top of page

Ryen Goebel

Crabman: A Journey into Stop Motion

Role: Fabricator, Animator

During my capstone project I was fascinated by the process and techniques of the two Stop Motion films in my class. I signed up for Stop Mo 1 and began learning to build and animate a character for a short scene.

My character concept was a gentleman fiddler crab from a bygone era. I was excited to explore the anatomy and asymmetry of crabs combined with the costuming possibilities of a victorian gentleman.

First sketch

Early storyboards

Costumed Turnaround

The final character combines a body cast in foam, a head and eyes cast in plastic, and mouthparts sculpted from pro-poxy over wire armatures. The eye stalks and mouth parts plug into the skull, allowing for separate animation. Vacu-formed shells over the eyes created a glossy effect for maximum soulfulness.

Body sculpt, ready for casting

Process

Claw Detail

Boot Detail

Tests of Head Sculpt

Sculpting Armature

Creating the Plaster Mold

Animation Armature, Pre-Cast

Painting the Foam Cast

Sacrificial Eyestalks

vacuform setup

World's Smallest Vacuform

vacuformed the eyestalks to create glossy shells

Head Assembly Test

The mouthparts were pro-poxy rigged with wire to animate

Costume Mockup

Vest Pattern Pieces

Costume in Progress

Sewing a Lapel

Sleeve Pinning

Finished Costume

Live on Set

Do You Hear Those Crows

Box Boy

The Ocean Duck

Art House

Stop Motion

Projection

bottom of page