Octopus Slapper 2000

Next step was to cut and assemble various yellow textile panels that emulate robotic patches for the tentacles!  They will be stuffed to feel squishy yet firm and then attached to the octapus head. Note * the tips of the tentacles have are stuffed with beans to add a little weight and insinuate "slappability"!

Now I am ready to start animating! Back to the string and tape. First, I created the "underwater" scene with real fish tank items, added some paper bubbles for fun! The tricky part here was balancing the octopus and shark on strings, I felt like a real puppeteer. Once I had all the pictures I needed to animate, I illustrated the water background and then filmed some ink being shot into a water tank to create the octopus ink effect.

The first thing I did was take some pictures of the glass characters on a white background so that I could later cut them out in photoshop. The challenging part was trying to figure out how to get these little guys to stand up for the picture! Thankfully, I had lots of string and tape to make this work. Then, I created storyboards to help me figure out what the animation will look like.

Here are some shots of Eric and I discussing the project. He created the shark predator design in record speed!

Next I use a Peobo low fire marker to draw on robotic and facial expressions!

I have been out of studio  for a little while...
Eric and I zoomed and he designed a fierce predator for the Octopus Slapper to face!

I have made the models with furnace  glass at the glass blowing bench with hot bits rather than on the torch. There are many methods to choose from when forming glass, sometimes it takes a few tries to find the best one for the job.

Next step is to flamework the Octopus Slapper itself. Starting with the tentacles!

Flameworking is melting rods of clear and coloured glass in order to sculpt desired shapes and patterns.. like tentacles with suckers! When the glass is hot it appears different in colour then when it is cooled to room temp. 

In both renditions I will be fabricating the Octopus in sections for accuracy and a robotic look.

The second rendition of the Octopus Slapper 2000 will be made up of flameworked glass models.

First, I have made fish with both a neutral and a shocked/ scared expression to illustrate the emotion of when a predictor approaches. The final result will be a mini animation showing the function of Eric's invention!

I have been cutting and sewing together the Octopus head and fish! The eyes were added and embellished with embroidery thread.

Here is my plan for how to translate the Octopus Slapper into a huge interactive textile stuffy.