Move over foam latex - there's a new material in town. Mikey Please is no longer using the industry standard foam latex for his stop-motion animation sets, but is instead, using a material that is more direct and more fluid, according to Wired.
Please discovered the material while working on his stop-motion film The Eagleman Stag, for which he won a BAFTA award in 2011. To relieve stress, Please began squeezing a cushion built into a green screen, and decided to take a piece and bring it to an upholsterer. What he learned is that while it has a different texture than styrofoam, it is in the same family. With this material, Please can whittle and sculpt his pieces, rather than molding the foam latex liquid. The quicker process and better fluidity are especially helpful when one considers the 15 frames per second of footage required for stop-motion animation.
Please used the new material for most of the set pieces in his latest stop-motion film, Marilyn Myller, which considers the agony of attempting to recreate artistic success.
To read the full article, visit Wired. Watch the Marilyn Myller film below.