Introduction: Wolf Puppet for Music Video

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About: I'm a maker with a penchant for art and a love of sculpting the unsettling. I also appreciate the history of deep craft traditions and would be a good part of any post apocalypse survival team.

This is a photo journey through a wolf I created for a slim budget music video for a friend. I have a background in sculpture, but this was my first time doing creature work and decided to give it a go. While it won't fool a human up close, a few dogs walking by barked like crazy while we were shooting, so it's close enough to start fights.

The head needed to be puppeteered and was cast in a silicone shell so the performer could move the mouth and eyes with a hand inside. A good amount of time was spent hair punching the silicone around the muzzle to get it to look somewhat natural. I used plastic eyes, mouth and tongue from a taxidermy catalog and rigged it to be performed a bit. The body was mostly for a long shot so was on a rigid frame. If you have any questions, please ask in the comments!

Step 1: Sculpting

Step 2: Mold Making

Step 3: Cast

Step 4: Hair Punching

Step 5: Everything Else