r/puppetry

I just finished my first short film Deep Dive (stop-motion / 3D hybrid), and it was also my first time building a character using needle felting.

Overall
I really loved the material. Under lighting it reads as very soft and “alive,” which worked great for animation. It gives a kind of organic presence that’s hard to fake with smoother materials.

Unexpected problem - staining
I used a bit of water to set the felt in place so it wouldn’t shift during animation.
After a while, red-brown spots started appearing on the hands of the puppet.
Pretty sure it was a reaction between the water and the metal armature inside (rust/oxidation).
If you’re doing something similar:
wrap/seal the wire really well before felting, especially in thin areas like fingers.

Silhouette issues (in post)
The texture that makes felt beautiful also made it tricky-edges aren’t very clean.
In some shots it was harder to get a clear silhouette, especially against similar backgrounds.

Would love to hear if others ran into similar issues with armatures + moisture.

Pics show some of the process + puppet.

If you’re curious, the film is now online: https://vimeo.com/1187770376

The tongue is a separate piece, so I can move it too.