot animatronics for the Guardians of the Galaxy immersive show in London, featuring Star-Lord actor Pete Grimwood. See the build.