Tumblebreed-preliminary concepts & designs-final concept & design

-background story-material list-structure and puppeteering roles-movement and performance-tentacles-eye -skin-inspiration: the blue-ringed octopus

Preliminary Concepts & Designs: Tumblebreed “A” by Kevin Hermann

“My creature is based on the both our human needs for contact, and to create our own narrative/mythology. Essentially I’d like to create a suit that someone could easily fit into and bounce about it. The creature is designed to tumble from surface to surface, and to make contact there. These ‘points of contact’ are akin to experiences, and the idea is that when enough it hits a surface with enough pressure, then some sort of paint/colored liquid would push out through the ‘footprints’ (see sketches), which would leave a narrative of contact points following the creatures path. The recording of these places of contact would create an infinite variety of combinations of patterns and movements that would provide a program for the puppeteer to engage with. The logic here is to create different combinations of falls and leaps and springs in order to ‘write’ your own narrative + have WAY too much fun. The material would have to be pretty light but strong foam, maybe with some other backing material at the points of greatest pressure. See my clay models in for a better visual feel.”

Points of contact create “footprints” The Tumble Suit

“The mouth is where the human stomach is, and by crunching down, the puppeteer can ‘eat’ food. Little eyes could be added all over, but I wasn’t planning any large eye appendage. Additionally, there are sketches for internally controlled mechanisms for creating a rippling effect on the skin (which would be made of mostly foam – providing enough resistance and pliability) in order for the creature to maintain a dynamic presence when it isn’t bumbling about.”

Preliminary Concepts & Designs: Tumblebreed “B” by Jessica Burnam

Interior Men:-all facing forward, walk forward-each strapped into a tentacle and holds the dome of the creature on their backs -more tentacles/people can be added for extra stability-with their arms free, they can hold on to the tentacle, Puppeteering them and/or move the features (head, eyes, ect.) by some sort of pulley system)-maybe possible: when they walk, the motion triggers motion into the tentacles

Exterior Men:-help to guide the creature-puppeteer the tentacles on rods

Head/Dome features:-a second head (or mouth or eye) comes out of the body-the second head is hidden by a flap of skin when inside the body-perhaps the eyes bulge…they can be made of light flexible material (aka. Plastic bag) and from air coming form an interior fan, they look as though they are pulsating

Exterior of creature, with eye Interior of creature, with puppeteers

Tentacles:-What if tentacles are made from wheel parts….see one of the tentacle groups with their experimentation with bike wheels Storyline:-could be a junk monster (going off of the wheel idea)-it lives in junk yards and eats garbage; therefore, it has become this mechanical thing-whenever it gets broken, it scours the garbage for the right part replacement and fixes itself.

Final Concept: Background StoryNessy abstract: a humble, tortured, lover; or, Romeo, drugs, and Jabba the Hut

In the dark depths of the pond next to the Dell basketball courts, two creatures,

unbeknownst to the UVa community, meet and make manic romance amidst the murk. One looks vaguely like a cross between a pug (the kind that looks like they’ve had their face smashed in a car door) and a hippo made of jell-o, the other reminiscent of a neurotic baby Cyclops (who also happens to tip the scales at a near 400 pounds). No less monstrous is the water in which they cozy up to one another – with the inclusion of a few rogue test tubes of hydro-chlora-gona-syphus-oxi-crappus from a wildly experimental (and wildly botched) chemistry experiment, various different types of fluids from the local fraternity ‘gathering’ (bodily included), and, of course, the creatures own excretions (which are up to your own imagination), the ‘water’ (if you can call it that) has now become an ideal breeding ground for the god-knows-whats of grungedom. The chemical reaction between the creatures various excretions, the demonic lab liquids, and a certain frat-star’s Natty light suddenly produces a explosion, a psychedelic firestorm of cosmic proportions that completely denatures the two creatures, then rejoins them and now behold: Nessy is born…

“Nessy is born."

Hapalochlaena lunulata Nessy: the final creature

…His appearances blends both characteristics of the creatures he comes from as well as reflects the process with which he came to be; with an ethereal, mind-altering aesthetic (he resembles the rather trippy appearance of the Hapalochlaena lunulata in some ways), Nessy serves as a reminder of the transformative potential of experiences (and what can happen when you’re not careful with your shitty beer). Given his rather tumultuous birth, Nessy seeks out the affection of others by cordially ‘inviting’ them (aka grabbing them with his tentacles and tossing them into his mouth) for a grand tour of his insides. Given that he solely seeks this rather odd form of affection, his habitat is apt to change considerably in his never-ending search for acceptance. Whether it be in the Alderman stacks, late night at Little John’s, or posted up by the lunch trucks at the amphitheater, Nessy will be finding love in a hopeless place.

Full Inventory of Materials

For Base Structure:-PVC pipe

For Tentacles:-wood-string/rope-PVC pipe-base attaches to harness/backpack-kid tunnel

For Skin:

-spandex, light fabric, garbage bags, thin/flexible foam-latex paint, spray-paint -wood for making frames-EL Wire and batteries

Final Design: Structure and Puppeteering Roles

Each Puppeteer is in a leg of the creature wearing a harness to support the rest of the creature to make it move. They can be wearing pretty much anything since they will be enclosed, but probably black bottoms and shoes would be best. 2 of the puppeteers are in the “front” of the creature and manipulate the tentacles that protrude from the front that try to “grab” people and suck them into the underbelly of the beast. The 2 puppeteers in the “rear” of the creature manipulate the moving eye on top of the creature and the “breathing” skin aspect.

Materials:-PBC Pipe backpacks/appendages -possibly girdles that would further enable movement

Nessy Armature Detail of Skin

Final Design: Movement, Performance

Movement:The Tumblebreed has taken on a rather sluggish (in the animal

sense) and octopus-like it will have tentacle legs and what we envision to be a large eye apparatus mounted at its center.

It will move a bit slowly, being internally puppeteer by either four or five people, moving it’s tentacles and reaching out in the front, while the back tentacles gather up and meet the ground in order to propel the creature forward.

We are thinking of having also having a rippling function across its skin (internally puppeteer as well), so that it can maintain a dynamic presence even when standing still (a fully rotating eye will also aid in keeping it moving when it’s standing still). It’s going to leave some sort of trail via oozing substance behind it.

Performance:Our creature does not move quickly, it is almost 25’ across. Best

spot to start it out would be close to the end of the parade or waiting for people on the lawn. This creature is built for audience interaction and allows for people to be pulled in by the tentacles and explore the inside of the creature. They can enter through the “front” of the creature and exit out the “rear”

Here’s the link to a small stop-motion film that we made to give an idea of the movement that the creature will make, as well as it’s pulsating effect:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ1r0tRFX4s&feature=youtu.b

Final Design: TentaclesGoals: light, and easily maneuverable

Techniques:-puppeteers all face forward-each mans one tentacle-the front men manipulate

tentacles in front of them

-the back men are not as active in controlling their tentacles for the back legs are more slinky-like, trail behind them

-all four tentacles are attached to the men by means of harnesses/backpacks that are in turn attached to the main structure of the domed creature

Materials:-wood-string/rope-PVC pipe-base attaches to

harness/backpack-kid tunnel

Harness/Backpack contraption Length of front tentacle: approx.: 8 ft.

Additional Goals: -shuffle along, tentacle comes up at the tip, slithering movement-to have the creature lift itself up on its front tentacles and look

around…lay egg or to ‘sit’ on it’s prey and eat it.-to have tentacles suck in/scrunch then expand/elongate…..like a

stretchy straw-to have suctions on the bottom of the tentacles that would be

textured (skins) -to have scooping motion, to take things into it’s ‘mouth’ beneath it via octopus-like motion.

Here is the link to Collab where a video is posted of the tentacle prototypes movement:https://collab.itc.virginia.edu/portal/site/93bba847-aa80-477c-8c55-4257a14e4e93/page/9bc2b4a4-542f-48e6-a882-4385248969b6

Here is a clay-motion of our creatures movements and devouring techniques: http://youtu.be/Zkw9AJnpvyQ

Final Design: Eye

-A back leg person will be able to puppeteer the eye which we envision to have 360 degree range of motion for the pupil, as well as a full four cable tentacle for its necks range of motion.

-We’re still toying with the idea of having the eye being retractable back into the structure.

Final Design: SkinGoals:

-light, flexible and easily transportable - to create the illusion that the creature is breathing and the skin

itself is pulsating-vibrant color scheme

Several different techniques:-spandex stretched upon frame -garbage bags-crinkled fabrics-EL Wire

Materials:-spandex, light fabric, garbage bags, thin/flexible foam-latex paint, spray-paint -wood for making frames, stencils-EL Wire and batteries

Spandex: The Process:1) Tightly stretch spandex over a wooden frame, making sure to staple/secure

in place2) Lay down stencil, use latex paint = this is what adds texture to the fabric 3) Allow paint to dry (note: after stencil is dry, the remaining areas may be

painted as well) -the result: when the fabric is taken off of the frame, it pulls back into place and the texture bunches up, producing a scale like surface

-spandex is very elastic, so as the creature moves, the fabric will be able to expand/contract

-spandex is also very light, enabling easy transportation

-spandex may be paired with very thin/flexible foam (in interior) that forms the very base shape/shell of the creature

Spandex: The Process

To Note:-just applying latex paint in a solid coat upon the framed spandex

did not produce texture -initially, when textured spray was applied in clumps to the

spandex, the spandex had a pebbly, textured feel; however, when painted/spray-painted, the contrast in texture was not effectively portrayed

Fabric: The Process

-Besides Spandex, lightweight fabric may be utilized. Perhaps not with the framing technique, but bunching up fabric, applying spray paint, re-bunching, and re-applying spray paint is effective as well, creating a veiny design.

Garbage Bags: The Process Garbage Bags are another light material which can be easily textured.

In the picture (at left), 74 spray was applied and the bag was crinkled up on into itself to invoke a veiny texture.

Texture also may be applied by way of a heat gun which gives it a bubbly effect.

Garbage Bags can also be attached/sealed together by means of a soldering iron.

The belly of the creature may easily be formed with this technique. Garbage bags then can be painted in a variety of methods (see next slide)

.

The Color Scheme

We are going for a very vibrant color scheme which is based off of the Hapalochlaena Lunata, know simply as the Blue-Ringed Octopus.

This would be done to employ bright yellows and the bold hue of Ultramarine Blue.

EL Wire: We really want to make the Blue electric and the way we plan to do

that is with EL Wire. EL Wire comes in all colors and the blue rings of the octopus can easily made with the blue. Installing neon lights within the structure will really make the creature feel like it is glowing under its nearly see-though skin of the spandex/plastic bags. EL Wire is transportable, it needs only the right battery that can be secured to the structure or to the puppeteers. This would be especially dynamic at night.

More EL Images:

About the Blue-Ringed Octopus: The blue-ringed octopus is a pale brown to yellow color depending on

its surroundings. But when alarmed, the octopus displays bright blue rings all over its body and H. lunulata carries enough venom to kill 26 adult humans within minutes. Habitat: the temperate waters of southern Australia, from southern Western Australia to eastern Victoria. Food: small crabs and shrimp. One of their poisons is used for hunting crab while the other is extremely toxic and used as self defense against predators. The poisons are secreted into the blue-ringed octopus's saliva. Once the prey is dead, the octopus begins consuming it with its powerful beak-like mouth.

Facts from the last slide come from this link. Go to it for more information and a documentary on the Blue-Ringed Octopus:

http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=403#.UMax06n3D-Y